PGA Tour rankings -- July 30, 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. Tiger Woods, United States -- It undoubtedly was of little consolation to him, but Woods' tie for third in the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes lifted him past Lee Westwood and Rory McIlroy to No. 2 in the World Golf Rankings, behind only Luke Donald. It is the highest the erstwhile No. 1, who ruled the rankings for nearly a decade, has been in the rankings since he was second in December 2010. Had he been able to win at Lytham, he would have regained the top spot. ... Woods again will have a chance to become No. 1 this week in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, a tournament he has won seven times. He needs one victory at Firestone to equal Sam Snead's PGA Tour record for the most titles in one event, eight at the Greater Greensboro Open, now known as the Wyndham Championship. Woods also captured the Arnold Palmer Invitational for the seventh time earlier this season. ... Tiger won at Firestone three consecutive times, from 1999 to 2001, and also four in a row, from 2005 to 2009. He finished no worse than fourth in his first 10 appearances in the tournament before tying for 78th in 2010 and tying for 37th last year. Those seven victories account for a large chunk of his record of 16 titles in the World Golf Championships -- he also has won the WGC-Cadillac Championship six times and the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship on three occasions. Geoff Ogilvy is a distant second with three victories in the WGC events.

2. Luke Donald, England -- Not only has Donald never won a major title, he rarely has contended, so he left Royal Lytham & St. Annes in a good frame of mind because he said his tie for fifth in the Open Championship bolstered his confidence that he can win one of the Grand Slam events. He was already looking forward to the final major of the season, the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island next week, after being discouraged by his performance in the previous major, a missed cut in the U.S. Open at the Olympic Club. ... Before heading to Kiawah, there is the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, in which Donald posted his best result a year ago with a tie for second, four shots behind Adam Scott. He posted four rounds in the 60s, including a 6-under-par 64 in the third round, but couldn't stay up with the Aussie, who led virtually all the way after opening with a 62. That's one of three top-10 finishes Luke has posted in the tournament -- he also tied for eighth in 2006, four shots behind winner Tiger Woods, and tied for sixth in 2005, three shots behind Woods' winning total. ... Donald, who captured the Transitions Championship and the BMW PGA Championship this season, has finished no worse than solo 12th in the Memorial Tournament in his last six events other than that missed cut at the Olympic Club. That has allowed him to hold the No. 1 spot in the World Golf Rankings for 55 weeks, longer than any player who has not claimed a major championship.

3. Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland -- Perhaps he simply was using it as motivation after his latest in a string of disappointing performances, a tie for 60th in the Open Championship, but McIlroy brought up the possibility that he might be left off the European Ryder Cup team if his poor play continues. That's not going to happen, and not only because he leads the World Points list and the Euro Points List, which decide the automatic selections for the team. Even if he somehow fall out of automatic qualification, it's impossible to see Captain Jose Maria Olazabal leaving him off the team for the matches in September at Medinah. ... McIlory, who missed the cut four times in his previous six events before again playing poorly at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, will try to get back on track this week in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He posted four rounds of 2-under-par 68 or better last year at Firestone to tie for sixth but was six strokes behind champion Adam Scott. The year before, Rory also posted four rounds in the 60s and wound up in a tie for ninth. ... McIlroy has yet to win one of the World Golf Championships, having done everything but. Earlier this year, he lost to Hunter Mahan in the final of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship, 2 and 1, and then finished third in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, two shots behind winner Justin Rose. Those are among his nine top-10 finishes in 14 appearances in the WGC events, including the last five in succession.

4. Jason Dufner, United States -- After failing to make a charge when he was in the top 10 heading to the weekend in his fourth consecutive major championship, Dufner will try to get going in the right direction again this week in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He didn't make any excuses for shooting 73-74 on the weekend to tie for 31st in his first Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes even though it didn't help that his caddie got sick and that he took a two-stroke penalty when his ball moved as he addressed it during round three. ... Duf also will be playing in the Bridgestone for the first time; his brilliant play in the last year has lifted him from journeyman status to No. 8 in the World Golf Rankings as of last week. He tied for 18th in his first appearance in the World Golf Championships at the WGC-Cadillac Championship in 2010, and he is eligible for all of the WGC events in one season for the first time this year. He was eliminated by Peter Hanson of Sweden in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships earlier this year and tied for 30th in the Cadillac. ... Dufner, who is third in the FedEx Cup standings, has shown that his runner-up finish in the PGA Championship last year was no fluke even though he blew a five-stroke lead to Keegan Bradley and lost in a playoff. He tied for 24th in his first Masters and tied for fourth in the U.S. Open, so he will be a player to watch next week in the PGA at Kiawah Island.

