Power rankings: The Honda Classic

The PGA Tour kicks off its Florida Swing this week with The Honda Classic. For a number of players, this is a home game, as they call the Palm Beach and Jupiter areas home, including Rory McIlroy, who headlines the field.

Padraig Harrington is defending champion in the unpredictable event, beating Daniel Berger in a Monday playoff last year. 

PGA National's Champion Course almost always produces a dramatic finish, with the Bear Trap, comprising hole Nos. 15-17, typically playing a heavy hand in deciding the winner.

Here are our top five players for this week:

1.  Rickie Fowler -- Fowler almost won in Phoenix. He won in Abu Dhabi. He's hot. Pick him for that and his two top-15s here in the last five years.

2. Rory McIlroy -- A Sunday dud at Riviera shouldn't be that discouraging. McIlroy is playing well anywhere right now, just hasn't closed the deal on a win in 2016. Won here in 2012, holding off Tiger Woods.

3. Hideki Matsuyama -- The Phoenix winner was pretty solid at Riviera, T-11. Nothing fancy here in his Honda record, but he's such a good ballstriker.

4. Adam Scott -- Joint runner-up at Riviera, which is yet another such finish for Scott this season. The putter can be a liability, but he's clearly committed to improving and showed it at Riviera.

5. Phil Mickelson -- Mickelson has showed signs that he's ready to win. He came up short at Pebble and looked great in the Desert. Not a splendid record here but playing well.

Phil Mickelson believes that young guns on PGA Tour don't come close to Tiger Woods

For all the talk of the brilliance of the next generation on the PGA Tour, Phil Mickelson believes they don't even come close to Tiger Woods in his prime.

The 45-year-old, who is a five time major champion, told GOLF Monthly that the likes of Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Jason Day and Rickie Fowler aren't in the class of the former world No 1. 

Mickelson, who often plays with the young guns in practice rounds and pro-ams to keep sharp, says none of them have the raw talent of the 14-time major champion.

Phil Mickelson has heaped praise on compatriot Tiger Woods.

"There is nobody in the game that I have seen that is remotely close to the level of performance Tiger was in his prime," Mickelson said in an interview on the debut episode of GOLF LIVE. 

"Mentally, short game, or ball striking, I don't think anybody matches him in any of those areas. And Tiger put them all together in one to create a career that is mind-boggling in the game of golf."

Mickelson said it was "difficult for me to see the game of golf returning to the level that it was at during [Woods'] heyday." 

"As great as the young players are, the level that I've seen out of him, especially when you go back to 2000 at the US Open and his performance when he held all four major championships at once, I think we're decades away from anybody getting back to that level."

It is highly unlikely that, that player will be Woods himself. The golf great is on the recovery from back surgery and in December last year told the media: "I have nothing to look forward to." 

The 40-year-old's last major victory was at the US Open in 2008. His most recent PGA Tour victory was the World Golf Championships Bridgestone Invitational in 2013.

He has not competed competitively since August last year and now his dream of overtaking Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major titles seems like a tough ask.

Golf Final Rankings 2015: Where Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson, Tiger Woods And More Ended The Year

American Jordan Spieth began 2015 as the fresh-faced No. 9 ranked golfer in the world, loaded with promise to take the PGA by storm at just 21 years of age. With the year coming to a close, Spieth has more than proven his talent and will finish the year as the No. 1 ranked golfer in the world.

Beating out many notable PGA veterans, the Texas native launched to stardom with a record-setting Masters victory and followed up with a dominate run at the U.S. Open, before a fourth-place finish at St. Andrew’s and a thrilling runner-up result at the PGA Championship.

His awe-inspiring finish at Whistling Straits propelled Spieth into golf’s elite, and he eventually overtook Australia’s Jason Day for the world’s top ranking after tying for seventh at the WGC-HSBC Champions in Shanghai last month. From there, Spieth further solidified his standing as golf’s best, edging out Day with 619.76 total points over 52 events for an average of 11.9184 points per appearance compared to Day’s 464.27 points and 11.6066 average, according to the official rankings.

