Golf Power Rankings: September' 2011

Winning is the name of the game, but it's not everything in picking winners. Sure Keegan Bradley won the PGA Championship, but since then, he's missed the cut in his past two tournaments. Dustin Johnson won the Barclays, which was shortened to 54 holes due to Hurricane Irene, but he missed the cut at the PGA and stunk it up in the final round at the Deutsche Bank Championship with a 4-over 75. 

Meanwhile, Chez Reavie and Jim Furyk haven't won anything this year, but they have made the biggest leaps this week in FedEx Cup playoff standings. Reavie's final-round 66 at the Deutsche Bank was his 10th straight under-par round. And after a dismal year by his standards, Furyk has strung together a couple of top-10s over his past three tournaments. 

To come up with these Power Rankings, I factored in three key indicators of performance: player results, final-round scoring average and rounds under par over a player's past three events.

2011 Power Rankings: September
	RK	PLAYER	COMMENT
	1	Webb Simpson	The 26-year-old Wake Forest grad has won twice in the past three weeks, and in between those wins, he had a tie for 10th at the Barclays, shooting a final-round 8-under 63 in North Jersey. He's the best American player right now by a long ways.
	2	Luke Donald	The world No. 1 isn't winning often in the States, but he's had 11 top-10s in 14 tour events. In his past three weeks, he's put together a third, an eighth and an 18th. No wonder he's so good. He plays well in the final round with a 68.31 stroke average.
	3	Chez Reavie	The 29-year-old Wichita, Kan., native had the Deutsche Bank in his grasp until a gust of wind, a little adrenaline and Webb Simpson's putter killed his chances. Still, he had a spectacular run in Boston, jumping 78 places to ninth in the FedEx Cup playoff standings.
	4	Adam Scott	The stylish Aussie with the famous caddie would have a higher ranking on my list but for his 67th-place finish at the Barclays after shooting a 76 in the final round. He tied for eighth at the Deutsche Bank.
	5	Brandt Snedeker	After missing the cut at the PGA and the Wyndham Championship, the 30-year-old two-time PGA Tour winner has had two straight third-place finishes at the Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship.
	6	Jason Day	Almost every week, it seems this Australian is lurking somewhere around the leaderboard. This season he has a career-best nine top-10s, including a tie for third at the Deutsche Bank.
	7	Dustin Johnson	The long-hitting South Carolinian is either hot or cold, and it's hard to believe him sometimes when he says he's playing well. He won at the Barclays the week after easily missing the cut at the PGA Championship. Then in the final round at the Deutsche Bank, he shot a 75 to finish 42nd.
	8	Matt Kuchar	Only Luke Donald is perhaps more consistent than this 33-year-old former U.S. Amateur champion. No one cruises to a top-10 better than he does -- nine in 2011, including a second at the Barclays.
	9	Jim Furyk	Although he's struggled for most of the year, his game has come into form of late. He has two top-10s in his past three starts. At the Deutsche Bank, he ended strong with a 3-under-par 68 to finish in a tie for sixth at 12 under.
	10	Gary Woodland	The Kansan has three top-25s in his past three starts. He's long off the tee (310.7 yards) and not too crooked for a player who bombs it that far, hitting about 60 percent of his fairways.
	11	Phil Mickelson	Lefty carded an 8-under 63 in his third round at the Deutsche Bank and ended up in a tie for 10th for the event. Yet he's a ways away from knowing whether he can use that belly putter full time.
	12	Nick Watney	He shot an 80 on Monday in the final round of the Deutsche Bank, but coming into the week, he had a 10th at the Barclays and a 12th the week prior at the Wyndham Championship. His game is in good shape.
	13	Vijay Singh	The 48-year-old 34-time PGA Tour winner had back-to-back top-5s before missing the cut at the Deutsche Bank. He's not a great putter but he still knows how to golf his ball from time to time in his old age.
	14	Jerry Kelly	The tour's best grinder had a T-4 (Wyndham), a T-24 (Barclays) and a T-10 (Deutsche Bank) in his past three starts. Eleven of Kelly's past 12 rounds have been in the 60s. He has extra motivation to get back to the Tour Championship after getting booted out of the playoffs last year following the Barclays.
	15	Jonathan Byrd	The low-key South Carolinian has quietly won five times since he joined the PGA Tour in 2002. His win in January at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions set him up for the rest of the year. In the FedEx Cup playoffs, he has a fifth and a 56th last week at the Deutsche Bank Championship.
	16	Bubba Watson	At 32 years old, the bomber from Bagdad, Fla., is in his prime -- winning twice early in the season. Lately he's had middling results. In the final round at the Deutsche Bank, where he started the day with the lead, Watson's game fell apart as the players in front of him started making birdies. He couldn't get out of Boston fast enough after shooting a 3-over 74.
	17	K.J. Choi	The 41-year-old South Korean missed the cut at the Deutsche Bank and hasn't had a top-10 since his second-place finish at the AT&T National in July. But he's holding a place inside the top 30 primarily because of his win at the Players Championship in May.
	18	Hunter Mahan	The former Oklahoma State star has missed only three cuts in 23 starts and has eight top-10s in 2011. At the Deutsche Bank, he finished with a 5-under 66 to tie for eighth at 10-under par.
	19	Steve Stricker	He has won twice this season but hasn't made much noise so far in the playoffs. Stricker's best playoffs finish has been a 24th at the Barclays. I'm surprised he hasn't played better. His temperament and game suit the playoff format.
	20	Keegan Bradley	The 25-year-old rookie has won twice this season, but he's missed his past two cuts since his win at the PGA Championship. Last Saturday with a lot of family and friends in the gallery at the Deutsche Bank, Bradley shot a 5-over 76 to miss the cut. His most important contribution to the week might have been his encouragement of Phil Mickelson to use the belly putter.