By Tom LaMarre, The Sports Xchange
The Sports Xchange's PGA Tour rankings, selected by TSX Golf Staff, are based on results from 2009 and 2010 — with more emphasis on recent performance.

1. Tiger Woods, United States:

Everyone wants to know where the best golfer in the world is and when he is going to play again on the PGA Tour. Woods has virtually disappeared since admitting to having affairs with several women and taking an "indefinite" leave from tournament golf. Various Internet sites have claimed he is in New York, California, Arizona, the Bahamas, Sweden, Africa and several locations in Florida. There has been speculation that he will sit out until March or The Masters in April or even the entire season, but nobody knows for sure, perhaps not even Woods. The only certain thing is that we won't know until he wants us to. One day last week, stories by two respected writers appeared online, offering exactly opposite opinions. One declared that he expected Tiger was coming back sooner rather than later because this is a season in which he can close in on Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles. Woods is all about the majors, the writer opined, so he will not be able to pass on events at three of his favorite courses — Augusta National, Pebble Beach and St. Andrews. The other writer claimed that was his opinion until recent days, when conversations with other members of the PGA Tour convinced him that Woods will stay away until he has his marriage with wife Elin heading in the right direction again. Those who insist he will come back early continue to point toward the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, the Arnold Palmer Invitational or The Masters at the latest.

2. Phil Mickelson, United States:

While so many questions swirl around when we will see Tiger Woods on the golf course again, almost everyone is assuming Mickelson will begin his PGA Tour season in the San Diego Invitational at Torrey Pines, his hometown event, in two weeks. The schedule page at philmickelson.com still has not been updated. In fact, the only new item on the website is a story trumpeting the fact that Lefty's 18-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the 2004 Masters was selected as the "Best Moment of the Decade" on a vote of viewers on the Golf Channel. Mickelson punctuated the first of his three major titles with a spread-eagled leap in which he might have gotten as much as three inches off the ground. His magic moment received 32% of the vote, winning by one percentage point over Tiger Woods' 12-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation in the 2008 U.S. Open to force a playoff that he won the next day over Rocco Mediate. While Torrey Pines is the smart guess as to when Mickelson will return, his participation on the PGA Tour again will be dictated by the continued recoveries of his wife, Amy, and mother, Mary, from breast cancer surgeries last year. If Woods plays an abbreviated schedule or skips the season entirely, Lefty would be the favorite to climb to No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings, lead the money list and perhaps win the Vardon Trophy. He has never achieved any of those goals.

3. Padraig Harrington, Ireland:

Paddy had a little something extra to celebrate over New Year's when he was selected "Ireland's best-ever Sportsperson" in a vote open to anyone in the Emerald Isle, beating out soccer legend George Best. While their were some howls of protest from some purists in the media who don't consider golf a sport, Harrington's selection might have something to do with the fact that he claimed three major championships in recent years. Sports fans, particularly the younger generation, have short memories, and that might have hurt Best's chances. Harrington spent one afternoon during the holidays spearheading a charity sale Saturday in the Dundrum Town Centre near his home in Dublin, helping raise funds for the John O'Shea GOAL Charity, which feeds the poor around the world. Many pieces of golf memorabilia that Harrington has collected during his career were sold, helping push the total raised during the day to 70,000 Euros. Padraig, always cooperative with fans and media, spent nearly seven hours signing autographs and posing for pictures. He continues to work in his annual winter training regimen with instructor Bob Torrance, who reworked the Irishman's swing during this stretch last year. Harrington spent a few days at the Titleist Performance Institute when he was in California last month for the Chevron World Challenge and will be back in the Golden State to open his 2010 season in the Northern Trust Open at Riviera in the first week of February. That probably means he will play the following week at Pebble Beach, site of the U.S. Open in June.

