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PGA Tour rankings -- May 21, 2012

The Sports Xchange's PGA Tour rankings are selected by TSX Golf Staff, based on play in the 2011 and 2012 seasons, with more emphasis on recent results.

1. Luke Donald, England -- Even though he is one of the best match players in the world, Donald took a pass last week on the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain, where he lost in the final last year to Ian Poulter after winning the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier in the season. Having played eight events on the PGA Tour since getting his season off to a late start in February, he must want to be fresh for his title defense this week in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, outside London, the biggest event of the season on the Euro Tour other than the Open Championship. ... Donald took the lead last year at Wentworth by opening with a 7-under-64 and led much of the way, but he needed a birdie on the 16th hole Sunday to force a playoff with Lee Westwood. Donald emerged as the winner when he hit his approach close enough for a birdie on the first extra hole while Westwood found the water that guards the green. Luke, who took over the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings for the first time, tied for second in the BMW the year before, one stroke behind Simon Khan of England. ... Donald, who last year became the first player to claim the money titles on both major tours, is 10th on the PGA Tour money list this year with $2,156,906. However, he needs to pick up some points this week because he is lagging in the European Tour's Race to Dubai at 36th with €271,669.

2. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland -- McIlroy, like the closest challengers for his No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, did not play last week in the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain. Coming off a missed cut in the Players Championship after reaching the weekend in his previous 22 tournaments, he will try to protect his top ranking against them this week in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. ... He is playing in the flagship event of the European Tour for the fifth time and recorded his best finish on the famed West Course before a design team that included Ernie Els controversially reworked the course a few years ago. After shooting 74-77--151 to miss the cut in his first appearance in 2008, Rory finished solo fifth the next year, posting a 7-under-par 65 in the third round. But on the revamped course, he tied for 48th in 2010 and tied for 24th last year. ... McIlroy, who was the first top-ranked player to miss the cut at TPC Sawgrass since Greg Norman in 1996, enters the BMW Championship leading the Euro Tour's season-long Race to Dubai with €1,348,517. He has a chance to match Donald's feat last year by winning the money titles on both major tours because he ranks fifth on the PGA Tour money list with $2,996,000. McIlroy has finished in the top four on the U.S. Tour four times this season and has finished in the top five of both his Euro Tour events.

3. Phil Mickelson, United States -- Mickelson made a brilliant run up the leaderboard in the final round of the HP Byron Nelson Championship before he faltered on the last two holes and finished with a 4-under-par 66 to wind up in a tie for seventh. It was his fifth top-10 finish of the season, and he ended a streak of seven consecutive final rounds in the 70s, since he captured the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am by closing with a 64. ... Lefty is passing on the Crowne Plaza Invitational even though he won the tournament in 2000 and 2008, two of his four PGA Tour titles in Texas. He also won the Nelson in 1996 and the Shell Houston Open last year, leaving him only one victory short of the Texas Slam. He never has won the Valero Texas Open but has played it only once, finishing in a tie for 47th in 1992. He plans to play next week in the Memorial Tournament. ... Mickelson was one stroke out of the lead when he lipped out a three-foot putt for par on the 17th hole in the final round last week at TPC Las Colinas, and then he hit his second shot into the water on the closing hole. After taking a drop, he lipped out his 54-foot putt for par and had to settle for another bogey after playing flawlessly for 16 holes. Lefty roared into contention with four consecutive birdies through No. 8 and added two more on the back nine, at Nos. 12 and 16. After averaging 30.7 putts per round the first three days, he found his stroke and took only 26 on Sunday.

4. Bubba Watson, United States -- Bubba was the biggest name in golf for two weeks after winning the Masters with a hook shot for the ages in a playoff to beat Louis Oosthuizen. He was the people's choice with his folksy, down-home humor as he made the rounds of all the major talk shows and a few of the minor ones before gutting out his title defense at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans. But he might have lost a few brownie points by passing on the Players Championship -- he wanted to be with his family, he said. There were those who thought he should have been home a little more after leaving Augusta instead of getting so much TV face time on his victory lap. ... The criticism of Watson was pretty mild. Nick Faldo and a few other TV types along with some in the print media simply suggested he should have been at TPC Sawgrass for the PGA Tour's biggest event other than the majors. It is played on the grounds of PGA Tour headquarters, after all. Of course, Charl Schwartzel of South Africa also skipped the tournament, depriving the Players of the last two Masters champions. And Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland and Lee Westwood of England stayed home last year. But the PGA Tour is the American brand, so Watson missing is a bit different. ... Watson will return next week for the Memorial Tournament after taking a month off, and it will be interesting to see if he can keep his banner year going. Last year, after winning twice early in the season, he seemed to lose interest and didn't have a top-10 finish in his last 12 official events.

