Momentum level: Who has it and who doesn't?

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Most of the 2009 season had been a forgettable one for three-time major winner Padraig Harrington. But in mid-August, he tied for second at the World Golf Championships-Bridgestone Invitational and then followed it with a top-10 finish at the PGA Championship.

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Suddenly, he had momentum.

The Irishman remained on a roll when the 2009 PGA TOUR Playoffs for the FedExCup cranked up, producing top-10 finishes in all four events. No other Playoffs participant last year could make that claim; in fact, Rory Sabbatini in the inaugural Playoffs in 2007 is the only other player to produce that kind of run.

For Harrington, who went from 62nd to seventh in FedExCup points during the Playoffs, momentum mattered.

So who will it matter for this year? Who has momentum as we enter the Playoffs this week at The Barclays? Who lacks momentum? And who's just kind of puttering along, not sure what to expect?

Below, we've rated each of the 123 Playoffs participants on their momentum level. We looked at their recent finishes, their recent consistency, their red numbers (or lack thereof) and just our old-fashioned gut instinct to give each player a momentum rating of High, Medium or Low.

Notable players are held to a higher standard; after all, one player's top 10 might be another one's top 25 (OK, we're not sure exactly what that means, but hopefully you catch the drift).

And two players who are Playoffs-eligible -- Sergio Garcia (No. 101) and Corey Pavin (No. 110) -- have decided not to play and thus, are not on our list.

Of course, for some players, momentum doesn't matter.

A year ago, Heath Slocum was coming off a missed cut at the Wyndham Championship, hadn't had a top-30 finish in his last seven starts, and barely made the Playoffs at No. 124 in the FedExCup standings. But he found his game at Liberty National, pulling off the biggest shocker in Playoffs history by winning The Barclays. Now he goes back as defending champ, albeit at a different course (Ridgewood).

Still, the bottom line is that it never hurts to have momentum. A string of respectable finishes means confidence, and feeling good about your golf game when you hit that first tee box can provide a distinct advantage.

Of course, please know these momentum rankings are hardly scientific. Indeed, they're very unscientific. You may disagree with the levels for certain players ... and you may be right.

But if one of our High Level players ends up winning the FedExCup, well, you heard it here first.

