It Still is Tiger's Tour

By John Antonini

January 05, 2009

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Pre-season PGA Tour rankings: Golf World's top 30 for 2009

1 Tiger Woods

Age: 32 Joined PGA Tour: 19962008 PGA earnings: $5,775,000 (2)World Rank: 1 PGA Tour wins: 65Majors: 1997, 2001, '02, '05 Masters; 2000, '02, '08 U.S. Open; 2000, '05, '06 British; 1999, 2000, '06, '07 PGADefining moment of '08: The U.S. Open victory. It could go down in history as not only the defining moment of Woods' season, but even his career. How many other golfers have won a tournament, let alone a major, on a broken leg?Why he's No. 1: Before Woods got hurt he was on the longest run of sustained greatness in his incredible career. When he returns, there are indications he'll be even better. He altered his swing while he played with the torn ACL. With a healthy knee his swing could become smoother, and he's likely to hit more fairways.Why he should rank lower: A solid guess is he'll return at Doral, but if he spots the tour three months and the knee isn't fully recovered, he might not play enough to reclaim the money title.Top 2008 finishes: Buick Invitational 1, WGC-Accenture Match Play 1, Arnold Palmer Invitational1, U.S. Open1, Masters2

2 Sergio Garcia

Age: 28 Joined PGA Tour: 19992008 PGA earnings: $4,858,224 (4)World Rank: 2 PGA Tour wins: 7Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: The end of the PGA Championship. Garcia can win all the Players he wants, but the great ones define themselves in the majors. He needs to find a way to avoid the mistakes that dogged him late in the final round at Oakland Hills.Why he should rank higher: He keeps getting better and odds are he'll learn how to claim that elusive major title. When he does -- as happened with Phil Mickelson -- others should follow.Why he should rank lower: He is a legitimate No. 2, but he's not totally focused on playing the PGA Tour. His priorities are divided between the U.S. and Europe, and while the Race for Dubai may not keep him from playing the Big Eight and the PGA Tour Playoffs, it may keep him from the more pedestrian tournaments usually on his schedule.Top 2008 finishes: Players 1, Barclays2, Tour Championship T-2, PGA Championship T-2, Stanford St. Jude Classic T-4

3 Anthony Kim

Age: 23 Joined PGA Tour: 20072008 PGA earnings: $4,656,265 (6)World Rank: 12 PGA Tour wins: 2Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: The two victories were important statements, but Kim showcased his true potential by whipping Sergio Garcia in a Ryder Cup singles match.Why he should rank higher: Kim will play more PGA Tour events than those ranked above him -- and as with all players when they're just starting, he's hot-wired to make money. It's hard to see him cutting back too much from the 22 tournaments he played in 2008, even if he does play more overseas.Why he should rank lower: He has few weaknesses, but he has to truly dedicate himself to becoming No. 1, and there haven't been many his age with that mindset. Another concern: His position in the standings has gone down in the final round in the last four majors he has played.Top 2008 finishes: Wachovia 1, AT&T National 1, Verizon Heritage T-2, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, BMW Championship, Tour ChampionshipT-3

4 Phil Mickelson

Age: 38 Joined PGA Tour: 19922008 PGA earnings: $5,188,875 (3)World Rank: 3 PGA Tour wins: 34Majors: 2004, '06 Masters; 2005 PGADefining moment of '08: Completing the California slam at Riviera. When his career is over, Mickelson might be regarded as the greatest West Coast player in history. Last year he played well early, then disappointed in the majors.Why he should rank higher: Mickelson is too young to be counted out and certainly will not take kindly to being surpassed by youngsters such as Anthony Kim. Another year with swing coach Butch Harmon and a return to Bethpage Black for the U.S. Open, where he was a gallery favorite in 2002, should inspire confidence.Why he should rank lower: There's little to indicate he will. Mickelson has been working on his putting with short-game instructor Dave Pelz and should maintain a top-five finish on the money list.Top 2008 finishes: Northern Trust Open 1, Crowne Plaza Invitational 1, FBR Open2, Tour ChampionshipT-3, WGC-Bridgestone Invitational T-4

