2012 Best Values: Digging for Diamonds

A player's grade is based solely on his value for 2012. The value compares 2011 earnings vs. 2012 projected earnings. A player such as Jason Day might earn a "D" grade or lower. That is no indication of how he will play this year. It is simply a result of how his 2012 projected earnings compare to his 2011 earnings.

Improvement percentage (2011 vs. 2012 earnings) is the factor that drives the grading process. Anything positive is a good score, though a slight positive score might just reflect inflation in the prize money.

GOLFER	2011 EARNINGS	Proj. 2012 EARNINGS	IMPROVE. PCT	GRADE	EVENTS
Graham DeLaet	$10,472	$750,000	7,062	A	2
Jamie Lovemark	$34,693	$750,000	2,062	A	9
Daniel Chopra	$15,411	$250,000	1,522	A	2
Mike Weir	$23,312	$250,000	972	A	15
Jose Maria Olazabal	$6,330	$50,000	690	A	6
Matteo Manassero	$133,283	$1,000,000	650	A	8
Ryo Ishikawa	$143,636	$1,000,000	596	A	10
Francesco Molinari	$158,387	$1,000,000	531	A	11
Martin Kaymer	$344,209	$2,000,000	481	A	10
Miguel A. Jimenez	$132,723	$750,000	465	A	7
Michael Sim	$47,403	$250,000	427	A	19
Jeff Maggert	$101,080	$500,000	395	A	18
Ross Fisher	$163,385	$800,000	390	A	8
Simon Dyson	$185,833	$850,000	357	A	3
Tiger Woods	$660,238	$3,000,000	354	A	9
John Mallinger	$179,498	$750,000	318	A	15
Kyung-tae Kim	$291,309	$1,000,000	243	A	9
Edoardo Molinari	$397,724	$1,250,000	214	A	12
Alvaro Quiros	$363,567	$1,000,000	175	A	8
Tim Clark	$571,000	$1,500,000	163	A	4
Kevin Sutherland	$289,693	$750,000	159	A	11
Paul Casey	$590,386	$1,500,000	154	A	15
Jason Bohn	$411,943	$1,000,000	143	A	22
Vaughn Taylor	$423,907	$1,000,000	136	A	27
Jim Furyk	$1,529,690	$3,500,000	129	A	26
Henrik Stenson	$327,799	$750,000	129	A	15
Stephen Ames	$547,589	$1,250,000	128	A	22
Retief Goosen	$796,360	$1,750,000	120	A	16
Ernie Els	$948,872	$2,000,000	111	A	21
Rory McIlroy	$1,905,609	$4,000,000	110	A	10
Anthony Kim	$1,085,846	$2,250,000	107	A	26
Lee Westwood	$970,446	$2,000,000	106	A	10
Ian Poulter	$739,926	$1,500,000	103	A	16
Sergio Garcia	$1,524,091	$3,000,000	97	A	16
D.J.. Trahan	$668,166	$1,250,000	87	A	30
Padraig Harrington	$802,839	$1,500,000	87	A	18
Kevin Kisner	$270,170	$500,000	85	A	24
Johan Edfors	$136,155	$250,000	84	A	2
Camilo Villegas	$1,231,918	$2,250,000	83	A	25
Boo Weekley	$279,531	$500,000	79	B	23
Trevor Immelman	$1,165,604	$2,000,000	72	B	25
Geoff Ogilvy	$1,916,994	$3,250,000	70	B	21
Stewart Cink	$909,162	$1,500,000	65	B	22
Heath Slocum	$767,216	$1,250,000	63	B	29
Anders Hansen	$617,067	$1,000,000	62	B	7
