OWGR - Week#32

Amazing performance by Adam&Steve!!! Interviewing the caddy after a win was a first for me...
And Adam is getting a well deserved reward: #9 in the world!
But there were also some great performances from the youngsters Ishikawa, Day and Fowler together with
the Top ranked Europeans Luke, Lee and Rory. Rory is back to #4 while Tiger is slipping further down to #30.
Excellent week also for Mr. Kim K-T, which means now we have 2 Koreans in the top 20 in the world (and 3 in top 40)!
Sergio's been pushed outside top 50 following the great last round from Badds...
Here is how the top 70 owgr should look after week#32 (will wait for the finish in Reno for the latter part of the table)

1 Luke Donald
2 Lee Westwood
3 Martin Kaymer
4 Rory McIlroy
5 Steve Stricker
6 Phil Mickelson
7 Jason Day
8 Dustin Johnson
9 Adam Scott
10 Nick Watney
11 Matt Kuchar
12 Carl Schwartzel
13 Graeme McDowell
14 K.J. Choi
15 Bubba Watson
16 Paul Casey
17 Ian Poulter
18 Kim Kyung-Tae
19 David Toms
20 Robert Karlsson
21 Hunter Mahan
22 Martin Laird
23 Francesco Molinari
24 Retief Goosen
25 Jim Furyk
26 Alvaro Quiros
27 Ernie Els
28 Rickie Fowler
29 Zach Johnson
30 Tiger Woods
31 Matteo Manassero
32 Miguel Jimenez
33 Darren Clarke
34 Justin Rose
35 Bo Van Pelt
36 Louis Oosthuizen
37 Gary Woodland
38 Tim Clark
39 Y.E. Yang
40 Ryo Ishikawa
41 Ryan Moore
42 Geoff Ogilvy
43 Bill Haas
44 Peter Hanson
45 Anders Hansen
46 Edoardo Molinari
47 Brandt Snedeker
48 Robert Allenby
49 Simon Dyson
50 Aaron Baddeley
---------------------------
51 Sergio Garcia
52 Webb Simpson
53 Jonathan Byrd
54 Rory Sabbatini
55 Ryan Palmer
56 Fredrik Jacobsen
57 Lucas Glover
58 Mark Wilson
59 Ben Crane
60 Yuta Ikeda
61 Anthony Kim
62 Sean O'Hair
63 Ross Fisher
64 Thomas Bjorn
65 Charley Hoffman
66 J.B. Holmes
67 Jeff Overton
68 Vijay Singh
69 Padraig Harrington
70 Richard Green
...

Big leap for Fowler, but he played superbly this week and might have turned a corner. As might Ryo.

Great stuff pd

Thanks, kwini. I agree about Fowler...I'd be reluctant normally to say about someone that they turned the corner based on a single great performance, but as we know this has been the second very big event in a row where he really impressed. The fact that we're talking also about two such different events with totally different types of courses, totally different conditions, on different continents, etc. makes it even more impressive... But having said all that, those clothes....
A couple of days ago Doug Ferguson was wondering if Rickie may be forced to W/D from the USPGA, quoting one of AAC's dresscode rules which reads: "Hats or caps worn backward are not permitted in ANY section of the Club"

Well done to Scott Piercy who won the Reno-Tahoe in the end, and since the OWGR site is not yet updated, here is the reminder of the top 100 (ish) rankings after week#32:

...
71 Alexander Noren
72 Stephen Marino
73 Nicolas Colsaerts
74 Raphael Jacquelin
75 Hiroyuki Fujita
76 Robert Garrigus
77 Chris Kirk
78 Brendan Jones
79 Kevin Na
80 Jason Dufner
81 Spencer Levin
82 Camilo Villegas
83 Tetsuji Hiratsuka
84 Fredrik A. Hed
85 Stewart Cink
86 Charles Howell III
87 Scot Verplank
88 Angel Cabrera
89 Gregory Bourdy
90 Stephen Gallacher
91 Thomas Aiken
92 John Senden
93 Rickie Barnes
94 Pablo Larazabal
95 David Horsey
96 Davis Love III
97 Tommy Gainey
98 Brian Davis
99 Noh Seung-Yul
100 Johan Edfors
-------------------------------------
101 Brendan de Jonge
102 Jamie Donaldson
103 Anders Romero
....

kwini, forgot about this... Knox moves to #297.

