America's CEO Golfers: The Top 200

    NEW YORK, Sept. 7 /PRNewswire/ -- There are many ways to measure the
 performance of CEOs from public companies. Revenue, earnings and market
 share are among the common yardsticks but Golf Digest, in its October issue
 (on newsstands September 12), assesses captains of industry on a different
 numerical figure that's also of paramount importance-their golf handicaps.
 The full ranking of the Top 200 CEO golfers can be viewed now at
 www.golfdigest.com/ceo.
     For the fifth biennial ranking, Golf Digest adjusted its criteria to
 consider the top executives from Fortune 1000 companies, rather than just
 Fortune 500 and S&P 500 companies, which overlap. That revision resulted in
 lowering the U.S. Golf Association Handicap Index cutoff for the Top 200
 from 20.0, as it was in 2004, to 15.7 or lower for the new
 edition-prompting turnover of almost 50-percent on the list. (A handicap
 index is a measure of a player's ability. The lower the handicap index, the
 better the player.) The average handicap index of the Top 200 is 10.7.
 According to the U.S. Golf Association, the national average among amateurs
 is 15.0 for men and 28.0 for women.
     Bragging rights on Wall Street now belong to Jim Crane of Houston-based
 Eagle Global Logistics (EGL). Sporting an almost-professional handicap
 index of 0.8, Crane, who is making his debut on the list at No. 1, narrowly
 took the top spot from No.2-ranked Jerry Jurgensen of Nationwide (0.9
 index). Curt S. Culver of mortgage insurance giant MGIC Investment, who was
 No. 1 in 2004, dropped to No. 3 in the ranking (2.6 index).
     Crane grew up caddying at a suburban St. Louis country club and recalls
 being able to play for free on caddie day. Nowadays, most of his golf is
 business-related. "If you can't close in four hours, you can't sell," Crane
 says of the opportunity provided by the game.
     Rounding-out the Top 10 are: T-4. Theodore L. Chandler Jr.
 (LandAmerica, 3.0); T-4. John F. Lundgren (The Stanley Works, 3.0); No. 6.
 Stephen E. Macadam (BlueLinx Holdings, 3.5); No. 7. Edward W. Stack (Dick's
 Sporting Goods, 4.1); No. 8. Barry E. Davis (Crosstex Energy, 4.2); No. 9.
 Stephen M. Bennett (Intuit, 4.4) and T-10. Michael L. Eskew (United Parcel
 Service, 5.2); T-10. David A. Perdue Jr. (Dollar General, 5.2); T-10. Mayo
 A. Shattuck III (Constellation Energy Group, 5.2).
     Patricia Russo, the head of Lucent Technologies, remains the only woman
 to make Golf Digest's CEO rankings (and was also the first, in 2002). While
 the trend among the CEOs who have previously appeared in the Top 200 has
 been rising handicaps, Terry Lundgren of Federated Department Stores is
 going the other way. The most improved CEO golfer of the group, Lundgren
 lowered his handicap index from 18.0 in 2004 to 10.9 for this year's
 list-good enough to tie for 91st in the ranking.
     Thirty-three states have CEOs included in Golf Digest's Top 200.
 California has the most with 25, followed by New York (19,) Ohio (19) and
 Texas (14). New York City has the most CEOs in the ranking of any
 metropolis with 13.
               The Top 30 CEOs from Golf Digest's Top 200 Ranking
 
           NAME                      COMPANY                     HANDICAP INDEX
 
       1.  James R. Crane            EGL (Eagle Global Logistics)      0.8
       2.  Jerry Jurgensen           Nationwide                        0.9
       3.  Curt S. Culver            MGIC Investment                   2.6
     T-4.  Theodore L. Chandler Jr.  LandAmerica                       3.0
     T-4.  John F. Lundgren          The Stanley Works                 3.0
       6.  Stephen E. Macadam        BlueLinx Holdings                 3.5
       7.  Edward W. Stack           Dick's Sporting Goods             4.1
       8.  Barry E. Davis            Crosstex Energy                   4.2
       9.  Stephen M. Bennett        Intuit                            4.4
     T-10. Michael L. Eskew          United Parcel Service             5.2
     T-10. David A. Perdue Jr.       Dollar General                    5.2
     T-10. Mayo A. Shattuck III      Constellation Energy Group        5.2
       13. Scott F. Farmer           Cintas                            5.3
     T-14. J. Kenneth Glass          First Horizon National Corp.      5.5
     T-14. David C. Novak            Yum! Brands                       5.5
     T-16. Edgar M. Bronfman Jr.     Warner Music Group                5.6
     T-16. Nicholas D. Chabraja      General Dynamics                  5.6
       18. Kenneth M. Jastrow II     Temple-Inland                     6.1
       19. John P. McConnell         Worthington Industries            6.1
       20. Robert D. Walter          Cardinal Health                   6.2
       21. Kennett F. Burnes         Cabot Corp.                       6.4
     T-22. Brian L. Roberts          Comcast                           6.7
     T-22. William P. Foley II       Fidelity National Financial       6.7
       24. Frank T. MacInnis         Emcor Group                       6.8
     T-25. William (Bill) Dillard II Dillard's                         6.9
     T-25. Stephen M. Humphrey       Graphic Packaging                 6.9
     T-25. James A. Rubright         Rock-Tenn                         6.9
       28. Greg L. Henslee           O'Reilly Automotive               7.0
       29. Jeffrey P. Black          Teleflex                          7.1
       30. Vernon W. Hill II         Commerce Bancorp.                 7.2
 
 

SOURCE Golf Digest