Who were the best players on the JLPGA in 2008? This functionally illiterate expert will attempt to answer that question by combining the Rolex Rankings, the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, the final JLPGA money list, and Hound Dog's JLPGA ranking. Having picked Shiho Oyama and Miki Saiki to finish 1-3 in the LPGA's Q-School this week, I would suggest that anyone on this list could be a top 100 player on the LPGA--and that more than half could be top 50 or much better (3 of them already are).
Who's the new #1? Almost any of the top 10 could have got it this season, but I vote for...
1. Ji-Hee Lee: #2 2008 money (￥119.65M), #43 RR (2.60) [9], #19 GSPI (70.60) [2], #1 HD, #38 2007 money (￥23.4M). 1 major, 2 wins, 9 top 3s, 15 top 5s, and 21 top 10s in 27 starts is a fantastic season, particularly when you consider that Lee finished outside the top 20 only once after missing the cut in the 1st event of '08. She had the 2nd-lowest scoring average on tour and the lowest among JLPGA regulars. So what if she got edged in the money list by Miho Koga thanks to a fluky final hole in the final major of the season?
2. Sakura Yokomine: #3 2008 money (￥103.19M), #27 RR (3.51) [4], #22 GSPI (70.74) [3], #4 HD, #2 2007 money (￥114.9M). 1 win, 8 top 3s, 14 top 5s, and 20 top 10s in 29 starts is a great year by any standard. Not only was Yokomine 3rd in scoring average (2nd among the JLPGA regulars) and had the highest birdie rate (3.54 per 18 holes) on tour, she finished out of the top 20 only twice and never missed a cut, as well. She's been that consistent for a long time: she's made the top 4 on the money list each of the last 5 years and broken the 100-million yen mark in season winnings the last 3 in a row. Once she gets a money title, I suspect she's headed to the States.
3. Yuri Fudoh: #5 2008 money (￥91.86M), #12 RR (4.65) [2], #41 GSPI (71.23) [7], #3 HD, #6 2007 money (￥87.1M). 4 wins, 6 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 10 top 10s in 22 starts would be a great season for anyone but the JLPGA's career money leader and first billion-yen golfer in tour history. But she missed 2 cuts and finished outside the top 20 4 times in '08. Next season will be her 12th--can she win another money title now that there's so much more parity and so many very good young players on tour?
4. Miho Koga: #1 2008 money (￥120.85M), #34 RR (2.90) [5], #51 GSPI (71.51) [12], #5 HD, #4 2007 money (￥94.3M). Tied Fudoh for the most wins on tour in '08. Even though she wasn't as consistent as Yokomine or Lee, she was more explosive, as evidenced by her missed cut sandwiched between her 2 wins over its last 3 weeks. Even though she had 4 wins (including 1 major), 7 top 3s, 11 top 5s, and 17 top 10s in 33 starts, I have to put her here due to her 5 finishes outside the top 20 and 3 missed cuts.
5. Ji-Yai Shin: #24 2008 money (￥45.54M), #6 RR (7.41) [1], #2 GSPI (69.08) [1], #10 HD, n.a. 2007 money (not a member). Had 1 win and 3 runner-ups in 5 official starts on tour (her 1st one, a win, got her her membership, but doesn't count toward her official totals), not to mention the lowest scoring average, even with her jet-lag/exhaustion-influenced disappointing performance last week.
6. Momoko Ueda: #17 2008 money (￥54.62M), #14 RR (4.33) [3], #26 GSPI (70.81) [4], #8 HD, #1 2007 money (￥166.11M). Had 2 wins, 3 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 8 top 10s in 13 starts on tour. #1 in winnings over the past 2 seasons; even with her limited Japan schedule this one, she made more on the JLPGA than LPGA.
7. Ai Miyazato: #32 2008 money (￥27.89M), #38 RR (2.84) [6], #45 GSPI (71.34) [9], n.r. HD, #89 2007 money (￥4.32M). Had 3 top 3s and 4 top 10s in only 5 events and the 4th-best scoring average on tour.
