Hana Bank Championship Sunday: Na Yeon Choi Takes Charge

Na Yeon Choi denied Vicky Hurst and Song-Hee Kim their 1st career wins on the LPGA yesterday on the back 9 in the final round of the Hana Bank Championship and in the process defended her title, moved up to #5 in the Rolex Rankings, leaped to 1st place on the money list, and put herself in position to take the Vare Trophy and the Player of the Year title, as well.

1. Na Yeon Choi $1.74M (2 wins in 20 starts, 164 Player of the Year points, 69.88 scoring average, 4.24 birdies per round, 10.38 Rolex points [#5])
2. Ji-Yai Shin $1.60M (1/17 starts, 140, 70.17, 3.86, 10.86 [#1])
3. Cristie Kerr $1.46M (2/19, 1 major, 166, 69.94, 4.17, 10.64 [#2])
4. Ya Ni Tseng $1.44M (3/16, 2 majors, 176, 70.57, 3.77, 10.14 [#6])
5. Suzann Pettersen $1.42M (0/17, 122, 70.05, 3.71, 10.52 [#3])
6. Ai Miyazato $1.40M (5/18, 174, 70.47, 4.03, 10.50 [#4])
7. Song-Hee Kim $1.15M (0/19, 104, 70.12, 4.03, 7.67 [#8])
8. In-Kyung Kim $.90M (0/19, 86, 70.65, 3.71, 7.22 [#10])
9. Michelle Wie $.89M (1/18, 62, 71.23, 3.60, 7.92 [#7])
10. Paula Creamer $.82M (1/12, 1 major, 71, 71.00, 3.54, 7.35 [#9])
11. Inbee Park $.80M (0/18, 59, 70.94, 3.40, 6.36 [#12])
12. Katherine Hull $.74M (1/21, 66, 71.42, 3.32, 4.91 [#20])

With only Ji-Yai Shin, Ai Miyazato, Na Yeon Choi, Ya Ni Tseng, Song-Hee Kim, Inbee Park, and Katherine Hull from this list playing in the Mizuno Classic, the LPGA's season-long races are likely to tighten up even further. But more and more, Choi is looking like the player to beat this season. There's something to be said for not having had to deal with the weekly pressures of staying near #1 for the majority of the season, which has to be wearing on her other 5 top competitors. Let's see how Choi plays from the front of 4 of the 5 key races on the LPGA!

[Update 1 (10:39 pm): Here's LPGA.com's breakdown of some of the races.]

[Update 2 (11/3/10, 5:16 am): Here are Mike Southern's thoughts on the differences between the Rolex Rankings tiering and the OWGR spread when neither men's nor women's golf has a single dominant player any more.]