5 Vijay Singh

Age: 45 Joined PGA Tour: 19932008 PGA earnings: $6,601,094 (1)World Rank: 5 PGA Tour wins: 34Majors: 2000 Masters; 1998, 2004 PGADefining moment of '08: Clinching the FedEx Cup before the Tour Championship, which proved not only that Singh remains on top of his game, but also that the designers of the tour's playoff points system aren't.Why he should rank higher: When Singh gets hot, he's hard to beat. He didn't take advantage of Tiger's absence at the majors but won three important events to end his year. A similar streak in 2009 shouldn't be discounted.Why he should rank lower: Singh spent October and November on the disabled list with tendinitis of the left forearm. Injuries can linger the older you get, and at some point they -- or the emergence of several players 20-or-so years younger -- are going to force Singh out of the top five in earnings for the first time since 1997.Top 2008 finishes: WGC-Bridgestone Invitational1, Barclays 1, Deutsche Bank Championship1, AT&T Pebble Beach2, WGC-CA ChampionshipT-2

6 Camilo Villegas

Age: 26 Joined PGA Tour: 20062008 PGA earnings: $4,422,641 (7)World Rank: 7 PGA Tour wins: 2Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: The PGA Tour Playoffs. For the second straight year Villegas saved his best for last. But in addition to matching his three top-10s in playoff events (as he did in 2007), this time he won two of them, his first titles on tour.Why he should rank higher: He is looking to build on the success he tasted in 2008. His work on the range and in the weight room shows he is as focused as anyone on tour.Why he should rank lower: Villegas didn't have a top-10 finish until after the Masters in '08, and there's no reason to believe he wasn't as dedicated and focused to start last season. A similar slow start -- added to the distraction of playing overseas -- would force him to have another world-beater-type finish just to maintain his lofty status.Top 2008 finishes: BMW Championship 1, Tour Championship 1, AT&T Classic 3, Deutsche Bank ChampionshipT-3, PGA ChampionshipT-4

7 Hunter Mahan

Age: 26 Joined PGA Tour: 20042008 PGA earnings: $2,208,855 (30)World Rank: 42 PGA Tour wins: 1Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Being selected to the Ryder Cup team as a captain's pick after he slammed the tournament a few months earlier. It is an example of how highly some think of Mahan's overall game.Why he should rank higher: Mahan is growing up on tour. Just 26, he has played more than 150 PGA Tour events and was a star on a winning Ryder Cup team. The performance at Valhalla should lift him to new heights in 2009, and a multiple-victory season isn't an unreasonable expectation.Why he should rank lower: There is a fear, as witnessed by his major performances -- he only made the cut in the U.S. Open -- that the accolades are a bit premature. His putting numbers and scrambling stats are below the tour averages.Top 2008 finishes: Travelers Championship T-2, Mercedes-Benz ChampionshipT-5, Arnold Palmer Invitational T-6, BMW Championship T-8, WGC-Bridgestone InvitationalT-10

8 Jim Furyk

Age: 38 Joined PGA Tour: 19942008 PGA earnings: $3,455,714 (12)World Rank: 13 PGA Tour wins: 13Majors: 2003 U.S. OpenDefining moment of '08: It was a relatively quiet year for the veteran with the looping swing. But his final push -- four top-12 finishes in the playoff events -- indicates he can still play formidable golf in important tournaments.Why he should rank higher: Unlike Anthony Kim, Camilo Villegas and Vijay Singh, Furyk shows little inclination to travel outside the U.S. He still plays 25-plus times on the PGA Tour, and there are many weeks when he is the best player in the field.Why he should rank lower: He's not getting longer and his accuracy rate fell noticeably from 74.37 percent to 69.37 percent in 2008. It resulted in his lowest birdies-per-round average (3.32) since his rookie year of 1994, and it was the first time he played a full schedule and failed to win a tournament since 1997.Top 2008 finishes: WGC-CA ChampionshipT-2, AT&T National T-3, BMW Championship T-3, Verizon Heritage 4, British Open, Mercedes-BenzT-5

