Who are the best players on the JLPGA? With Ji-Yai Shin, Momoko Ueda, Ai Miyazato, and Shiho Oyama dropping from their spots in my final 2008 ranking due to paucity of play on tour this season, the fight for the top 10 is wide open. As usual, this functionally illiterate expert will combine the Rolex Rankings, the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, the current JLPGA money list, and 2008 JLPGA money list to rank the JLPGA's finest. You'll notice that U.S. Women's Open qualifier Miki Saiki is not on this list. That's how deep the talent pool is on the JLPGA.
We've got a new #1 in town...but she's got lots of company.
1. Sakura Yokomine: #1 2009 money (￥59.38M), #19 GSPI (70.57) [1], #21 RR (3.33) [2], #3 2008 money (￥103.19M). Last season, she had 1 win, 8 top 3s, 14 top 5s, and 20 top 10s in 29 starts--plus, she finished out of the top 20 only twice and never missed a cut--so I put her at #2, right behind Ji-Hee Lee, who was even better. This may turn out to be Yokomine's breakout season, however. She already has 2 wins, 5 top 3s, and 10 top 10s in 12 starts, with her worst finish of the year being T11 (twice). Last year, I speculated that when she finally wins a JLPGA money title, she would be headed for the LPGA. This may be that year.
2. Ji-Hee Lee: #7 2009 money (￥28.04M), #23 GSPI (70.79) [3], #35 RR (2.53) [3], #2 2008 money (￥119.65M). Last season, she had 1 major, 2 wins, 9 top 3s, 15 top 5s, and 21 top 10s in 27 starts--and finished outside the top 20 only once, at the Mizuno Classic (in addition to her MC her 1st start)--so I made her my #1 JLPGA golfer of 2008. This season, she has 9 straight top 20s and an early win, but only 4 top 10s.
3. Yuko Mitsuka: #3 2009 money (￥50.11M), #27 GSPI (71.05) [4], #44 RR (2.27) [4], #7 2008 money (￥83.56M). A great 2nd half to her 2008 season leapfrogged her to the head of the up-and-coming pack, bringing her to 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. This season, she's elevated her game even further, with a win, a runner-up, and 7 other top 10s in 13 starts, along with 1 missed cut and 1 other finish outside the top 20. With a 5-event top-10 streak and 9-event top-20 streak going, she's one of the hottest golfers on the JLPGA right now.
4. Mi-Jeong Jeon: #4 2009 money (￥40.44M), #37 GSPI (71.42) [5], #47 RR (2.21) [6], #6 2008 money (￥90.85M). Last season, although she had 2 wins, 4 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 15 top 10s in 30 starts--to go with 2 missed cuts, 1 WD, and 9 finishes outside the top 20--her +3 finish in her final pair of holes cost her her 3rd straight 100-million yen year. This season, she's got 1 win and 2 more heartbreaking runner-ups, along with 5 other top 10s in 11 starts, but she also has a WD and 1 other finish outside the top 20.
Still waiting for the other elite JLPGA players to jump-start their seasons. But as you can see, it takes a lot for the up-and-coming stars on tour to catch them.
5. Shinobu Moromizato: #2 2009 money (￥57.48M), #57 GSPI (71.85) [8], #54 RR (1.81) [9], #12 2008 money (￥64.37M). Last season, she had 1 win, 2 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 16 top 10s to go with 4 MCs and 7 finishes outside the top 20 in 34 events, and ranked #15. This season, she already has 2 wins (including the year's 1st major) and 5 other top 10s in 13 starts, but she's also finished outside the top 20 5 times.
6. Yuri Fudoh: #15 2009 money (￥18.38M), #21 GSPI (70.70) [3], #19 RR (3.39) [1], #5 2008 money (￥91.86M). Last season, her 4 wins, 6 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 10 top 10s in 22 starts would have been a great year for anyone but the JLPGA's career money leader and first billion-yen winner in tour history. But she missed 2 cuts and finished outside the top 20 4 times in '08. This season, she's already missed a cut and finished outside the top 20 1 other time, but also has a runner-up finish and 4 other top 10s in 8 starts, so look for her to challenge for the top again.
7. Akiko Fukushima: #13 2009 money (￥21.83M), #47 GSPI (71.60) [6], #51 RR (2.06) [7], #4 2008 money (￥96.50M). Last season, her 2 wins, 5 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 14 top 10s in 30 events and no missed cuts was great, but she did finish outside the top 20 9 times and really faltered in the last third of the season, missing the best opportunity for her 1st career 100-million yen season, so I ranked her #8, behind Shin, Ueda, and Miyazato. This season, she's been coming on strong since finishing outside the top 20 in her 1st 2 events, with a runner-up and 3 other top 10s, for a total of 6 straight top 20s out of 8 starts.