5. Bubba Watson, United States -- Even though he finished in only a tie for 23rd, Bubba was a fan favorite of fans looking for an offbeat player in the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes, taking the place of John Daly, who has become more of a sideshow. That was his best result in four appearances at the oldest championship in the world, and he hopes to build on it this week in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and next week in the PGA Championship at Kiawah Island. ... Watson is playing at Firestone for the third time this week. He tied for 22nd in 2010, when he opened with a 6-under-par 64 but could not break 70 the rest of the way. Last year, he shot par or better every day and wound up in a tie for 21st. He hasn't had much success in the World Golf Championships until the last two years -- he tied for fourth in the 2011 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship before finishing second earlier this year in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, one stroke behind Justin Rose. Watson torched the Blue Monster at Doral for a 10-under-par 62 in round two and held a two-stroke lead into the final round but closed with a 74 as Rose passed him with a 70. ... Undeterred, Bubba bounced back to win the Masters a month later by hitting a hook shot for the ages out of the trees to beat Louis Oosthuizen in a playoff. Other than consecutive missed cuts in the Memorial Tournament and U.S. Open, he has been consistent this season, finishing in the top 25 all 11 times he has reached the weekend.

6. Zach Johnson, United States -- Following a week off, Johnson will try to continue what has been a brilliant run in a bounce-back season that has put him second in the FedEx Cup standings behind Tiger Woods and lifted him to 12th in the World Golf Rankings last week. He enters the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational coming off a tie for ninth in the Open Championship, his sixth top-10 result of a season that includes victories in the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial and the John Deere Classic plus runner-up finishes in the Players Championship and the RBC Heritage. ... Zach is playing at Firestone for the ninth time and has finished in the top 25 in six of his eight previous appearances. Last year, he posted his highest finish in the Bridgestone, a tie for sixth, when he followed an opening round of even-par 70 with scores of 68-64-68 to post one of only four top-10 finishes in what for him was a down year. He also tied for ninth in 2005, closing with 69-69. ... His finish last year at Firestone was his best in a stroke-play event in the World Golf Championships although he also finished third in the 2006 WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships, when he lost to his good friend Davis Love III in the semifinals before beating Tom Lehman in the consolation match. The 2007 Masters champion has proved he can play in the big events despite a lack of length and is one of the hottest players in the world right now, so the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island might be the place for Johnson to contend for a second major title next week.

7. Hunter Mahan, United States -- Making his way back to North America after his tie for 19th in the Open Championship, Mahan was stymied by big numbers in the first three rounds of the RBC Canadian Open before finishing with a 4-under-par 66 that left him in a tie for 48th. He had finished in the top 20 in his previous three events and four of the last five and hopes to get back on track in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. ... Hunter is playing in the Bridgestone for the sixth time and has three top-10 finishes in his previous appearances, including the biggest victory of his career two years ago. After opening with a 1-over-par 71 that year, he torched the South Course at Firestone in 67-66-64 the rest of the way and finished two strokes ahead of Ryan Palmer. He also tied for fourth in 2004 and tied for 10th in 2008 but last year had his worst finish in the tournament, a tie for 37th in his title defense. ... Mahan carded three birdies on his back nine Friday to make the cut in Canada right on the number at 70-69--139. Both of those scores could have been better if not for double bogeys on the 17th hole in round one and the 18th in round two, and he added doubles on the 11th and 16th holes while shooting 72 on Saturday. Mahan reeled off four birdies in the first seven holes of the final round but could manage only one more on the back, which was offset by a bogey. He hit in the neighborhood of 70 percent of the fairways and greens but averaged 30.3 putts per round.

