PGA Tour power rankings

by Tom LaMarre, Sports Xchange

Updated: May 20, 2008, 4:09 PM EST Comment

1. Tiger Woods, United States

There were reports from other pros last week at The Players Championship that Woods, who missed the tournament for the first time as a professional, has been seen walking without a limp. That means he should be well into his rehabilitation and preparing for his return to the PGA Tour. It's looking more and more as if that will come in two weeks at Jack Nicklaus' Memorial Tournament, an event Woods won three consecutive times from 1999 to 2001. Woods underwent left knee surgery on April 15, two days after the Masters, and his agent, Mark Steinberg, called Nicklaus the day after the operation and said Woods' intention was to be at Muirfield Village for the Memorial. Nicklaus was at TPC Sawgrass last week to receive the PGA Tour's Lifetime Achievement Award and said he hasn't heard anything since but that he is hoping that the best player in the world will be in the field in Ohio. The prognosis after surgery was that Woods would be out four to six weeks, and the Memorial would be the seventh week. The only time he has missed the tournament since 1997, his first full season as a pro, was in 2006, when it was played a few weeks after the death of his father, Earl. Two weeks later, Woods missed the cut in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, the only time he has failed to make it to the weekend in a major since he joined the PGA Tour.

2. Phil Mickelson, United States

Following a 70 in the first round of his title defense in The Players Championship, Mickelson said he has been playing well lately but was getting tired of turning potential 66s into rounds in the 70s. Unfortunately, that was as good as it got for him at TPC Sawgrass, although he still had a chance in the final round but posted a bloated 78 and slid down the leaderboard from a tie for fourth to a tie for 21st. That continued a stretch in which Lefty has played well in his last seven tournaments after winning the Northern Trust Open at Riviera but never truly put himself in position to win. He will take a week off but hopes to get back into contention at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, which he won in 2000. Mickelson has worked so hard on his swing with instructor Butch Harmon that his putting is not what it should be. He has switched putters a few times recently, including before the final round on the Stadium Course, where he averaged 30.3 putts per round — taking at least 30 except when he needed only 27 on Saturday. Mickelson could have been right in the mix heading to Sunday if not for two bad swings the day before. He fanned his tee shot left into the water on No. 14 and made double bogey, then pulled his drive right into the rough on No. 18 en route to a bogey that left him at 71.

3. Adam Scott, Australia

The Players Championship is nothing but a test of patience, and a frustrated Scott obviously lost his on the closing holes at TPC Sawgrass, where he made double bogey on three of the last five holes on Sunday. That left him with a back nine of 7-over-par 43 and a round of 80, which dropped him into a tie for 54th after he began the day tied for 20th. The three doubles gave him a total of four for the tournament — only one player in the field had more — but, surprisingly, none of Scott's doubles came on the 17th hole. There were times during the week when it appeared Scott might be there on Sunday, starting when he made birdies on three of his first four holes Thursday, but he shot 41 on the back nine and totaled 75. However, he moved back into contention with two birdies in his first three holes during a bounce-back round of 71 on Friday. Then he momentarily put his name on the leaderboard with four birdies on his first six holes Saturday, but he couldn't make another the rest of the day and played the last 30 holes of the tournament in 11-over-par. Once again, he struggled with his putter, taking at least 30 every day and averaging 31.0. The schedule on Scott's Web site indicates that he will take two weeks off before playing in the Memorial Tournament.

4. Ernie Els, South Africa

It was a case of what might have been last week for the Big Easy in The Players Championship, where he played solid golf but finished in a tie for sixth, six strokes back. He simply made too many big numbers — three double bogeys and a triple-bogey six on the infamous 17th hole in the first round at TPC Sawgrass, where he hit two balls into the water. Those nine strokes definitely cost him his best finish on the Stadium Course, where he has two ties for eighth, but even worse, kept him from having a chance to win the fifth major. Els said after round one that they should "blow up" the island green, but he was smiling when he made a birdie there on Sunday and had a chance to post a number for the leaders to look at. Then he drove into the trees on the right of the final fairway, hit his second shot into the water and made a double-bogey six. He also made doubles on the fifth hole in the second round and on the fourth in the third. Els was Jekyll and Hyde on the greens, taking a total of only 51 putts in the middle rounds but needing 62 in the first and last. The South African will return to his home at Wentworth next week for the BMW Championship and will return to the PGA Tour for the Stanford St. Jude Championship the first week in June.

