Week 21 Power Rankings: SAS Championship

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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.

Eduardo Romero is the defending champion at this week's SAS Championship at Prestonwood Country Club in Cary, N.C.

Bernhard Langer, who continues to lead the money list, will be absent for another week until the Constellation Energy Senior Players Championship. Langer tied for fifth in defense of his title last week at the Casa Serena Open in Prague. Jay Haas, winner last week at the Greater Hickory Classic, is also absent but Loren Roberts returns after taking a week off.

The field also features Fred Funk and the four golfers who finished directly behind Haas last week -- runners-up Andy Bean and Russ Cochran; and the golfers who tied for fourth, Hal Sutton and Nick Price, the second-round co-leader.

Cochran is making the most of his chance this year. After earning provisional qualifying status on the Champions Tour to start the season, the left-hander earned exempt status by virtue of a third-place finish at the U.S. Senior Open.

This week's Power Rankings for the SAS Championship:

Power Rankings: SAS Championship

Rank Player   Comment Loren ROBERTS Look at what he's done since April -- nine top-6s in 11 events, including U.S. Senior Open and Boeing Classic wins to go with an earlier triumph at The ACE Group Classic. He's first in putting average and sand save percentage and fifth in All-Around stats. Fred FUNK Last week's T12 cost him a chance to gain valuable ground in the Charles Schwab Cup race on the absent Roberts and Langer. Funk's still leads by 57 points, though a two-stroke penalty in Round 1 for inadvertently using Mike Goodes' club cost Funk 49 points. Andy BEAN He showed some of the form in Hickory that made him such an early-season threat. The T2 behind Haas was his fourth runner-up of the year, and the first since July. Bean's timing is excellent -- he's returning this week to a course where he had a T2 last year. Nick PRICE He's No. 2 in the All-Around category and his ball-striking has been excellent. He's also No. 2 in total driving (combination of distance and accuracy). He's eighth in two other categories - scoring average (69.97) and greens in regulation (72.69 percent). Hal SUTTON Sunday's 7-under 65 enabled him to post his third top-five finish (T4) of '09 and moved him to No. 29 on the money list. He also finished fifth at the Boeing Classic in August. He is seventh in greens in regulation, ninth in driving distance and 10th in total driving.