Week 22 Power Rankings: the Memorial Tournament

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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.

LISTEN: Mike Vitti discusses this week's rankings on the PGA TOUR Network. 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. MORE POWER RANKINGS: Champions Tour | Nationwide Tour

The PGA TOUR is in Ohio this week for the Memorial Tournament contested at Muirfield Village Golf Club, a 7,265-yard, par-72 track that ranked as the fifth toughest course on TOUR in 2008.

At first glance, it is difficult to see what makes this course so difficult. Last year over 70 percent of the drives on par 4s and 5s found the fairway, making this one of the easiest courses to find the short grass from the tee.

It's the approach shots at Muirfield Village GC, though, that really seem to make the difference. With only 56 percent of approaches finding the green in 2008, Muirfield Village GC had one of the lowest green-in-regulation rates last year. Plus only 46 percent of the scrambling opportunities were successfully converted for par, giving Muirfield Village GC one of the lowest scrambling success rates of any course.

When those stats are taken into account, the difficulty of the course quickly becomes evident. The course length and hard-to-hit greens make ball-striking a key stat to watch this week, as this stat combines driving distance, driving accuracy and greens in regulation.

Power Rankings: the Memorial Tournament

Rank Player   Comment Tiger WOODS He has six top-5 finishes at Muirfield Village, including three wins from 1999 to 2001. The Memorial's easier-to-find fairways will make Woods even tougher to beat, as he averages over 14 feet closer to the hole on approaches from the fairway than from the rough. Paul CASEY Casey has three wins around the globe this year and has top-20s in six of his seven TOUR starts. He currently ranks 12th in greens in regulation, 13th in total putting and is in the top 10 in par-3, par-4, and par-5 scoring average. Kenny PERRY The defending champion, Perry has won the Memorial Tournament three times and has finished in the top 25 in over half of his 20 starts at this event. He is fifth on the PGA TOUR in ball striking and is 19th in proximity to the hole. Vijay SINGH It looks like Singh, who has top-20s in his last three starts, has returned to form. The biggest difference has been around the greens, as he has converted 71 percent of his scrambling attempts -- 15 percent higher than his season average. Geoff OGILVY Ogilvy has not finished in the top 10 since tying for sixth at the Shell Houston Open, but he has finished ninth the last two years at the Memorial. The easier-to-find fairways should help his game, as he ranks in the top 25 in GIR percentage from the fairway. Steve MARINO Marino has finished in the top 25 in half of his 16 starts this year, with five of those finishes coming in his last seven starts. He ranks ninth in ball-striking, which is based on his 295-yard driving distance average and his rank of 14th in greens in regulation. Sean O'HAIR O'Hair has finished in the top 15 twice in four starts at Muirfield Village GC. He comes in ranked third in ball striking, and he hits the greens or fringe in regulation about 76 percent of the time, which will help him avoid a lot of the difficulties on this layout. Ernie ELS Els has five top-10 finishes in 15 starts at the Memorial. This season he has finished in the top 25 five times in 10 starts, plus he currently ranks 14th in ball striking and is sixth in scrambling. Steve STRICKER Last week's winner, Stricker is ninth in greens in regulation, sixth in proximity to the hole and second in putting average. He has made the cut in eight of his nine starts at the Memorial, but has only finished in the top 25 twice. Ryan MOORE He has missed the cut in three of his last four starts, but he has finished in the top 10 at the Memorial in the last two years. Ranked in the top 30 in driving distance, Moore has the length to compete at Muirfield Village and also ranks 20th in total putting.