8. Akiko Fukushima: #4 2008 money (￥96.50M), #45 RR (2.59) [10], #42 GSPI (71.23) [8], #2 HD, #11 2007 money (￥51.6M). 2 wins, 5 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 14 top 10s in 30 events and no missed cuts is great, but she did finish outside the top 20 9 times and really faltered in the last third of the season. I never thought she would have missed the best opportunity for her 1st career 100-million yen season since she came 400,000 short in 1997, her 2nd season in a row to top the money list. At this rate, she's probably about 3 seasons away from joining Fudoh in the billion-yen club.
9. Mi-Jeong Jeon: #6 2008 money (￥90.85M), #40 RR (2.73) [7], #62 GSPI (71.75) [14], #6 HD, #3 2007 money (￥110.9M). Speaking of faltering down the stretch, Jeon's +3 finish in her final pair of holes of the season cost her her 3rd straight 100-million yen season. With 2 wins, 4 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 15 top 10s in 30 starts--but 2 missed cuts, 1 WD, and 9 finishes outside the top 20--I have to drop my former #1 all the way down here.
10. Shiho Oyama: #8 2008 money (￥75.04M), #42 RR (2.70) [8], #49 GSPI (71.47) [11], #9 HD, #8 2007 money (￥71.7M). Made the top 10 on the money list for the 4th straight year playing a limited schedule by JLPGA standards: 1 win, 4 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 12 top 10s, to go with 2 missed cuts and 4 finishes outside the top 20, in "only" 25 starts. It's no surprise she's leading Q-School thus far.
The next 10 are closely bunched and more than half of them are very close to breaking into the top 10:
11. Yuko Mitsuka: #7 2008 money (￥83.56M), #49 RR (2.19) [12], #35 GSPI (71.15) [5], #11 HD, #14 2007 money (￥45.3M). Great 2nd-half to her season leapfrogged her to the head of the chase pack going into 2009. 1 win, 5 top 3s, 9 top 5s, and 14 top 10s, to go with 2 MCs, 2 WDs, and 4 finishes outside the top 20 in 32 events is very impressive for this 24-year-old Super Soph.
12. Hyun-Ju Shin: #11 2008 money (￥64.63M), #48 RR (2.22) [11], #48 GSPI (71.43) [10], #7 HD, #12 2007 money (￥48.5M). If injuries hadn't cut her season short, she would definitely have been a top 10 player. 2 wins, 4 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 10 top 10s in only 21 events with no missed cuts and 8 finishes outside the top 20 show the kind of talent she has. Here's hoping she gets and stays healthy in 2009.
13. Bo-Bae Song: #13 2008 money (￥63.47M), #59 RR (1.92) [16], #39 GSPI (71.19) [6], #12 HD, #16 2007 money (￥44.4M). A bad final round last week kept her from bookend wins for the 2008 season, but it was still a good one. 1 win, 3 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 14 top 10s, to go with 1 MC, 1 WD, and only 3 finishes outside the top 20 in 26 events suggest that this 22-year-old Super Soph is going to be a threat in 2009.
14. Eun-A Lim: #9 2008 money (￥73.41M), #52 RR (2.06) [13], #71 GSPI (71.96) [18], #17 HD, #86 2007 money (￥5.1M). With 1 win, 5 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 10 top 10s to go with 3 MCs and 9 finishes outside the top 20 in 29 events, Lim makes it 6 Koreans in the top 15 on the JLPGA in '08.
15. Shinobu Moromizato: #12 2008 money (￥64.37M), #53 RR (2.01) [14], #69 GSPI (71.91) [16], #13 HD, #7 2007 money (￥85.3M). Only 22 years old, Moromizato played her 4th season on tour in 2008, competing in 34 events. With 1 win, 2 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 16 top 10s to go with 4 MCs and 7 finishes outside the top 20, she might benefit from building more off-weeks into her 2009 schedule.
16. Erina Hara: #10 2008 money (￥65.87M), #65 RR (1.69) [19], #59 GSPI (71.73) [13], #14 HD, #19 2007 money (￥39.7M). Breakthrough year for this 21-year-old Super Soph who got her 1st win and 1st top 10 on the money list this season, but she did it by playing a Ji-Yai Shin-like schedule of 37 events (Shin's was worldwide--Hara's was on the JLPGA alone!). 1 win, 3 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 10 top 10s are fine, but 3 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20 suggest that kind of iron-woman schedule can take its toll.