5. Steve Stricker, United States -- It's another two-week break for the 45-year-old Stricker, who is being cautious with his schedule this year after recovering from a herniated disk in his neck that caused weakness in his left arm last season. He plays as much tennis as he can when he is at home to stay in shape, because playing more golf seems to bring back some of the symptoms from the injury. ... Strick will be back next week to defend his title in the Memorial Tournament, which probably will be his final event before the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club, where he tied for fifth in 1998, when the tournament was last held on the classic course in San Francisco. He'll be trying to get his game back on track after missing the cut in the Players Championship, ending his streak of making it to the weekend in his last 49 stroke-play events. ... Even though he has been a little judicious in his scheduling this season, not playing in more than two consecutive events, Stricker has continued to play well. He captured the season-opening Hyundai Tournament of Champions for the 12th victory of his PGA Tour career, held at least a share the lead in his first three stroke-play events of the year and has posted four top-10 finishes in his eight outings. Stricker also tied for ninth in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship and might be poised for a summer run like he had last year, when he captured the Memorial and the John Deere Classic.

6. Lee Westwood, England -- Having joined several of the other top European players in skipping the Volvo World Match Play Championship last week in Spain, Westwood has headed home to England this week for the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He is coming off his worst finish this year on both major tours, a tie for 61st in the Players Championship, but some home cooking should be enough to get him back on track. ... Westwood never has won the flagship event of the European Tour despite playing it 18 times previously, but he came closest last year, when he lost to Luke Donald on the first hole of a playoff. Lee held a one-stroke lead until making bogey on the 16th hole in the final round, and his chances were dashed in the playoff when his third shot on the par-5 18th spun back into the water. Donald won with a birdie and took the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings. Westy also tied for second in 2000 at Wentworth, finishing three strokes behind Colin Montgomerie. ... Westwood will be playing with a new caddie this week. Mike Waite of Australia replaces Englishman Billy Foster, who is out for perhaps six months because of a knee injury sustained playing soccer a few weeks ago. Waite is best-known for his time with Michael Campbell of New Zealand, having been on the bag when the Kiwi captured the U.S. Open in 2005 at Pinehurst. American Cayce Kerr looped for Westwood in the Wells Fargo Championship and the Players Championship.

7. Hunter Mahan, United States -- Mahan will be trying to snap out of a mini-slump when he returns from a week off to play this week in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial for the ninth consecutive year. The only two-time winner on the PGA Tour this season tied for 53rd in the Wells Fargo Championship and missed the cut at the Players Championship in his last two outings, the first time he failed to reach the weekend since the middle of last year. ... Hunter has missed the cut in three of the last five years at Colonial, but he posted his best result in the tournament last year, when he posted three rounds in the 60s before closing with an even-par 70 to tie for 10th. A resident of Colleyville, Texas, he won for the first time in the Lone Star State on April 1 at the Shell Houston Open. He would love to add another jewel in the Texas Slam, which also includes the HP Byron Nelson Championship and the Valero Texas Open. ... Mahan, who is on the cover of Golf magazine's June issue, is a regular on Twitter and has been particularly active in the social media outlet lately. He sent out a congratulatory note to Rickie Fowler, another former Oklahoma State Cowboy, for winning the Wells Fargo Championship, invited fans in the Boca Raton, Fla., area to come out for a personal appearance he was making for Under Armour at Nordstrom and gave an amusing account of his day at the Department of Motor Vehicles, which lasted almost four hours.

