Rankings go by the numbers

Mickelson could overtake Woods

If Tiger Woods fails to win this weekend's Arnold Palmer Invitational and Phil Mickelson captures next week's Shell Houston Open, Mickelson will replace Woods as the top-ranked player in the world.

Show of hands: How many actually believe Mickelson is the better golfer?

No offense to Lefty; he's carved out quite a career, with 36 wins (tied for 12th all time), three majors, and a memorable Labor Day staredown while paired with Woods at the 2007 Deutsche Bank Championship in Norton.

But the body of work for both players is so strongly tilted that it leads to only one conclusion: Woods stands alone. He does lose, occasionally, but he's proven, without a doubt, that he's the best player on the planet.

How, then, might there be a swap at the top? The culprit is the Official World Golf Ranking, a complicated, contrived system of points and mathematical formulas meant to determine, during any given week, who the No. 1 player in the world is, and who is No. 10, or No. 100, or No. 1,000. What some view as a novelty (can anyone prove that Justin Leonard, currently ranked 25th, is better than Zach Johnson, sitting 35th?), others see as an important key to fame and fortune, since all four major championships use the OWGR list for inclusion in their fields, the International team selects its Presidents Cup members based solely on the rankings, and bonuses can sometimes be paid by manufacturers and sponsors depending on where a player is ranked at the end of the season.

The tricky part is how to compare players who seldom play in the same tournaments. Each event's strength of field is determined and OWGR points awarded accordingly; a Japanese Tour event will never have the same OWGR points available as a PGA Tour stop, for instance, since it's understood and accepted that a PGA stop will have a stronger field. In fact, of the current top 20, only three players are based on tours other than the PGA.

Rory McIlroy, the mop-topped teen from Northern Ireland who is ranked 17th in the world, has played three events on the PGA Tour. He has many more starts on the European Tour, and won the Dubai Desert Classic last month, one of that tour's marquee tournaments. The kid has lots of game, no question. But has he shown enough in such a small amount of time to be ranked ahead of Stewart Cink, Mike Weir, Adam Scott, Retief Goosen, and K.J. Choi? The OWGR says yes.

The rankings were created in 1986 (Bernhard Langer debuted at No. 1) to assist the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in its bid to invite the most qualified players to the British Open. Named the Sony Rankings at its inception, they assessed player performance over a three-year period, based on total points earned. Now the rankings use a two-year window, still factoring in points, but adding a divisor to determine a player's average number of points per event.

This way, someone who plays in fewer events isn't penalized and passed by those who play more frequently.

Which brings us to Woods. He became the world's top-ranked player on June 15, 1997, and, despite briefly losing the ranking to Ernie Els, David Duval, and Vijay Singh, has kept his grip on No. 1 continuously since June 19, 2005, a span of 198 consecutive weeks. Back in the spring of 2001, when Woods had all four major championship trophies sitting in his living room, he had a lead of more than 19 points, the widest margin ever. Looking up at Woods back then from the No. 2 position? Mickelson.

Now Woods's lead is less than half a point, primarily because he spent eight months rehabbing after knee surgery and not accumulating any points, only losing them, from his two-year window. His lead had been so large that only now is he being challenged for the top spot. Sergio Garcia had a chance to overtake Woods two weeks ago at the CA Championship in Doral, but tied for 31st.

Mickelson won that event, jumping over Garcia into second and within shouting distance of Woods. Mickelson, who has never been ranked No. 1 in the world, isn't playing at Bay Hill this week, but is expected at the Shell Houston Open next week.

Of course, Woods could make talk of him relinquishing his No. 1 ranking a moot point this week. He's won Arnie's get-together a record five times.

When the first-round pairings for the Accenture Match Play Championships last month produced a Woods-Brendan Jones tussle, the focus, as it should have been, was on Woods, the No. 1 seed making his long-awaited return from injury.

My first thought: Who is Brendan Jones, and how did he get to be ranked 64th in the world?

Quigley about to break 100

Who's arguably the hottest player on the PGA Tour? Say hello to Brett Quigley. The Massachusetts native and Rhode Island product is having quite a month, with a tie for 13th at the Honda Classic followed by second-place finishes the past two weeks at the Puerto Rico Open and the Transitions Championship. He's bagged nearly $881,486 in March and soared up the Official World Golf Ranking, from 248th on March 1 to No. 101. He's 18th on the PGA Tour money list.

"It's been a fun few weeks," Quigley said by phone from his home in Jupiter, Fla., where he was about to leave for Orlando and this week's Arnold Palmer Invitational. "I've actually been playing well all year, but just haven't been getting anything out of it until recently."

