Week 15 Power Rankings: Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic

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Jul. 6, 2009

Editor's note: Adam Wallace is a media assistant for the Nationwide Tour. Each week, Wallace will size up the field and provide his top five players going into the tournament, based on factors such as the player's strengths, the course setup, recent performances, etc. | POWER RANKINGS: John Deere Classic | 3M Championship

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The Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic is played on two courses, Georgian Bay Club (Thursday-Sunday) and Raven Golf Club (Thursday and Friday), just a couple of hours north of Toronto, Canada. All 160 professionals play each course once before the cut on Friday; the low 60 and ties compete at Georgian Bay for the final two rounds.

Of the 33 courses played on the Nationwide Tour in 2008, Georgian Bay Club (10th) and Raven Golf Club (first) ranked in the top 10 for easiest courses played. Though Raven GC was only played once by each player, the par-72 course averaged 69.582 and yielded only 308 bogeys. The field hit the fairway 77.47 percent of the time, the greens 77.67 percent, and they averaged 299.8 yards off the tee in last year's Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic. Through the Nationwide Tour Players Cup in 2009, those numbers are 69.88 percent, 69.35 percent and 288.7 yards respectively.

Last year, Justin Hicks won the inaugural event by defeating Casey Wittenberg with a par on the first playoff hole. Hicks ranked third in putting (1.684), second in birdies (averaged six birdies each round) and first in par-4 birdie or better category (made birdie or better 34.15 percent on par 4s).

If the weather is as good as it was last year, look for scores to be low this week.

Power Rankings: Ford Wayne Gretzky Classic
Rank Player   Comment
Tom
GILLIS
He's No. 1 in par breakers and scoring average, and he won our last event, the Nationwide Tour Players Cup. In the 20 rounds Gillis has played this year, he's shot over par just twice.
Roger
TAMBELLINI
He has five top-25 finishes this year, including a T2 at the Nationwide Tour Players Cup two weeks ago. He's eighth in All-Around Ranking and birdie average (4.10), too.
Jeff
GOVE
Gove has made eight consecutive cuts while posting three top-10 finishes. Despite a final-round 75 at the Nationwide Tour Players Cup, he still tied for seventh.
Jon
MILLS
Mills is playing in his own backyard this week. This local favorite has four top-25 finishes so far this year.
Garrett
OSBORN
Osborn has struggled for the most part of this year, but he's made the last two cuts in a row, tying for 24th (Fort Smith) and 22nd (Players Cup). Last year, he fired a final-round 62 to capture the clubhouse lead for three hours but ended up tying for third.
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