8. Matt Kuchar, United States -- Coming off the biggest victory of his career in the Players Championship, Kuchar had the lead late in the second round at HP Byron Nelson Championship before hitting the wall. He drove into the water on the 13th hole on his way to a double-bogey 6 and added two bogeys down the stretch to post a 2-over-par 72, then shot 70 on Sunday to finish in a tie for 15th. ... Kuchar is going to stick around in Texas and will be playing for the third consecutive week when he tees it up this week in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He will be playing at Colonial for the sixth consecutive year; his best result was solo ninth in 2008, when he shot 6-under-par 64 in the second round. Last year, he played the middle rounds in 67-67 and wound up in a tie for 16th. ... Kooch picked up right where he left off at TPC Sawgrass when he opened with 66-68 last week at TPC Las Colinas and was 2-under on Saturday before the wheels came off. After playing his first 49 holes in 8-under, he was 4-over on the last 23. His best golf came on Friday, when he made bogey on the first hole but was flawless the rest of the way while posting a 66. His 68 on Friday could have been better -- he suffered a precursor of the next day when he hit his second shot into the water and made double bogey at No. 14 after starting at No. 10. He added a bogey at No. 15 but turned his day around with four birdies on the front nine.

9. Jason Dufner, United States -- It's been quite a four-week run for Dufner, who beat Ernie Els in a playoff to win the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, took a week off to marry Amanda Boyd, struggled to a tie for 68th in the Players Championship and last week holed a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole to win the HP Byron Nelson Championship. He beat Dicky Pride, who holed a 23-foot putt for par after hitting the water at No. 18, by one stroke and joined Hunter Mahan as the only two-time winners on the PGA Tour this season. ... Dufner will tee it up again this week for the third time in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial, where he has missed the cut twice and finished in a tie for 59th in 2009. One of his competitors will be Davis Love III, the U.S. Ryder Cup captain, who probably will take special interest in Dufner. Jason has risen to third in the point standings and seems to be a lock to make the team for the matches in September at Medinah. ... Dufner posted four rounds in the 60s last week at TPC Las Colinas, bouncing back from two early bogeys on Sunday to close with a 3-under-par 67. He birdied two of the last three holes to take advantage of a double-bogey 5 at No. 17 by J.J. Henry, who held a one-stroke lead at the time. Even though he could not buy a putt until the end, averaging 30.0 putts per rounds, Dufner was second in the field by hitting 54 of 72 fairways and led the way by hitting 59 of 72 greens in regulation.

10. Justin Rose, England -- After rolling through the first two rounds of the Volvo World Match Play Championship with lopsided victories to reach the knockout stage, Rose never led and was sent packing by eventual champion Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium, 4 and 3, in the quarterfinals. Until then, he seemed to be headed for a showdown with his good friend, defending champion Ian Poulter, but Poults also was knocked out in the quarters by Alvaro Quiros of Spain, by the same score of 4 and 3. ... Rose, who was playing the second of four consecutive weeks, heads home this week to play in the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, near London, for the ninth time. He shot 75-73--148 to miss the cut by two strokes last year on the famed West Course, missing the weekend for the third time in the tournament. However, he almost won the event in 2007, when he hit his approach on the 72nd hole to within six inches for a birdie that forced a playoff with Anders Hansen of Denmark. But the Dane took home the trophy when he sank a 25-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. Rose also tied for 10th in 2010 and tied for 11th in 2004. ... The Englishman trounced Robert Rock of England, 7 and 6, in the first round of the World Match Play last week and routed Darren Clarke of Northern Ireland, 6 and 4 on the second day, never trailing in either match. But Colsaerts did the same thing to him on Saturday, winning the second and third holes and never giving up the lead.

11. Bill Haas, United States -- It might not have seemed like much, but Haas' tie for 25th in the Players Championship was his best result since he holed a 43-foot putt on the second playoff hole to beat Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley in the Northern Trust Open in February. He had gone six tournaments without cracking the top 25 and had missed the cut in his two previous events, the RBC Heritage and the Wells Fargo Championship. ... The reigning FedEx Cup champion will try to build on that this week when he plays for the fifth time in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. After finishing solo 77th, or dead last, at Colonial when he closed with 75-73-78 in 2006 and missing the cut by one stroke at 71-72--143 in 2008, he seems to have figured out the course. He started with 65-68-64 before closing with a 1-over-par 71 to slide to a tie for 13 in 2010, and last year he again posted three rounds in the 60s to tie for eighth. ... Haas' game has taken off since he asked his brother, Jay Jr., to caddie for him last July. He has won twice since, including the Tour Championship, and barely missed a third title when he lost in a playoff to Scott Stallings at the Greenbrier Classic. Jay Haas Jr., 31, is a fine player in his own right who has been to PGA Tour Qualifying School six times and still has dreams of playing on the PGA Tour, but he has put his career on hold for now.

