Sunday, January 9, 2011

The Best of the LPGA: Final 2010 Edition

It's hard to believe that I haven't had time to update my Best of the LPGA ranking since last August! As usual, I'll be mashing up the LPGA money list, the final Hound Dog Top 70 (which focuses exclusively on LPGA performances and results from 2010), and the current Rolex Rankings (which assigns points based on results over the last 104 weeks on the LPGA, JLPGA, KLPGA, LET, and Futures Tour) and Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index (which ranks players based on relative finishes over the last 52 weeks on the LPGA, JLPGA, LET, and Futures Tour) to divide LPGA players into tiers, then using my own judgment to rank them within each tier.

That "girl gang dominating the LPGA" I talked about in August just keeps growing. But to determine who its leader of the pack is requires more than looking at numbers of top 5s or average rankings across the 4 systems. Nope, distinguishing between such fantastic seasons takes a little extra effort and judgment.

1. Ya Ni Tseng: #4 money ($1.57M), #1 HD, #5 RR (9.75), #7 GSPI (69.45). With 3 golds (including 2 majors, the Kraft Nabisco Championship and Women's British Open), a silver, 2 bronzes, 7 top 5s, and 8 top 10s (including 3 in majors) in 19 starts, her claim to #1 has to be based on the magnitude of her victories and her hanging on to win the LPGA's 2010 Player of the Year award. Were it not for her win in NW Arkansas and runner-up finish in Japan, we would have been talking about how disappointing her play was after winning the WBO (she had a missed cut, 2 top 50s, and 2 top 30s in the LPGA's stretch run). But because the rest of the girl gang didn't take advantage of her late-season inconsistency, I'm making her the Mostly Harmless leader of the pack on the LPGA in 2010.
2. Ai Miyazato: #6 money ($1.46M), #3 HD, #6 RR (9.47), #8 GSPI (69.67). She won her 1st 2 starts, 3 of her 1st 5, 4 of her 1st 9, and 5 of her 1st 14, but she couldn't add more in her last 7. With those 5 wins, 1 bronze, 6 total top 5s (including at the LPGA Championship), and 9 top 10s (2 in majors, the 2nd at the WBO) in 21 starts, her case for greatness is, like Tseng, based on her peak performances in 2010. What kept her season from being extraordinary were uncharacteristically big numbers in high-stakes events: a 76 in the 3rd round of the Kia Classic that dashed her hopes for 3 straight wins to start the season and delayed her 1st victory on American soil, a 2nd-round 77 in the KNC the next week that caused her to miss the cut, 76s in the opening rounds of the LPGA Championship and WBO that forced her to play catch-up, and, down the home stretch, a 76 in the 1st round of the Malaysia event, a 2nd-round 79 at home in Japan, and an opening 80 in the LPGA Tour Championship. Bottom line: she needed to do something special at the end of the season to outdo Tseng's 2 majors, but she just couldn't do it. Still, even though everyone else fighting for dominance in the LPGA's girl gang had much more consistent seasons than she did, nobody could come close to her ability to seal the deal when in contention in 2010.
