Week 9 Power Rankings: Regions Charity Classic

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Editor's note: Vartan Kupelian is the Champions Tour Insider and a PGATOUR.COM Contributor. Each week, Kupelian will size up the field and provide his top 5 players going into the tournament, based on factors such as the player's strengths, the course setup, recent performances, etc.

Andy Bean is the defending champion for this week's Regions Charity Classic.

What's interesting is that, of the top-5 finishers in the tournament a year ago at the Robert Trent Jones Trail at Ross Bridge in Hoover, Ala., three have won in 2009 and two others have had runner-up finishes.

Bean has two second-place finishes this year -- at the season-opening event in Hawaii and the Cap Cana Championship in the Dominican Republic, where he tied for second.

Loren Roberts, the runner-up last year when he finished one shot behind Bean, won the ACE Group Classic in February.

Rounding out the top five last year in Alabama were Jeff Sluman, Mike Goodes and Bernhard Langer (T5). Sluman lost a playoff at the Liberty Mutuals Legends of Golf three weeks ago. Sluman and partner Craig Stadler were defeated on the second extra hole by the team of Langer and Tom Lehman.

Goodes won the Allianz Championship and Langer is the only two-time winner so far in 2009.

Based on their excellent form and success at Ross Bridge, those five will challenge for the title. Here are the new Champions Tour Power Rankings after the two-week layoff.

Power Rankings: Regions Charity Classic

Rank Player   Comment Bernhard LANGER Continues to hold down the top spot, as he has every week since the rankings were instituted. It's no surprise. He leads all the major statistical categories by comfortable margins, including the Charles Schwab Cup points, Money List and top 10 finishes (7 of 8). Andy BEAN The defending champion no doubt will have some excellent vibes on his return to Alabama. He is having an outstanding season. All that's missing is a victory and it would surprise nobody if he continued his stellar play and reached the winner's circle this week. Loren ROBERTS He's second on the Money List and in Charles Schwab Cup points. He likes Ross Bridge, where he shot a final-round 69 last year, including three crucial birdies on Nos. 14, 15 and 16. It wasn't quite enough, though, when Bean got up-and-down for par at No. 18. Joey SINDELAR Knock. Knock. That's Sindelar, another of the Tour's statistical leaders, at the door looking for his first victory. He's third on the Charles Schwab Cup points list, fourth on the money list and only Langer has more top-10 finishes than Sindelar's five in seven starts. Nick PRICE He's got some momentum and, with a couple of weeks off, he should be fresh and ready to build on the victory in Tampa. He is trending upwards and has moved into the top five on the money list and is sixth on the Charles Schwab Cup points list.