Over the final two weeks of 2014, we will be breaking down players that rose and fell over the past 12 months in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings.

Check out the entire series here.

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Andrew Putnam

Ranking/movement: +139 (No. 253 to No. 114)

Why the rise? Andrew Putnam didn’t simply improve one part of his game; he said it was a case of the sum being greater than the parts. A check of the Web.com Tour statistics confirms that with the exception of driving distance, which was down slightly, Putnam’s rank improved nearly across the board in every major category.

“I cleaned up a few things in my ballstriking,” said Putnam, a student of instructor Mark Blackburn. “My wedge game also got a lot tighter.”

Putnam’s scoring average dropped nearly a full stroke, to 69.30 (sixth overall), and his final-round scoring average was the second-lowest (68.56), nearly two strokes better than in 2013, when he ranked 61st. He also ranked ninth in putting average (1.730) and 11th in putts per round (28.62). In other words, he was a top-10 guy with the short stick. Going low on Sunday helped Putnam’s bank account, too. His earnings more than doubled, from $115,608 to $342,638.

Putnam made the most of his sophomore season on the Web.com Tour. A final-round 75 at the 2013 Web.com Tour Championship prevented Putnam from earning his Tour card.

“I was out there just guessing a lot with what to do about my swing,” he said. “I had to get a plan together with my coach and figure out how to monitor it.”

Putnam removed any suspense about joining his brother, Michael, on Tour by finishing second at the Web.com Tour’s season-opening event and winning the WNB Golf Classic in April.

Putnam says: “I think I was the one that pushed (Michael) two years ago on the Web. He actually won the money list that year, and then, yeah, I was trying to get out here to join him. It’s going to be a fun year, being together on the PGA Tour.”