Week 11 Power Rankings: Transitions Championship

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Officially, Mike Vitti is the Director of Research and Development in the TOUR's Marketing Department. Unofficially, he's a stats guru who analyzes all kinds of data from our ShotLink numbers.

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Mike Vitti discusses this week's Power Rankings in his weekly Talk of the TOUR segment on the PGA TOUR Network (XM 146, SIRIUS 209). Click to listen

Vitti will size up the field each week and provide his top 10 players going into the tournament, based on factors such as the player's strengths, the course setup, recent performances, etc.

For the second time in three weeks, the host course for the PGA TOUR event -- the Transitions Championship -- ranked among the 10 hardest courses during the 2008 season. The Innisbrook Resort Copperhead course had the eighth-highest scoring average relative to par last season, with the field averaging almost two strokes over par for the week.

Part of what makes Innisbrook so hard is the difficulty in attacking the hole. Last season, it ranked among the highest distances in proximity to the hole, with players averaging over 38 feet from the pin on their approach shots. This challenge in attacking the pin also shows up in the putting average stats, where Innisbrook ranked among the highest courses in putts per greens in regulation.

So with that, who has the best chance to survive Copperhead this week?

Power Rankings: Transitions Championship

Rank Player   Comment Jim FURYK Furyk is still looking for his first win since '07, but if his back-nine charge last week is any indication, he's very close. His solo third was his second top 10 in as many starts, and he enters this week converting almost 80 percent of his scrambling opportunities. Steve STRICKER Stricker currently ranks in the top 25 in putting average and is eighth in scoring. He has finished in the top 25 in five of his six starts this season and tied for 14th here after closing with a final-round 66 last year. Sean O'HAIR The defending champion at this event, O'Hair also tied for 10th here in 2005. O'Hair enters this week eighth in birdie conversion percentage and has finished in the top 25 in each of his six starts this season. Nick WATNEY Watney was one ball rotation away from taking Phil Mickelson to a playoff last week at Doral for possibly his second victory of '09. The runner-up finish was his fifth top 25 in six starts, and he enters the week in the top 15 in driving distance and total putting. Kenny PERRY Perry recorded another top-10 finish last week, his fourth in seven starts this season. He has finished in the top 30 at this event in each of his five previous starts and enters this week ranked in the top 10 in greens in regulation and par-4 scoring average. K.J. CHOI A two-time champion of this event, Choi enters this week ranked 28th in driving accuracy and tied for fourth in greens in regulation. Choi has finished in the top 15 in half of his starts this season. Charley HOFFMAN Hoffman enters this week having finished in the top 20 in five of his six starts this season. He ranks in the top 25 in driving distance, greens in regulation, putting average and scoring average. Hoffman has missed the cut in two of his three starts at this event. Tim CLARK Clark has not played in this event since '06 but has finished in the top 20 twice. He finished in the top 25 in five of his six starts this season and ranks 10th in driving accuracy, second in greens in regulation, seventh in scrambling and 24th in total putting. David TOMS Toms finished tied for sixth at this event in 2004 but missed the cut in '05 and '08. He has finished sixth or better in three of his five starts this season. Toms currently ranks third in both driving accuracy and putting average and leads the TOUR in scoring. John SENDEN Senden tied for second at this event in both 2007 and '08. Annually among the leaders in greens in regulation, he enters this week ranked 10th on TOUR in this category and is also tied for ninth in final-round scoring average.