!
Alas poor Trevor!!

Early days yet but I'd expect the owgr's will come in for some big-time reshuffling before the next (Dec 31st?) cut-off date. Five more high-ranking tournaments in the States, then Dunhill, HSBC, Dubai etc.

And I'd expect more Americans than usual to play "International" events as they seem to have figured out that you can't earn points if you don't play.

kwinigolfer wrote:And I'd expect more Americans than usual to play "International" events as they seem to have figured out that you can't earn points if you don't play.

I hope they will, because I for one can't see another short term solution for US players (not PGA Tour players in general) to earn sufficient points to maintain their current rankings, let alone to improve on that. And I'm talking obviously averages and totals here, as there may always be 2-3 US guys who will do very well.
There's been a lot of talk about a European Tour dominance (which in effect means EU and SA), but as last weeks results reminded us, it is going beyond that at the moment, with increasing advances made towards the top by Australian and Far East players, who are by enlarge PGA Tour members. So expect that the total of owgr points earned by native US players will continue to stagnate at best in the short to medium term. So, my advice for US players at the moment would be, get out more...!

"i want to be number 1 when i motor race and number 1 when i caddy"

lets hope its a first and last for interviewing caddies.

You'd have thought he'd been hitting the shots and Scott was carrying the clubs.

Hi pd,

Always look forward to your OWGR post. The most intriguing are the players that suddenly seem to take a plunge downward when the points incrementally fall away as time fades.

Rankings as of one year ago, ending Aug. 8, 2010: (vs. pd's list today)
1. Tiger Woods (30)
2. Phil Mickelson (6)
3. Lee Westwood (2)
4. Steve Stricker (5)
5. Jim Furyk (25)
6. Ernie Els (27)
7. Luke Donald (1)
8. Rory McIlroy (4)
9. Paul Casey (16)
10. Ian Poulter (17)
11. Graeme McDowell (13)
12. Hunter Mahan (21)
13. Martin Kaymer (3)
14. Anthony Kim (61)
15. Retief Goosen (24)
16. Padraig Harrington (69)
17. Robert Allenby (48)
18. Louis Oosthuizen (36)
19. Sean O'Hair (62)
20. Justin Rose (34)
21. Edoardo Molinari (46)
22. Ross Fisher (63)
23. Zach Johnson (29)
24. Matt Kuchar (11)
25. Tim Clark (38)
26. Henrik Stenson (129 - Official last week)
27. Camilo Villegas (82)
28. Lucas Glover (57)
29. Dustin Johnson (8)
30. Charl Schwartzel (12)
31. Nick Watney (10)
32. Geoff Ogilvy (42)
33. Y.E. Yang (39)
34. Robert Karlsson (20)
35. Rickie Fowler (28)
36. Miguel A. Jimenez (32)
37. Francesco Molinari (23)
38. Stewart Cink (85)
39. Kenny Perry (269 - Official last week)
40. Angel Cabrera (88)
41. Bo Van Pelt (35)
42. Alvaro Quiros (26)
43. Adam Scott (9)
44. Ryan Moore (41)
45. Jeff Overton (67)
46. Ben Crane (59)
47. K.J. Choi (14)
48. Peter Hanson (44)
49. Scott Verplank (87)
50. Sergio Garcia (51)

Of the Top 50 from one year ago, not a single player remained at the same ranking.

venice1 wrote: The most intriguing are the players that suddenly seem to take a plunge downward when the points incrementally fall away as time fades.

My tip for the next to suffer a Harrington-esque fall down the rankings is McDowell. He's been awful this season.

venice1 wrote:Always look forward to your OWGR post. The most intriguing are the players that suddenly seem to take a plunge downward when the points incrementally fall away as time fades.

