PGA Top 10 For July 18, 2011

Darren Clarke won the British Open on Sunday outlasting Dustin Johnson and Phil Mickelson. Although Clarke is the most recent major champion, he doesn't rank as one of the best golfers on tour. Here is my list of the PGA's Top 10 players:

1. Dustin Johnson -- We all know Johnson's history of choking in the final round of big events. But in order to be in a position to choke in major events, you have to be good enough to get to the top of the leaderboard to begin with. Like any athlete knows in any sport you have to lose some battles to win wars. I find a lot of similarities between Johnson and Phil Mickelson. Like Johnson's driving ability, Mickelson had a reputation early in his career for having amazing abilities with his short game. Much like DJ driving the ball 360+ yards, Mickelson had people whispering about him when he was hitting wedge shots backwards over his head. Phil played his first PGA tour event in 1996, but didn't win his first major until 2004. Johnson played his first event in 2008, so essentially he has until 2016 until he needs to start worrying. During the first part of Phil's career he found himself in contention at major events, but never seemed to have that killer instinct. It wasn't until people starting to wonder if he would go his entire career without winning a major that he started to get that look of focus in his eyes. I don't know if we will have to wait until 2016 to see Johnson win a major, but it might take that long for DJ to find his focus. Needless to say, I have Johnson No. 1 because he is so naturally talented. Johnson has also produced 4 top 10 finishes in the last 8 major events.

2. Rory McIlroy -- After leading The Masters for three rounds and winning the US Open, McIlroy could easily take the top spot on this list. A big reason why McIlroy isn't No. 1 is because he's only played in seven PGA tour events -- he's not even qualified to be ranked in the FedEx Cup standings. In those events Rory has done well, finishing in the top 25 in all but one event, but he's not exactly a consistent contender every Sunday like Stricker, Mickelson or Choi. Regardless, I ranked Rory ahead of those other guys because at just 22 years old, McIlroy is the future of the PGA.

3. Steve Stricker -- Sticker is one of just four golfers who has won twice so far this season. As someone who doesn't get as much publicity as the John Daly and Anthony Kim's of the PGA tour, Sticker shoots solid rounds every time he tee's it up. Stricker is the Adrian Peterson of Fantasy Golf. Sticker is averaging 48 fantasy points per tournament, 8 more points than the next best golfer. Stricker has 11 top 20 finishes and is ranked No. 5 in the World Golf Rankings and No. 2 in the FexEx Cup points standings.

4. Phil Mickelson -- I wrote in the blurb on Dustin Johnson that Mickelson once had that 'happy to be there' attitude until he was challenged to win a major. Well, he's got his major championships and it also appears he's got his 'happy to be there' attitude again. Phil might have heavy odds to win every event he enters, but he's not the PGA's best player. I think after watching Mickelson miss a small par putt on No. 11 yesterday, then laugh about it, I realized he's not challenged anymore. The announcers said something like, "Isn't that nice to see someone act so nicely when they miss a putt, Tiger would have cussed". Tiger would have been angry at missing a three foot par putt during the final round of a major because he wants to win. Apparently Phil isn't concerned so much. Ho hum. With that said, Phil falls to No. 4.

5. K. J. Choi -- As winner of this year's Players Championship, Choi demands respect every weekend. Choi has six top 10 finishes and has made the cut in 13/16 events this season. Consistency means that Choi is ranked No. 3 in the FedEx Cup standings and has $27 million in career earnings.

6. Nick Watney -- Watney has won twice this year and despite missing the cut this past weekend, he is still ranked No. 1 in FedEx Cup points. On top of winning twice, Watney has six other top 10 finishes.

7. Matt Kuchar -- Kuchar might not be a household name, but he does have the highest fantasy points per tournament of the Group A players in fantasy golf on Yahoo. Like Watney, even though Kuchar failed to make the cut this past weekend at The Open, he deserves to be recognized as one of the best on tour.

8. Luke Donald -- Donald is ranked No. 1 in the Official World Golf Rankings and he's also one of the most consistent players on tour.

9. Charl Schwartzel -- I felt like I couldn't leave Schwartzel off this list after winning The Masters this year. Schwartzel has been a solid fantasy choice every weekend, he hasn't missed a cut yet.

10. Lee Westwood -- I debated if Westwood or someone else like Bubba Watson, Martin Kaymer or Sergio Garcia deserved to be the 10th player on my list. Since Westwood has been at the top of a few major tournaments in recent years and is No. 2 in the World Golf Rankings, I gave Lee the nod. Westwood could be ranked even higher on this list if he played more on the PGA tour, he's only participated in seven events this season.

The PGA Tour is deep with talent. There are some really good players who didn't make this list, creating a Top 25 list would be very difficult. I might put together that list for my next blog... I wonder where Tiger would be ranked. Stay tuned!