Who's making moves?
March 18, 2022 by Christopher Wiklund in Rankings with 0 comments
Two tournaments into the 2022 season and we are ready to draw definitive conclusions, make bold statements, and prematurely crown a favorite for Worlds. Yes, welcome to the internet. Forget about our preseason power rankings. Today we are older, wiser, and have actual data to go on. Let’s dig into our new rankings.
The Las Vegas Challenge and Waco Annual Charity Open often get tagged as fluky tournaments that have little bearing on season-long performance. I think this is understandable, but it’s also untrue. In fact, looking over the results since 2018, most of the top ten finishers at both events are either: 1. exactly who you would expect to perform well at these courses, or 2. the players you’d expect to win and play well, period. Let’s take a moment to recall just the winners:
LVC: Drew Gibson and Catrina Allen (2022), Eagle McMahon and Paige Pierce (2021), Nate Sexton and Catrina Allen (2020), Calvin Heimburg and Paige Shue (2019), Eagle McMahon and Paige Pierce (2018).
WACO: Paul McBeth and Valerie Mandujano (2022), Nikko Locastro and Kona Panis (2021), Colten Montgomery and Eveliina Salonen (2020), Paul McBeth and Catrina Allen (2019), Jeremy Koling and Paige Pierce (2018).
So let’s drop the narrative that these tournaments are bad predictors of season long success. Can you think of another pair of back-to-back events which provide a more comprehensive sample of hole types and skills tests? I can’t.
Methodology: We combine an algorithmic objective ranking with subjective ballots submitted by UWDG staff. The algorithm uses a standardized scoring model to compare elite events, awards competition, and cash bonuses, and features a decay function that gradually phases out past results.
Power Rankings MPO:
| Rank | Player | Change | Prior |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dropped from rankings: Matt Orum (10), Nate Sexton (13), Ezra Aderhold (16), Paul Ulibarri (18), Emerson Keith (23), Gregg Barsby (24), Jeremy Koling (25) | |||
| 1 | Paul McBeth | +1 | 2 |
| 2 | Chris Dickerson | +2 | 4 |
| 3 | Drew Gibson | +9 | 12 |
| 4 | Calvin Heimburg | +2 | 6 |
| 5 | Ricky Wysocki | -4 | 1 |
| 6 | Luke Humphries | - | |
| 7 | Gannon Buhr | - | |
| 8 | Kevin Jones | - | 8 |
| 9 | Thomas Gilbert | +11 | 20 |
| 10 | Nikko Locastro | +1 | 11 |
| 11 | Joel Freeman | +6 | 17 |
| 12 | Mason Ford | +9 | 21 |
| 13 | Adam Hammes | -6 | 7 |
| 14 | Eagle McMahon | -11 | 3 |
| 15 | Isaac Robinson | - | |
| 16 | Kyle Klein | -11 | 5 |
| 17 | James Conrad | -8 | 9 |
| 18 | Bradley Williams | +4 | 22 |
| 19 | Chris Clemons | - | 19 |
| 20 | Aaron Gossage | - | |
| 21 | Cale Leiviska | - | |
| 22 | Alex Russell | - | |
| 23 | Garrett Gurthie | -8 | 15 |
| 24 | Linus Carlsson | -10 | 14 |
| 25 | Charlie Moore | - | |
Subscribers, read on for discussion of the top 10 and additional notes on the field.
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