12. Tiger Woods, United States -- Woods usually does not get too far ahead of himself in announcing where he will play, but last week a news release at tigerwoods.com listed six tournaments that he will play this summer. Actually, only one on of them might have come as a surprise: He will tee it up for the first time in the Greenbrier Classic at the Old White TPC Course in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., in July ... After two weeks off following his tie for 40th in the Players Championship, Tiger will return next week for the Memorial Tournament, which he has won four times but missed last year as he recovered from left leg injuries. That will be his final tournament before the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club in the middle of June. ... Following a week off after the second major of the year, he will play in the AT&T National, which benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation, and then the Greenbrier before taking two weeks off before the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, where he tied for 25th in 2001 and tied for 22nd in 1996. The sixth tournament Woods committed to play is the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational on Aug. 2-5, at Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio., where he has won a record seven times. If he is to win any of those events, he must rekindle the magic he found when he captured the Arnold Palmer Invitational for his 72nd victory on the PGA Tour in March. In his last three events, he tied for 40th in the Masters and the Players and missed the cut in the Wells Fargo Championship.

13. Keegan Bradley, United States -- The PGA champion was in position to successfully defend his title last week in HP Byron Nelson Championship when he opened with 67-68, but he played the weekend in 71-72 and wound up in a tie for 24th. Still, he played better than any of his last five outings, in which he failed to crack the top 25 after doing so in his first nine tournaments this season. ... The schedule page at keeganbradley.com indicates that he will take one week off before playing in the Memorial Tournament for the second time. As a rookie last year, he shot 76-72--148 and missed the cut by three strokes at Muirfield Village, perhaps not a big surprise given that it came one week after he claimed his first PGA Tour title in the Nelson. Two months later, he stunned the golf world by winning the PGA at Atlanta Athletic Club in his first major appearance. ... Keegan was one stroke out of the lead until he pushed his drive into the trees on the 11th hole on Saturday and hit his next shot across the green into the water en route to a triple-bogey 7. He never really recovered and, incredibly, hit his tee shot into the water on No. 11 on Sunday on his way to another triple bogey. His play on the weekend outweighed two terrific stretches on the back nine in the first two rounds. Bradley went birdie-birdie-eagle through No. 15 on Thursday and carded three birdies in a span of four holes through No. 16 on Friday.

14. Adam Scott, Australia -- Playing in two consecutive stroke-play events for the first time this season, Scott shot 73-71--144 and missed the cut by three strokes last week in the HP Byron Nelson Championship, which he won in 2008. It was his first missed weekend of the season although he has played only six times, last having missed the cut in the U.S. Open last June at Congressional, and he ended a streak of 13 made cuts. ... Scott, who had finished in the top 20 in his first five events of the season, the best being a tie for eighth in the Masters, is going to take a week off before playing in the Memorial Tournament. He has taken a less is more approach to scheduling this season, and the result has been some pretty good but not yet great golf. It will be interesting to see if he adds any tournaments during the summer. ... Scott gave himself a chance to make the cut last week at TPC Las Colinas when he holed a five-foot birdie putt on the 16th hole in the second round, moving to within one stroke of the cut-line. Then he missed a 16-foot birdie putt on No. 17 and hit his drive wildly right on the 18th hole, needing three shots to reach the green and then three-putting from 23 feet for a double-bogey 6. Scott had trouble with his driver and long putter, hitting only 5 of 14 fairways each day and averaging 31.0 putts per round, including 33 on Thursday.