Momentum Level: 2010 Playoffs participants

Rk Player Momentum level Comment 1 Ernie Els Points leader since late March but two MCs in last 5 starts 2 Steve Stricker Two top-10s, including a win, in last 4 starts 3 Jim Furyk 10 of last 12 rounds on TOUR have been under par 4 Phil Mickelson Two good showings in June but hasn't cracked top 10 since 5 Justin Rose Has cooled off since his second win of season (AT&T National) 6 Jeff Overton Top 12 or better in seven of last nine starts 7 Hunter Mahan A win (Bridgestone) and a T17 (RBC Canadian) in last three starts 8 Bubba Watson Has made two playoffs, winning one, in his last five starts 9 Matt Kuchar Scorching! Five top 10s (and other two inside top 30) in last 7 starts 10 Tim Clark Has run hot-and-cold since winning PLAYERS; may be on cold side now 11 Dustin Johnson Tough-luck kid has been on hot streak since mid-May 12 Ben Crane Hasn't had top-10 in last seven starts 13 Bo Van Pelt Red-hot earlier this year but cooled off starting with T40 at U.S. Open 14 Anthony Kim Return from wrist surgery hasn't been pretty 15 Camilo Villegas T8 at Whistling Straits ended a stretch of four disappointing results 16 Zach Johnson T3 at Whistling Straits was first top-10 since winning at Colonial 17 Robert Allenby Hasn't done much lately other than suffer a knee injury 18 J.B. Holmes One top 10, couple of top 20s in his last eight starts 19 Rickie Fowler Looked good at Memorial but two MCs in last five starts 20 Carl Pettersson Hot a few weeks ago but MC'd at Wyndham 21 Rory McIlroy Top-10s in each of his last three starts; watch out! 22 Luke Donald Two good results in July, but his last two starts have been uninspired 23 Ryan Palmer 12 MCs in 21 starts, but he's been playing much better lately 24 Retief Goosen Started off strong this year but results since have fluctuated 25 Brendon de Jonge Keeps knocking on door -- top 16 or better in 6 of last 9 starts 26 Bill Haas MC'd in four of previous five starts before T28 at Wyndham 27 Paul Casey MC in Canada but has played well in other three starts since July 28 Jason Day Toss out T60 at St. Andrews; four other recent starts are strong 29 Nick Watney That 81 at PGA was ugly but last two months have been impressive 30 Stuart Appleby Since his 59 to win Greenbrier, hasn't broken par in last 8 rounds 31 Ricky Barnes Not much to be encouraged about in last four starts 32 Adam Scott Just one finish inside top 25 since winning Valero in May 33 Jason Bohn MC'd at St. Andrews and still seeking to find his form 34 K.J. Choi Played well in Florida Swing but has rarely contended since 35 Ryan Moore Since his second at AT&T, he's MC'd in two of last four starts 36 Sean O'Hair Would like to say hot but can't ignore his two recent MCs 37 Fredrik Jacobson Two top 20s, two MCs among last five starts 38 Vaughn Taylor Was hot back in early July, but cooled off in last three starts 39 Geoff Ogilvy Won year's first event, his only top 10 of the season 40 Brandt Snedeker Two top 20s in last three starts and comes off T8 at Wyndham 41 Kevin Na Five consecutive cuts made, including two top 20s 42 Scott Verplank Hasn't sniffed leaderboard since playoff loss at Travelers 43 Brian Davis Played better in last two starts after MC at Greenbrier 44 David Toms Comes off second at Wyndham; now can he sustain it? 45 Bryce Molder Sandwiched a T4 and a T12 around MC at Turning Stone 46 Charles Howell III Followed T9 at Greenbrier with a couple of T48s 47 Lucas Glover Comes off 7th at Wyndham, his best result since early May 48 Marc Leishman Couple of top 20s in last four starts; watch carefully 49 Ian Poulter That Match Play win in February seems very long ago 50 Heath Slocum Proved last year at Barclays he doesn't need Big Mo to win 51 Brian Gay Three MCs, T65 in last four starts 52 Charlie Wi Would've been hot except for that MC in last start (PGA) 53 Y.E. Yang Three MCs, two under-par rounds in last 5 starts 54 Stewart Cink Rounding into form? Top 20s in last two starts 55 P. Harrington Two top 10s, two MCs in last 4 TOUR starts. Also T2 at Irish Open 56 Matt Jones Followed 5th at John Deere with T37, MC, MC 57 Spencer Levin Has made cuts in 5 of last 6 starts, including T21 at Greenbrier 58 Steve Marino Recent results suggest back problems still an issue 59 John Rollins Followed T21 at Greenbrier with T3 at Wyndham 60 Rory Sabbatini Didn't play on TOUR in July and has gone T8, MC this month 61 Jason Dufner T5 at PGA and two finishes in