8. Phil Mickelson, United States -- Before leaving Royal Lytham & St. Annes after missing the cut in the Open Championship, Mickelson said he would go back to work with instructor Butch Harmon in an effort to find his game with a big stretch to end the season in front of him. It starts this week with the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational but also includes the PGA Championship next week, the FedEx Cup playoffs and the Ryder Cup in September at Medinah. ... Lefty is playing in the Bridgestone for the 14th consecutive year, and after posting four consecutive top-10 finishes, he has only one in his last nine outings on the South Course at Firestone. His best finish was solo second in the first year of the tournament, 1999, when he shot a brilliant 5-under-par 65 in the final round but fell one stroke short of tracking down Tiger Woods. Mickelson captured the old NEC World Series of Golf by three strokes in 1996 at Firestone and finished second the next two years before the World Golf Championships first were played in 1999. He has won two WGC titles, both in 2009: the WGC-Cadillac at Doral and the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai. ... Mickelson has not played well for four rounds since he tied for seventh in the HP Byron Nelson Championship in the third week of May. He has missed the cut in his last two PGA Tour events, but in between he went 64-65 in the middle rounds of the Scottish Open en route to a tie for 16th. This really is nothing new -- despite his greatness, Mickelson often has run hot and cold throughout his career.

9. Webb Simpson, United States -- Simpson missed the Open Championship because his wife, Dowd, was due to deliver their second child on Monday of this week, but he was planning to play in the RBC Canadian Open until withdrawing early last week. It's a good thing he did, too, because Willow Grace Simpson arrived two days early, on Saturday. Simpson announced on Twitter that "daddsgotalilgirl." Dowd and Willow, who joins 1-year-old James in the Simpson household, were reported to be doing fine. ... Webb said all along that he planned to be with his wife before, during and after the birth process, so that means he will miss his first chance to play in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational this week. The U.S. Open champion has not played since he tied for seventh in the Greenbrier Classic at the beginning of July; he also missed the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. ... By skipping the Bridgestone, Simpson will not play all of the World Golf Championships in the same season for the first time. He did not play in any of the WGC events until he was knocked out in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship by Mattero Manassero of Italy earlier this year. Missing the Open Championship also denied him the chance to play all four majors in the same year for the initial time. However, he has his priorities in order and knows that at the age of 26 he has plenty of time to reach any career goals he might have set.

10. Ernie Els, South Africa -- The Big Easy lived up to his commitment and played in the RBC Canadian Open, which began only four days after he claimed his fourth major title in the Open Championship at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Playing because RBC is one of his sponsors, he shot 72-70--142 and missed the cut by three strokes, failing to make it to the weekend for the third time in 15 events on the PGA Tour this season. ... That gave Els a couple extra days off before playing this week in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational for the 13th time. He has not played well at Firestone since he finished in the top 20 in his first five appearances in the tournament, through a tie for 17th in 2003. His best result came in the first year of the event, when he finished solo fifth, closing with three rounds in the 60s to wind up five shots behind winner Tiger Woods. Els posted his best round on the South Course in 2010, a 6-under-par 64, in the third round before closing with a 76 to tie for 22nd. Ernie has won two World Golf Championships, the 2004 WGC-American Express Championship and the 2010 WGC-CA Championship. ... Despite the short week, he might have made the cut last week in Canada if not for carding a triple-bogey 7 on the 11th hole in round one. Els hit his approach into a greenside bunker, flew the green with his bunker shot and needed two more shots from the rough to reach the green. He came out of the box quickly on Friday by recording four birdies in his first 10 holes, but he carded two bogeys down the stretch and was gone.