17. Hiromi Mogi: #18 2008 money (￥52.62M), #76 RR (1.46) [21], #68 GSPI (71.91) [15], #15 HD, #15 2007 money (￥44.9M). This 6th-year pro got her 5th straight top 20 on the JLPGA season-ending money list in 2008, but it was her lowest finish in that stretch, with 1 win, 2 top 3s, 3 top 5s, and 9 top 10s in 33 events, along with 2 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20 (half of them coming in her last 6 events of the season).
18. Ayako Uehara: #14 2008 money (￥63.31M), #80 RR (1.38) [22], #70 GSPI (71.92) [17], #16 HD, #25 2007 money (￥32.9M). This 25-year-old played 33 events in her 6th season on the JLPGA, with the best results in her career: 1 win, 3 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 8 top 10s, along with 4 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20.
19. Akane Iijima: #19 2008 money (￥51.40M), #75 RR (1.46) [20], #83 GSPI (72.30) [20], #18 HD, #10 2007 money (￥60.3M). The 25-year-old 4th-year pro played 37 events this season, with 1 win, 3 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 7 top 10s for her efforts, along with 4 MCs, 3 WDs, and 9 finishes outside the top 20. Another player who might benefit from ratcheting back her 2009 schedule a bit.
20. Mayu Hattori: #15 2008 money (￥58.72M), #60 RR (1.89) [16], #84 GSPI (72.31) [21], #20 HD, #44 2007 money (￥18.49M). This 21-year-old Super Soph played 36 events in 2008, getting her 1st career win, along with 2 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 9 top 10s--most in the stretch run of the season, after she had missed 3 cuts and finished outside the top 20 15 times (she would add 2 more in her last 2 events, probably due to fatigue). It'll be hard to convince her to play fewer events in 2009.
The next 10 are pretty closely bunched and not all that far behind the 5 ahead of them:
21. Miki Saiki: #20 2008 money (￥50.84M), #56 RR (1.97) [15], #90 GSPI (72.41) [23], n.r. HD, #9 2007 money (￥62.6M). This 24-year-old Super Soph hit rock bottom in the middle of the season, missing cuts in 6 of 9 events, but she pulled herself together down the home stretch. Despite missing 7 cuts in all and withdrawing from 1 event, Saiki got 3 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 11 top 10s in 28 starts, finishing outside the top 20 only 4 times. Here's hoping she can draw on that experience as she tries to come back from her 74-72 start in the LPGA's Q-School.
22. Ji-Woo Lee: #22 2008 money (￥47.63M), #101 RR (1.04) [31], #88 GSPI (72.35) [22], #19 HD, #47 2007 money (￥16.7M). With 1 top 3, 3 top 5s, and 12 top 10s in 34 events, along with only 4 missed cuts (all of which came in the 1st third of the season) and 9 finishes outside the top 20, this 23-year-old Super Soph has a bright future on the JLPGA.
23. Midori Yoneyama: #25 2008 money (￥45.29M), #82 RR (1.35) [23], #75 GSPI (72.05) [19], n.r. HD, #21 2007 money (￥35.3M). Finished outside the top 20 on the money list for the 3rd year in a row, after making it the previous 7 straight seasons, despite playing in 35 events in '08. With only 2 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 9 top 10s to go with 1 MC, 2 WDs, and 13 finishes outside the top 20, you have to wonder how long she can keep ahead of the JLPGA's young guns.
24. Yukari Baba: #26 2008 money (￥44.14M), #94 RR (1.14) [26], #131 GSPI (73.18) [32], n.r. HD, #28 2007 money (￥27.9M). Notched her 5th straight top 30 season and her most lucrative in her career, thanks to her 2nd career win in '08. But with only 1 other top 3, an additional top 5, and 7 total top 10s--all in the 1st half of the season--to go with 10 MCs and 8 finishes outside the top 20 in 33 starts, this 25-year-old needs to play even better in '09 just to remain a top 30 player.
25. Esther Lee: #16 2008 money (￥54.94M), #97 RR (1.09) [28], #123 GSPI (73.03) [28], n.r. HD, #46 2007 money (￥17.1M). Unlike Saiki, this 22-year-old Super Soph was the hottest player on the JLPGA in the middle of the season, making the top 4 in 4 of 5 events in a row at one point, but had a tough start and disappointing finish to her 2008 campaign. In 36 events, she had 5 top 3s and 7 top 5s, but failed to notch another top 10, finished outside the top 20 9 times, and missed 12 cuts.