9 Geoff Ogilvy

Age: 31 Joined PGA Tour: 20012008 PGA earnings: $2,880,099 (15)World Rank: 11 PGA Tour wins: 4Majors: 2006 U.S. OpenDefining moment of '08: Winning the WGC-CA Championship. The Aussie took a four-stroke lead into the final round and held off Jim Furyk, Retief Goosen, Vijay Singh and a guy named Woods for his second WGC title.Why he should rank higher: Still learning how to juggle his job with the responsibilities of being a father to two young children, Ogilvy didn't have his customary focus in 2008. But he'll be better prepared in 2009, and he's coming off a win in the Australian PGA Championship.Why he should rank lower: One of the tour's best shotmakers, Ogilvy struggled from 30 yards or less last year. If he continues to have problems around the greens, he will be hard-pressed to climb above his position on the 2008 money list (15th).Top 2008 finishes: WGC-CA Championship1, Shell Houston Open T-2, Crowne Plaza Invitational T-7, Memorial 9, U.S. Open T-9

10 Stewart Cink

Age: 35 Joined PGA Tour: 19972008 PGA earnings: $3,979,301 (9)World Rank: 15 PGA Tour wins: 5Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Showing he can take a punch. After getting thumped by Tiger Woods in the Accenture final, Cink unraveled down the stretch to lose at Tampa, but he persevered, getting his first win in four years at Hartford.Why he should rank higher: Cink is another American who often doesn't travel across the oceans to ply his trade. Now that he has remembered how to win, Cink could take advantage of the weaker fields he faces in rank-and-file tour events as well as continue to perform well in the Big Eight.Why he should rank lower: Cink had a career-best five top-three finishes in 2008 and finished ninth in earnings. Given his proclivity to struggle on Sundays, his number of high finishes is likely to drop, as will his place on the money list.Top 2008 finishes: Travelers Championship 1, WGC-Accenture Match Play2, PODS Championship T-2, Buick Invitational T-3, MastersT-3

11 Ernie Els

Age: 39 Joined PGA Tour: 19942008 PGA earnings: $2,537,290 (20)World Rank: 9 PGA Tour wins: 16Majors: 1994, '97 U.S. Open; 2002 BritishDefining moment of '08: Acknowledging his son's autism the week after he won the Honda Classic -- his first PGA Tour victory since 2004. Els is hoping to use his public persona to bring attention to the developmental disorder.Why he should rank higher: He's motivated to re-establish himself as one of the world's best players, and if he is in the right frame of mind, he is fully able to win multiple events.Why he should rank lower: Els never seems capable of letting go of past failures, and more than three years after his injury, he still doesn't appear fully confident playing on a reconstructed knee. Given those demons and the understandable and admirable family commitments needed to raise an autistic child, it's possible his 20th-place finish on the 2008 money list is right for Els.Top 2008 finishes: Honda Classic 1, Deutsche Bank Championship T-3, Players T-6, Tour ChampionshipT-6, British Open T-7

12 Padraig Harrington

Age: 37 Joined PGA Tour: 20032008 PGA earnings: $4,313,551 (8)World Rank: 4 P__GA Tour wins:__ 5Majors: 2007, '08 British; 2008 PGADefining moment of '08: Winning his second-straight British Open while playing with an injured right wrist that almost caused him to withdraw from the tournament before it began.Why he should rank higher: He excels on difficult courses in big-money tournaments that ensure large paychecks. Repeating at the British and then winning the PGA Championship make him even more confident -- and explains why he is looking forward to the challenge of facing a healthy Tiger Woods.Why he should rank lower: PGA earnings aren't his priority. Harrington won two majors last year and still only finished eighth on the money list. He played the minimum 15 tour events needed to keep his card. Don't expect more than that in 2009. He will rarely tee off in rank-and-file U.S. events.Top 2008 finishes: British Open 1, PGA Championship 1, Northern Trust OpenT-3, Zurich Classic of New OrleansT-4, Stanford St. Jude Championship T-4

13 K.J. Choi

Age: 38 Joined PGA Tour: 20002008 PGA earnings: $2,683,442 (16)World Rank: 18 PGA Tour wins: 7Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Winning the Sony Open, giving him tour victories in each of the last four years, something only Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and Vijay Singh also have accomplished.Why he should rank higher: He's as much of a gamer as anyone, an attitude that takes him deeper into tournaments than those with more skills.Why he should rank lower: His only top-10 finish in a Big Eight event came at the Match Play, and his struggles in those events are more than just a one-year hiccup. (He has only three top-10s since '05.) It leads some to believe he has been lucky and that he has gotten as far as he can with grit, guts and an imperfect swing. Of the 29 players who finished 70th or worse in distance, accuracy, GIR and putting, only Choi and Steve Stricker were in the top 50 in earnings.Top 2008 finishes: Sony Open1, WGC-Accenture Match PlayT-5, BMW ChampionshipT-5, Northern Trust OpenT-7, Tour Championship9