3. Cristie Kerr: #3 money ($1.60M), #2 HD, #2 RR (10.14), #1 GSPI (68.65). Hands down, she had the most consistently excellent 2010 of anyone on the LPGA. With 2 golds (including a dominating win at the LPGA Championship), 2 silvers, 2 bronzes, 11 top 5s (including 3 in majors), and 13 top 10s in 21 starts, she was firing on all cylinders in every part of her game, as Hound Dog noted back in December. His profile underscores just how impressive her season was. It's gotta be heartbreaking to play that well and still come in 2nd in the Player of the Year race and 2nd in the race for the Vare Trophy--more than anyone else in this girl gang, she could have used those Hall of Fame points. Coming in 3rd in these rankings will no doubt be a minor disappointment by comparison.
4. Na Yeon Choi: #1 money ($1.87M), #5 HD, #4 RR (10.00), #5 GSPI (68.93). How does a player win the money-list title and Vare Trophy and still end up only 4th in these rankings? Well, despite 2 golds, 4 silvers, 2 bronzes, 12 top 5s (2 in majors), and 15 top 10s in 23 starts, despite becoming the 2nd Korean ever (after Ji-Yai Shin) to sit atop the money list at the end of the season, and despite finishing no worse than T16 in her last 13 starts (her only other finish outside the top 10 in that run was a T11!), she couldn't break through for as big wins as the players I ranked ahead of her.
5. Ji-Yai Shin: #2 money ($1.78M), #4 HD, #1 RR (10.60), #3 GSPI (68.83). Her 2 golds, 1 silver, 4 bronzes, 12 top 5s (including 3 in majors), and 14 top 10s in 18 starts are even more impressive when you consider that she missed the State Farm because she needed an emergency appendectomy, yet played even better after coming back from it in record time. Not only was she the 1st to take the #1 spot in the Rolex Rankings from Lorena Ochoa, she held onto it longer than Miyazato and Kerr and still has it heading into the 2011 season. As good as her 1st 2 seasons were on the LPGA, though, I expect her next to be even better.
6. Suzann Pettersen: #5 money ($1.56M), #6 HD, #3 RR (10.12), #2 GSPI (68.71). 6 silvers (including 2 in majors), 1 bronze, 11 top 5s, and 12 top 10s in 19 starts were all unfortunately overshadowed by her big fat goose egg in wins.
7. In-Kyung Kim: #7 money ($1.21M), #7 HD, #7 RR (7.86), #6 GSPI (69.34). With a gold, a silver, 2 bronzes, 8 top 5s (3 in majors), and 12 top 10s in 21 starts, she had the 2nd-best stretch run of the girl gang (behind Choi). Just like when she won in Dubai in 2009, she saved her best for last in 2010 with a win at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational--and donation of all her winnings that week. Can the LET's 2010 Rookie of the Year become the LPGA's 2011 Player of the Year? She's certainly got the all-around game to do it.
8. Song-Hee Kim: #8 money ($1.21M), #8 HD, #9 RR (6.98), #4 GSPI (68.92). With 2 silvers, 3 bronzes, 6 top 5s (2 in majors), and 15 top 10s in 22 starts, she nevertheless fell to the back of the pack in the girl gang during the season's stretch run with 2 bad Sundays early in the Asian swing when she had great chances to nail down her 1st LPGA victory.