26. Chie Arimura: #23 2008 money (￥47.35M), #83 RR (1.33) [24], #134 GSPI (73.20) [33], n.r. HD, #13 2007 money (￥47.6M). This 21-year-old Junior Mint got her 1st career win in 2008 in a mid-year stretch that may even have been hotter than Esther Lee's, but otherwise her season was kind of blah, with only 3 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 10 top 10s to go with 8 MCs, 1 WD, and 12 finishes outside the top 20 in 35 events.
27. Rui Kitada: #28 2008 money (￥36.34M), #99 RR (1.05) [30], #121 GSPI (73.01) [27], n.r. HD, #33 2007 money (￥26.4M). Without her win, she wouldn't be anywhere near the top 30, as she only got 1 other top 5 and had only 6 top 10s in all, along with 9 MCs, 1 WD, and 10 finishes out of the top 20 in 35 events. Can this 26-year-old regain in 2009 the form that earned her 4 wins and a 3rd-place finish on the 2004 money list?
28. Hiroko Yamaguchi: #27 2008 money (￥42.85M), #103 RR (1.03) [32], #110 GSPI (72.78) [25], n.r. HD, #24 2007 money (￥33.1M). Got her 1st win since 2001, but she struggled to make the top 30 on the money list for the 3rd straight year in '08, after making the top 20 in 4 of her 1st 5. She only added 2 other top 5s and got 6 top 10s in all, compared with 5 MCs, 1 WD, and 17 finishes outside the top 20 in 35 events.
29. Maiko Wakabayashi: #21 2008 money (￥50.06M), #88 RR (1.24) [25], #148 GSPI (73.32) [37], n.r. HD, #113 2007 money (￥2.03M). With 1 win, 3 top 3s, and 6 top 10s to go with 11 MCs (most in the 1st half of the season), 1 WD, and 13 finishes outside the top 20 in 37 starts, this 20-year-old Super Soph is poised for a much better 2009.
30. Saiki Fujita: #29 2008 money (￥31.72M), #96 RR (1.10) [27], #144 GSPI (73.28) [35], n.r. HD, #26 2007 money (￥32.3M). Posted 1 win and made the top 30 on the money list for the 3rd season in a row, but this 23-year-old 4th-year pro struggled for most of 2008, getting only 1 other top 3 and an additional top 5 to bring her total to 4 top 10s in all, against 7 MCs, 3 WDs, and 10 finishes outside the top 20 in 30 starts.
And here are the best of the rest:
31. Yun-Jye Wei: #30 2008 money (￥29.63M), #98 RR (1.05) [29], #126 GSPI (73.11) [31], n.r. HD, #29 2007 money (￥27.66M). With only 1 top 3, 1 top 5, and 4 top 10s to go with 8 MCs and 11 finishes outside the top 20 in 29 events, this 29-year-old continued her slide over the past 2 years after having garnered 2 top 10s, 3 top 15s, and 5 top 25s in her previous 5 seasons. Can she arrest it in 2009?
32. Mie Nakata: #31 2008 money (￥28.33M), #106 RR (1.01) [34], #113 GSPI (72.80) [26], n.r. HD, #20 2007 money (￥38.08M). Got 8 top 10s, but only 1 of them was a top 5, plus she missed 6 cuts and finished outside the top 20 13 times.
33. Nikki Campbell: #33 2008 money (￥27.04M), #105 RR (1.01) [33], #125 GSPI (73.11) [30], n.r. HD, #17 2007 money (￥42.7M). 2 top 5s and only 3 top 10s--all coming in her last 7 events--helped this 28-year-old salvage what would otherwise have been a disappointing season, what with her 5 MCs, 1 WD, and 12 finishes outside the top 20. At least she had a good Lexus Cup.
34. Na Zhang: #42 2008 money (￥18.34M), #62 RR (1.86) [17], #103 GSPI (72.63) [24], n.r. HD, #5 2007 money (￥92.1M). Injuries limited this 27-year-old Super Soph to only 16 events in 2008, where she posted 1 top 3, 1 other top 5, 2MCs, 2 WDs, and 8 finishes outside the top 20, but if she can come back healthy in 2009, watch out for her: in her rookie season, she almost broke the 100-million yen barrier and finished 5th on the money list.
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