14 Adam Scott

Age: 28 Joined PGA Tour: 20032008 PGA earnings: $1,979,160 (39)World Rank: 17 PGA Tour wins: 6Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Breaking his right pinky after slamming it in a car door in May. It was the most notable of several personal and physical setbacks for Scott in 2008 -- and the big reason why he failed to record a top-15 finish the second half of the year.Why he should rank higher: Assuming he is healthy -- a risk considering he withdrew from the Australian PGA Championship after a knee injury suffered while bodysurfing -- there are few players with more talent and a smoother swing than Scott. Getting back to the top three in earnings and the World Ranking is not out of reach.Why he should rank lower: Injuries limited him to 15 PGA Tour starts in '08, but don't expect him to play much more in '09. He's a global golfer who enjoys the travel.Top 2008 finishes: EDS Byron Nelson Championship 1, Wachovia Championship T-8, WGC-CA Championship T-9, Northern Trust OpenT-14, British OpenT-16

15 Justin Leonard

Age: 36 Joined PGA Tour: 19942008 PGA earnings: $3,943,542 (10)World Rank: 23 PGA Tour wins: 12Majors: 1997 British OpenDefining moment of '08: Making the Ryder Cup team on merit after the PGA Championship, a year-long goal that was helped greatly by his win in Memphis.Why he should rank higher: Leonard's bad year in 2006 partially was due to a futile attempt to gain length off the tee. It didn't work, and his GIR and putting numbers fell off as well. In 2007 he reunited with swing coach Randy Smith and dedicated himself to the techniques that earned him 10 wins through 2005. As long as the courses don't get too long for him, this tactician's career resurgence should continue.Why he should rank lower: Without the motivation of the Ryder Cup, he will need another reason to push himself. The eight top-10 finishes in 2008 tied for the second most in his career.Top 2008 finishes: Stanford St. Jude Championship 1, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic2, WGC-Accenture Match Play4, Buick Invitational 5, Barclays, Deutsche Bank T-7

16 Boo Weekley

Age: 35 Joined PGA Tour: 20022008 PGA earnings: $2,398,751 (25)World Rank: 44 PGA Tour wins: 2Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Appearing on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in October, a sure sign his folksy wit has outgrown the close confines of PGA Tour media centers.Why he should rank higher: Weekley deflects the pressure associated with competitive golf with his self-deprecating humor and country charm. But a bigger reason for his success is that he hits the ball a long way and is one of the game's best ball-strikers. He is making the most of his second go-round as a PGA Tour player.Why he should rank lower: He's a star as a personality, but is he a star as a player? You sometimes get the impression he's just going along for the ride, and would rather be huntin' or fishin' in Scratch Ankle. A jump from 25th on the money list might be too much to ask.Top 2008 finishes: Verizon Heritage 1, Stanford St. Jude Championship T-4, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic T-8, FBR Open T-9, WGC-Accenture Match PlayT-9

17 Aaron Baddeley

Age: 27 Joined PGA Tour: 20032008 PGA earnings: $1,665,587 (49)World Rank: 33 PGA Tour wins: 2Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: When daughter Jewell was born in November. It was a bright spot in an otherwise tough year for Baddeley. His wife, Richelle, had a difficult pregnancy, and his caddie, Pete Bender, is being treated for cancer.Why he should rank higher: If the off-course distractions subside, there's no reason to believe Badds won't return to the form he displayed while finishing 10th on the 2007 money list. He remains one of the tour's best putters, which is why his scoring average was among the top 30 for the second straight year.Why he should rank lower: He only has tour-average length and has never finished in the top 100 in driving accuracy or greens in regulation. If he's not focused on his overall game, another winless year could follow.Top 2008 finishes: Verizon Heritage T-2, WGC Accenture Match PlayT-9, BMW ChampionshipT-10, Frys.com OpenT-11, Mercedes-Benz Championship T-12