Quigley, still searching for his first PGA Tour win in his 13th full season, had chances the past two weeks, losing by one shot both times. It took clutch final-hole putts - an 11-footer from Michael Bradley and a 5-footer from Retief Goosen - to keep Quigley out of Sunday playoffs. Bradley and Goosen had to fight off a final-round charge by Quigley, who shot 67 in Puerto Rico and 68 at the Transitions.

"I've really done everything I can. I was the leader in the clubhouse with a few groups left to play and just been beaten," Quigley said. "The last two weeks I've had a chance and I didn't back down from it. I'm not letting the little stuff bother me as much and I know I can make birdies. I can take a lot of confidence from that."

He's hoping he can turn the momentum into a spot in the Masters, but needs a win, either this week at Bay Hill or next week in Houston, to do it. Quigley has made one news-making appearance in the Masters, in 2007, when his daughter was born the day before the tournament started. Quigley raced home for the birth, then returned to Augusta in time for the first round, and went on to tie for 51st. Lillian Sage Augusta Quigley had to wait a few extra days before she could spend some quality time with Dad. He'd like to get back.

"I'd trade all the money a win would bring if it meant I could play in the Masters," Quigley said. "It's the greatest tournament of the year."

Tiger knows: Practice makes perfect

There's no blueprint for becoming one of the world's best players. Skill, obviously, is the defining factor, but mental toughness, determination, poise, and preparation all play an equal part. And practice. Plenty of practice. To think that Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson don't put in much time to improve their games is not giving them nearly enough credit.

Consider the following schedule that Woods adheres to when he practices, courtesy of his coach, Hank Haney, who disclosed this "Tiger Day" to Woods pal Charles Barkley on the Golf Channel show "The Haney Project: Charles Barkley":

6 a.m. - lift weights for 90 minutes

7:30 a.m. - breakfast

9-11 a.m. - hit balls on practice range

11-11:30 a.m. - putting

11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. - play 9 holes

12:30-1 p.m. - lunch

1-3 p.m. - hit balls on practice range

3-4 p.m. - work on short game

4-5 p.m. - play 9 holes

5-5:30 p.m. - hit balls on practice range

5:30-6 p.m. - putting

Adding that kind of work ethic to the physical skills and intangible strengths Woods owns, it's easy to see how he can generate such dominant results.

Pro tours at a glance

PGA: Arnold Palmer Invitational
Site: Bay Hill Club and Lodge (7,162 yards, par 70), Orlando, Fla.
Schedule: Today-Sunday.
Purse: $6 million. Winner's share: $1.08 million.
Television: Golf Channel (today-tomorrow, 3-6 p.m.) ; Ch. 7 (Saturday-Sunday, 2:30-6 p.m.).
Last year: Tiger Woods made a 25-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one-stroke victory, his fifth Bay Hill win.
Last week: Retief Goosen won the Transitions Championship in Tampa, edging Charles Howell and Brett Quigley by a stroke.
Of note: Woods is making his third start since returning from a left knee injury that sidelined him eight months . . . British Open and PGA winner Padraig Harrington is making his first Bay Hill start since 2000 . . . The Houston Open is next week.

LPGA: J Golf Phoenix LPGA International
Site: Papago Golf Course (6,711 yards, par 72), Phoenix.
Schedule: Today-Sunday.
Purse: $1.5 million. Winner's share: $225,000.
Television: Golf Channel (today-tomorrow, 6:30-8:30 p.m.; Saturday, 6:30-9:30 p.m.; Sunday, 7-9:30 p.m.).
Last year: Lorena Ochoa successfully defended her title at Superstition Mountain, finishing at 22-under 266, seven strokes ahead of Jee Young Lee and Minea Blomqvist.
Last week: Pat Hurst won the Mastercard Classic at BosqueReal in Mexico, beating Ochoa and Yani Tseng by a stroke.

Of note: Michelle Wie is making her second start of the season. She was second in the season-opening SBS Open in Hawaii . . . The Kraft Nabisco, the first major of the season, is next week in Rancho Mirage, Calif.

Champions: Cap Cana Championship
Site: Punta Espada Golf Club (7,260 yards, par 72), Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Schedule: Tomorrow-Sunday.
Purse: $2.1 million. Winner's share: $315,000.
Television: Golf Channel (tomorrow, 12:30-2:30 p.m.; Saturday-Sunday, 1-4 p.m.)
Of note: Greg Norman is making his sixth career Champions Tour start and first in a non-major.

PGA European: Andalucia Open
Site: Real Club de Golf de Sevilla (7,140 yards, par 72), Seville, Spain.
Schedule: Today-Sunday.
Purse: $1.37 million. Winner's share: $227,750.
Television: Golf Channel (today-tomorrow, 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-12:30 p.m.; Sunday, 9 a.m.-noon).
Of note: Colin Montgomerie is making his 500th European tour appearance as a professional. The 2010 European Ryder Cup captain has 32d victories.

