This is a common question. PageRank does not translate to position in the SERPs because a page's keywords are not considered in the calculation of PageRank.

As an example, let's say there's a PR7 (a very good PageRank) page competing with a PR4 page (a much easier PR to achieve) for the keyprase "Car Parts". The PR4 page can rank higher in the SERPs if it has more links leading to the page using "Car Parts" in the anchor text, and it has good on-page optimization. If the links leading to the PR7 page do not have "Car Parts" in the anchor text then the site will not rank well for that phrase, yet it will still have great PR because of the number of links leading to it, and the PR of the sites with those links.

This is why SEO professionals do not care so much about PageRank. Businesses, obviously, would rather rank well for what they are selling/offering than have a high PageRank.

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