<4>5. Vijay Singh, Fiji

Even though Singh does not have a stellar record in his hometown event, The Players Championship, he had missed the cut only twice before failing to make it to the weekend last week at TPC Sawgrass. He shot 75-73—148 and missed by one stroke because he could not make a birdie in his last eight holes. Singh was one shot inside the cut line after making a birdie on his 10th hole, No. 1, but could not make another the rest of the way and took bogeys on the third and fifth holes. The big Fijian came to the par-5 ninth hole needing a birdie to play on the weekend but had to lay up on his second shot, misfired with a wedge and left a 30-foot birdie putt short. Even though he had his chances in round two, Singh can blame his second missed cut of the season — the other was in the FBR Open — on a lousy opening round. He was 1-under-par Thursday before hitting into the water on the 13th and 18th holes en route to double bogeys, and he also needed 32 putts in that first round. Even though it seems surprising that he has not performed well on the Stadium Course, Singh claims he does not play the course all that often, although he is a constant presence on the range when he is in town. He is playing next week in the BMW Championship at Wentworth near London before returning for the Memorial.

K.J. Choi missed the Players Championship cut by 10 strokes. (Richard Heathcote / Getty Images)

6. K.J. Choi, South Korea

Playing on the PGA Tour for the first time in four weeks, Choi didn't have a thing at The Players Championship and shot 79-78—157 to miss the cut by 10 strokes, beating only five players who finished 36 holes. It was his second missed cut of the season, the other coming in the Buick Invitational, his first event after winning the Sony Open in Hawaii. Strangely, The Players was his first tournament since he won the SK Telecom Open in South Korea three weeks ago. Choi missed the cut three times in a career year last season. He will take a week off and play next in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial near Dallas, across Texas from his home at the Woodlands near Houston. Choi made bogeys on four of his first five holes last week at TPC Sawgrass and never recovered, making only two pars while posting a front nine of 44. He made three birdies on the back nine in the first round, but those were the only ones he would record in 36 holes. Choi struggled in all aspects of the game, hitting only 16 of 28 fairways and 15 of 36 greens in regulation, in addition to averaging 29.0 putts per round — including 32 strokes on the greens Thursday. He missed the cut for the third time in seven appearances on the Stadium Course.

7. Padraig Harrington, Ireland

Paddy got an early flight back to Ireland, where he will defend his title in the Irish Open this week at Adare Manor, because he fell apart down the stretch last week in round two of The Players Championship. Last year, Harrington made a par on the first playoff hole to beat Bradley Dredge of Wales and become the first homegrown winner of the Irish Open since John O'Leary, now a PGA European Tour executive, in 1982. Harrington blew a four-stroke lead on the back nine in the final round but escaped when Dredge hit his third shot into the water of the par-5 playoff hole. Harrington had no such magic at TPC Sawgrass, where he shot 72-78—150 and missed the cut by three strokes. It was his first missed cut in seven events this year on the PGA Tour but the second time he has failed to make it to the weekend in the last three years on the Stadium Course. He was hardly in danger of missing the cut when he was 2-under-par through seven holes in the second round, but he made nine bogeys in his last 11 holes, including five in a row to finish. Harrington's ball-striking let him down as he hit only 8 of 18 greens in regulation each day. He saved his round on Thursday by taking only 26 putts but needed 31 on Friday.

8. Jim Furyk, United States

Perhaps Furyk simply tries too hard on his home course in The Players Championship, where he hovered on the fringe of contention much of last week before finishing in a tie for 27th. He has finished in the top 10 twice in 13 appearances at TPC Sawgrass. He still had an outside chance to contend from a tie for 20th after three rounds with iffy weather on the way, but that disappeared quickly when Furyk made three bogeys in four holes on the front nine Sunday en route to a 76. After putting well all week, he needed 32 putts on Sunday and finished with an average of 28.3 putts per round. He was at even par through 16 holes in round one but hit into the water on No. 17 and made double bogey on his way to a 72. Those strokes would have come in handy when he made four birdies on his front nine Friday after starting on No. 10 to get into red numbers, but he gave them all back with four bogeys on his second nine. That was the story of his week — Furyk ranked among the leaders with 18 birdies but also made 18 bogeys. He will stay home for a week before going back out on the PGA Tour for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where he has finished second twice.