4. Steve Stricker, United States:

By the time Stricker shook off the rust his game picked up in chilly Wisconsin during the holidays it was too late, but he rallied nicely on the weekend to finish in a tie for 10th in the SBS Championship. He is hanging around in the islands this week to play in the Sony Open in Hawaii for the 11th time; his best finish in the Honolulu event was solo third in 1996. Strick tied for fourth at Waialae in 2007 and 2008 before finishing in a tie for 23rd last year, and he has posted 13 consecutive rounds of par or better on the layout near Diamond Head. He opened with 73-70 last week on the Plantation Course, not a bad start for the year but one that left him with too much ground to make up as the leaders went low in benign conditions on Maui. He rallied with a 68 in tougher conditions when the Kona Wind picked up on Saturday and closed with a brilliant 66 that included birdies on four of the last six holes. Stricker was even par through his first 29 holes of the tournament but cruised through the last 43 holes in a spotless 15-under. He recorded five bogies through No. 11 in round two and none the rest of the way. Stricker's ball-striking was consistent all week as he hit in the neighborhood of 80% of the fairways and greens, but the difference was on the greens. He needed 66 putts in the first two rounds before regaining his normal touch and taking 54 on the weekend.

5. Geoff Ogilvy, Australia:

There's something about those Aussies at Kapalua. Stuart Appleby captured what was then the Mercedes Championship three consecutive times through 2006 and Ogilvy made it two in succession on the Plantation Course when he held off Rory Sabbatini, who closed with a 63, in the SBS Championship last week. Ogilvy became the seventh player to win the opener in two consecutive years, joining Appleby, Gene Littler, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson and Lanny Wadkins. Only Littler and Appleby have won three in a row. Instead of going for the Hawaiian double, pulled off only by Ernie Els in 2003, Ogilvy is flying home to Arizona this week and will not play in the Sony Open in Hawaii. But he's not staying home for long even though his wife, Juli, will give birth to their third child in about six weeks. Ogilvy is going halfway around the world next week to play in the Abu Dhabi Championship. Last week at Kapalua, Ogilvy pulled away from 54-hole leader and playing partner Lucas Glover by shooting 3-under-par 33 on the front nine in the final round. Then he looked at the leaderboard and saw he was trailing Sabbatini, who was torching the Plantation Course for 10 birdies, including six in a row beginning at No. 9. But Ogilvy did not panic, made the three birdies he needed to regain the lead and held on for his seventh victory on the PGA Tour by closing with three rock-solid pars. His ball-striking was very good, and he led the field with an average of 28.8 putts per round and a putting average of 1.639.

6. Zach Johnson, United States:

Johnson was the only player to finish in the top 10 of both Hawaii events on the PGA Tour last year but will be unable to duplicate that when he defends his title this week in the Sony Open in Hawaii because he finished 18th in the SBS Championship. He will be playing at Waialae for the fifth time and never came close to contending before winning a year ago — he tied for 32nd in 2008, tied for 47th in 2005 and missed the cut in 2004. Zach posted four rounds in the 60s and made five birdies in the last 11 holes to hold off David Toms and Adam Scott in 2009 at Waialae. It was his second victory in a span of five events; he captured the Valero Texas Open during the Fall Series in October to salvage a disappointing 2008 season. Johnson's ball-striking was spot-on last week at the Plantation Course, where he hit 42 of 56 fairways and 63 of 72 greens in regulation to rank in the top 10 in both categories. However, he never figured out the grain on the spacious, undulating greens at Kapalua. Johnson finished near the bottom of the field by averaging 31.3 putts per round and took at least 30 each day, including 34 in round one. He should find the relatively small greens at Waialae much more to his liking. Johnson posted bogey-free rounds of 69 on Friday and 68 on Sunday at Kapalua but carded five bogeys and a double bogey in his other 36 holes.

