I wasn't going to post on this subject because I've done plenty of Rolex bashing already over the last couple of years.  After receiving an e-mail about it yesterday and mulling it over, I changed my mind.  In the Rolex Rankings released on January 5^th, Annika Sorenstam was listed in third place with a score of 8.78.  The following week (and in all subsequent weeks), she was no longer ranked.  Since the Rolex method rates players on results from the past 24 months, her abrupt absence surprised me.

So they must have decided that players who are no longer competing should be left out of the rankings, right?  Not so fast, my friend...this week, Sherri Turner is ranked #173 and even moved up six positions from last week despite having retired last October.  That may be the best example yet of how flawed the Rolex method can be.  By the way, Nancy Scranton is currently ranked #219 and Dawn Coe-Jones is #678 - they both retired in October, too.

Why omit only Annika?  One reason could be that several events use the top of the Rolex Rankings as part of their qualifying criteria - the Kraft Nabisco and Evian most predominantly - but merely skipping over Sorenstam and allowing the next-highest ranked player to qualify would be the simplest fix for that.  The LPGA itself still lists Annika as a Category 1 player in Priority position #4 so they'll be skipping over her every single week.  Other than that flimsy excuse, I couldn't think of any logical reason not to keep ranking her until her lack of participation drops her completely off the list sometime late in 2010.

Which may be part of the real answer.  Maybe somebody involved with the process decided it would be demeaning to this generation's greatest player to see her slide slowly into oblivion.  If so, tell me how that is better than wiping Annika's name off the books less than a month after her last competitive round.  Does anyone doubt that Annika Sorenstam is still, as of this very moment, one of the ten best players in the world?  I sure don't - which is why you'll see her name somewhere in my Top 30 until last year's performances fade enough to drop her out.

UPDATE:  As Doughrise1 and Jamie pointed out in the comments, Annika asked to be removed from the Rolex Rankings - no reason given.  Thanks for the info, guys.