8. Miho Koga: #14 2009 money (￥18.65M), #62 GSPI (72.03) [10], #45 RR (2.26) [5], #1 2008 money (￥120.85M). Even though she lead the 2008 money list and had 4 wins (including 1 major), 7 top 3s, 11 top 5s, and 17 top 10s in 33 starts, I put her at #4 at the end of last season due to her 5 finishes outside the top 20 and 3 missed cuts. This season, she's already missed a cut and finished outside the top 20 2 other times, so her 4 top 10s (including a runner-up) in 10 starts move her down this ranking.
The next group of players are very closely bunched and if they can find more consistency can easily join the lead chase pack.
9. Ayako Uehara: #9 2008 money (￥26.48M), #73 GSPI (72.23) [13], #72 RR (1.39) [13], #14 2008 money (￥63.31M). Last season was the best in her career, with 1 win, 3 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 8 top 10s, along with 4 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20 in 33 starts. This season, she started hot with a runner-up and a win in her 1st 2 events, but since then has only gotten 3 other top 10s in her other 9 starts to go with 2 missed cuts and 4 other finishes outside the top 20.
10. Chie Arimura: #5 2009 money (￥31.71M), #114 GSPI (72.91) [23], #74 RR (1.33) [14], #23 2008 money (￥47.35M). Last season, she got her 1st career win in an incandescent mid-year stretch, but only ended up with 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. This season, she started slow, with a missed cut and 2 other finishes outside the top 20 in her 1st 3 starts, but in her last 10 events, she's fallen out of the top 20 only once and has 6 top 10s, including a runner-up finish and her 2nd career win.
11. Eun-A Lim: #10 2008 money (￥24.47M), #67 GSPI (72.10) [12], #53 RR (1.96) [8], #9 2008 money (￥73.41M). Last season, her 1 win, 5 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 10 top 10s, along with 3 MCs and 9 finishes outside the top 20 in 29 events made her the 6th Korean in the top 15 on the JLPGA. This season, she already has a win and a runner-up finish, but with only 1 other top 10 in 10 starts to go with 2 missed cuts and 3 other finishes outside the top 20, her status as #3 Korean on tour is in jeopardy.
12. Erina Hara: #12 2009 money (￥23.80M), #63 GSPI (72.03) [11], #68 RR (1.43) [11], #10 2008 money (￥65.87M). Last season she had 1 win, 3 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 10 top 10s, along with 3 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20 in 37 starts. This season, she got off to a fast start with 2 runner-ups in her 1st 3 starts, but she's only gotten 2 other top 10s, has missed the cut 4 times, and has fallen outside the top 20 2 other times in her 10 other starts.
The next set of players could go either way, but there's still not that much that separates them from those ahead of them.
13. Ah-Reum Hwang: #8 2009 money (￥27.36M), #107 GSPI (72.81) [21], #70 RR (1.40) [12], #44 2008 money (￥18.28M). She didn't make my ranking last season, but she started this season with a bang, finishing T2 her 2nd event and following it with her 1st career JLPGA victory. Since then, however, her best finish has been T10, and she's WDed from 1 event, missed the cut in another, and fallen outside the top 20 2 other times.
14. Yuko Saitoh: #6 2009 money (￥28.89M), #108 GSPI (72.83) [22], #100 RR (.95) [25], #34 2008 money (￥25.87M). She didn't make my ranking last season, but this season, she got her 2nd career win (her 1st came in 2004), one other top 3, and has finished out of the top 20 only 4 times in 11 starts (including 1 missed cut).
15. Bo-Bae Song: #21 2009 money (￥13.30M), #56 GSPI (71.83) [7], #66 RR (1.53) [10], #13 2008 money (￥63.47M). Last season, she had 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. This season, she's been quite steady, with 1 missed cut her only finish outside the top 20 in her 10 starts, but hasn't gotten a top 10 since her hat trick to start the year.
16. Ji-Woo Lee: #17 2009 money (￥17.44M), #60 GSPI (71.93) [9], #88 RR (1.02) [18], #22 2008 money (￥47.63M). Last season, she had 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 season, she just missed her 1st cut in 12 starts this past week, but has 4 other finishes outside the top 20 to offset her 3 top 10s.