15. Dustin Johnson, United States -- In a week when Johnson's agent tried to knock down a slew of rumors that made the rounds at the Players Championship, he announced that he will play on the PGA Tour for the first time in almost three months next week at the Memorial Tournament. He hasn't played since tying for 35th in the WGC-Cadillac Championship in March because of a back injury he sustained early in the season and then aggravated while lifting a jet ski from the water a week before the Masters. He had hoped to play last week in the HP Byron Nelson Championship but decided to wait two more weeks to be sure he is ready. ... Johnson's manager, David Winkle, said in Dallas last week that his client had not been suspended by the PGA Tour for using a banned substance, had not gotten married and was not dating LPGA Tour star Natalie Gulbis again. "I have heard everything from A to Z," Winkle said. "Dustin is not serving a drug suspension. I will make it clear: He has been injured." The PGA Tour does not announce suspensions. ... After playing at the Memorial, Johnson also plans to tee it up the following week in the FedEx St. Jude Classic ahead of the U.S. Open in an effort to make up for lost time. If he is healthy, he is expected to be on the U.S. Ryder Cup team for the matches in September at Medinah. In his absence, he has fallen to 22nd in the point standings.

16. Charl Schwartzel, South Africa -- Following his extended vacation at home in South Africa, which meant he passed on the Players Championship, Schwartzel did not make it to the knockout round of the Volvo World Match Play Championship in Spain. After posting a 0-1-1 record in the preliminary rounds at Finca Cortesin Golf Club went to a playoff with Nicolas Colsaerts of Belgium to see which would advance out of their group and eventual champion Colsaerts moved on with a birdie on the first extra hole. ... Schwartzel will move on to the BMW PGA Championship this week at Wentworth, outside London, where he will be playing in the flagship event of the European Tour for the ninth consecutive year. He has missed the cut five times in the tournament, including his first four appearances and last year, when he shot 79-75--154, six strokes shy of making it to the weekend. His best result in the tournament was a tie for sixth in 2009, and he also tied for 17th in 2010 and tied for 22nd in 2008. ... Schwartzel faced Colsaerts in the first round of the World Match Play last week and led much of the way before falling behind on the 15th hole. He had to hole a clutch five-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to halve the match. He faced fellow South Africa Retief Goosen the following day and never led on his way to taking a 4-and-3 defeat, which sent him to the playoff against Colsaerts and eventually to an early exit. Goosen and Schwartzel were even after nine holes, but the Goose claimed five of the last six holes with four birdies and an eagle.

17. Mark Wilson, United States -- Trying to regain his form from early this season, when he made the Humana Challenge his third victory in the last two seasons and beat Lee Westwood to finish third in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, Wilson will play for the 15th time this season in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He has missed the cut in three of his last four outings -- the Masters, the Wells Fargo Championship and the Players Championship -- but did squeeze in there a tie for 24th in the RBC Heritage. ... Wilson is playing at Colonial for the sixth consecutive year. His best result was a tie for 10th in 2008, when he shot 67-68 in the middle rounds. After shooting 70-72--142 to miss the cut for the only time in the tournament in 2010, he started with 65-66 last year to rank with the leaders before playing the weekend in 71-75 to slide to a tie for 31st. ... After starting strong in each of the last two years, the 37-year-old has had high hopes of earning a spot on the Ryder Cup or President Cup teams in addition to making a run at the FedEx Cup. However, he has fallen to 16th in the U.S. Ryder Cup standings for the matches in September at Medinah and is 13th in the FedEx Cup point standings. There's still plenty of time for Wilson to make a move, but he never has been a strong player in the second half of the PGA Tour season.

18. Brandt Snedeker, United States -- It was an interesting week for Snedeker, the only American who played in the Volvo World Match Play Championship. His flight from Florida to Spain made an unscheduled stop in the Azores because a passenger suffered a heart attack, and his clubs were lost along the way. Brandt had to play the pro-am and the first round with borrowed sticks but made it to the quarterfinals before he was ousted by eventual champion Nicolas Colsaerts in the quarterfinals, 4 and 3. ... Snedeker was planning to play in the HP Byron Nelson Championship last week before he got the invitation to go to Spain, and in fact the Texas event still was listed on the schedule page at brandtsnedeker.com over the weekend. That schedule indicates that he will return to the PGA Tour next week at the Memorial Tournament. ... Playing with the borrowed clubs, Snedeker registered an impressive 5-and-4 victory over Thomas Bjorn of Denmark in the first round of the World match play tournament before Branden Grace of South Africa beat him the next day, 4 and 3. That sent the three of them to a playoff, which Snedker won with a birdie to advance. Then he won four of the first seven holes and never trailed en route to a 3-and-2 victory over Camilo Villegas of Colombia before running into Colsaerts. The Belgian took a 4-up lead through six holes before Snedeker won three in a row through No. 10, but the American hit his tee shot off a cart path and into a hazard to lose No. 13 and could not recover.