7. Sean O'Hair, United States:

O'Hair was in the hunt all the way to the finish in the SBS Championship, but instead of being pleased with his tie for fourth in the opener he left Kapalua with a bit of a sour taste in his mouth because of his final hole. He needed an eagle on the par-5 18th on the Plantation Course to tie for the lead with Geoff Ogilvy, who was playing behind him, and perhaps force a playoff. After pounding his drive 368 yards down the hill, O'Hair went for the green but yanked his approach into the cavern next to the green and finished with a double bogey. Still, when he sits down this week, O'Hair will find several positives that he can take into the Sony Open in Hawaii. He will be playing at Waialae for the fifth time, having posted his best finish by far last year, when he closed with three rounds of 68 or better and tied for 12th. O'Hair, who could be on the verge of major stardom, was bogey-free in the final round last week until his final-hole miscue and sprinkled seven birdies over his first 16 holes. His game was sharp from the first shot of the season — he opened with 68-67, making an eagle each day, before posting a solid 71 in the breezy conditions of the third round. Eventually, he equaled the fourth-place finish he posted last year at Kapalua after finishing 27th in his inaugural appearance in the tournament in 2006. O'Hair took 34 putts on Thursday but averaged a respectable 28.3 the rest of the way.

8. Jim Furyk, United States:

Furyk's non-winning streak on the PGA Tour goes back to the 2007 Canadian Open, an 0-for-54 funk that is the second-longest in his career, which dates to 1994. If he keeps giving himself chances, as he has by finishing in the top 10 on 20 occasions the last two years, he is almost certain to break through at some point. Furyk will turn 40 in May and, judging by the success of Vijay Singh, Kenny Perry and Steve Stricker after reaching the big 4-0, this is another guy who should continue to be a winner for several more seasons. OK, so where should we look for him to have the best chances to return to the winner's circle this season? On a quick scan of his resume, Las Vegas right jumps right out because three of his 13 victories on the circuit have come in Sin City, in 1995, 1998 and 1999, and he finished in the top 10 four other times. However, the Justin Timberlake Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Vegas is not part of the regular season, and Furyk played in it last year for the first time since 2006, tying for fourth, only because it was on the way home to Florida from the Presidents Cup in San Francisco. This year, the tournament is scheduled for late October, three weeks after the Ryder Cup, so it is questionable if he will be in the field. The only other event he has won more than once is the Canadian Open, which he captured in 2006 and 2007, so that might be his best bet. His first event will be the Northern Trust Open at Riviera the first week of February.

9. Lucas Glover, United States:

The U.S. Open champion, who came from behind in the final round at Bethpage Black to win his first major championship last June, obviously is not very comfortable playing with the lead. Glover held the 54-hole lead for only the second time in his career last week in the SBS Championship, and the results of those two final rounds were pretty much the same. He shot 80 in the final round of the Bob Hope Classic in 2007 to fall to a tie for 13th, and at Kapalua he closed with a 76 to wind up in a tie for 14th. Luke will move on to the Sony Open in Hawaii this week hoping to build on the fact that he led after each of the first three rounds on the Plantation Course, but he has not fared so well is his two appearances at Waialae. He tied for 64th in 2004 and shot 71-77 two years later to miss the cut. Glover was battling playing partner and eventual winner Geoff Ogilvy for the lead early in the final round last week before the wheels came off. The Plantation Course is perhaps the widest on the PGA Tour, but if you hit your ball into the knee-high Hawaiian grasses that surround it, you have almost no chance to recover. Glover did that on consecutive holes, took penalty strokes and lost three shots that ended his chances. He played brilliant golf in starting 66-65 to stand alone at 15-under-par, but he played his last 36 holes in 1-over. Glover needed only 56 putts in the first two rounds but totaled a whopping 71 on the weekend.

10. Kenny Perry, United States:

Perry is one of only two players who teed it up in the season-opening SBS Championship but did not take the short flight over to Oahu for the Sony Open in Hawaii this week. He has played in the event at Waialae on 14 occasions and finished in the top 20 only when he tied for 16th in 1998, so he figured he would be better off flying home to Kentucky and taking the week off. Perry also wants to rest up because he will be flying to the Middle East for the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters in two weeks. KP started his season last week with a solid tie for sixth at Kapalua, making a run at the leaders with three consecutive birdies on the front nine and six overall in the final round — but none after the 14th hole. He had at least five birdies every day and ranked third with 25 for the week, but he spoiled a first round of 70 with a double bogey and carded four bogeys in the first 10 holes of a windy Saturday or he might have been right there on Sunday. Perry hit 42 of 56 fairways and 62 of 72 greens in regulation to rank in the top 10 of both categories, but he was another player who ran afoul of the tricky greens on the Plantation Course. He averaged 30.3 putts per round, taking fewer than 30 only when he had 29 in round one. It wasn't all that bad, tied for 13th in the field, but even a little better and he could have challenged winner Geoff Ogilvy.