But No. 2 Day retains a healthy lead over No. 3 and former No. 1 Rory McIlroy, and he put up astonishing numbers across most of golf’s majors this year. The 28-year-old Day beat Spieth for the PGA Championship, came in fourth at the British Open, and ninth at the U.S. Open, and wound up with five total wins and three top 10 finishes on the year.

After a fourth-place run at the Masters, a serious foot injury forced McIlroy to sit out his defense of the British title, but he roared back to come in ninth at the U.S. and shot at respectable nine-under at the PGAs. All told, Northern Ireland’s favorite son fired off two wins and two top 10 finishes to stay in the top three after spending 34 out of 45 weeks at No. 1 this year.

American and fan favorite Phil Mickelson slipped two spots overall this year to No. 29 after a difficult run over 19 tournaments. The former No. 2-ranked star couldn’t muster a victory this season and finished in the top 10 once. Mickelson will likely spend next year improving on his poor work at three of the four majors. The 45-year-old finished second to Spieth at the Masters, but shot 13-over at the U.S. for 64 th place, and only reached as high as 20th place at the British and PGA Championship.

But the year-end rankings wouldn’t be complete without discussing the continuing slide of former No. 1 Tiger Woods. Injuries, surgeries, a seemingly endless retooling of his swing, and overall poor play have bumped the 39-year-old completely off the rankings after starting the year at No. 32.

Like his rival Mickelson, Woods managed one top 10 finish and didn’t win a single tournament. And next year isn’t looking any better for Woods, who told reporters Sunday that he hasn’t started rehab following a second back surgery though he does hope to return to the tour.

Here’s a look at the top 25 rankings of 2015, including each players’ current points total. Some players have more than others, but the ranking comes down to what each player averages per event.

Official World Golf Rankings

1.Jordan Spieth, United States, 619.76 total points

2.Jason Day, Australia, 464.27

3.Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland, 510.96

4.Bubba Watson, United States, 344.68

5.Justin Rose, England, 382.69

6.Rickie Fowler, United States, 377.69

7.Henrik Stenson, Sweden, 371.10

8.Dustin Johnson, United States, 257.62

9.Jim Furyk, United States, 245.00

10.Adam Scott, Australia, 194.43

11.Zach Johnson, United States, 236.82

12.Sergio Garcia, Spain, 206.54

13.Patrick Reed, United States, 224.79

14.Hideki Matsuyama, Japan, 220.07

15.Branden Grace, South Africa, 215.14

16.Kevin Kisner, United States, 213.39

17.Brooks Koepka, United States, 213.29

18.Louis Oosthuizen, South Africa, 194.71

19.Matt Kuchar, United States, 203.38

20.Danny Willett, England, 199.56

21.Shane Lowry, Ireland, 189.29

22.Kevin Na, United States, 190.51

23.J.B. Holmes, United States, 175.14

24.Paul Casey, England, 180.98

25.Jimmy Walker, United States, 180.79

Golf: 5 Reasons Tiger Woods Hasn't Won a Major Since 2008

Tiger Woods, arguably the greatest golfer of all-time, has failed to recapture the magic he once displayed in the early 2000s. The soon to be 40-year-old veteran has not won a single major since the 2008 United States Open leaving his career at 14 major championships, four behind the great Jack Nicklaus.

So many factors have contributed to Woods' demise. Here are the top five reasons Woods has been unable to win another major title.

1. Competition

It's no disrespect to Woods, but he didn't exactly face an extremely tough field in his prime. Outside of an above average Phil Mickelson, Woods was never really pushed to the brink on a consistent basis. Woods is obviously the best golfer of the 21st century, but he never had that true rival, like Nicklaus had Arnold Palmer. The competition in golf now is higher than it's been in decades. Jordan Spieth, Jason Day and Rory McIlroy are all on top of their game providing must watch action in every major. All three of those golfers are below the age of 30.

2. The Scandal

Things really went downhill after this. Woods was on top of the golf world, and then suddenly he got knocked off it by the infamous infidelity scandal. When this occurred in 2009 Woods was still ranked No. 1 in the world. Now,Woods ranks an unimaginable 400. Woods hasn't had the same confidence ever since, and he's fired his swing coach multiple times. For the next year and a half after this event, Woods was asked more about the scandal than golf. Unfortunately for Woods, he has not returned to stardom n the golf course since this notorious event.

