World Golf Rankings

Who are the bubble guys? They are the players who stand between 40 and 60 in the world rankings. At any time, players behind them can easily leap-frog their position by playing well in a tournament. If you do not think it is that easy, look below and see what happened to last week’s winners and how they rocketed up the world rankings.

A couple of weeks back, I was discussing the world rankings with Brian Penn from All About Golf. We initially were talking about Adam Who are the bubble guys? They are the players who stand between 40 and 60 in the world rankings. At any time, players behind them can easily leap-frog their position by playing well in a tournament. If you do not think it is that easy, look below and see what happened to last week’s winners and how they rocketed up the world rankings.Scott taking over as world number one and Brian set me straight as to the real meaning of the rankings. He said:

“Jim, the odd thing about the world golf rankings is that it doesn’t matter who’s #1. Top guy has a nice feather in the cap but what it’s really about is winning majors. What’s very important is staying in the top 50 because of all the automatic invites to the big tournaments. Weird that the farther down you go the more meaning it has.”

The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that his view about the importance of the bubble guys is spot on! Additionally, his sage advice was behind the article I wrote for Pundit Arena called Valero Texas Open – The Most Important Tournament of the Year. It might be worth a read.

The bubble positions are especially critical so close to The Masters for one reason and one reason only – how a professional qualifies. There are many ways, but the one with the most impact is the 50 leaders on the Official World Golf Ranking published during the week prior to the current Masters Tournament are invited to the show!

If Matthew Every can jump from 94 to 44 on the world rankings by winning one event, all the bubble players must be sweating as they tee it up over the next two weeks. Two weeks before any Major is always exciting as players jockey for position hoping to get that elusive invite. There will be many sleepless nights over the next two weeks as the bubble guys pray they are not ranked number 51!

No matter what happens – The Masters is a Tradition Like No Other! I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!

Is it possible that Adam Scott will take over as world number one? His play at the Arnold Palmer Invitational is nothing short of fantastic. After the second round, Scott will have an 7 shot lead and if he continues to play well, he should take over as the number one golfer in the world. But…..

ABC reports :” The complex world ranking system assigns points to an event based on the current world rankings of those playing and while official projections are not computed until all players begin the event it appears a win for Scott would still leave him fractionally short of Woods.

Had Day been able to play, a win for Scott in Woods’s absence would have most likely been enough to take the top spot.

Regardless, a win would at the very least get him close enough to pass Woods at the Masters with a higher finish than the American, even if he did not defend.”

Does this seem fair? It is very difficult to determine how the world rankings are calculated. I have tried to follow the process, but I am always tripped up by the ‘strength of the field’ and ‘head to head’ competition. I am sure the golfing experts use an algorithm that would stump Albert Einstein, but it seems to work for them. Regardless, Adam Scott is playing outstanding and if he stays focused, should cruise to a win at Palmer’s tournament.

On a side note, I wanted to point out a statement by Adam Scott posted by White Dragon Golf: ” I made a lot of putts today, and a lot of putts from considerable length. I hit a lot of nice shots, too, but it wasn’t like I was hitting it four feet. ….” Scott’s comment reinforces the recent discussion on focused putting and breaking 100 with consistency. An amateur’s and professional’s short game can be the difference between an average score and a great score.

As the this weekends event unfolds, Should Adam Scott be crowned world number one if the wins the Arnold Palmer invitational?

I am a grateful golfer! See you on the links!