Right behind the contenders for leader of the pack of the LPGA's girl gang is a large lead chase pack with top 10s in at most 2 of the 4 systems and/or top 20s in at least 3 of them.

9. Paula Creamer: #10 money ($883.9K), #9 HD, #11 RR (6.80), #16 GSPI (70.11). Yeah, she had only 2 top 5s and 4 top 10s in 14 starts, but when you consider that she won the U.S. Women's Open at Oakmont not long after thumb surgery and that she played the entire season in serious pain, you've gotta cut her some serious slack.
10. Michelle Wie: #9 money ($888.0K), #11 HD, #10 RR (6.83), #15 GSPI (70.02). She was fighting a bad back off and on all season, so it's pretty impressive that this part-time pro earned a gold, a silver, a bronze, 4 top 5s, and 5 top 10s in 19 starts.
11. Inbee Park: #11 money ($825.5K), #10 HD, #12 RR (6.51), #13 GSPI (69.82). The #4 player on the JLPGA in 2010 just couldn't break through on the LPGA, but she got a silver, a bronze, 3 top 5s, and 11 top 10s (including in all 4 majors) in 19 starts and moved up 41 spots from last year's ranking. She's heading into 2011 fresh off a win at the JLPGA's season-ending major, the Ricoh Cup, her 2nd win on that tour, so I wonder what she'll do for an encore. If she can continue to improve her ballstriking and get her putting back to where it was in 2008 and 2009, she could have breakout years on both the LPGA and JLPGA in 2011!
12. Morgan Pressel: #13 money ($767.4K), #12 HD, #17 RR (4.93), #10 GSPI (69.75). She had 7 top 10s (2 of them in majors) in 23 starts, but the only time she really put herself in contention she couldn't beat Shin down the stretch at Evian. Still, as Hound Dog points out, she was one of the most accurate drivers on tour and 3rd in total putting behind Miyazato and Choi, so if she can improve her approach shots, watch out for her in 2011.
13. Amy Yang: #14 money ($765.9K), #13 HD, #25 RR (3.98), #11 GSPI (69.79). Last June, I predicted that Yang was due to win any given week; well, if it weren't for a shaky weekend at the LPGA Tour Championship combined with clutch play by Maria Hjorth in the final round, my prediction would have come true. As it was, that silver was Yang's 5th top 5 of 2010 (2 of them came in majors) and her 6th top 10 in 22 starts.
14. Katherine Hull: #12 money ($793.4K), #14 HD, #19 RR (4.58), #23 GSPI (70.42). She broke through for her 1st LPGA win by going 68-67-67-67 at the Navistar, a fitting follow-up to her near-miss at the WBO. And even though she had only 1 other top 5 and 2 other top 10s in 23 starts in 2010, she had plenty of top 20s and 30s, despite driving and putting worse than she did last season. Imagine what the top Aussie on tour could do in 2011 if she improved in those areas....
15. Brittany Lincicome: #15 money ($663.8K), #15 HD, #21 RR (4.42), #18 GSPI (70.25). 2 silvers (both in Alabama), 3 top 5s, and 6 top 10s (including 1 at the WBO) in 23 starts may not sound that impressive compared to the girl gang she's chasing, but 2010 did more to convince me that she's for real than any other season of hers on tour. The reason? A bunch of top 20s and 30s to go with only 1 missed cut shows me she's becoming more of a grinder. If she can improve her focus even further in 2011 and finally rid herself of that "onebadrounditis" tendency of hers, she could have an epic season.
16. Jee Young Lee: #19 money ($589.8K), #16 HD, #38 RR (3.20), #17 GSPI (70.22). A silver, a bronze, 3 top 5s, and 8 top 10s in 20 starts, including a run of 6 top 20s to close out the season, vaulted her up the rankings in a big way. I'd have more confidence that she was back to where she was in her 1st 3 seasons were it not for 3 things: 1st, a steady decline in driving distance since her rookie season in 2006 without any significant increase in accuracy; 2nd, largely disappointing play in majors; and 3rd, her decision to call it a year after the Hana Bank Championship in Korea. Given her history of finishing seasons strong, I'd say this decision cost her a chance to take Comeback Player of the Year away from Inbee Park. I don't know if it's worse whether she got hurt or not, but either way I'm holding my breath for her a bit in 2011.
17. Karrie Webb: #23 money ($479.9K), #17 HD, #16 RR (5.08), #14 GSPI (69.87). Even though she improved her driving distance in the last third of the year, 2010 was her only season (going back to 2004, at least) in which she averaged under 255 yards off the tee. I know her putting is the main reason why the Hall of Famer could manage only 3 top 5s and 6 top 10s in 19 starts, but I'm wondering if a slightly shorter and less accurate driver than in her best recent seasons was preventing her from attacking courses in 2010 the way she likes to.
18. Angela Stanford: #18 money ($596.8K), #18 HD, #20 RR (4.47), #20 GSPI (70.29). A silver at the Sybase and 7 top 10s in 22 starts wouldn't be a bad year for most players, but when neither a final-round 64 at the State Farm nor a 63 at the Ochoa Invitational could put her in contention, you know something's up with her game. I agree with Hound Dog that it's her iron play.

It's not like the players just outside the girl gang's lead chase pack are doing badly--after all, they have at most 2 top 20s and/or at least 3 top 30s--but they'll have to get it going if they want to go up a level in 2011!