3. Injuries

Woods has dealt with so many injuries throughout his career, it was bound to finally catch up with him. The big injury bug hit Woods in 2008, particularly in the knee area. Constant surgeries, early withdrawals, shots and back spasms have plagued Woods over the last seven years. Thankfully, for Woods and golf fans everywhere, this didn't happen earlier in his career. Woods has fought the injuries for quite some time, but at some point, it's just too much to overcome.

4. Y.E. Yang

This is the one that got away. This is the single worst defeat of Woods' career, and the one he will never get over. Woods was leading after three days and 54 holes but couldn't hold that lead at the 2009 PGA Championship. Woods is the greatest front-runner in golf history. This is the only time he has ever blown a final day lead at a major, and it came to someone who has never won anything. Y.E. Yang shot two under on Sunday while Woods plummeted with a miserable three over to finish three shots back. Neither woods or Yang have won a single major since that incredible day in Minnesota.

5. Father Time

Golf may not be football or hockey, but it's still a demanding sport. Less than 10 percent of all majors are won by players over the age of 40. Age, like injuries, have caught up with Woods over the years. Three of the four major winners last year were under the age of 29. Sure, Nicklaus won the Masters in 1986 when he was 46 years old, but that kind of stuff doesn't happen on a normal basis. The newer generation of golfers have clearly taken over.

Phil Mickelson envisions family first at his Calgary golf club

Minutes late to a news conference unveiling their vision for Mickelson National, Phil Mickelson and course owner Barry Ehlert arrived with smiles and an explanation.

“We got pulled over by the police,” said Ehlert with a laugh, coming clean on the fact he couldn’t produce his insurance or registration papers while en route to The Hamptons Golf Club.

“I said to the officer, ‘Listen, I don’t know if you know who Phil Mickelson is, but we are on our way to a press conference.”

The next thing Ehlert knew they were on their way — with a strict warning, of course.

Even without a club in his hand, golf’s short-game master managed to get out of another jam.

Known worldwide for his big balls on the course and his craftiness around the green, it shouldn’t be surprising the five-time major winner revealed Thursday he’ll be trying to pull off another miracle at the Springbank site by building a course that is all things to everyone — something designers have tried in vain for years.

“The expressed purpose is to create a family development that introduces the game to young kids and is enjoyable to players of all skill levels, but in the back of our mind to host a tour event that could be challenging for the tour players and is also enjoyable to the spectator,” said Mickelson, who was announced as a captains pick for the American President’s Cup team on Tuesday before jetting to Calgary for two days of on-site course inspection, for Thursday’s news conference at The Hamptons and to enjoy a meet-and-greet with members.

“It’s really not a juggling act — all it is is just putting in a little thought and effort. I want people walking off this golf course saying, ‘That was really fun and a good challenge.’ ”

The father of three says his passion for building a course suitable for young families to play together stems from his days growing up in San Diego, where he and his dad played golf at Balboa Park municipal golf course everyday after school.

“One of my favourite moments was spending time with my father playing golf after school — we’d play until dark and would get stuck on the golf course, and we’d have to hike down a canyon and back up in the pitch-black,” said Lefty, whose course layout includes allowing golfers to go on two, four and six-hole loops ending back at the clubhouse.

“By creating these routes where we can play a handful of holes allows families to come out with their kids to play until dark. These are the type of details I think are important.”

The course will also include tee-boxes for juniors ranging from 50 to 150-yards from each pin, a year-round practice facility, a lounge in the clubhouse basement and having the mounding surrounding the 18th green turned into sledding hills each winter.

Using the word nuance almost as many times as he’s won on the PGA Tour (42 times), Mickelson truly seems engaged in a 7,600-yard project he hopes will play host to the Canadian Open, several years after the course’s soft opening in 2017.

Mickelson revealed it wasn’t his first trip to Calgary, citing a jaunt north 30 years ago he fondly remembers.

