Top 40 Players of the Decade

You knew I wasn't going to let this one slide by before the year was out...

To rank the best players of the 2000s, I used the same method I have used in the past to rank players across multiple years (such as the Sorenstam Era and the Best of the ‘90s).  I took my seasonal rankings for all ten years and awarded points for finishing in the Top 30, from 100 points to the Player of the Year down to one point for 30^th place.  After adding them all up, here are the best 40:

Keep in mind that only about a third of these players played regularly the entire decade so the ones that didn't had fewer seasons to amass points.  I don't make any adjustments for number of seasons played because I believe the best measurement of a player's career value is the total area under the curve, as opposed to any perceived average value.  Nearly all of the 40 rated as a Top 10 player in at least one of the seasons and most made that list in two or more.

Also - as you're checking out the list, beware of falling into the "so-and-so should be ranked higher because she has more wins than what's-her-name" trap.  My rating system takes a lot more than just victories into account and this list reflects that as well.