19. Webb Simpson, United States -- Following a disappointing finish at the Players Championship, where he seemed to be on his way to making the cut before twice hitting shots into the water to go bogey-double bogey on the 16th and 17th holes on the Stadium Course, Simpson is taking two weeks off. He will be back next week for the Memorial Tournament, where he tied for seventh last season to begin the second-half surge that led to his career year. ... That result last year at Muirfield Village was the first of six consecutive finishes in the top 20, including a tie for 14th in the U.S. Open at Congressional and a tie for 16th in the Open Championship at Royal St. George's. However, he was only getting warmed up. Simpson claimed his first two PGA Tour victories in the Wyndham Championship and the Deutsche Bank Championship late in the season en route to finishing second to Bill Haas in the FedEx Cup standings and second on the PGA Tour money list behind Luke Donald. ... Simpson has four finishes in the top 10 on the circuit this season, one more than he had a year ago, and could be poised to make another big run in the second half. He seemed to be warming up before the Players: He tied for 13th in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans after losing to Bubba Watson in a playoff there last year, and he finished solo fourth in the Wells Fargo Championship, where he posted three rounds in the 60s before falling back with a 73 on Sunday.

T20. Jason Day, Australia -- Seeming to have his game back on track, Day was in contention most of the way before running out of gas down the stretch and finishing in a tie for ninth in the HP Byron Nelson Championship, which he won in 2010. It was his second top-10 finish in his last three outings and sixth in the top 25 this year on the PGA Tour after he got off to what might be considered a slow start following a big 2011 season. ... Since he missed a month because of a foot/ankle injury after the Masters, Day is going to play as much as he can before the U.S. Open. He is taking this week off but will be back next week to play in the Memorial Tournament for the fourth time in five years. It's essentially a home game for him since he has made a home in Columbus, Ohio, not far from Muirfield Village in suburban Dublin. Day, who has been given an honorary membership at the club by Jack Nicklaus, missed the tournament last year to be with his wife following surgery. ... Day started with three consecutive rounds in the 60s last week at TPC Las Colinas but could manage only a 2-over-par 70 on Sunday, when he made a bogey on the 15th hole and then hit his tee shot into the water en route to a double-bogey 6 on the finishing hole. He was in the hunt most of the way despite struggling with his ball-striking -- he hit only 25 of 56 fairways and 45 of 72 greens in regulation -- but he ranked in the top 10 in the field by averaging 28.0 putts per round.

T20. Rickie Fowler, United States -- Hoping to keep his hot streak going, Fowler will be back on the PGA Tour this week for the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial. He's been the second-best player on the circuit in recent weeks behind Jason Dufner, claiming the Wells Fargo Championship for his first victory on the circuit before his late run fell short and he tied for second in the Players Championship. Those results lifted him to a career-high 18th in the World Golf Rankings. ... Rickie will be playing at Colonial for the third time, and even though the results could have been better, he has shown he can go low on the course. In 2010, he went 67-64 in the middle rounds, only to wind up in a pedestrian tie for 38th. Last year, he was with the leaders after opening with 63-69, but he played the weekend in 73-71 to wind up in a tie for 16th. ... Fowler, who has three consecutive top-10 finishes and four overall this season, credits his success over his last two events in part to a change in his putting grip. He went left-hand low a few days before the Wells Fargo, although he had toyed with it before, and ranked high in the new strokes gained-putting statistic both weeks. Fowler said that since he felt confident with his putting stroke, it freed him up while hitting his approach shots from the fairway. Getting to the green has not been a problem: He ranks fifth in total driving and 17th in greens in regulation on the PGA Tour this season.

Others receiving consideration: Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; Ian Poulter, England; Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Martin Laird, Scotland; Zach Johnson, United States; Johnson Wagner, United States; Kyle Stanley, United States; Aaron Baddeley, Australia; Robert Garrigus, United States; Ernie Els, South Africa; Jim Furyk, United States; Kevin Na, United States; Carl Pettersson, Sweden; Ben Curtis, United States; John Huh, United States; Nick Watney, United States.