9. Geoff Ogilvy, Australia

Ogilvy's recent strong run did not continue last week in The Players Championship; he shot 77-75—152 and missed the cut by five strokes. It was the first time he failed to make it to the weekend since he missed the cut in his first three events of the season after his wife Juli gave birth to their second child in January. However, it was nothing new for the Aussie at TPC Sawgrass, where he has missed the cut in four of his seven appearances. Ogilvy took two weeks off after The Players last year before playing in the Memorial Tournament and is expected to do so again. He never gave himself much of a chance to make it to Saturday after he shot 40 on his first nine, the back, on Thursday and made his only birdie on No. 6 at TPC Sawgrass. Ogilvy did make three birdies on Friday, but four bogeys in a span of five holes beginning on No. 6 doomed any hopes of a rally. He hit the fairways and greens on the Stadium Course more than 60 percent of the time but needed 33 putts in round one and 32 in round two. During his two weeks off, Ogilvy will try to find the form that took him to four consecutive finishes in the top 15, including his victory in the WGC-CA Championship at Doral.

10. Steve Stricker, United States

Stricker's sudden slump continued when he shot 77-76—153 and missed the cut by six strokes last week in The Players Championship. He has missed the cut in his last three tournaments and four times in the last five after a scorching run over the last two years that took him at one time to No. 3 in the World Golf Rankings behind Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Not that missing the cut at TPC Sawgrass was a surprise, because he has done it half of the 14 times he has played there, including three of the last four years. Stricker is taking a week off and will try to get it going in the right direction again in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He got off on the wrong foot at the Stadium Course with a double-bogey six on his first hole Thursday, No. 10, and it didn't get any better. Stricker made three doubles in that opening round and four altogether, tying for the tournament lead in that department through 36 holes. He hit only 16 of 36 greens in regulation and kept himself from even higher numbers by averaging 26.5 putts per round, including 24 on Thursday. Stricker had to smile, though, when he holed a 56-foot birdie putt on No. 14, one of the most difficult holes on the Stadium Course, on Friday.

11. Stewart Cink, United States

Even though he couldn't claim his seventh top-10 finish this season last week in The Players Championship, Cink has to feel good about his game heading home this week for the AT&T Classic. He lives near the course at TPC Sugarloaf and has a good history in the event. Cink has not won the tournament in 12 tries but has placed in the top 25 eight of the last 10 years. Six of those years he wound up in the top 10, including second in 1999, two shots behind David Duval, when he had the 54-hole lead but shot 70 to Duval's 67 in the final round. Cink wasted some excellent driving and putting last week when he finished in a tie for 21st at TPC Sawgrass. He hit 39 of 56 fairways and averaged 27.8 putts per round, but he did not give himself enough good chances for birdie — he hit only 41 of 72 greens in regulation. Cink started fast with three consecutive birdies right out of the chute Thursday en route to a 71 but never had another streak like that the rest of the way. The highlight of his week might have come on the 17th green Saturday, when he barely kept his tee shot on the back of the green before rolling his putt down the hill and into the hole from 50 feet for an unlikely birdie.

Not much has gone right for Trevor Immelman since winning the Masters. (Scott Halleran / Getty Images)

12. Trevor Immelman, South Africa

Nothing has gone right for Immelman since he put on the green jacket after winning the Masters by three strokes over Tiger Woods last month. He missed the cut in the EDS Byron Nelson Championship and the Wachovia Championships, the only tournaments he has played since becoming a major champion. Hoping to get his game back on track in The Players Championship, he instead woke up on Thursday and was vomiting from a stomach virus that forced him to withdraw. Immelman made the two-hour drive back across Florida to his home in Orlando, and his agent, Jon Wagner, indicated that his client would take two weeks off before playing in the Memorial Tournament. The virus is the latest in a series of medical problems for Immelman. The last time the South African had stomach problems, he came down with an intestinal parasite while playing in the 2007 Masters. That caused him to lose 20 pounds and a month of his season. He struggled to regain his form through the summer, finally playing well again when he tied for sixth in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. One week after winning the Nedbank Challenge last December in South Africa, he was sidelined again after surgery to remove a golf ball-size growth from his rib cage and did not start this season until the FBR Open in February.

