Move Over Mickelson
By GolfChannel.com Team
Posted: February 8, 2010
Here are GolfChannel.com’s Power Rankings, a weekly barometer of the hottest players in the game:
| Rank | Player | Comment | | 1 | 
Steve Stricker | Victory at the Northern Trust moved him to No. 2 in the World Golf Ranking and No. 1 in the Power Rankings. Consider this, he hasn’t finished outside the top 10 since September. | | | 2 | 
Lee Westwood | The European Tour has had a familiar look the last few weeks and we don’t mean the desert venues. Westwood has been a fixture, finishing second in Dubai and third in Qatar after a great end to 2009. | | | 3 | 
Phil Mickelson | Embers are still glowing from a blazing finish last year but he’s cooling off with a sluggish start. Still, over the final 36 holes at Riviera, Mickelson hit fairways, which is a reason to remain bullish on the new No. 3 man. | | | 4 | 
Rory McIlroy | It’s difficult to argue that anyone is playing more consistent golf right now, with a flush of great finishes (T-6 or better in six of his last seven events) in Europe to prepare for his first year on the PGA Tour. | | | 5 | 
Martin Kaymer | The German has been solid in Europe so far this season with a victory and a fourth-place tie in his last three starts. But if history holds true, Kaymer is due for an “off” week soon. | | | 6 | 
Ernie Els | The decision to focus on a U.S. schedule has paid early dividends with the Big Easy finishing T-12 at Sony, T-5 at the Farmers Insurance and T-10 at Northern Trust. Is Els back? | | | 7 | 
Paul Casey
| The Englishman was once ranked No. 3 in the world last year before a rib injury. Now, with that behind him he’s finished in the top-11 in four of his last five events. Could be a solid pick to win the Match Play. | | | 8 | 
Robert Allenby | Dropped a little from last week with a 27th-place tie at Riviera (had a final-round 68) but he still had two international wins in December and has two top-10s on the PGA Tour this year. | | | 9 | 
Charl Schwartzel
| The young South African was in the hunt in Dubai after 36-holes but played poorly on the weekend with 76-74 and tied for 38th. Still, consecutive wins in South Africa and a tie for 14th in Qatar keep him on the list. | | | 10 | 
Dustin Johnson
| The defending Pebble Beach champion had a good tune up in L.A. with a third-place tie, if you dust off the third-round 74. His length will likely make him a contender again this week in the “Crosby” weather. |
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Wekiva on 02/11/2010, at 9:10 AM EST
“lbkahuna, my point of view is that Tiger is exciting and in the words of several PGA golfers over the years "Tiger plays the game at a level they never thought was possible." Tiger fans appreciate rooting for someone who wins tour events and majors at a near 30% clip when Nicklaus' best was btw 12-13%. Tiger fans also appreciate Phil, VJ and Love (20 wins) the so-called "normal" great players. But I see so much forced criticism of Tiger's feats (i.e. the nonsense that Tiger's competition is not as strong as Jack's was) or Tiger's naughty behavior or even of Phil's supposed insincerity. I'm not against Phil. I just don't like reading jabs by Tiger haters or seeing tv interviews that say Phil is as good or better than Tiger (ala Dave Peltz now and even Butch Harmon a couple yrs ago). I never apologize for being a Tiger fan or golfing nut. Peace!”