Monday, December 1, 2008

Predicting the Top 20 at the LPGA's 2008 Q-School

Who's up for competing with the 100-yen Nishijin Mostly Harmless Crystal Ball when it comes to picking the top 20 in the LPGA Q-School this week?

1. Shiho Oyama
2. Sun-Ju Ahn
3. Miki Saiki
4. Anna Nordqvist
5. Amy Yang
6. Michelle Wie
7. Stacy Lewis
8. Melissa Reid
9. Alison Walshe
10. Mika Miyazato
11. Martina Eberl
12. Dewi Claire Schreefel
13. Charlotte Mayorkas
14. Anna Rawson
15. Tania Elosegui
16. Onnarin Sattayabanphot
17. Song Yi Choi
18. Hannah Jun
19. Carolina Llano
20. Pornanong Phatlum

Who did it hurt most not to pick? For me, it was Kelli Kuehne (she dropped out of the field late), Paige Mackenzie, Louise Stahle, Beatriz Recari, Leah Wigger, Sophia Sheridan, Young-A Yang, Kate Golden, Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, Liz Janangelo, Anna Grzebien, Haeji Kang, Chella Choi, Ashleigh Simon, Maru Martinez, Taylor Leon, Briana Vega, Eunjung Yi, Sara Brown, Jessica Shepley, and Jaclyn Sweeney. In that order. And you?

[Update 1 (12:10 pm): Hound Dog's in! Here are his preview and picks.]

[Update 2 (12/2/08, 6:48 pm): Here's Brent Kelley's preview.]

[Update 3 (6:59 pm): Golfweek only picks 7 to watch and doesn't rank 'em. Here's Baldry on Wie and Ferguson on Wie and Hurst.]

[Update 4 (12/3/08, 5:41 pm): Whoops, missed Ryan Ballengee's preview.]

[Update 5 (12/4/08, 9:38 am): Missed Steve Elling's, too.]

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I knew the players better to make a list. I do think you missed on Taylor Leon, Leah Wigger, and Liz Janangelo. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kuehne step up and blow the field away.

Should be interesting to see how young Ms Wie handles real pressure for the first time in her life. She is EXPECTED to be at the top of the list since she isn't going head to head with the LPGA's best.

I'm still not sold on Anna Rawson outside of her looks. She could finish high, or miss the early cut depending on which way her streaky play goes.

Personal pick ? Danah Ford.

Unknown said...

Danah Ford didn't qualify for finals and Kelli Kuehne is no longer on the roster.

Anonymous said...

Gee THANKS, Susan - got another bucket of cold water to throw at me ? :-)

I must be thinking of Jenny Suh. Got to meet both of them at the Duramed Invitational. Thought Danah had qualified.

Two other names from that tournament that could be fun to watch are Angela Buzminski, and Taya Battistella.

Any idea what happened with Kuehne ?

Unknown said...

Hey Court thanks! You scored when you mentioned Taya. I've seen her play since she first picked up a golf club. And, she IS fun to watch. Kuehne was in the top 100 (96th $$ list) so still has some status.

The Constructivist said...

Kuehne would have needed a top 15 to improve her status. Not very likely, given the field. She probably figured it wasn't worth the stress for at best a few spots move up the status list.

Anonymous said...

I would've thought that someone like Kuehne would go into a q-school challenge with almost no pressure. Remember what Frank Lickliter did at the PGA q-school last year. He went out and freewheeled the first 3 days and coasted to the top spot. Kuehne has status and a lot of experience. I would have picked her to steamroll most of the field if she just went in and played. I guess her status would get her into just about any regular field event she wants to play anyway.

Susan - that's pretty cool seeing someone come up like that. Hope Taya does well. I didn't see a whole lot of her on the course, but she definitely has some potential !

The Constructivist said...

CG, I wouldn't call a 73.41 stroke average cause for a whole lot of confidence at Q-School. Look at her stats for 2008. She doesn't meet any of my criteria for success on the LPGA, so it's a good thing she'll get into 15-20 events next season and give herself a shot at doing better in '09 w/o having to go through Q-School.