Etc.

Aaron Baddeley probably won a few more fans after his actions two weeks ago. Too bad it made a hefty dent in his wallet. Baddeley disqualified himself from the CA Championship at Doral for a rules violation he determined he committed the day before. During the third round, Baddeley's drive on the third hole went into a water hazard to the right of the fairway; he asked a rules official if he could move a rock that was interfering with his stance. The answer was no. Baddeley then realized that the day before he drove into the same hazard and removed a similar rock. Doing so was a rules violation that should have brought a penalty; Baddeley didn't call it, and thus signed an incorrect second-round scorecard. Too bad, since the CA Championship was a no-cut, limited-field event that paid $35,250 for last place.

For the second straight year, Golf Digest is partnering with the USGA and NBC to give someone a chance to play the US Open course in an attempt to break 100. Last year, John Atkinson needed 114 shots at Torrey Pines. He was being treated for lung cancer and his essay was chosen from 56,000 entries. This year, more than 73,000 entries were turned in, and four finalists have been selected. The winner will join Michael Jordan and two other celebrities for 18 holes at Bethpage State Park's Black Course, site of June's US Open. Hopefuls had to submit why they should be selected in six words. Vote at www.gdopencontest.com. The finalists:

Larry Giebelhausen, 58, a police lieutenant in Phoenix: "I'm a cop. I'll shoot low!"

Bob Ray, 53, a fire chief from Arnold, Md.: "Fire Chief burns up the course."

Philippe de Kerillis, 39, an emergency medicine physician from Erdenheim, Pa.: "ER doctor ready for Bethpage trauma."

Dale Matthews, 55, a physician specializing in internal medicine from McLean, Va.: "I'm a doctor. I understand pain."

Looking for a sign to help uncover the LPGA Tour's next big star? How about Momoko Ueda of Japan? The 22-year-old is still searching for her first victory on tour, but showed enough consistency and flashes of brilliance during her rookie season last year that it seems just a matter of time. Ueda missed the cut in just three of her 19 LPGA tournaments in 2008, and improved at all four majors: She tied for 47th at the Kraft Nabisco, tied for 25th at the LPGA Championship, tied for 13th at the US Women's Open, and tied for seventh at the Women's British Open. Oh, and the sign? Starting this week, she's got Terry McNamara on the bag. McNamara, for the past 10 years, caddied for Annika Sorenstam. McNamara, it would seem, would have his choice of employers now that Sorenstam has "stepped away" from competitive golf. The fact that he chose to work for Ueda should speak volumes about her potential.

Speaking of the LPGA, perhaps you've heard that Michelle Wie has made another change to her management team. She's severed ties with the William Morris Agency, which had handled her affairs since the teen queen turned pro in 2005, and signed with IMG. Speculation with Wie always centers on how heavy-handed her parents, B.J. and Bo, have been about controlling her career. Without knowing the facts, I'm not willing to pile on. Maybe Michelle calls all the shots, and always has. I hope so; the alternative contains too many nasty subplots.

Birdie: Pat Hurst. Holding off Lorena Ochoa, in Mexico, is no small feat. The 39-year-old birdied the last hole to cap off a 4-under-par 68 in the final round, good for a one-shot win over Ochoa and Yani Tseng.

Bogey: Charles Howell. OK, criticizing his second-place tie at the Transitions Championship might seem harsh. But the Augusta native needed a win to clinch a spot in the Masters, a tournament he's currently not eligible for and hasn't missed since 2001. He put himself in position: Howell was tied for the lead late in the final round, but bogeys on Nos. 15 and 16 left him a shot behind winner Retief Goosen.

Birdie: Davis Love. His return to the Masters is almost set. Love, who missed last year after playing in 17 straight, is ranked 47th in the world. The top 50 after this week's tournaments earn invitations. It's a big accomplishment for the 20-time Tour winner, who started the year ranked 77th and made a Masters appearance his goal; he's made the cut in six of his seven events, and tied for second at the Mercedes.

Bogey: John Daly. Big John had his libel lawsuit against the Florida Times-Union and one of its former columnists dismissed this week by a Duval County judge. Daly sued in 2005, saying a column by Mike Freeman at that year's Players Championship - which suggested he failed "the scoundrel sniff test" - defamed him.

Birdie: Sorenstam. She announced last week that she and husband Mike McGee are expecting their first child in the fall. Good for her. She made no secret about wanting to start a family. At 38, and with 72 LPGA victories, 10 majors, and more than $22 million in career earnings, she had nothing more left to prove.

Birdie: Spring. Let's hope we've seen the last of the snow. Is there a better feeling than putting your tee in the ground on the first hole of your first round of the year, with the entire season in front of you? Here's to more birdies than bogeys.