“I was 14 or 15 and played the Junior America’s Cup, and we ended up playing at the Calgary Country Club — it was my first exposure to team golf and my first exposure to Calgary, and it was spectacular,” said the 45-year-old, who had represented the U.S. in international team play more than any other man.

“The green and blues and the snow-capped mountains are colours we just don’t see in our area. It’s such a great site.”

Mickelson’s course-designing partner Rick Smith says the World Golf Hall-of-Fame member isn’t just paying lip service to this project, he’s using an eye that’s seen courses around the world to hone in on exactly what can satisfy the needs of junior golfers, the average hack and tour players alike.

“Golf is getting too difficult and too time consuming, and Phil and I feel that responsibility to grow the game of golf,” Smith said.

“More than anything, we want this to be fun. We don’t want anybody to lose a ball on this course.”

With perfect comedic timing, Mickelson interjected.

“Some of you we can’t help,” he said with a laugh.

Indeed, some jams even Lefty can’t get out of.

Phil Mickelson ready to prove his doubters wrong

LAKE FOREST, Ill. — Phil Mickelson needs to finish at least third in the BMW Championship to book travel to Atlanta for next week’s FedExCup Playoffs-ending Tour Championship by Coca-Cola.

While the odds are long — he hasn’t won since the2013 British Open and has just three top-10s this year — Mickelson’s in good spirits heading into Thursday’s start of the BMW at Conway Farms Golf Club. In large part because he knows he’s going on a long voyage to South Korea for the Presidents Cup after Jay Haas used one of his two captain’s picks on the member of the World Golf Hall of Fame.

While it was a controversial pick considering his form the past 18 months, Mickelson, who was 29th in the Presidents Cup standings, is more than ready to prove his detractors wrong.

He is off at 1:15 p.m. ET with Keegan Bradley and Fabian Gomez.

Mickelson, 45, has played on every Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup team since 1994. Haas’ selection marked just the second time he was a captain’s pick.

“This is the most excited I've been this late in the year because I'm looking forward to being on the team,” said Mickelson, who is ranked 23rd in the world and stands 61st on the FedExCup. “It's meant a lot to me to be a part of that team, and I want to play well and I want to get some momentum. Also, it gave me a little bit of a boost, and my game feels like it's been coming around and feels fairly sharp, so we'll see. But I'm more excited to be playing right now than I have at any time at this point in quite a few years.”

Van Cynical Mailbag: Why Was Phil Mickelson a Presidents Cup Pick?

If I had two wild-card picks, I’d take Starsky (but not Hutch) and Hooch (but definitely not Turner).

Jay Haas, captain of the U.S. Presidents Cup team, surprised some observers by adding Phil Mickelson to his squad when he announced his two selections Tuesday.

You remember Phil. He last won a tournament a little more than two years ago and in the last two seasons, has managed all of four top-10 finishes.

This year, Phil ranks 182nd in greens hit in regulation and 187th in proximity to the pin, an awful display of ballstriking for a guy with 42 wins.

Yet despite those numbers, he somehow seemed like a better pick than Charley Hoffman, third-place finisher at Deutsche Bank and No. 13 on the points list; Brooks Koepka, Brandt Snedeker, J.B. Holmes or any of the 19 players who finished higher on the points list than Phil.

Yes, Phil has teed it up in the last 10 Presidents Cups. He walks in Tour history.

Interesting pick, Capt. Haas.

Let’s go to the Van Cynical Mailbag…

Van Cynical, Just torch Jay Haas for ignoring the obvious and leaving Koepka off the team.—Brian Rosenwald via Twitter

As Alex Trebec likes to say, “In the form of a question, please!” I agree, BriRo, that I wouldn’t have made Phil a pick. I’m not sure Koepka was the obvious other choice, especially since he did a Jordan Spieth and missed the cuts in both the Barclays and the Deutsche Bank Championship (after a strong three-week run before that). I could make a case for Hoffman and Snedeker and even Holmes, too, as well as Koepka.

