Golf Power Rankings
What we've got here is ... failure to communicate.
The preceding line was first uttered in the movie "Cool Hand Luke," which -- contrary to popular belief -- was not the tale of young Mr. Donald's initial PGA Tour victory at the 2002 Southern Farm Bureau Classic.
In this instance, however, the message has nothing to do with seven-year-old golf tournaments or eating raw eggs. Instead, it's a failure to communicate between the ESPN.com Power Ranking staff and you, dear readers. Believe it or not, the comments at the bottom of this page are read diligently each month, and it appears there's some confusion among the fans about the task at hand.
Allow me to clear up some common misconceptions: The Power Ranking is not a measure of each golfer's career accomplishments. (That's why the Official World Golf Ranking exists.) It's not a barometer of how a player has fared throughout this season. (That's why there's a money list … er, FedEx Cup list.) And it's not a showcase of overall talent and potential. (That's why they play the tournaments.)
No, each month's Power Ranking should be used to demonstrate the hierarchy on the PGA Tour using recent results. Sure, it will date back more than just the past month, but fresher finishes carry more weight than those which are now dated.
Is it an inexact science? Absolutely. Should it spark debate throughout the masses? Definitely. But let's keep in mind just exactly what the conjecture is all about, so we don't suffer a communication breakdown once again.
-- Jason Sobel
| 2009 Power Rankings: June | |||||
| RK | PLAYER | COMMENT | |||
 | 1 | I wish PGA Tour members had to cast a vote for Player of the Half-Year. In most seasons it would be an exercise in excess, but this time there'd be an intriguing battle between two-time winner Mickelson and the No. 2 man on this list. | |||
 | 2 | Has the bar officially been raised too high? After closing with three consecutive rounds in the 60s at the U.S. Open, the prevailing query surrounding the world's top-ranked player afterward was ''What's wrong with Tiger?'' | |||
 | 3 | Nothing about his down-home demeanor suggests he'd be a steely-eyed adversary during crunch time, but the soon-to-be 49-year-old is an all-world closer, as evidenced by his five victories in the past 13 months. | |||
 | 4 | Last Monday, he won the U.S. Open. On Tuesday, he did ''Letterman.'' On Wednesday, he was hit in the face with a shaving-cream pie, courtesy of Johnson Wagner. And on Thursday, he was honoring his commitment to the Travelers Championship, ending what must have been a grueling week in a share of 11th place. | |||
 | 5 | After so many close calls this season, he finally broke through with a win at Colonial. Don't be surprised if he secures a few more trophies by the time September is over. | |||
 | 6 | When he wins, he wins big. Gay's two wins this year have come by a combined 15 strokes. By comparison, Woods' past four stroke-play titles have been by a total of three shots (four if you count his sudden-death playoff win at last year's U.S. Open as a single stroke). | |||
 | 7 | He's baaack! After pulling just one top-10 finish in 2008, Toms owns seven already this year, including a trio of runner-up results. | |||
 | 8 | Only three players have finished in the top-10 at each of the year's first two majors. Two of 'em are Woods and Mickelson. The other is Mahan. | |||
 | 9 | Really good players can contend when the golf course suits their game. Great players can contend on any venue, any week. O'Hair is fast becoming a great player. | |||
 | 10 | It's a testament to his consistency that he hasn't won a tourney in 44 starts -- his longest stretch since 1997-98 -- but remains a force on this list. | |||
 | 11 | Too often we see a first-time major winner suffer after claiming the big one (see: Immelman, Trevor). The 2007 Masters champ, though, is actually a better player now than he was back then. | |||
 | 12 | The Players Championship winner was a solo ninth at the U.S. Open and has to be on the short list of favorites at the upcoming British Open. | |||
 | 13 | What have you done for me lately? The only three-time major tour winner so far this season hasn't broken 70 since the end of May. | |||
 | 14 | Recent results all show a similar decline: The little lefty starts strong, but fades on the weekend. That's unbecoming of an eight-time PGA Tour champ. | |||
 | 15 | Parlaying the 18-, 36- and 54-hole leads into a third-place finish at the BMW International Open this past weekend was a only a minor misstep in what has been a bounce-back campaign. | |||
 | 16 | The all-everything amateur is injury-free and starting to rack up some strong results, with a pair of top-10s following three MCs. | |||
 | 17 | Owns three finishes of sixth or better in his past eight starts -- and might have been in line for a fourth before a final-round 8-over 78 at the U.S. Open. | |||
 | 18 | After a long layoff from the leaderboards, AK contends his ball-striking is better than ever, which just happens to coincide with a return to Congressional, where he won a year ago. | |||
 | 19 | Last season's Nationwide Tour Player of the Year is finally starting to come into his own, with a pair of top-10s in his past three starts, including a strong performance at Bethpage Black. | |||
 | 20 | After a pair of early-season wins, he's looked extraordinarily ordinary in failing to post a top-five since claiming the Match Play on March 1. | |||
