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It Still is Tiger's Tour
Pre-season PGA Tour rankings: Golf World's top 30 for 2009
- #28 Stephen Ames
Age: 44 Joined PGA Tour: 1998
2008 PGA earnings: $2,285,707 (27)
World Rank: 37 PGA Tour wins: 3
Majors: None
Defining 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 Championship 3, Crowne Plaza Invitational 4, Players 5, BMW Championship T-5, Valero Texas Open T-6
- #29 Dustin Johnson
Age: 24 Joined PGA Tour: 2008
2008 PGA earnings: $1,789,895 (42)
World Rank: 145 PGA Tour wins: 1
Majors: None
Defining 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 Open T-15
- #30 Mike Weir
Age: 38 Joined PGA Tour: 1998
2008 PGA earnings: $3,020,135 (14)
World Rank: 22 PGA Tour wins: 8
Majors: 2003 Masters
Defining 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 Championship 2, Memorial T-2, Mercedes-Benz Championship 4, Frys.com Open T-4, RBC Canadian Open T-5
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