Rookie Watch

To monitor the 28 rookies on the PGA Tour, this section ranks them using the Modified Giese Memorial League Scoring System (my home league since 1994) shown below. It is presented here as a guide to the Rookie of the Year race.

FINISH = VALUE
WIN = 15 points
P-2 = 9 points
2nd-5th = 8 points
6th-10th = 5 points
11th-25th = 3 points
26+/MDF = 1 point
MC/WD/DQ = 0 points

Matt Weibring's T-15 was best among rookies at the Children's Miracle Network Classic. Since this is the final installment of "Rookie Watch" for 2009, each golfer's most noteworthy news bites are included. Because he finished 47th on the money list and no rookies won, Marc Leishman is the likely choice for Rookie of the Year, but don't expect it to be unanimous (not that we are privy to the vote totals). For all money list rankings (except Matt Bettencourt's), see "Reshuffle" below. Overall, seven rookies secured 2010 PGA Tour cards while three will begin the new year with conditional status.

1. Jeff Klauk (48 points) … Low rookie five times: Buick Invite (T-11), Honda (4th), PLAYERS (T-14), Milwaukee (T-4), Timberlake (T-4). Only rookie to cash in his first seven events. Missed the cut in both playoff starts.

2. Marc Leishman (46) … No one had more rookie-low finishes than the Aussie with eight: Houston (T-42), Texas (T-5), Nelson (T-8), Reno (T-14), Wyndham (T-17), Deutsche Bank (T-15), BMW (T-2), TOUR Championship (T-28). Only rookie to qualify for East Lake (and one of just two to reach Cog Hill – Webb Simpson). One of two rookies all season to post a runner-up (Ricky Barnes, U.S. Open). Didn't play in the U.S. after missing the cut in the first two Fall Series events.

3. Webb Simpson (43) … Five times low rookie: Sony (T-9), Hope (T-5), Palmer (T-11), Canadian (T-16), Barclays (8th). He was the only rook with at least one top-10 through two events, and he had two. Has the kind of pedigree that bodes extremely well for his sophomore season.

4. Scott Piercy (39) … Despite over $1 million in earnings, earned rookie-low honors just once, and had to share that with Marc Leishman and Colt Knost at Houston. Piercy ripped off three top-25s in January to set up his spot in the pecking order after the first reshuffle. Nearly converted on the fairy-tale story at home in Vegas the week his third child was born. Played in the final group on Sunday in consecutive events (Turning Stone, Timberlake) but finished outside the top-10 in both.

5. James Nitties (36) … Both rookie-low honors came early: FBR (T-4), Mayakoba (T-6). Although he didn't post another top-10, he had five top-25s after the Mayakoba.

T6. Bill Lunde & Matt Bettencourt (32) … Each was low rookie four times – Lunde: Pebble Beach (T-6), Northern Trust (T-3), Transitions (T-27), Frys.com (T-4); Bettencourt: Quail Hollow (T-22), Colonial (T-46), Memorial (T-5), AT&T National (T-11). Bettencourt also finished T-10 at the U.S. Open. After Congressional, his best finish in 11 starts was a T-39, which occurred the following week at the John Deere, but he was already well on his way towards a 2010 PGA Tour card, finishing 111th on the money list with $743,037. (Bettencourt was the earnings leader on the 2008 Nationwide Tour and was not subject to the "Reshuffle" below.)

8. Aron Price (26) … Low rookie at Mayakoba (T-6) and shared honors with Bill Lunde at the Transitions (T-27). Price had just one top-30 after that (T-14, St. Jude).

9. Matt Weibring (25) … Cashed just 11 times but was low rookie in three of them: Puerto Rico (T-21), Heritage (T-8), Disney (T-15). Stumbled out of the gate, with just one payday (T-69) in three starts before the first reshuffle. Secured conditional status for 2010 on the strength of six top-25s. That's nice firepower in the fantasy game, but since he'll be limited on starts next year, it translates better into a gem of a hired gun in the weekly leagues.

10. Spencer Levin (23) … Lone rookie-low finish was a T-15 at the John Deere. Backed it up with a T-7 at Milwaukee the following week. Had just two top-25s the rest of the year.

11. David Mathis (19) … Shared rookie-low honors with Marc Leishman at the Wyndham (T-17) and nothing more. And he didn't make a cut following that event, finishing the season 0-for-5. Started season with six consecutive paydays but didn't crack a top-25 until the St. Jude (T-23).

