Originally Published: February 24, 2004
Hot List: Weir No. 1; Daly, Woods on the move
Past Hot Lists: Week 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
ESPN.com ranks the 20 hottest golfers based on their finish in their last five PGA Tour events (early in the year, players will obviously have played fewer than five tournaments), with the latest tournament weighted heaviest and decreasing values for the previous four. For players who split time between the PGA Tour and Europe, we count only their latest two European finishes (indicated by an asterisk), giving it the weight of a weaker PGA Tour stop.
- Gaining momentum
- Losing ground
| Hot List (through the Nissan Open) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rk | Player | Recent Results | Comment | |
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|
Mike Weir | Pebble: T4 FBR: T5 Bob Hope: T41 Mercedes: 24 |
He earned his first win since The Masters despite blowing a seven-stroke lead late Sunday. He's one of four top seeds at this week's Accenture Match Play. |
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2 |
John Daly | Buick Inv.: 1 FBR: T54 Bob Hope: T30 |
He followed up his first victory in nearly nine years with another great showing at Riviera, and heads a weak field in Tucson this week. Another top-5 finish would make him a virtual lock to qualify for The Masters. |
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3 | Ernie Els | *Walker: T10 Sony: 1 Mercedes: T21 |
He decided to skip the Match Play after all, opting to stay home while his daughter begins school. He'll return next week in Dubai, an event that will also include Tiger. |
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Phil Mickelson | Pebble: 3 FBR: T7 Bob Hope: 1 |
Mickelson is a No. 2 seed at the Accenture Match Play, where he faces a couple of tough matches -- Lee Westwood and potentially Charles Howell III -- to start off. | |
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|
Vijay Singh | Buick Inv.: Cut Pebble: 1 FBR: T3 Sony: T10 |
After 12 straight top-10s Singh's cooled off a bit, finishing out of the top 20 in two straight tournaments. |
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6 |
Stuart Appleby | Buick Inv.: T40 *Heineken: T16 Sony: Cut Mercedes: 1 |
A second-round 64 and a Sunday 66 carried him to his second top-3 finish of the season at Riviera. |
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7 |
Shigeki Maruyama | Buick Inv.: T4 FBR: T63 Sony: T41 Mercedes: T15 |
Maruyama enters this week's Match Play Championship on a roll, though he faces a potential second-round matchup with Tiger Woods. |
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8 |
Jonathan Kaye | Buick Inv.: T30 FBR: 1 Bob Hope: 4 Sony: T54 |
Just one of Kaye's six rounds since winning the FBR Open has been under par. |
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|
Jeff Maggert | Pebble: 2 FBR: Cut Sony: Cut |
After posting just two top-10s in all of '03, he now has two straight after opening the year with two missed cuts. |
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Chris Riley | FBR: T33 Bob Hope: T9 Sony: T20 |
One of the tour's best putters missed a five-footer that would have extended the Buick playoff with Daly. He later said he would have "bet my life on that putt." | |
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|
Chris DiMarco | FBR: 2 Bob Hope: Cut |
In his first tournament in almost a month, DiMarco couldn't carry the momentum from his runner-up finish at the FBR. |
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Luke Donald | Buick Inv.: T2 Pebble: T17 FBR: Cut Sony: T20 |
Still off to by far the best start of his young career despite a disappointing finish at Riviera. |
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Tiger Woods | Buick Inv.: T10 Mercedes: T4 |
Tiger had his driver working at Riviera, though his iron-game didn't click until his final-round 64. |
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Kirk Triplett | Pebble: T14 FBR: Cut Hope: T9 Mercedes: 6 |
Triplett has been in the top 14 in four of his first five events. He pulled out of this week's Match Play to go to a friend's wedding. |
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Adam Scott | *Walker: T35 Sony: Cut Mercedes: 7 |
A year after nearly tackling Tiger in the Match Play semifinals, Scott is back at La Costa to give it another go. | |
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Davis Love III |
Sony: 3 Mercedes: T9 |
Love returns from a brief layoff at the Accenture Match Play, where he'll be one of the four top seeds. | |
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17 | Retief Goosen | Bob Hope: T26 Sony: T10 Mercedes: T4 |
Goosen is looking to avenge last year's first-round ouster at the Accenture Match Play. |
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Jesper Parnevik | Buick Inv.: T4 Pebble: T7 FBR: T49 Hope: T5 |
Parnevik was on track for another top-10 finish at the Nissan before a Saturday 83 threw him far off-course. | |
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Duffy Waldorf | FBR: T5 Bob Hope: T20 Sony: T36 |
Waldorf withdrew from last week's Nissan Open, but he's back in action this week at the Accenture Match Play. | |
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|
Steve Flesch | Buick Inv.: T16 FBR: T3 Bob Hope: T16 Sony: Cut |
Flesch hangs on to the bottom spot on the Hot List after a disappointing showing at Riviera. |
Just missed the top 20: Thomas Bjorn, Jay Haas, Bo Van Pelt, Justin Leonard, Darren Clarke, Hank Kuehne, Tom Pernice Jr., Bob Tway, Briny Baird, Ben Crane.
Dropped out of the top 20: Bjorn (6), Haas (19).