11. Stewart Cink, United States:

The British Open champion was solid but not spectacular all week in the SBS Championship and finished ninth in the opener before moving on to the Sony Open in Hawaii, hoping to change his luck at Waialae. He has played in the Honolulu event seven times previously but missed the cut in four of those appearances and tied for 32nd last year. Cink did tie for fifth at Waialae in 2005, when he closed with a 65, and tied for 10th the following year. He tied for fifth in the field last week with 24 birdies, but his eight bogeys and a double bogey kept him from going any lower than his opening 68 on a week when the scoreboard was awash in red numbers. Cink was especially frustrated on the weekend, when he made a total of 15 birdies but could post scores of only 69-70 because he made six bogeys and the double. He tied for second in the field by hitting 64 of 72 greens in regulation but could not get the job done on the greens. Cink averaged 30.3 putts per round and took fewer than 30 when he had 29 in round three. He said his goal for this season is not to focus on winning another major title but to improve on the weaknesses in his game. He knows he can start with his putting, which hasn't been very good since he led the PGA Tour in putting average in 2004 while using the long putter. Cink believes he is more consistent with a standard putter, which he used to win last year at Turnberry.

12. Sergio Garcia, Spain:

There still is no word on the outcome of a visit to a specialist whom Garcia was supposed to see about a nagging hand injury that he suffered during his final tournament of 2009, the Dubai World Championship, in November. El Nino suffered a sprained wrist during the third round and still has discomfort radiating into his right hand, which left him unable to practice during his holiday break. Sergio said it has caused him to worry that he will not be able to start the new season as planned in the Abu Dhabi Championship on the European Tour next week. He was No. 2 in the World Golf Rankings early last season with a chance to overtake Tiger Woods but stumbled through a disappointing season, only to once again have a chance to make a move with Woods sidelined. Garcia again is expected to make his U.S. season debut in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in March, providing the hand injury does not become a long-term problem. That would be more bad news for golf, to lose one of its top personalities with its best player already on the sidelines for the second time in the last three seasons. Garcia turned 30 last week, and the best birthday gift he could have gotten was a clean bill of health from the doctor. Even though he has had a solid career until now, you would have to say his play to this point has been a little disappointing based on what was expected of him as a teenager. However, everyone must remember that Phil Mickelson, who has three major titles, did not win his first until age 33.

13. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland:

Golf's latest wunderkind will be making his first full foray on the PGA Tour this season, and his proposed schedule at rorymcilroy.com indicates he will follow the lead of many European Tour players who also have membership on the U.S. circuit. He plans to open his season by playing twice on the Middle East Swing, at the Commercial Bank Abu Dhabi Golf Championship in two weeks and the Omega Dubai Desert Classic two weeks later, before making the trip across the Atlantic. The schedule indicates that the 20-year-old Irishman will play for the first time this season at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship near Tucson in the middle of February, and he will follow that up by playing three of the four legs on the Florida Swing in March. He lists the Honda Classic in Palm Beach Gardens, the WGC-CA Championship in Miami and the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Orlando, skipping only the Transitions Championship near Tampa. Don't be surprised if he also makes Florida his home base away from home, as most of the Europeans do when spending long stretches in the U.S. McIlroy's schedule indicates he will play eight events on the PGA Tour through May, including the Masters and the Players Championship, before returning to Europe for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, outside of London. He tied for third in the Dubai World Championship in November, his last individual event of 2009, before teaming with Graeme McDowell to give Ireland a runner-up finish in the World Cup of Golf in China. McIlroy withdrew from the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa last month because of a virus.