Graeme McDowell	$1,088,898	$1,750,000	61	B	16
Nathan Green	$312,109	$500,000	60	B	26
Zach Johnson	$1,880,406	$3,000,000	60	B	23
Chad Campbell	$1,104,024	$1,750,000	59	B	29
Jeff Overton	$1,290,962	$2,000,000	55	B	26
Kevin Streelman	$1,300,006	$2,000,000	54	B	26
Stuart Appleby	$657,150	$1,000,000	52	B	24
Steve Marino	$1,975,076	$3,000,000	52	B	23
Rickie Fowler	$2,084,681	$3,000,000	44	C	24
J.B. Holmes	$1,398,583	$2,000,000	43	C	16
Ryan Moore	$1,942,906	$2,750,000	42	C	22
Brendon de Jonge	$1,241,326	$1,750,000	41	C	30
Louis Oosthuizen	$717,965	$1,000,000	39	C	15
Dustin Johnson	$4,309,961	$6,000,000	39	C	21
Bud Cauley	$735,150	$1,000,000	36	C	8
Sean O'Hair	$1,483,948	$2,000,000	35	C	24
Andres Romero	$1,313,133	$1,750,000	33	C	22
Cameron Tringale	$1,327,807	$1,750,000	32	C	32
Justin Leonard	$952,962	$1,250,000	31	C	26
Kevin Chappell	$1,339,640	$1,750,000	31	C	26
Brian Gay	$1,157,525	$1,500,000	30	D	26
Bo Van Pelt	$2,344,546	$3,000,000	28	D	27
Robert Karlsson	$1,779,815	$2,250,000	26	D	18
Jason Day	$3,962,647	$5,000,000	26	D	21
Charl Schwartzel	$2,604,558	$3,250,000	25	D	15
Lucas Glover	$1,823,327	$2,250,000	23	D	23
Martin Laird	$2,676,509	$3,250,000	21	D	23
Hunter Mahan	$3,503,540	$4,250,000	21	D	25
Scott Piercy	$1,250,957	$1,500,000	20	D	23
Y.E. Yang	$2,314,865	$2,750,000	19	D	18
Justin Rose	$3,401,420	$4,000,000	18	D	23
Kyle Stanley	$1,523,657	$1,750,000	15	D	28
Brian Davis	$1,308,009	$1,500,000	15	D	30
J.J.. Henry	$873,377	$1,000,000	15	D	28
Phil Mickelson	$3,763,488	$4,250,000	13	D	21
Jimmy Walker	$1,336,556	$1,500,000	12	D	24
Rod Pampling	$668,768	$750,000	12	D	21
Alexandre Rocha	$225,026	$250,000	11	D	22
John Rollins	$1,370,566	$1,500,000	9	D	27
Marc Leishman	$916,330	$1,000,000	9	D	27
Chris Couch	$922,496	$1,000,000	8	D	21
Ryan Palmer	$1,850,530	$2,000,000	8	D	24
Spencer Levin	$2,320,038	$2,500,000	8	D	31
Bubba Watson	$3,477,811	$3,750,000	8	D	22
Michael Thompson	$935,265	$1,000,000	7	D	25
John Merrick	$704,789	$750,000	6	D	21
Matt Kuchar	$4,233,920	$4,500,000	6	D	24
Adam Scott	$3,764,797	$4,000,000	6	D	18
Briny Baird	$942,286	$1,000,000	6	D	19
Charlie Wi	$1,188,494	$1,250,000	5	D	25
Ricky Barnes	$951,587	$1,000,000	5	D	23
Aaron Baddeley	$3,094,693	$3,250,000	5	D	22
Ben Crane	$1,679,595	$1,750,000	4	D	23
Nick Watney	$5,290,673	$5,500,000	4	D	22
Robert Allenby	$1,452,567	$1,500,000	3	D	25
Rory Sabbatini	$2,420,655	$2,500,000	3	D	24
Joe Ogilvie	$726,866	$750,000	3	D	24
George McNeill	$1,458,110	$1,500,000	3	D	21
Charley Hoffman	$1,462,591	$1,500,000	3	D	27
James Driscoll	$741,010	$750,000	1	D	24
