Top CEO profiles: here's the inside scoop on the 19 best players in this year's ranking.

1> CURT S. CULVER MGIC Investment, Milwaukee. Index: 2.4. Age: 52. * How good is he? He once beat Arnold Palmer by a stroke over nine holes at a 1996 course opening. "Arnold wasn't paying attention to that, but I did have him sign the scorecard." Tiger wonders why he waited so long: Started playing at age 5. "It was that or get a baby sitter." On tour: Is VP of U.S. Bank Championship in Milwaukee. Knows how to win: Has 23 club championships at eight clubs. Don't expect an answer during a round: "I detest cell phones on a course. Life isn't that busy; people just try to make it so."

2> JERRY JURGENSEN Nationwide, Columbus, Ohio. Index: 2.5. Age: 53. * Timing is everything: Didn't start playing until he was 30 but "went from an 18 or 19 to a 9 in one summer." Anger management: "One of my faults is letting my frustration come through. A 3- or 4-handicapper can get as frustrated by shooting a 76 as a 20-handicapper is by not being able to break 100." So much for the benefit of sponsoring the Nationwide Tour: Gets to play in only one pro-am a year. Buy sign: "I change clubs the way most people change socks. I'm not a customer, I'm an annuity."

3> SCOTT G. McNEALLY Sun Microsystems, Santa Clara, Calif. Index: 2.9. Age: 49. * What happened to his 0.3? "Revamping and ramping up Sun's new product line" has left "little time to work on my short game. Or long game. Or to play." Crowd pleaser: Exiting a port-a-potty while playing with Tiger Woods, "There were 250 people gathered around looking at me. Tiger was in the one next door. I told him, 'Don't ever do that again.' "Family affair: Sons Maverick, Dakota, Colt all play the game. Scout, 2, can't wait to join them.

4> JAMES H. BLANCHARD Synovus Financial, Columbus, Ga. Index: 3.1. Age: 62. * How he shaved three strokes off his Index since '02: "Regular lessons with Jack Lumpkin, one of the greatest teachers in the world." Says Lumpkin: "He had been lifting up going back and dipping coming forward. We've been working on his pivot." Customers and co-workers ignore this: 95 percent of his 60 rounds a year are business golf, but his favorite playing partners are his children. Round he remembers: "Playing in a pro-am with Arnold Palmer." Got his start in the game: "Playing with my dad." Golf's appeal: "It's like life--you can't blame it on anyone else."

5> WILLIAM P. FOLEY II Fidelity National Financial, Jacksonville, Fla. index: 3.8. Age: 59. * 'Ten-hut: Learned to play at age 15 in Venezuela, where his father served as military attache. "My parents got me tennis lessons, and I hated it; then they got me golf lessons, and I became an addict." Knows how to pack: Runs his company from Florida and also plays in Santa Barbara, Palm Springs (where he has been club champion at The Vintage), Montana and Texas, but has only one set of clubs. Buddy system: Every year he's invited to Pine Valley for a getaway with 11 pals. Bottom line: "I'm addressing some problems I've had for years; my confidence is high."

6> JOHN F. LUNDGREN The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn. Index: 4.4. Age: 52. * Forever green: A two-time captain of the Dartmouth golf team. Nice price: Has fond memories of playing Spyglass Hill for just $15 a round while attending Stanford Business School. Body English: Having spent more than a decade working in London and Brussels for Georgia-Pacific, he maintains memberships at Sunningdale, Queenwood Golf Club and Royal Waterloo. Counts Royal Dornoch among his favorites, along with Cypress Point in California. Travel tips: "Visit Royal Dornoch in May when the gorse is in bloom--just don't hit into it; play Sunningdale in summer to see the heather, and a high-altitude course in a place like Vail to get the ego boost of hitting the ball farther than ever."

7> SCOTT D. FARMER Cintas, Cincinnati. Index: 4.5. Age: 45. * Uniformly good: Won the Camargo club championship in 2003; lost in the final this year to Robert F. Gerwin II, two-time Ohio Amateur champ, Cincinnati Met champ and 1996 U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist. High praise: Says Gerwin: "He's got a heckuva game for someone who works six days a week." Iron-y: Son of Cintas' founder, Farmer remains mum on his game, say sources, because he doesn't want to give the impression that work time is lost to golf.

8> ROBERT D. WALTER Cardinal Health, Dublin, Ohio. Index: 4.8. Age: 58. * Local hero: Long before Dublin was home to Muirfield Golf Club, it was Walter's hometown. His prescription for enjoying the game: He's known to play rather than practice when he gets time at Muirfield (one of three clubs to which he belongs in the Columbus area). Typically he gets in a few holes late on summer evenings, Saturday mornings with his sons or on a Sunday with his wife. How competitive is he? Says David Thomas (T-10), with whom Walter has business dealings: "When we go at it, we play pretty hard."

9> J. KENNETH GLASS First Horizon National, Memphis. Index: 4.9. Age: 58. * Court convert: Got into golf as the result of a bum knee that kept him from tennis. Shot he'd bank on: "I'd choose a tee shot as opposed to a putt." What's different about CEO golf: "My handicap was lower before I had to spend so much time on corporate governance." Round for the vault: "Shooting par on the back nine of Augusta the week after Tiger's first win [1997]. We got there too late to play 18." Audit: "I say I'm not all that competitive. My wife says she knows how I've played the minute I come through the door."