the 30s in last 3 starts 62 J.J. Henry Might be close to hot with recent second at Turning Stone 63 Paul Goydos Mr. 59's second at John Deere seems out of place with 5 recent MCs 64 Shaun Micheel Fourth at John Deere but nothing much in last two starts 65 Vijay Singh Playing better lately but rarely in contention 66 D.J. Trahan Has played better in last three starts, including T10 at Turning Stone 67 Michael Sim We'll ignore the MC at PGA and focus on those two recent T3s 68 Steve Elkington Made eight straight cuts, including top 10s in last 2 starts 69 Greg Chalmers After T4 in Canada, he's gone T51, MC, MC 70 Justin Leonard T3 at Wyndham and a cumulative 31 under in last 4 starts 71 Kenny Perry Three MCs in last four starts don't bode well 72 Jimmy Walker Followed T4 at Greenbrier with two MCs 73 Kris Blanks Back injury forced him out of PGA; T75 at Wyndham 74 Tom Gillis Cold until T18 at Wyndham, including 64-66 on weekend 75 Chad Campbell Has cashed in seven straight starts, including T5 at Travelers 76 Stephen Ames Followed a couple of decent showings with a MC at PGA 77 Charley Hoffman Has three top 10s in last four starts 78 D.A. Points T4, T22, T16 in last three starts 79 Pat Perez Said he solved hook problem; finished T9 at Greenbrier 80 Tim Petrovic T12 at Wyndham is best result in last eight starts 81 Alex Prugh Impressive stretch early in season but no impact lately 82 Boo Weekley Played well at Greenbrier but cooled off in last three starts 83 Angel Cabrera Three MCs in last five starts not good for two-time major winner 84 Garrett Willis Five top 10s, including T4 in Memphis, in last seven starts 85 Blake Adams Couldn't sustain momentum after his T2 in Dallas in May 86 Chad Collins Started year strong but has been inconsistent lately 87 Chris Riley Comes off T8 at Wyndham; has 14 straight rounds under par 88 Josh Teater T3 and T18 in last two starts; has string of 9 straight subpar rounds 89 Kevin Sutherland Two top 20s, two MCs among his six most recent starts 90 Jerry Kelly Hard to ignore recent T3; also hard to ignore 5 MCs since July 91 Alex Cejka Mr. Hit or Miss: Three top 10s, four MCs in last 7 starts 92 Derek Lamely Win in Puerto Rico is his only top 10 of the season 93 Aaron Baddeley Has made six straight cuts but no top 10 since Valero 94 Webb Simpson Comes off T8 at Wyndham but had two MCs before that 95 Martin Laird After three straight MCs, he's cashed in last three starts 96 Davis Love III Failed to build on momentum from T6 at U.S. Open 97 Matt Bettencourt Was hot a few weeks ago but WD'd from Wyndham with wrist injury 98 Chris Couch Playing better of late, but comes off MC at Wyndham 99 John Senden Finished 71st at Turning Stone and two MCs after that 100 Jeff Maggert Other than T3 at John Deere, results since mid-April are icy 102 Kevin Streelman Had three straight MCs before finishing T18 at Wyndham 103 Briny Baird Results have been cold, but 12 of last 15 rounds were in the 60s 104 Joe Ogilvie Best finish in last five starts a T48 in Canada 105 John Merrick Since T3 at Reno, he has two MCs, a T48 and T65 106 Bill Lunde Inconsistent results but won two weeks ago at Turning Stone 107 Ryuji Imada Has MC'd in eight of last 10 starts 108 J.P. Hayes MCs in his last four starts and no top 20s since April 109 Dean Wilson Second at RBC Canadian, but comes off MC at Wyndham 111 Bob Estes T4 at RBC Canadian, then decent finishes in three starts since 112 Tiger Woods Against his high standards, could be coldest stretch of his career 113 C. Beckman Four MCs, an 80th and a T53 in last six starts 114 Troy Matteson Two top 10s and a combined 37 under in last five starts 115 Andres Romero No top 10s, three MCs in last seven starts 116 Ben Curtis Played well in late June, but cooled off in last four starts 117 Jonathan Byrd Four finishes of T21 or better in last six starts 118 Michael Letzig Played best golf of year down stretch to move inside Top 125 119 Nathan Green Only one top 10 in 22 starts ... and that was in January 120 David Duval MC at Wyndham but couple of decent showings before then 121 Kevin Stadler Since T5 at Reno, he's missed four straight cuts 122 Woody Austin Two top 10s before MC at Wyndham; 10 of last 11 rounds under par 123 Graham DeLaet Other than shooting 62 at Reno, has done nothing since T3 in Houston 124 Robert Garrigus Seems to have lost his mojo since heartbreaking loss in Memphis 125 Scott Piercy T22 or better in last 3 starts to make Playoffs