Thanks venice - what you've noticed is quite true and it is something to be expected due to the typical distribution of the average points as you move down the ranking table.
This plot that I made recently should clarify that to some extent (hopefully)...

Spoiler:

It's interesting to note also that the magnitude of those changes that we notice (upwards or downwards) will be naturally higher as you move lower down the rankings, but that is also dependent on the relative dominance of the players at the very top of the rankings and in particular on the dominance of the world #1 player of the moment. In that plot, you can see a comparison of that normalised point distribution between the end of year 2000 (total Tiger dominance) and the present situation (Aug 2011). In other words, the more dominant the world #1 player is, the smaller are the relative point differentials between players lower down the ranks, hence the jumps/slumps seen will be more pronounced.
Hope you're still awake after all that...

Hi pd,

I realize that I'm partially blind visually and mentally, but the plot you have presented is not visible on my screen.

Strange venice, I can see it on my screen... Perhaps it's a step too far for what can be done within this board... Could you see the pictures from Killarney that I posted some days ago? They're basically the same type of file...

Sorry, pd.

But the only thing visible is a white long thin rectangular box containing the word: "SPOILER:" and a line underneath it running to the margin. I believe that was the same thing that appeared when you posted the pictures from Killarney. I thought "This word 'Spoiler:' with the line looks just like the fairway and green photos of Killlarney. No wonder the guys had trouble keeping it in the fairway and scoring. White grass, straight and long fairways with a narrow landing area that blends into a similar looking green." I wonder if anyone else can view your graphics.

Ahaaaa, I understand your problem....
Then venice, all you need to do is...click on it (i.e. the 'spoiler' bar) and magic will happen...

Click on spoiler venice, my feeble desktop reveals pd's pic's and graphic.

Thanks guys. That did the job. I'll go check the photos of Killarney later on.

Venice - it's just a way we allow people to post images while still keeping the board "work friendly". You have to physically click the "spoiler" to make the image visible - then people browsing at work don't get large graphics on the screen when people are potentially looking over their shoulder

Good tool, Davie. I wish I could do that to my clients when they're overlooking my shoulder while I'm editing their videos. I'd give them the old "spoiler" bar without the clicking capability.

Once again, Lee is the only one who could threaten Luke's #1 position this week. He can regain #1 spot only with a win, and if Luke finishes outside the top 10.

Kaymer, Rory and Stricker can get as high as #2, while Kuchar and the others above him could move as high as #3. If Tiger wins, he can jump to #7 at best...

And if Scotty wins this week, it'll be Stevie's best win EVER... again!

PD - can you settle an argument discussion for me please - what was Darren Clarke's ranking before and after his Open victory?

Davie, he jumped from #111 to #30 that week...

Cheers PD - looks like I've lost a pint on that "discussion"!! I thought he was much lower than 111

kwini's neighbour, Keegan Bradley, is in a similar position this week. He could jump from #108 to as high as #28...

pd,
On the subject of rookie winners from New England, Scott Stallings is getting a lot of good press following his Greenbrier win. I loved the way he emptied a box of brand new balls and lobbed them into the Firestone crowd after his final round on Sunday. (Wonder if they were Bridgestones?)
Whatever, good for him.

A few owgr projections for those 'non top 10' that are currently at the top of the LB, in case of a win:

- DA Points could move as high as ~#28
- S Verplank -------------------- ~#18
- K Bradley --------------------- ~#29
- B Steele ---------------------- ~#35
- J Dufner ---------------------- ~#19
- A Hansen --------------------- ~#15
- J Senden --------------------- ~#26
- D Toms ----------------------- ~#7

Tiger will be out of the top 30!
Hoping for the Mechanic to move up a notch from where he is now, so he can get ahead of Tiger as well...

Very likely that Stricker will leapfrog Kaymer and McIlroy, hate to see that Euro top four broken up.

Yup, Stricker is already ahead of those two as it stands at the moment...

Ikeda-san to win it !!