14. Vijay Singh, Fiji:

After missing the season opener at Kapalua for the first time in eight years, Singh will make his 2010 debut this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The Big Fijian failed to win on the PGA Tour last season for the first time since 2001, but if he can shake off the rust quickly after undergoing a second knee surgery in November, Waialae might be a good spot for him to return to the winner's circle. Singh will be playing in the Sony for the 13th time but missed it last season for the first time since 2001 because he needed surgery on his right knee after aggravating a nagging injury by walking the hilly Plantation Course. He has not had overwhelming success in the second event of the year but has finished in the top 10 four times, including a one-stroke victory over Ernie Els in 2005. Singh, who was No. 1 in the World Golf Rankings at the time, posted four rounds in the 60s and made a two-putt birdie on the 18th hole for his margin of victory to hold off Els, who capped a 65 with an eagle. Singh admitted that he came back too soon from his first knee surgery last year, which might have led to his sub-par season. However, Singh is one of the hardest workers on the PGA Tour and figures to be in top shape after a two-month rehab when he shows up in the islands. Singh holds the PGA Tour record with 22 of his 34 victories coming after he turned 40, and he wants to prove that he can maintain his winning ways even though he turns 47 next month.

15. Angel Cabrera, Argentina:

The book on Cabrera is that he is a terrific ball-striker and a streaky putter who can be right in the mix when he gets it going on the greens. He lived up to that reputation last week in the SBS Championship, where he finished in a tie for 10th, five spots better than he placed in his first appearance in 2008. El Pato ("The Duck") took only 54 putts in the first two rounds while shooting 68-68 but needed 64 strokes on the greens on the weekend and could not keep up as he closed with 70-71. He's hoping for better results this week on the smaller greens at Waialae at the Sony Open in Hawaii, but he shot 70-70—140 in 2008 and missed the cut in his only appearance in the Honolulu tournament. Even though it could have been better, his first outing of the season was exactly what Cabrera is looking for this season. After he claimed the 2007 U.S. Open at Oakmont, Cabrera virtually disappeared for two seasons before winning the Masters last April. He said he is better equipped to deal with all that goes with being a major champion the second time around, and his goal is to be more consistent from now on. The Golf Channel put up an interesting graphic during the opener last week, noting that Cabrera is one of only five players to win at Oakmont and Augusta. The others were Jack Nicklaus, Sam Snead, Gene Sarazen and Ben Hogan.

16. Y.E. Yang, South Korea:

Yang was happy with the large contingent of Korean fans at the SBS Championship, where he finished in a disappointing 19th-place finish last week, and he will be greeted by an even larger throng at the Sony Open in Hawaii. The large Korean community in Honolulu has come out in force to support K.J. Choi in the past and is sure to throw its support behind the PGA champion, the first Asian male to win a major golf title. Yang will be playing at Waialae for the second time, having tied for 20th in 2008. The 38-year-old didn't have any of the magic on the Plantation Course that he used to shock the golf world by upsetting Tiger Woods last August at Hazeltine. Yang was at his best only when he recorded eight birdies to shoot 66 in difficult Kona Wind conditions in the third round after making his only bogey of the day on the first hole. He managed only 71-74 in calm conditions the first two days, making a double bogey and a triple bogey in round two, but even the best of the pros usually find the Plantation Course difficult the first time around. He solved the riddle of the mammoth greens only when he needed 26 putts in round three, averaging 33.0 putts per round the other three days. Perhaps the conditions were too calm most of the week for the man who has been dubbed "Son of the Wind" in his native land.