10> MAYO A. SHATTUCK III Constellation Energy Group, Baltimore. Index: 5.4. Age: 49. * Fast Isomer: Was a business-school classmate of No. 3 Scott McNealy at Stanford, where he taught himself to play. Like electricity, golf can be dangerous: Hit a tree root 13 years ago, resulting in the death of his ulnar nerve (had subsequent repair surgery). A short: He was on the 16th hole at Hayfields Country Club when informed of the August 2003 blackout. What Be learned in prior life as a banker: "Service firms have more of a golf culture than the energy industry." What he's learned from teaching pros: Nothing. "If I started taking lessons, I might care too much. Knowing I could take a lesson and improve keeps me hopeful."

T-10> DAVID M. THOMAS IMS Health, Fairfield, Conn. Index: 5.4. Age: 54. * Easier to find a threesome than eight guys and another team: Took up golf only after closing out his baseball career at the University of Florida. Why we like him: "I'd like to thank Golf Digest for doing these CEO rankings; both times you've checked on me, my Index has gone down to record lows. Could it be his equipment? On the board of Fortune Brands, parent of Titleist, he is an unabashed promoter of that brand. "It gives me the advantage of playing the best, and I do upgrade every time they do."

12> DAVID SIMON Simon Property Group, Indianapolis. Index: 5.6. Age: 42. * Favorite real estate: His company is the largest publicly traded developer and manager of retail properties in North America. He tees it up outside, however, at Crooked Stick in Indiana and Castle Pines in Colorado. Rocky Mountain High: At Castle Pines, he's known for bringing along his own foursome, or more, and playing dawn to dusk. Closer to home: He plays infrequently, on foot, with a regular foursome, at Crooked Stick; sources say that although he has signed up for some club tournaments, he has had to cancel for business reasons. Says one regular: "He hits a long ball, for sure."

T-13> RAYMOND W. LEBOEUF PPG Industries, Pittsburgh. Index: 5.7. Age: 57. * Pittsburgh can be cold in winter: At his Naples, Fla., club, he typically plays with his wife early in the morning, on foot, with a pullcart--in less than three hours. Practice pays off: At Fox Chapel, where he plays most of his golf (he's also a member at Laurel Valley), he's known to spend time on the practice range. Plays some rounds with his wife, some with fellow members, and is not part of a regular foursome. Making the most of what he's got: Says one observer, "He's a good player who goes about his business."

T-13> DOUGLAS H. McCORKINDALE Gannett, McLean, Va. Index: 5.7. Age: 65. * Where is he in the USA today? He plays at various clubs around the Washington, D.C., area, including Congressional Country Club and Robert Trent Jones Golf Club. Back story: He was pressured into taking up the game by his former boss, then-Gannett chairman Paul Miller: "When he asked me to play nine, I didn't know--nine what? I made a big commitment and bought some used clubs. He told me I had to be at least as good as he was, which was a 16." Does he now encourage young execs to take up the game? "Yes, but not with the same intensity. Paul was driving me nuts."

15> DAVID C. NOVAK Yum! Brands, Louisville. Index: 5.9 Age: 51. * What a racquet: Ex-tennis buff has played golf on and off since high school, seriously for only the last 12 years. Good-luck charm: "Every time I play with [former Arkansas football coach] Frank Broyles, he shoots his age or better." The first time was at Augusta when Novak shot 75 to host Broyles' 71. Made the cut at 2004 AT&T Pro-Am: "Only because Luke Donald was my ringer." Will we see golf-themed menus at Taco Bell or his other restaurants? "We run our business on what drives our business, and golf is not a part of it."

16> JAMES O. ROBBINS Cox Communications, Atlanta. Index: 6.0. Age: 61. * If his game were broadcast on Cox Cable: "It would be called something like 'Intensive Care,' or one of those messy hospital shows." Competitive? Nah: "My idea of a good day on the course is any time I get to see Brian Roberts (T-20, CEO of rival Comcast) having a bad day." Newsworthy about his game: "My 7-wood, which has replaced my 2- and 3-irons. I'm a real slow adapter. It took me quite a while to make the change." The best part of golf: "It's a getaway from work; I think it's healthy."

T-17> STEPHEN M. BENNETT Intuit, Mountain View, Calif. Index: 6.1. Age: 50. * Quick book on him: "I don't play as much golf as when I worked for General Electric." What he loves about the game: "When I'm on the first tee, I'm just focused on golf; it's the concentration and the beautiful scenery and the people I'm playing with." Why golf is like business: "It's risk and reward. If you're going to innovate, you have to celebrate the learning that comes from failure." Early promise: "I shot 82 when I was 12, but I didn't really start playing until I was working." Discriminating: "I only play with people I like; my time's too precious."

T-17> MICHAEL J. BURNS Dana, Toledo, Ohio. Index: 6.1. Age: 52. * All business, all the time: At Dana only since March, after serving as president of General Motors Europe, he doesn't have much time to play. Despite GM background, driving is secondary: Partners are most impressed by his short game, the ability to post a 4 instead of a 5. Family guy: Started playing with his dad, now plays with his sons. "They're better than I am--and have been since they were about 12."

T-17> KENNETH M. JASTROW II Temple-Inland, Austin, Tex. Index: 6.1. Age: 57. * Sibling rivalry: Brother Terry, a TV producer, recalls their first round at ages 9 and 8: "We were so excited afterward that we couldn't sleep. The next morning we went door to door asking neighbors if they had any used golf balls." Numbers can lie: Upset that a re-rating at Austin Golf Club, where he's a member, has put him this high on our list. Notes Terry: "If he's a 6, he's a limo 6: Opponents will send a chauffeur to his door to get him to the first tee." LF.