13. Sergio Garcia, Spain

El Nino probably solidified his position as the best player without a major title when he won The Players Championship, but if he can continue to strike the ball the way he did on the Stadium Course and make a few putts, there should be a Grand Slam title in his future. Any lingering nightmares he might have had after missing a 10-foot putt for par on the 72nd hole of the British Open last year and losing to Padraig Harrington in a playoff appeared to be put to rest at TPC Sawgrass. Garcia scrambled for par on the final hole of regulation Sunday with a brilliant pitch shot and seven-foot putt for par, getting into a playoff when leader Paul Goydos could not do the same and made bogey. Given an opening when a gust of wind knocked Goydos' tee shot into the water on the playoff hole, Garcia broke down the door with a shot to within four feet, and it didn't matter than he had to settle for par. Goydos said it was justice that Garcia won since he was better than every player in the field all week, leading in fairways hit and greens in regulation. All the Spaniard had to do in the final round was make a few more putts, which he did, taking only 28 after ranking dead last in the field with an average of 32.0 per round. By doing so, he became the only European other than Sandy Lyle (1987) to win The Players. It appears that Garcia, who earned his first victory since the 2005 Booz Allen Classic, will take two weeks off before playing in the Memorial.

14. Stuart Appleby, Australia

Apples had a chance to post his first top-10 finish in 12 appearances in The Players Championship last week, but he three-putted the 72nd hole from 60 feet, missing from 10 feet to make a bogey that dropped him to a tie for 15th. Still, it was his eighth finish in the top 25 this year, five of them in the top 10, and if he keeps putting himself in contention, the ninth victory of his PGA Tour career might not be far away. It appears he will take two weeks off and make his next attempt in the Memorial Tournament, which he has played 11 consecutive years. Even though his bid for the top 10 came down to the final hole on the Stadium Course, the Aussie made it difficult on himself to make it when he played the front nine in 5-over-par 41 on Sunday. He did not make a birdie through 14 holes before getting two in succession, but they were not enough. His best golf of the week was a steady 71 in the third round, when he made his only bogey on the fourth hole and closed with 12 consecutive pars. Appleby entered the week 20th on the PGA Tour with an average of 28.28 putts per round, but the flat stick let him down at TPC Sawgrass, where he averaged 29.3 putts per round — including 31 in the second and fourth rounds.

15. Luke Donald, England

Donald really didn't play that badly last week in The Players Championship, but he made a double bogey every day except Friday and wound up in a tie for 27th. Hoping to regain the form he had earlier this season, the Brit is heading home to play in the BMW Championship next week at Wentworth outside London, not far from his childhood home of High Wycombe. He played bogey-free on Sunday last week at TPC Sawgrass in a final round of 72 in the windy conditions, but he made one real bad swing that sent his tee shot into the water and led to a double-bogey five on the 13th hole. Everybody else has nightmares about the par-3 17th on the Stadium Course, but Donald's will be about unlucky 13, because he did the same thing in the first round. He also made a double-bogey six on No. 15 in the third round, and those six strokes cost him a chance to finish in the top 10. Donald's normally precise ball-striking let him down, and he did not hit even 60 percent of the fairways and greens on the Stadium Course. That wasted some pretty good work on the greens, as he averaged 28.3 putts per round. He opened 75-72—147 and made the cut on the number with a fine two-putt for par from 65 feet on the 18th hole, rolling his first putt to within 3 ½ feet.

16. Aaron Baddeley, Australia

After missing the cut two of the last four years in The Players Championship, Badds was able to make it to the weekend this time but could not break 70 in any of the four rounds and finished in a tie for 32nd. In fact, he has not posted a single round in the 60s in his last two events since he tied for second in the Verizon Heritage with four rounds below 70. The schedule on his Web site indicates he will take two weeks off before playing next in the Memorial Tournament. Baddeley hit a little under 60 percent of the fairways and greens last week at TPC Sawgrass but kept himself afloat by averaging 27.3 putts per round, including 25 while shooting 72 on Sunday. That round could have been even better, but he fell victim to the island green at No. 17 on the Stadium Course, where his ball in the water led to a double-bogey five. That marred a closing back nine of 35 that included four birdies, more than he made in the previous two days combined, when he posted scores of 74-77. The worst was a 5-over-par 41 on the front side Saturday, which included a double-bogey six on the fourth hole. The Aussie made a birdie on the 10th hole, but that was the only one he carded all day.

