- Admin
- #1
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It's time for our own golf ranking system for the top players on the planet. Why? That's easy. The one used now isn't good enough. For one thing, it evaluates golfers over a two-year period. Two years! A lot can happen in two years. (Ask Tiger Woods.) For another, the current system gives too much credit to players who prevail against less competitive fields halfway across the globe.
Therefore, every week between May 31 and September 27, two days after The Tour Championship, Yahoo! Sports will unveil the new rankings of players Nos. 1 to 10, using lists submitted by many of the game's most knowledgeable observers.
1. Luke Donald (22 first-place votes), 292 points, Last week: 1
-Donald retains the top slot with the same percentage of first-place votes.
2. Rory McIlroy (8 first-place votes), 235 points, Last week: 2
-The charm is off the wee lad somewhat, as he narrowly holds off a challenger.
3. Lee Westwood, 233 points, Last week: 3
-Westwood settles into his natural position of good-but-not-great.
4. Steve Stricker, 207 points, Last week: 4
-Stricker is the last golfer named on all ballots, and with good reason.
5. Adam Scott, 152 points, Last week: 5
-Scott continues to bask in the glow of his victory and his caddie notoriety.
6. Phil Mickelson, 87 points, Last week: 8
-Phil makes an unexpected jump upward, but it's closer than the rankings might suggest.
7. Charl Schwartzel, 86 points, Last week: 6
-The shine of that green jacket is starting to fade.
8. Nick Watney, 76 points, Last week: NR
-Watney returns to the Top 10 despite not even playing. Nice move.
9. Martin Kaymer, 73 points, Last week: 7
-Kaymer's star continues to drop. Missing cuts in majors will do that.
10. Jason Day, 61 points, Last week: 10.
-Day needs to step up the performance this year and he'll rocket upward.
Dropping out: Keegan Bradley (9).
Ratings are tabulated on a 1-10 basis, with the top player in each voter's rankings receiving 10 points, the second-place player receiving 9, and so on.
Voters
Michael Arkush, Yahoo! Sports; Shane Bacon, Yahoo! Sports; Al Barkow, golf historian, journalist; Jay Busbee, Yahoo! Sports; Jay Coffin, Golfchannel.com; Tom Cunneff, Links magazine; Martin Davis, Editor, American Golfer; Steve Elling, CBSSports.com; John Feinstein, Golf World/Golf Channel contributor; Bill Fields, Golf World; David Graham, two-time major champion; Melanie Hauser, contributor, PGATOUR.com; Ryan Herrington, Golf World; John Huggan, Golf Digest; Sal Johnson, GolfObserver.com; Rees Jones, golf course architect; Ron Kroichick, San Francisco Chronicle; Mark Lamport-Stokes, Reuters; David MacKintosh, Buenos Aires Herald; Andrew Magee, PGA Tour veteran; Scott Michaux, Augusta Chronicle; Brian Murphy, Yahoo! Sports; Jerry Pate, former U.S. Open winner; Geoff Russell, Golf World editor; Stina Sternberg, Golf Digest; John Strege, Golf Digest; Jerry Tarde, Golf Digest editor; Kris Tschetter, LPGA Tour veteran, author; Jonathan Wall, Yahoo! Sports; Sam Weinman, Golf Digest.com