Hey, Sicklemania, Why did Jay Haas pick Phil? The future is with young guns like Koepka. Reward the old man with an assistant captaincy.—David Troyan via Twitter

Officially, Haas said the other players on the team and the vice captains all wanted Phil. Maybe this is like adding Hank Aaron to an All-Star team late in his career when he no longer really deserved it. Or maybe this was a Tour panicking about having a TV show in Korea during football season, without Tiger, Rory or Phil and thus without ratings. Or maybe it’s true, the rest of the team loves having Phil the Clubhouse Lawyer around. He is an uplifting, fun, positive force. Still, I’d take a good putter—like Snedeker—before Phil in this situation.

Hey, G-Unit, How does Phil respond to being a Prez Cup pick? Does this give him the inspiration to play well in Korea and help get his game back on track?—Bustinpar via Twitter

Gee, I didn’t realize he needed inspiration to play well, Busty. Those last three major championships didn’t fire him up? Phil has had all year to get his game on track. And all of 2014, too. Two years, no wins, and barely even a close call. That’s not to say Phil can’t star in the Prez Cup. He can make a 7 and lose only one hole in the process. And he’ll have a partner in the team matches. But if you’re basing your picks on who has played well over the summer, not who has played well over a career or who has potential to play well, Phil wasn’t your guy.

Vans, What did you think of the Presidents Cup picks?—Elaine via Twitter

Bill Haas, at No. 11 on the points list, was a slam dunk. Phil, at No. 30, was a reach. It would’ve been a good time to think long-term and get some younger guys who earned it some experience before the next Ryder Cup, whether it be Koepka, Holmes, Hoffman, Horschel or Snedeker. Phil may play really well but the U.S. missed a chance to develop some talent in the bullpen.

Van Cynical, Isn't one solution to the World Rankings mess to keep system as is but to release rankings less regularly?—Lytham via Twitter

That’s like saying the solution to the Nicholas Cage problem is for Nicholas Cage to appear in fewer movies. No, wait, that one actually works. You’re on to something there, Lytham, but fewer releases doesn’t solve what’s wrong with the world rankings. Plus, somebody, somewhere, will figure out the points each week, anyway. That cat is permanently out of the bag. So it’s not a solution.

Vans, How hard are you laboring (see what I did there?) to find a way that, on paper, the Internationals can win the Prez Cup?—Brian Bailey via Twitter

I’m not laboring at all. That is Nick Price’s problem. You have to remember that this is match play, not stroke play. You don’t have to shoot low, you just have to beat the one guy (or one duo) that you’re playing. It’s like outrunning a grizzly bear. You don’t have to be faster than the bear, just faster than your soon-to-be late buddy. Anything is possible in match play, Bailbondsman. I would not underrate Anirban Lahiri, Hideki Matsuyama or Danny Lee. They’re legit.

Van Wisconsinite, Did you get a final tally on broken ankles at Whistling Straits? Nasty terrain for spectators.—Burt Litwin via Twitter

I did not, Litwit. I was afraid I couldn’t make it to the medical tent without blowing out my last remaining lateral meniscus.

Van the Man, What percent chance that Tiger plays in next year’s Ryder Cup?—Scott Endres via Twitter

Davis Love is a member of the Friends Of Tiger Club. Also, Tiger seems to be on an upswing. I’ll say 65 percent chance that Tiger ends up on the team.

Van Cynical, Does anyone do more with less than my second-favorite cheesehead, Jerry Kelly?—Mr. Fairway via Twitter

You beg the question, Fairlawn, of who’s your fave cheesehead. Andy North? Don Iverson? Jim Gantner? Fighting Bob LaFollette? To agree with you would be to diminish Kelly’s record, which speaks for itself—three wins, $27 million in winnings. Is he an over-achiever? Maybe. Definitely an achiever.

Sickle, Do the elite tour players really care about the Olympics? Will they have a course to play in Brazil?—Andrew Polson via Twitter

The course is allegedly ready to go, Polecat. It’s hard to get a read on what Tour players really think about it. Who wouldn’t enjoy being part of the Olympic theater? It’s a glorious new stage for golfers. That said, I don’t think any of them are going to prepare for it like a major championship.