Week 28 Power Rankings: 138th British Open

text size

EDITOR'S NOTE: Officially, Mike Vitti is the Director of Research and Development in the TOUR's Marketing Department. Unofficially, he's a stats guru who analyzes all kinds of data from our ShotLink numbers.

Vitti will size up the field each week and provide his top 10 players going into the tournament, based on factors such as the player's strengths, the course setup, recent performances, etc.

Without ShotLink data for the course (or half the field for that matter), the standard power ranking analysis falls by the wayside. There are not even basic statistics beyond scoring available for the three years that Turnberry has hosted an Open Championship.

So this week's rankings rely heavily on performance both at the majors and in recent results tempered slightly by some core statistics when available.

So, with out further delay, here are the rankings.

Power Rankings: British Open

Rank Player   Comment Tiger WOODS Each of the three times Turnberry has hosted the Open, the best golfer in the world at the time was the winner. Odds are good that Woods will continue this streak. It doesn't hurt that Woods has has firsts or seconds in 10 of his last 16 major starts. Sergio GARCIA Garcia tied for 10th at the U.S. Open and has finished in the top-five in three of the last four Opens. While Garcia finished outside the top 100 in putts per GIR on the PGA TOUR in 2008, he ranked seventh in the same category on the European Tour. Steve STRICKER Stricker has two wins in four starts and seven top-10s this season. He has top-10s at each of the last two Opens and top-25s in eight of his last 12 majors. He also enters this week in the top 15 in GIR, putts per GIR and scrambling. Paul CASEY Casey has cooled off, tying for 63rd and missing two cuts in his last three TOUR starts, but he had a top-10 at the '08 Open and has top-10s in five of his last seven starts in Europe. Ian POULTER Poulter was second last year and should be in the mix again. Second in scrambling and 10th in sand save percentage, Poulter's short game has been excellent all year, and he has top-25s in nine of his last 15 major starts. Rory McILROY McIlroy has made three major starts, hasn't missed a cut and has improved his finish each time; the latest a T10 at Bethpage. Averaging 300+ yards off the tee, McIlroy can hit it long, but his above-average distance of putts made shows he has short game. Martin KAYMER Winner of the last two European Tour events, Kaymer is going for a third. Four missed cuts in six career majors show Kaymer has not been his best at big events, but he enters this one in the top 30 on his Tour in GIR, putts per GIR, and putts per round. Henrik STENSON Starting with last year's Open, Stenson has top-10s in three of four majors. With wins at THE PLAYERS in '09 and the Accenture Match Play Championship in '07, he has shown he can compete against the world's elite. Geoff OGILVY Ogilvy tied for 13th at the Scottish Open, giving him two top-15s in his last three starts. He has missed the cut in each of his last two Opens, but he was in the top 20 the two prior years at this event. Ogilvy is 10th on TOUR in putts per GIR. Padraig HARRINGTON Winning the last two Opens will get you into the Power Rankings, but Harrington has not played up to his usual standard in '09. He has missed his last five cuts in events where he would have earned world ranking points and hasn't had a top-10 all year.