Ryuji Imada

Imada had a breakout season in 2008 when he captured his first PGA TOUR victory, two runner-up finishes and three more top-10s. The following year, however, was the complete opposite as he failed to even crack $1 million. Last year was slightly better, but still far off from his 2008 performance. His 2008 season appears to be the anomaly and every other season in the last five years the norm. That said, we've seen his potential, and he's worth a look at a decent price. Imada is a fantastic putter, but getting to the green in regulation has proved difficult the last two seasons.

Imada followed up his career-best season of 2008 by having his worst season in five years in 2009. It's hard to tell which is the real Imada, after all, he wasn't lighting up the PGA TOUR prior to 2008. It sure looks like he's got the game to succeed at a higher level than he showed last year, but until he can string a couple good seasons together, we won't know. Even if he's not as good as he looked in 2008, he's still a good value here.

Ryuji Imada showed enough game last season to reach new heights on the PGA Tour, but his lack of consistency will keep him from taking the next step. Imada is on his way up, but he set the bar too high last year and is not a good salary cap option this year. Imada is a risky second round draft pick for 2009, I'd feel more comfortable grabbing him in round three.

Imada played well during the first half of the 2007 season, which included a runner-up finish at the AT&T Classic, but he fell off that map after that showing. Of the 16 post-AT&T evens where he played, his best finish was 15th during a fall season event. What's disturbing about his production last year is that he ranked fifth on the tour in putting. When you putt that well you should be in the top-30 on tour, yet Imada couldn't crack the top-50. His ball striking has a long way to go, and that rarely turns around within one year. On February 1, 2008 Imada, citing hip pain, withdrew after nine holes of the second round at the FBR Open.

It's funny looking at the results of a golfer who can putt vs. one who can't. The player who can putt has a lot of cuts made, and a nice even distribution of results throughout the year, while the player who can't putt has one or two really good finishes, and a bunch of missed cuts. Unlike most players low on this list, Imada can actually putt. It's the other parts of his game where he's lacking. Specifically, driving distance and driving accuracy. Not a good combination there. Sounds like Imada has too many things to work on next year. The putter, though, will keep him hanging around.