18 Brandt Snedeker

Age: 28 Joined PGA Tour: 20072008 PGA earnings: $1,531,442 (59)World Rank: 63 PGA Tour wins: 1Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: The meltdown at the 13th hole at the Masters. It not only cost him any chance of catching Trevor Immelman for the green jacket, but also derailed his year. He had only one other top-20 finish from that point.Why he should rank higher: There's more to Snedeker than meets the eye. He has the type of game that holds up on tough courses, and he already plays well at majors (five top-25s in his last six starts). He will continue to develop.Why he should rank lower: The strong Masters didn't jump-start his confidence, and despite good finishes at Torrey Pines and Oakland Hills, he was never in contention in either major. His skill set is similar to Steve Stricker's -- they don't drive the ball well week to week, but they score well because they can putt.Top 2008 finishes: Masters T-3, PODS Championship T-8, FBR Open T-9, U.S. Open T-9, Mercedes-Benz Championship T-10

19 Stuart Appleby

Age: 37 Joined PGA Tour: 19962008 PGA earnings: $2,484,630 (22)World Rank: 38 PGA Tour wins: 8Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Having the wherewithal to hire a sport psychologist. Few players have been through as much in life as Appleby, and having Gio Valiente to bounce ideas off might help him avoid the blow-up rounds that have limited his success in majors.Why he should rank higher: Once he gets his head clear, he'll realize he has a swing built for the modern game. When Appleby gets hot, he appears on the leader board several weeks in a row, and a victory in one of those events in '09 would move him up the money list.Why he should rank lower: Valiente will earn his keep if he can help Appleby prevent the 79-75 finishes that derailed his game at the U.S. and British Opens. But the fact remains the Aussie has only four top-10s in 48 majors, and when a trend lasts that long it can be a hard habit to break.Top 2008 finishes: WGC-Bridgestone InvitationalT-2, FBR Open T-4, Northern Trust OpenT-7, Buick Invitational T-8, WGC-Accenture Match PlayT-9

20 Andres Romero

Age: 27 Joined PGA Tour: 20082008 PGA earnings: $2,064,612 (36)World Rank: 30 P__GA Tour wins:__ 1Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Winning the Zurich Classic. The man who has a tendency to make birdies in bunches took a more drawn-out route (15 birdies in his last 40 holes) while getting his first tour win in New Orleans.Why he should rank higher: He backed up his strong play in 2007 with a victory in 2008 and good showings in the Masters and PGA Championship. An Argentine, he won't be duty-bound to play the European Tour as much as other international players and stands a better chance of making the Presidents Cup team by racking up World Ranking points in U.S. events.Why he should rank lower: We still don't know what he is capable of. The win was nice, but he took advantage of a Woody Austin collapse to get it. There are too many weeks when he is not a factor.Top 2008 finishes: Zurich Classic of New Orleans1, PGA ChampionshipT-7, MastersT-8, WGC-Accenture Match PlayT-17, Tour Championship T-27

21 J.B. Holmes

Age: 26 Joined PGA Tour: 20062008 PGA earnings: $2,166,131 (32)World Rank: 73 PGA Tour wins: 2Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Outdueling Phil Mickelson in a playoff to win at Scottsdale. Before the victory Holmes was thought of as a long-hitting novelty. After it he came to be regarded as a force capable of standing up to the best the tour has to offer. Case in point: His near-upset of Tiger Woods in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play.Why he should rank higher: Although he didn't have another top-10 after the Players, Holmes seemed to grow as the year went on. Playing the Ryder Cup should help his confidence.Why he should rank lower: He's still one-dimensional. Hitting the ball 350 yards won't help if you're unable to take advantage of the length because you're so far off line. Holmes' missed drives were 35 feet, seven inches from the fairway; only David Duval was worse in 2008.Top 2008 finishes: FBR Open 1, Northern Trust OpenT-7, Players T-10, Sony OpenT-17, Wachovia Championship T-17

22 Zach Johnson

Age: 32 Joined PGA Tour: 20042__008 PGA earnings:__ $1,615,123 (53)World Rank: 43 PGA Tour wins: 4Majors: 2007 MastersDefining moment of '08: The Valero Texas Open. One of several players to regroup during the Fall Series, Johnson shot 62-64 on the weekend to win the San Antonio event.Why he should rank higher: A younger version of Scott Verplank, Johnson is a gritty competitor who hits fairways and greens. One of the best pure athletes on tour, he still plays with that scrappy, chip-on-the-shoulder attitude that he picked up while competing in other sports as a youth in Iowa, and it helps him pull off victories when they are least expected.Why he should rank lower: He's trending in the wrong direction. Johnson earned less money in 2008 than in his previous four years on tour and also had his worst ranking in total driving and took more putts per GIR than ever.Top 2008 finishes: Valero Texas Open 1, WGC-CA Championship T-9, Justin Timberlake ShrinersT-10, WGC-Bridgestone InvitationalT-16, Mercedes-Benz, MastersT-20