17. Boo Weekley, United States

Playing before big galleries all week in his home state, the native Floridian was in contention for two rounds in The Players Championship before fading on the weekend to tie for 21st. He opened with 71-72 in his second appearance at TPC Sawgrass, then could manage only 74-77 on the weekend, but he improved markedly from his tie for 44th a year ago. Boo gave himself plenty of chances by hitting 54 of 72 greens in regulation on the Stadium Course, but he couldn't figure out the Dye-abolical greens. He averaged 30.0 putts per round with admittedly the weakest club in his bag, taking at least 30 every day except when he needed only 26 to save a round of 74 on Saturday. Weekley even putted his ball off the second green in that third round and took a double-bogey seven. He added two doubles on Sunday, one on No. 11 and the other on, yes, No. 17, where he hit his tee shot into perhaps the most infamous water hazard on the PGA Tour. Boo ranked among the leaders with 17 birdies but also had 15 bogeys. Still, Weekley is happy with his lot in life and drove home across the Florida Panhandle to Milton, Fla., with a smile on his face. He will take a week off before playing in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.

Rory Sabbatini finished a disappointing 27th at the Players Championship ( Scott Halleran / Getty Images)

18. Rory Sabbatini, South Africa

Sabo hopes the good vibes he is bound to have in his title defense in two weeks at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial will get him back on track after he had another disappointing finish in The Players Championship. He broke par only when he posted a score of 71 in the second round, and he wound up in a tie for 27th. Since finishing second in the Sony Open in Hawaii and tying for third in the Buick Invitational, Sabbatini has not finished in the top 25 in eight tournaments. He hit more than 60 percent of the fairways and greens on the Stadium Course but averaged 31.0 putts per round, taking fewer than 30 only when he had 27 in round two. That was better than only three players in the field, and his putting average of 1.978 beat only one guy of the 74 golfers who played all 72 holes. The South African was at even par through 36 holes and in position to make a move on the weekend when the tournament was still wide open. He made birdies on the first three holes Saturday but couldn't make another the rest of the day and had six bogeys to fall out of contention. Sabbatini has run hot-and-cold throughout his career, and right now his game definitely is in a deep freeze.

19. Anthony Kim, United States

A week after claiming the first victory of his PGA Tour Career in the Wachovia Championship, Kim rode the wave as long as he could in The Players Championship. The emotion carried him through the first 46 holes before he hit the wall and shot 79-76 on the weekend to finish in a tie for 42nd. In the past, he would have carried that sort of collapse with him for a while, but he has matured in the last year or so and seemed to be in good shape mentally when it was over. We might have an indication in two weeks, when he plays in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial after taking a pass on the AT&T Classic. His brilliant ball-striking from Quail Hollow carried over to the first two rounds at TPC Sawgrass, where he hit 27 of 36 greens in regulation, but he could hit only 15 of 36 on the weekend. After opening 70-70, Kim was still among the leaders at 5-under-par after making three birdies in five holes through No. 10 on Saturday. Then he made bogeys on the next four holes to start a skid in which he played the last 26 holes in 9-over-par. Kim and Boo Weekley, winners of the previous two events on the PGA Tour, have become good buddies and drafted off each other in the first two rounds but struggled when separated on the weekend.

20. Angel Cabrera, Argentina

Cabrera was playing perhaps his best golf since winning the U.S. Open at Oakmont last July in the first round of The Players Championship last week. He was 5-under-par without a blemish on his scorecard and sat one stroke out of the lead through 13 holes on Thursday. From there, he posted scores of 70-81—151 and missed the cut by four strokes, the third time he has failed to make it to the weekend in 10 events on the PGA Tour this year. The Argentine has failed to play on Saturday and Sunday the last four years at TPC Sawgrass. The schedule on his Web site lists his next event as the BMW Championship at Wentworth near London, which means he might pass up the Memorial the following week before making his U.S. Open title defense next month at Torrey Pines. Cabrera made five birdies in the first 12 holes last week on the Stadium Course but then had only one more — on No. 2 in the second round — over his last 24 holes. He made only a single bogey, on No. 14, on Thursday but recorded eight in round two, and he hit into the water en route to double bogeys on No. 18 both days. There wasn't a single positive in his game to build on; Cabrera hit only 9 of 28 fairways, 19 of 36 greens and averaged 29.5 putts per round.