17. Ernie Els, South Africa:

After not playing the full schedule of events at home in South Africa during December, which he has done in recent years, Els is champing at the bit to get his season started and will do so this week at the Sony Open in Hawaii. There probably are two reasons for this — The Big Easy loves Hawaii, and he is eager to make up for being winless last season, the first time that has happened to him since 1990. When he first got to the islands in 2000, Els wondered why he had waited so long to make the trip and even considered buying property in paradise. It helped that he performed well there, pulling off the Hawaii double by capturing the Mercedes Championship and the Sony in 2003, then repeating at Waialae in 2004. When Els tied for 39th in the Honolulu event last year, it was the first time in six appearances that he finished outside the top five in the tournament. He has played the Hawaiian events a total of 14 times and wound up outside the top 10 only three times, finishing in the top five on nine occasions. Els nearly made it three in a row at Waialae in 2005 but finished one stroke behind Vijay Singh. While his full 2010 schedule has not yet been published at ernieels.com, he mulled it over during the holidays on the ocean in South Africa and promised to have at least a portion of it posted soon. Els said that he enjoys his Christmas break so much that he hates for it to end, but he added that there aren't many better places to go back to work than Hawaii.

18. Camilo Villegas, Colombia:

Villegas complained gently on Twitter late last season that every sport other than golf has an offseason and that he was starting to feel worn down in September. He might have learned a lesson last year that all young players figure out the hard way — he perhaps overextended himself a bit after his first big successes in 2008, when he captured the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship. Spider-Man played a full schedule on both major tours last season and made more than 30 tournament appearances around the world, including the Presidents Cup. He will have dual tour membership again this season, and that's fine, but he will have to learn how to put together a more judicious schedule. Even though he could have played early this season, Villegas made an offseason for himself and will not play for the first time in 2010 until the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters the last week of January. Most players who travel to the Middle East for that event stick around for the Omega Dubai Desert Classic the following week, so the only Colombian ever to have PGA Tour membership might not play on the U.S. circuit until late on the West Coast Swing. Last season, he played six times on the PGA Tour through the middle of March, when he tied for fifth in the WGC-CA Championship, but he did not finish in the top 10 again until he tied for eighth in the BMW Championship in September, 15 tournaments later.

19. Anthony Kim, United States:

A year ago, a shoulder injury kept Kim out of the Bob Hope Classic, a year after he tied for third in what might be considered his hometown event. He graduated from La Quinta High, not far from the three courses in the Hope rotation, and last year he bought a condo in the desert area. So it seemed logical that he might open his season next week in the Hope, but he has opted for another desert instead. Kim, who has membership on the PGA and European Tours, will fly off to the Middle East for the first time to play in the Abu Dhabi Championship, which also will be played next week. Kim said at the WGC-HSBC Champions Tournament in November that, in addition to a series of nagging injuries, poor scheduling led to his disappointing 2009 season, when big things were expected after he claimed his first two PGA Tour titles the year before. He was so worn out after the HSBC that he did not even go to the Dubai World Championship even though he had easily qualified in his first season as a member of the Euro Tour. Kim said at the time that he needed to do a better job of scheduling to keep his strength for the entire season and that his primary goal for the offseason was to get himself ready for his home tour. The 24-year-old has been questioned for some of his off-course decision-making already, and based on those comments in November, this decision appears to be another one that will leave people scratching their heads.

20. Adam Scott, Australia:

Even though he tied for second in the Sony Open in Hawaii last year, torching Waialae for a 6-under-par 64 in the final round to post his best finish of the season on the PGA Tour by far, Scott is passing on the tournament this week. The schedule page at adamscott.com/au was updated last week and indicated that he will kick off his season in the Northern Trust Open the first week of February. That will start a three-week run that also has him playing in the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am, in order to get an early look at the U.S. Open Course, and in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. No surprise that his schedule is radically different since he had the worst season of his career in 2009, when he started with the two Hawaii events on the PGA Tour before jetting off to the Commercial Bank Qatar Masters, where he tied for 21st as the defending champion. Since he is opening his season on the West Coast Swing, it will be interesting to see if he hooks up with instructor Butch Harmon in Las Vegas, which he usually does when he is in the region. Amid rumors that he and Harmon had split during the PGA Championship last August, after he missed the cut for the third time in the four 2009 majors, Scotty said they were simply taking a "break." After they parted ways, the Aussie saved his season with some strong play beginning in the Presidents Cup and finished the year with his victory in the Australian Open.

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