17. Hyun-Ju Shin: #26 2009 money (￥10.69M), #75 GSPI (72.30) [14], #65 RR (1.57) [9], #11 2008 money (￥64.63M). If injuries hadn't cut her 2008 season short, she would definitely have been a top 10 player, with her 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. This season, has been a strange one, with 4 missed cuts but no other finishes outside the top 20, yet only 3 top 10s in 11 starts.
18. Tamie Durdin: #11 2009 money (￥24.18M), #125 GSPI (73.04) [26], #94 RR (.97) [22], #55 2008 money (￥14.65M). She didn't make my ranking last season, but this season she's already gotten her 1st career JLPGA victory and notched 4 other top 10s, offsetting her 2 missed cuts and 4 finishes outside the top 20.
This last set of players could be higher next ranking, or they could be out of it. The next dozen or so players are breathing down their necks.
19. Rui Kitada: #16 2009 money (￥18.04M), #94 GSPI (72.64) [17], #103 RR (.90) [26], #28 2008 money (￥36.34M). Last season, she had a win, 2 top 5s, and 6 top 10s, along with 9 MCs, 1 WD, and 10 finishes out of the top 20 in 35 events. This season has been a strange one for her, with an early top 3 in the midst of a 10-event run where she didn't finish inside the top 20, including a WD and 2 MCs. Over her last 3 events, however, she has 2 top 5s (and another finish outside the top 20). Perhaps she's recovered from an early injury?
20. Maiko Wakabayashi: #20 2009 money (￥15.21M), #97 GSPI (72.66) [19], #82 RR (1.11) [18], #21 2008 money (￥50.06M). Last season, she had 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. She started slow this season, as well, with 5 straight finishes outside the top 20 (including 1 missed cut) in a row, but since then, she's played very well, with no finish worse than T14 (except another missed cut) and a run of 3 straight top 10s that she's looking to extend this week. Even though she couldn't get her 2nd career win last week, look for her run to continue. She's 6th on tour in both birdie rate and putts per green in regulation.
21. Hiromi Mogi: #22 2009 money (￥13.21M), #96 GSPI (72.66) [18], #89 RR (1.02) [19], #18 2008 money (￥52.62M). Last season, she won the most money in her career but had her lowest finish on the money list, 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). This season, she just got her 3rd top 10 (and 2nd top 5), breaking a streak of 5 finishes outside the top 20 (including 1 of her 3 missed cuts in the season).
22. Yukari Baba: #18 2009 money (￥16.91M), #142 GSPI (73.40) [30], #98 RR (.96) [24], #26 2008 money (￥44.14M). Last season, she got her 5th straight top 30 season and the most lucrative in her career, thanks to her 2nd career win in '08, but had only 1 other top 3, an additional top 5, and 7 total top 10s--all in the 1st half of the year--to go with 10 MCs and 8 finishes outside the top 20 in 33 starts. This season she has 4 top 10s in 13 starts, with only 1 missed cut but 6 finishes outside the top 20.
23. Li-Ying Ye: #19 2009 money (￥16.80M), #136 GSPI (73.31) [27], #194 RR (.38) [very low--she's a rookie]. Her 4th top 10 of the young season this past week could easily have been her 1st career JLPGA win--she lost in a playoff to Shinobu Moromizato, despite closing with a 68 and a 66 on the weekend. Sure, she has 3 missed cuts and 3 other finishes outside the top 20 among her 11 starts, but most came in the opening of the season. As she gains more experience on tour, look for her to rise up these rankings.
24. Akane Iijima: #25 2009 money (￥11.19M), #88 GSPI (72.30) [15], #91 RR (1.01) [21], #19 2008 money (￥51.40M). Last season, she had 1 win, 3 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 7 top 10s in 37 starts, along with 4 MCs, 3 WDs, and 9 finishes outside the top 20. This season has been a tough one for her, with 4 missed cuts and 5 other finishes outside the top 20, but she still has gotten 4 top 10s in 13 starts.
25. Nikki Campbell: #29 2009 money (￥9.69M), #104 GSPI (72.76) [20], #115 RR (.77) [29], #33 2008 money (￥27.04M). Last season, her 2 top 5s and 3 top 10s--all coming in her last 7 events--helped this 28-year-old salvage what would otherwise have been a disappointing year, what with her 5 MCs, 1 WD, and 12 finishes outside the top 20 in her 29 starts. This season, she already has 3 top 10s in 11 starts, but has missed the cut twice and finished outside the top 20 4 other times, as well.
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