12. Ricky Barnes (18) … You know the story: T-2 at the U.S. Open, where only six rookies competed and three cashed. (No rookies played in any of the other three majors, or any of the three WGCs for that matter.) Barnes was one of two rookies all season to post a runner-up finish (Marc Leishman, BMW). His second-best finish was a T-39 at the Frys.com, but he still earned full playing privileges for 2010.

13. Casey Wittenberg (16) … One-time rookie-low was at the Travelers (T-7). Endured a stretch when he didn't cash in seven events between Puerto Rico and the Travelers, and another when he waived on all four starts between Milwaukee and Turning Stone. He'll be at the second stage of Q School next week and still hasn't replaced the T-13 at the 2004 Masters atop his list of career achievements.

14. Kris Blanks (15) … Highest-ranked rookie that failed to at least share low-rookie honors once. Lone top-10 was a T-7 at the final Milwaukee event. Only rookie to start the year 0-for-5 and failed to cash during the first reshuffle period. As a result, he earned just one start in the second. All things considered, finishing as the last in the top-half of all rookies here ain't bad.

15. Colt Knost (13) … Was one of six co-leaders through 54 holes in Houston, only to explode for a Sunday 81 to finish T-42. The consolation prize was a share of low-rookie honors with Marc Leishman and Scott Piercy. Knost had just one top-25 in 11 paydays – a T-25 at the Hope.

16. Leif Olson (12) … Eight of his 12 points here were due to the T-3 at Turning Stone, where was earned his only low-rookie honor of the year. Didn't crack another top-35. Missed seven straight cuts between cashes at the Honda and Milwaukee.

T17. Aaron Watkins, Brian Vranesh & Derek Fathauer (10) … Watkins earned his only low-rookie honor in New Orleans (T-7), worth half of his points here. Vranesh got his at the Buick Open (T-8), earning half of his "Rookie Watch" output. Fathauer was never low rookie.

20. Gary Woodland (8) … Didn't post a top-25 before shoulder surgery ended his season in July.

T21. Brendon Todd & Peter Tomasulo (7) … The final two listed here that chalked up low-rookie honors, once for each. Todd claimed it at the St. Jude (T-12), and then missed his final 10 cuts. Tomasulo shared the honor with Webb Simpson at the Canadian (T-16). Tomasulo also owned cuts missed streaks of seven, five, four and three.

23. Rick Price (6) … Failed to crack the top-50 all year, but made the cut at Disney (T-64), ending his string of missed cuts at 11.

24. Wil Collins (5) … The information everyone wants to know now is if draining that final putt at Q School to earn his card on the number was worth it. He made his first cut (Sony, T-45), and then didn't cash again until New Orleans five starts later. Failing to gain any momentum, that he missed eight of his final nine cuts is all but irrelevant. Zero top-25s for the season.

T25. James Oh & Matthew Borchert (4) … Oh cashed at the season finale (T-52) for his first paycheck in 10 starts, but his four WDs during that drought spoke to some likely frustration. Most were due to weather bumping his eventual missed cuts into Saturday morning, but he had made just three cuts all year up until then, the best of which went for a T-39 at Pebble Beach. Meanwhile, Borchert's "best" was a solo 65th at the John Deere. Put him in a police lineup of three with Tyler Aldridge and Troy Kelly and I'll give you three tries and 3:1 odds to correctly match names with faces.

T27. Troy Kelly & Tyler Aldridge (3) … Thought about flipping a coin here, not to see who was listed first, rather who would be listed last among all rookies. Kelly gets the leadoff nod thanks to his tidy T-51 in Reno, which oddly enough happened to be his lowest paycheck of three. Aldridge will go down as maxing out with a pair of T-66s. Until Disney, both hadn't teed it up on the PGA Tour since the Wyndham. For the record, despite my sophomoric shenanigans throughout the year with these guys, all 28 are doing something I could never do, but something I've always dreamed of. I write about them with the expectation that I'd deserve (and gladly accept) any knives they'd want to throw. But there's no bigger fan for the unknown golfer than yours truly. Go kick some ass at Q School, fellas.