Ryuji Imada	$990,319	$1,000,000	1	D	29
Robert Garrigus	$1,503,923	$1,500,000	0	F	26
Chris DiMarco	$761,932	$750,000	-2	F	31
Bill Haas	$4,088,637	$4,000,000	-2	F	26
Kevin Stadler	$768,172	$750,000	-2	F	27
Josh Teater	$769,324	$750,000	-3	F	31
Carl Pettersson	$1,540,723	$1,500,000	-3	F	27
Pat Perez	$1,295,253	$1,250,000	-4	F	24
Kevin Na	$2,336,965	$2,250,000	-4	F	26
Hunter Haas	$1,039,987	$1,000,000	-4	F	30
Billy Mayfair	$780,578	$750,000	-4	F	29
Vijay Singh	$2,371,050	$2,250,000	-5	F	25
Davis Love III	$1,056,300	$1,000,000	-5	F	22
Jhonattan Vegas	$1,854,414	$1,750,000	-6	F	25
Gary Woodland	$3,448,591	$3,250,000	-6	F	25
Steve Stricker	$3,992,785	$3,750,000	-6	F	19
Tom Gillis	$814,147	$750,000	-8	F	19
Tommy Gainey	$2,174,191	$2,000,000	-8	F	34
Chris Stroud	$1,096,499	$1,000,000	-9	F	28
Peter Hanson	$439,030	$400,000	-9	F	12
Blake Adams	$1,100,558	$1,000,000	-9	F	34
Brandt Snedeker	$3,587,206	$3,250,000	-9	F	26
Paul Goydos	$1,385,328	$1,250,000	-10	F	25
Greg Chalmers	$832,191	$750,000	-10	F	28
Charles Howell III	$2,509,223	$2,250,000	-10	F	30
Chez Reavie	$2,285,067	$2,000,000	-13	F	27
John Senden	$2,294,811	$2,000,000	-13	F	26
Mark Wilson	$3,158,477	$2,750,000	-13	F	26
Keegan Bradley	$3,758,600	$3,250,000	-14	F	28
David Hearn	$869,072	$750,000	-14	F	26
Jerry Kelly	$1,451,797	$1,250,000	-14	F	26
Jonathan Byrd	$2,938,920	$2,500,000	-15	F	26
K.J. Choi	$4,434,691	$3,750,000	-15	F	22
Scott Verplank	$1,194,178	$1,000,000	-16	F	15
Tim Herron	$909,135	$750,000	-18	F	28
Luke Donald	$6,683,214	$5,500,000	-18	F	19
Jason Dufner	$3,057,860	$2,500,000	-18	F	23
Fredrik Jacobson	$2,488,325	$2,000,000	-20	F	25
Chris Kirk	$1,877,627	$1,500,000	-20	F	28
Nick O'Hern	$940,224	$750,000	-20	F	29
Troy Matteson	$946,989	$750,000	-21	F	28
David Toms	$3,858,090	$3,000,000	-22	F	23
Bryce Molder	$1,957,944	$1,500,000	-23	F	27
Brendan Steele	$1,976,310	$1,500,000	-24	F	27
Harrison Frazar	$1,322,267	$1,000,000	-24	F	19
Kris Blanks	$1,350,010	$1,000,000	-26	F	29
D.A. Points	$2,034,156	$1,500,000	-26	F	26
Arjun Atwal	$690,237	$500,000	-28	F	29
Matt Bettencourt	$692,545	$500,000	-28	F	30
Tom Pernice, Jr.	$694,981	$500,000	-28	F	12
Sunghoon Kang	$702,382	$500,000	-29	F	21
Webb Simpson	$6,347,353	$4,500,000	-29	F	26
David Mathis	$715,404	$500,000	-30	F	25
Darren Clarke	$1,452,078	$1,000,000	-31	F	3
Scott Stallings	$1,957,162	$1,250,000	-36	F	28
Brandt Jobe	$1,629,764	$1,000,000	-39	F	28
Johnson Wagner	$1,224,556	$750,000	-39	F	25
Michael Bradley	$935,934	$500,000	-47	F	24
Thomas Bjorn	$419,489	$200,000	-52	F	5
Adam Hadwin	$440,752	$200,000	-55	F	5