11. Steve Stricker, United States -- Not that his tie for 23rd in the Open Championship was that bad, but Stricker will try to get going in the right direction again this week in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. He started out with a 3-under-par 67 at Royal Lytham & St. Annes but then ended a streak of 10 consecutive rounds in the 60s when he was unable to break 70 over the last three days. He still has not been at his absolute best since winning the Hyundai Tournament of Champions to start the season. ... Stricker is playing in the Bridgestone for the sixth time. He posted his best finish in the tournament in 2009, a tie for sixth, on the strength of bookend 3-under-par 67s. That equaled his best stroke-play result in the World Golf Championships, a tie for sixth in the 2008 WGC-Cadillac Championship. He tied for ninth the following year at Firestone, when he recorded three rounds in the 60s, and last year finished solo 14th, shooting 65-67 in the middle rounds. Stricker has one title in the WGC events -- he won the 2001 Accenture Match Play Championships the only time it was played outside of the United States, at the Metropolitan Golf Club in Victoria, Australia. ... Stricker overcame a broken driver at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. He said that after some initial problems with his backup club, he started hitting the ball well off the tee. That's a key element for him. The closer to the hole he gets, the better he gets because his short game is among the best in the world.

12. Matt Kuchar, United States -- Trying to keep things going after a tie for ninth at the Open Championship, Kuchar made birdies on the first five holes in the RBC Canadian Open and seemed to be headed for another high finish after three consecutive rounds in the 60s. Then he struggled for much of the final round before holing a 32-foot eagle putt on the 17th hole that salvaged a final round of even-par 70 and left him in a tie for 34th. ... Kooch will tee it up this week in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational for the third time. He was within one stroke of the lead entering the final round in 2010 after starting with rounds of 69-67-66 at Firestone, but he closed with a 3-over-par 73 and slid to a tie for ninth. Last year, he played the middle rounds in 69-65 and wound up in a tie for 19th. His best results in the World Golf Championships were third in the 2011 Accenture Match Play Championship, in which he beat Bubba Watson in the consolation match, and a tie for third in the 2010 WGC-Cadillac Championship. ... Kuchar, who played in Canada because RBC is one of his sponsors, had a chance to record his eighth top-10 finish of the season before stumbling in the final round with only one birdie before his late eagle kept him from an over-par round. After carding six birdies in the first round at Hamilton Golf and Country Club, he could manage only eight more the rest of the way. For the week, he played the front nine in 9-under but was 3-over on the back, even with the eagle.

13. Dustin Johnson, United States -- After finishing in a tie for ninth at the Open Championship, Johnson drove down to London to participate in the pre-Olympic ceremonies. Golf won't be back in the Games until 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, but Johnson and Sergio Garcia offered a preview by hitting shots from a barge to a green floating in the Thames River as fans watched from Tower Bridge and Butler's Wharf. The event was staged by their sponsor, TaylorMade-adidas, and they raised 00 for International Inspiration, the British Olympic Association and British Paralympic Association's international legacy program, by hitting the green on nine of their 15 shots. Both golfers figure to have good chances to play for their countries in four years. ... After taking a week off, DJ returns to the PGA Tour for the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. His best finish in three previous appearances at Firestone was solo 15th in 2010, when he shot 65-68 in the middle rounds. He also tied for 22nd in 2009 and tied for 48th last year, when he could break the par of 70 only once each time. ... Johnson has finished in the top 10 only twice in his 11 appearance in the World Golf Championships, including a tie for ninth earlier this year in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship. His best result in the series was a tie for second last year in the WGC-Cadillac Championship, in which he posted three rounds in the 60s and seemed headed for victory before closing with a 1-under-par 71 to finish two strokes behind Nick Watney.

14. Adam Scott, Australia -- He's always wanted to be like his teenage idol, Greg Norman, and while he wasn't able to do it in the form of an Open Championship, which Norman won twice, Scott's collapse at Royal Lytham & St. Annes will go down alongside Norman's at the 1996 Masters. The questions now are how much scar tissue the 32-year-old Aussie has after giving away the Claret Jug by carding bogeys on the last four holes and how long it will take for him to overcome it. ... Scott, who left Lytham saying he could get over this quickly, gets his first chance to show that this week when he defends his title in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. Last year at Firestone, he opened with an 8-under-par 62 to miss the course record by one stroke, then finished with 66-65 to beat Rickie Fowler and Luke Donald by four strokes. The victory was overshadowed a bit when his new caddie, Steve Williams, caused a stir by gloating that it was the biggest victory of his career. That was a potshot at Tiger Woods, for whom Williams carried the bag for 13 major titles before being sacked earlier last year. ... Instead of joining Norman, Peter Thomson, Ian Baker-Finch and Kel Nagle as Aussies to win the Open, he is grouped with Mike Harwood, Stuart Appleby, Steve Elkington, Wayne Grady, Rodger Davis and Jack Newton, who all finished second. Scott, who showed he can win big events when he captured the 2004 Players Championship and the 2006 Tour Championship, will get his next chance in a major in a week at the PGA Championship.