Medical Extensions

Golfer (PRIORITY RANKING) – made: # of starts in 2009/$ earned in 2009 … remaining: # of events remaining under extension/$ remaining unearned

Roland Thatcher (Q SCHOOL/NATIONWIDE) – met his requirement
Chris Perry (MAJOR) – made: 0/$0 … remaining: 18/$515,445
Brett Wetterich (MAJOR) – made: 0/$0 … remaining: 17/$731,077
Arron Oberholser (MAJOR) – made: 4/$48,017 … remaining: 14/$349,854
Joey Snyder III (MAJOR) – made: 0/$0 … remaining: 25/$647,466
Jose Maria Olazabal (MAJOR) – made: 4/$239,629 … remaining: 20/$552,923
Hank Kuehne (MAJOR) – made: 0/$0 … remaining: 18/$636,221
Jose Coceres (MAJOR) – made: 6/$14,036 … remaining: 6/$598,323
Chris Couch (MAJOR) – made: 8/$56,665 … remaining: 21/$796,087
Wes Short, Jr. (MAJOR) – made: 3/$0 … remaining: 12/$743,061
Patrick Moore (NATIONWIDE/3 WINS) – made: 4/$0 … remaining: 8/$452,636
Duffy Waldorf (Q SCHOOL/NATIONWIDE) – made: 0/$0 … remaining: 19/$845,402
Carl Paulson (Q SCHOOL/NATIONWIDE) – made: 0/$0 … remaining: 15/$428,522


RESHUFFLE – Q School/Nationwide Tour

Below is the final reshuffle, which occurred following the BMW Championship (September 13). Golfers whose earnings are bolded secured a 2010 PGA Tour card. Golfers whose earnings are underlined secured conditional status.

Final "number." Golfer, 2009 earnings (Final rank on money list)
# – Rookie

RANK
1. Jason Dufner, $2,190,792 (33rd)
2. #Marc Leishman, $1,742,243 (47th)
3. Bryce Molder, $1,381,211 (63rd)
4. #Jeff Klauk, $1,243,696 (71st)
5. D.A. Points, $1,320,021 (66th)
6. #Webb Simpson, $1,249,674 (70th)
7. Greg Chalmers, $1,058,286 (89th)
8. #James Nitties, $931,532 (96th)
9. #Scott Piercy, $1,032,716 (90th)
10. Ted Purdy, $838,707 (100th)
11. Greg Owen, $763,517 (109th)
12. #Ricky Barnes, $684,863 (120th)
13. #Bill Lunde, $825,691 (102nd)
14. Robert Garrigus, $657,204 (127th)
15. Harrison Frazar, $738,615 (112th)
16. Chris Riley, $630,417 (129th)
17. Chris Stroud, $735,019 (113th)
18. Brendon de Jonge, $536,696 (139th)
19. #Spencer Levin, $531,240 (141st)
20. #Aron Price, $487,454 (144th)
21. Glen Day, $445,720 (151st)
22. #Matt Weibring, $542,066 (138th)
23. #David Mathis, $364,959 (160th)
24. Jimmy Walker, $662,683 (125th)
25. #Casey Wittenberg, $376,076 (159th)
26. #Kris Blanks, $307,130 (170th)
27. Jarrod Lyle, $275,195 (175th)
28. #Aaron Watkins, $263,969 (178th)
29. Bob Heintz, $312,699 (169th)
30. Kent Jones, $301,879 (171st)
31. Jay Williamson, $240,574 (184th)
32. #Brendon Todd, $203,841 (186th)
33. Darron Stiles, $199,385 (188th)
34. #Brian Vranesh, $198,567 (189th)
35. Mathias Gronberg, $354,163 (162nd; 2009 Nationwide Tour grad)
36. John Huston, $135,476 (199th; will start 2010 on medical extension)
37. #Colt Knost, $180,754 (193rd)
38. #Derek Fathauer, $125,305 (203rd)
39. #Gary Woodland, $121,031 (204th; will start 2010 on medical extension)
40. David Berganio, Jr., $115,517 (205th; will start 2010 on medical extension)
41. #Peter Tomasulo, $128,706 (201st)
42. Scott Gutschewski, $183,375 (192nd)
43. #Wil Collins, $84,569 (207th)
44. #Leif Olson, $412,966 (154th)
45. #Rick Price, $66,689 (216th)
46. Arjun Atwal, $76,676 (209th)
47. Notah Begay III, $54,645 (223rd; will start 2010 on medical extension)
48. #James Oh, $57,271 (220th)
49. #Matthew Borchert, $34,324 (234th)
50. #Troy Kelly, $25,828 (238th)
51. #Tyler Aldridge, $24,370 (239th)
52. Duffy Waldorf (MEDICAL), $0 [hasn't played since March 2008]
53. Carl Paulson (MEDICAL), $0 [hasn't played since July 2005]

NOTE: Although Q School grad Y.E. Yang won the Honda Classic in March, the victory at the PGA Championship in August rewards better status. He was elevated from Category #9 to Category #1 (through 2014) and has been removed from this list.

NOTE: 2007 Nationwide Tour grad Roland Thatcher met the terms of his medical extension at the Buick Open. He was elevated to the Major Medical Extension category and has been removed from this list.

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