The LPGA's Top Rivalries: Generation Gaps, August 2010 Edition

With the LPGA off this week, now's as good a time as any to reexamine how the tour's last 6 generations stack up. Check out the career money list and wins/majors totals for the top players in the generations that span the Sorenstam Era (1994-2008) and the overlapping Ochoa Era (2003-2009).

[Note: those players (and their stats) in [square brackets] have retired; *=includes non-member win; **=includes 3 non-member wins.]

1994-1996: The Sorenstam Generation

[1. Annika Sorenstam (1994) $22.57M (#1), 72/10]
2. Karrie Webb (1996) $15.70M (#2), 36*/7
3. Lorie Kane (1996) $6.74M (#15), 4/0
4. Pat Hurst (1995) $6.64M (#16), 6/1
5. Catriona Matthew (1995) $6.21M (#20), 3/1
6. Wendy Ward (1996) $4.63M (#36), 4/0
7. Carin Koch (1995) $4.43M (#38), 2/0

The race between Kane, Hurst, and Matthew is tightening up. Koch is living in Sweden and playing pretty much exclusively on the LET these days.

1997-1999: The Pak Generation

1. Cristie Kerr (1997) $11.55M (#5), 14/2
2. Se Ri Pak (1998) $10.85M (#6), 25/5
3. Mi Hyun Kim (1999) $8.44M (#10), 8/0
[4. Rachel Hetherington (1997) $5.70M (#25), 8/0]
5. Sophie Gustafson (1998) $5.53M (#28), 5/0
6. Laura Diaz (1999) $5.00M (#33), 2/0
7. Maria Hjorth (1998) $4.96M (#34), 3/0
8. Karen Stupples (1999) $3.38M (#52), 2/1

Even though Kerr's passed Pak on the career money list, she'll have to join her in the Hall of Fame to have her name on the generation, too. Gustafson is close to chasing down Hetherington and Hjorth, Diaz. I'm happy for the NYer that she broke the $5M barrier! [Update (9/6/10): Now that Hetherington's retired, it's only a matter of time before she drops out of the top 5 in her generation in winnings.]

2000-2002: Seoul Sisters

1. Jeong Jang (2000) $6.42M (#17), 2/1
2. Hee-Won Han (2001) $6.30M (#19), 6/0
3. Grace Park (2000) $5.36M (#30), 6/1
4. Angela Stanford (2001) $5.29M (#32), 4/0
5. Candie Kung (2002) $4.69M (#35), 4/0
6. Natalie Gulbis (2002) $4.11M (#41), 1/0
7. Gloria Park (2000) $3.25M (#58), 2/0

Jang continues to hold off Han, while Stanford and Kung continue to make up ground on Park.

2003-2005: The Ochoa Generation

[1. Lorena Ochoa (2003) $14.86M (#3), 27/2]
2. Paula Creamer (2005) $7.65M (#12), 9/1
3. Suzann Pettersen (2003) $6.40M (#18), 6/1
4. Christina Kim (2003) $3.77M (#44), 2/0
5. Stacy Prammanasudh (2003) $3.08M (#61), 2/0
6. Brittany Lincicome (2005) $3.00M (#64), 3/1
7. Meena Lee (2005) $2.92M (#70), 2/0
8. Shi Hyun Ahn (2004) $2.56M (#79), 1*/0
9. Katherine Hull (2004) $2.54M (#80), 1/0
10. Young Kim (2003) $2.36M (#88), 1/0
11. Lindsey Wright (2004) $2.07M (#99), 0/0

With Lorena officially stepped away from the LPGA, the only real question is how close Creamer and Pettersen can come to matching her career. The race between the 3 mid-level Americans and between the 2 Australians and 3 Koreans below them will be of interest, as well, but Young Kim will need to rejoin the LPGA to participate in it.

2006-2008: Young Guns

1. Ai Miyazato (2006), $4.35M (#39), 5/0
2. Ya Ni Tseng (2008), $4.19M (#40), 4/3
3. Seon Hwa Lee (2006), $3.76M (#45), 4/0
4. Na Yeon Choi (2008), $3.62M (#47), 3/0
5. Morgan Pressel (2006), $3.38M (#53), 2/1
6. In-Kyung Kim (2007), $3.13M (#60), 2/0
7. Jee Young Lee (2006), $3.02M (#63), 1*/0
8. Song-Hee Kim (2007), $2.99M (#65), 0/0
9. Brittany Lang (2006), $2.41M (#85), 0/0
10. Inbee Park (2007), $2.41M (#86), 1/1
11. Julieta Granada (2006), $2.23M (#94), 1/0
12. Eun-Hee Ji (2007), $2.20M (#95), 2/1
13. Angela Park (2007), $2.12M (#97), 0/0
14. Sun Young Yoo (2006), $2.05M (#101), 1/0
15. Kristy McPherson (2007), $1.46M (#127), 0/0
16. Ji Young Oh (2007), $1.44M (#131), 2/0
17. Hee Young Park (2008), $1.37M (#138), 0/0
18. Kyeong Bae (2006), $1.20M (#156), 0/0
19. Teresa Lu (2006), $1.09M (#169), 0/0
20. Meaghan Francella (2006), $1.07M (#170), 1/0
21. Momoko Ueda (2008), $1.03M (#179), 1*/0
22. Jane Park (2007), $.93M (#196), 0/0
23. Amy Yang (2008), $.84M (#210), 0/0
24. Shanshan Feng (2008), $.79M (#218), 0/0

Looks to me like the Young Guns have come of age!

2009-2011: New Blood

1. Ji-Yai Shin (2009), $2.97M (#67), 7**/1*
2. Michelle Wie (2009), $1.26M (#147), 1/0
3. Anna Nordqvist (2009), $1.20M (#157), 2/1
4. M.J. Hur (2009), $.77M (#222), 1/0
5. Stacy Lewis (2009), $.63M (#246), 0/0
6. Mika Miyazato (2009), $.55M (#262), 0/0
7. Vicky Hurst (2009), $.48M (#281), 0/0
8. Azahara Munoz (2010), #.32M (#324), 0/0
9. Haeji Kang (2009), $.28M (#343), 0/0
10. Chella Choi (2009), $.15M (#430), 0/0
11. Mindy Kim (2009), $.15M ($431), 0/0
12. Amanda Blumenherst (2010), $.13M (#449), 0/0
13. Shiho Oyama (2009), $.13M (#450), 0/0
14. Gwladys Nocera (2010), $.13M (#453), 0/0

Besides Shin, Wie, Nordqvist, and Munoz, it's really too soon to tell who's going to have a great LPGA career. But I'm already starting to get curious about who will be in the Class of '11, the last rookie class to join this generation.