15. Brandt Snedeker, United States -- Coming off his tie for third in the Open Championship and the long flight back from England, Snedeker had to rally to make the cut last week in the RBC Canadian Open. He finally got things going on Sunday, when he closed with a 4-under-par 66 that left him in a tie for 34th. He's hoping that will give him some momentum heading into big events the next two weeks and then the PGA Tour playoffs. ... Sneds has had his moments in his two appearances at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational but wound up in a tie for 43rd in 2008 and a tie for 33rd last year. Four years ago, he posted three rounds in the 60s at Firestone but stumbled to a 6-over-par 76 in the third round. Last year, he ranked with the leaders when he opened with 66-68, but he played the weekend in 74-72. His only top-10 finish in the World Golf Championships was a tie for ninth in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship earlier this year, when Peter Hanson of Sweden beat him in the third round. ... Snedeker was barely inside the cut-line last week in Canada before he carded birdies on two of his last three holes to make it to the weekend by three shots at 70-67--137. After shooting 1-over-par 71 in the third round, when he carded a double-bogey 5 on the eighth hole, he collected eight birdies to climb the leaderboard in the final round. He hit in the neighborhood of 65 percent of the fairways and greens but did his best work on the greens, averaging 27.3 putts per round.

16. Lee Westwood, England -- Following his latest disappointment in the Open Championship, a tie for 45th, Westwood has turned his eye toward the United States in his efforts to finally win his first major championship. It's not only for the PGA Championship next week, but for the next several years -- he has his home in Worksop on the market. He is moving his family to Florida and is making a big push to take advantage of the fact that he is still at the top of his game at the age of 40. ... Westwood is playing this week in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational for the 14th consecutive year, having never missed the tournament. He has finished in the top 10 on four occasions at Firestone, including three of the last four years. The closest he came to winning the tournament was in 2009, when he finished with rounds of 65-67-69 only to wind up one stroke behind Vijay Singh. Westy rallied from a five-shot deficit with 11 holes to play to get within one of the lead but missed a seven-foot birdie putt on the 17th and a 15-footer from the fringe for birdie on the 18th in an effort to force a playoff. He never has won any of the World Golf Championships, and that was one of his three runner-up finishes. ... Westwood has won five times around the world since last year, but none of the victories has come in the United States. He figures that by committing himself more to the PGA Tour, the best in the world, and the country where three of the four majors are played, he finally might attain major success.

17. Justin Rose, England -- Even though he missed the cut in the Open Championship, Rose did not lose his lead in the European Tour's Race to Dubai even though Ernie Els took second in the standings and closed the gap with his victory at Royal Lytham & St. Annes. Rose will have chances to pad his lead the next two weeks in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational and the PGA Championship because they are sanctioned by both major tours. ... Rosy has played in the Bridgestone five times previously. His best result a tie for second in 2007, when he finished eight shots behind runaway winner Tiger Woods. His only other top-10 finish was solo fifth in 2002 in his first appearance on the South Course at Firestone. Rose claimed his first victory in the World Golf Championships earlier this year when he closed with a 2-under-par 70, after starting 69-64-69, to hold off Bubba Watson by one stroke and hard-charging Rory McIlroy by two. That was the biggest victory of his career, but his other three PGA Tour victories also came in high profile events, the 2010 Memorial Tournament, the 2010 AT&T National and the 2011 BMW Championship during the FedEx Cup playoffs. ... Rose, who is a virtual lock to make the European Ryder Cup team for the matches in September, has been working lately with David Orr, a professor at Campbell University in North Carolina on his putting. Orr, who isn't that well known because he does not have a PGA Tour presence, was recommended by Rose's swing coach, Sean Foley.