23 Davis Love III

Age: 44 Joined PGA Tour: 19862008 PGA earnings: $1,695,237 (48)World Rank: 81 PGA Tour wins: 20Majors: 1997 PGA ChampionshipDefining moment of '08: Ironically, it was when his friend Fred Couples was named Presidents Cup captain. Making that team became Love's impetus to get healthy, and it pushed him to play the Fall Finish, where he won his 20th career event at Disney.Why he should rank higher: Love is focused on making the Presidents Cup team. Finally healthy, look for him to build on his year-end stretch and return to the top 30, where he resided every year from 1995 to 2006.Why he should rank lower: Last year he played his best during the Fall Series, when fields were less competitive. To make Freddie's team, he'll have to do well against world-class fields, and right now he's still too far down in the World Ranking to qualify for many of the Big Eight events.Top 2008 finishes: Children's Miracle Network Classic 1, Turning Stone Resort Champ. T-3, Justin Timberlake ShrinersT-6, Frys.com OpenT-11, British OpenT-19

24 Trevor Immelman

Age: 29 Joined PGA Tour: 20062008 PGA earnings: $2,566,199 (19)World Rank: 20 PGA Tour wins: 2Majors: 2008 MastersDefining moment of '08: Winning the Masters and overcoming the pressure put on him by many South Africans to become the next Gary Player.Why he should rank higher: Player's comments that Immelman has the best swing since Ben Hogan may be hyperbole, but only an injury-plagued season in 2007 made the Masters victory seem unexpected. In 2006 Immelman was seventh in earnings and had seven top-10s in his last 14 starts, so there is little doubt he can play a full season at a high level of efficiency.Why he should rank lower: There's very little in the statistics to indicate Immelman should be so highly regarded. Only Dudley Hart and Ryuji Imada had higher scoring averages than Immelman and also finished in the top 30 in earnings.Top 2008 finishes: Masters 1, Stanford St. Jude Championship T-2, Tour Championship T-10, BMW ChampionshipT-13, WGC-Accenture Match PlayT-17

25 Ben Curtis

Age: 31 Joined PGA Tour: 20032008 PGA earnings: $2,615,798 (17)World Rank: 24 PGA Tour wins: 3Majors: 2003 British OpenDefining moment of '08: The PGA Championship. Five years after his British Open win Curtis contended at another major, taking the third-round lead at Oakland Hills before finishing T-2 behind Padraig Harrington.Why he should rank higher: He has an outstanding disposition and knows how to stay in contention once he gets on the leader board. As with the other Ryder Cup rookies, the U.S. victory should give him a confidence boost.Why he should rank lower: He doesn't shoot enough low scores to contend on a weekly basis. He's not a birdie guy (a birdie-conversion percentage of 26.21 percent, T-149 on tour) so he won't be a factor in many events where the winning score gets to around 15 under, which he'll need to climb much higher on the money list.Top 2008 finishes: Wachovia Championship 2, PGA ChampionshipT-2, BarclaysT-4, Tour Championship5, British OpenT-7

26 Steve Stricker

Age: 41 Joined PGA Tour: 19942008 PGA earnings: $2,438,304 (23)World Rank: 14 PGA Tour wins: 4Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: His 18th-hole birdie in the Saturday afternoon four-ball match at the Ryder Cup, which some teammates called a decisive half-point in the U.S. victory.Why he should rank higher: He won't win his third-straight comeback award, but he rebounded noticeably during the year. After missing four straight cuts before the U.S. Open, Stricker made every cut the rest of 2008, qualified for the Ryder Cup and finished 23rd on tour in earnings. It shows that predictions of his demise are premature.Why he should rank lower: Or are they? His accuracy rank dropped from 49th to 97th to 178th since 2006 and his GIR rank went from 24th to T-55 to 127th. He needs to rely on his putting, but he fell to 84th in that stat after being in the top 10 for three straight years.Top 2008 finishes: Mercedes-Benz Championship2, Sony OpenT-4, WGC-CA Championship T-6, British OpenT-7, WGC-Accenture Match PlayT-9