18. Rickie Fowler, United States -- Rickie, who finally won on the PGA Tour at the Wells Fargo Championship after five runner-up finishes in the three previous seasons, is back this week at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, where he recorded one of those second-place finishes a year ago. He has finished outside the top 30 in his last three tournaments after a run of four consecutive finishes in the top 10, including his breakthrough victory at Quail Hollow. ... Last year, Fowler posted four consecutive rounds in the 60s on the South Course at Firestone but wound up four strokes behind champion Adam Scott. In 2010, he opened with a 2-under-par 68 but could not duplicate that effort the rest of the way and tied for 33rd. His runner-up finish at Firestone was one of three top-10 finishes he recorded in the World Golf Championships last year; he also tied for ninth in the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championships and finished solo eighth in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. He hasn't played well in the WGC events this season -- he was eliminated by Peter Hanson of Sweden in the first round of the Accenture and tied for 45th in the Cadillac Championship at Doral. ... Despite his loud clothes, some members of the British media seemed to be amazed that Fowler is relatively soft-spoken and respectful in his interviews. That's what veteran players and reporters have been saying about the 23-year-old since he made it to the PGA Tour. Of course, you have to have some game if you dress that way, and he definitely does.

19. Bill Haas, United States -- The reigning FedEx Cup champion is lagging behind at 21st in the standings, but he has opportunities to make up some ground the next two weeks in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational, in which all players will receive points because there is no cut, and the PGA Championship, which offers extra points since it is a major. His tie for 19th in the Open Championship was his best result since a victory in the Northern Trust Open early this season, so he might be heating up again with only three weeks left before the playoffs. ... Haas has played only twice previously in the Bridgestone, tying for 33rd in 2010 and tying for 63rd last year, before turning it on in the final weeks of the regular season. When he shot 4-under-par 66 in the second round two years ago, he posted his only sub-70 round in eight tries on the South Course at Firestone. His only top-10 finish in nine appearances in the World Golf Championships was a tie for sixth in the 2010 WGC-Cadillac Championship, on the strength of a 6-under-par 66 on the Blue Monster at Doral. ... Haas might simply need to relax and let the game come to him after struggling since his playoff victory over Phil Mickelson and Keegan Bradley at Riviera. It was his second victory in a span of five tournaments, the other coming in the Tour Championship, where he wrapped up the FedEx Cup title with the shot of the year on the PGA Tour, from shallow water in a greenside lake. He might be pressing to prove that those titles were no flukes.

20. Keegan Bradley, United States -- With only one week left before his title defense in the PGA Championship, Bradley is hoping to build some momentum when he plays in the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational for the second time. He needs something to get himself going after finishing in the top 25 only once in his last 10 tournaments. He opened the season with nine consecutive results inside the top 25. ... Keegan gave a sneak preview of his PGA performance last year on the South Course at Firestone, where he ranked with the leaders by starting with rounds of 67-65-68 before closing with a 4-over-par 74 to wind up in a tie for 15th. The next week, he was holding the Wanamaker Trophy after beating Jason Dufner in a playoff at Atlanta Athletic Club. He posted his best finish in four appearances in the World Golf Championships when he tied for eighth earlier this season in the WGC-Cadillac Championship. Bradley opened with rounds of 69-67-66 and took the lead early in the final round, but he then imploded in closing 3-over 75. The PGA Tour's 2011 Rookie of the Year, who also won the HP Byron Nelson Championship last year, has shown those Sunday jitters more than once. ... Bradley's life story of being a champion skier while growing up in Vermont is more romantic, but recently he has opened up about also living in a trailer park with his father, Mark, a golf teaching pro, after his parents separated. His dad is director of golf at Jackson Hole Golf and Tennis Club, and Keegan is proud of how far they have come since those days.

Others receiving consideration: Charl Schwartzel, South Africa; Mark Wilson, United States; Jason Day, Australia; Graeme McDowell, Northern Ireland; Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa; Johnson Wagner, United States; Kyle Stanley, United States; Robert Garrigus, United States; Jim Furyk, United States; Kevin Na, United States; Carl Pettersson, Sweden; Ben Curtis, United States; John Huh, United States; Nick Watney, United States; Marc Leishman, Australia; Bo Van Pelt, United States; Scott Piercy, United States.