27 Sean O'Hair

Age: 26 Joined PGA Tour: 20052008 PGA earnings: $2,089,857 (35)World Rank: 57 PGA Tour wins: 2Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Taking advantage of Stewart Cink's miscues in the final round at the PODS and winning his first tournament since 2005.Why he should rank higher: He will take advantage of the absence of European players at rank-and-file events in 2009. A year ago many had him pegged in the same class as Camilo Villegas. If Camilo can close out tournaments, O'Hair has a chance to do the same.Why he should rank lower: He seems fragile and comes unglued at crunch time as if he's not ready to win -- remember Cink lost the PODS as much as O'Hair won it. His final-round scoring was higher than the tour average, and he has yet to record a top-10 finish at any Big Eight event, squandering an opportunity at the Masters with a final-round 75 in 2008.Top 2008 finishes: PODS Championship1, Arnold Palmer InvitationalT-3, RBC Canadian Open T-3, WGC-Bridgestone InvitationalT-12, MastersT-14

28 Stephen Ames

Age: 44 Joined PGA Tour: 19982008 PGA earnings: $2,285,707 (27)World Rank: 37 PGA Tour wins: 3Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: Not a moment, per se, but he turned around a downward trend. In 2007 Ames had a penchant for giving away tournaments on Sunday. In 2008 he only had two final-round scores higher than 72 and climbed into the top 10 from outside on four occasions.Why he should rank higher: Once openly disdainful of the Presidents Cup, Ames has set making the international team as a priority in 2009. As with Kenny Perry this year that could be enough motivation, but Ames also is coming off a year in which he had his lowest scoring average (69.99) and is happy with swing changes he has been working on with coach Sean Foley.Why he should rank lower: Since 2006 Ames has become progressively worse in ball-striking and total driving stats.Top 2008 finishes: Mercedes-Benz Championship3, Crowne Plaza Invitational 4, Players5, BMW Championship T-5, Valero Texas OpenT-6

29 Dustin Johnson

Age: 24 Joined PGA Tour: 20082008 PGA earnings: $1,789,895 (42)World Rank: 145 PGA Tour wins: 1Majors: NoneDefining moment of '08: The victory at Turning Stone, where he shot a final-round 69 to win the $1 million top prize and secure his tour card for 2009.Why he should rank higher: He has a game ready-made for the PGA Tour: a long, high-ball hitter who can shoot low scores. He is not cocky, but he is a confident player who learned a lot during his first pass through the circuit, and knows that he can freewheel it a bit now that he has secured playing status through 2010.Why he should rank lower: He may be too much the prototypical tour player, whose long drives don't often find the fairway. As with J.B. Holmes or Bubba Watson, there's the real threat he's one-dimensional. He has yet to prove he has the overall game to contend in the big tournaments.Top 2008 finishes: Turning Stone Resort Championship 1, AT&T Pebble Beach Nat'l Pro-Am T-7, Sony Open T-10, Bob Hope Chrysler Classic T-12, Valero Texas OpenT-15

30 Mike Weir

Age: 38 Joined PGA Tour: 19982008 PGA earnings: $3,020,135 (14)World Rank: 22 PGA Tour wins: 8Majors: 2003 MastersDefining moment of '08: His first-round 61 at the Deutsche Bank Championship. Just when it was getting safe to assume Weir's game is too old school to succeed on the modern tour, his 10-under salvo at TPC Boston showed he still has a place in a game full of long hitters.Why he should rank higher: He remains one of the tour's best putters and one of the best around the green.Why he should rank lower: He didn't win last year but had his best overall season since 2004, finishing 14th on the money list and 23rd in scoring average. It's hard to see how he's going to get better, but it's easy to predict a return to 2005-07 when he earned less than $2 million. And Canada is not hosting the Presidents Cup this year so Weir might not be as determined to make the team as he was two years ago.Top 2008 finishes: Deutsche Bank Championship2, Memorial T-2, Mercedes-Benz Championship 4, Frys.com OpenT-4, RBC Canadian OpenT-5

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