19. Mika Miyazato: #17 money ($608.9K), #20 HD, #22 RR (4.36), #29 GSPI (70.90). Noting her decision to return to Florida rather than home to Okinawa as she did after the '09 European swing, I wrote last August, "I'm looking for her to come back to action refreshed and ready to keep moving up the rankings." Well, she finished the 2010 season with 8-straight top 25s, including 2 bronzes and a T5 at the Mizuno Classic--a nice follow-up to her 1st professional victory at the Japan Women's Open and prelude to her T2 finish in the Ricoh Cup, both on the JLPGA. All in all, she had 5 top 10s in her last 11 LPGA starts (out of 23 in all), so if she picks up where she left off at the start of the 2011 season, she may well justify Jason Sobel's confidence in her. Me, I'd like to see her keep improving her iron play, just as she did after her rookie season in 2009, before I go predicting a breakout season for her.
20. Sun Young Yoo: #16 money ($655.8K), #21 HD, #28 RR (3.52), #48 GSPI (71.43). She never really matched her 3 great weeks early in the season--T10 at the Bell Micro, a great win (her 1st) at the Sybase, and a T11 at the State Farm--but she did finish relatively strong with a T16 at the Navistar (she likes Alabama almost as much as Lincicome does, apparaently!), a T12 at the Sime Darby, and a T8 in the Hana Bank Championship. With her key stats down a little from her 2 previous seasons, there's plenty of room for the Class of '06's late bloomer to keep improving. But thanks to her impressive match play victory, she's up from #32 in '08 and #22 in '09. Is she the most underrated player on tour or is she close to peaking?
21. Anna Nordqvist: #24 money ($442.1K), #24 HD, #14 RR (5.12), #28 GSPI (70.84). A T10 at the KNC, a silver at the State Farm (despite going 66-69-65-67!!), and no finishes worse than T33 in her 1st 9 starts seemed to indicate that her awesome rookie season was no fluke, but problems with driving accuracy limited her to only 2 other top 10s and 4 top 20s the rest of the year over her 21 starts. Not exactly a sophomore jinx, but I'm curious to see if she can get back on a more elite track in 2011.
22. Stacy Lewis: #21 money ($566.4K), #27 HD, #37 RR (3.23), #27 GSPI (70.78). A silver at Tres Marias, a bronze at the Mizuno (making her sponsor happy!), a T7 at the Ochoa Invitational (she likes Mexico!), and a T9 in NW Arkansas (go Razorbacks!) were the highlights of her season (not in that order, of course), but it's the fact that she nabbed 12 top 20s in 24 starts, never finished outside the top 40 when she made the cut, and radically improved her key performance stats from her rookie season in '09 that lead me to believe she's ready for a quantum leap in '11.
23. Jimin Kang: #22 money ($500.4K), #19 HD, #46 RR (2.73), #40 GSPI (71.09). For awhile, it looked like her T7 at the LPGA in Rochester, where she has some family ties, would be the highlight of her season, but then she caught fire on the Asian swing, winning in Malaysia and finishing T8 in Japan. Those 3 weeks accounted for roughly 70% of her winnings in her 21 starts in 2010, so it's hard to say she had a really great year, even if she did move up 51 spots from last year's ranking. But if she can improve her approach shots and putting for next season, she's got a chance to move up this list in 2011.
24. Maria Hjorth: #20 money ($568.9K), #33 HD, #23 RR (4.29), #70 GSPI (71.78). Her 1st full year back since having a baby was quite the roller coaster, with a lot of missed cuts in the middle of the season bookended by a pair of top 10s at its start and a bronze in Malaysia and a gold in the LPGA Tour Championship at its end. Given how bad her putting stats were for the season, my guess is that her flat stick got hot those 4 weeks but was otherwise almost completely untrustworthy in her other 18 starts. Despite all that, she somehow she managed to stay at this position in my ranking for the 3rd-straight season!

A large number of players surged at the end of the season to snag at most 2 top 30s and/or at least 3 top 40s:

25. Karine Icher: #25 money ($437.0K), #25 HD, #59 RR (2.41), #32 GSPI (70.94). A pair of bronzes late in the season brought her total to 5 top 10s in 22 starts and moved her up 45 spots from last year's ranking. The next step for her is to start playing better in majors.
26. Azahara Munoz: #30 money ($402.5K), #28 HD, #41 RR (2.92), #39 GSPI (71.05). Don't get me wrong, the 2010 Rookie of the Year had a fine season, but she's probably been the least impressive winner of the award since Shi Hyun Ahn in 2004. 1 top 5 and 3 top 10s in 21 starts aren't all that great, but she did get 11 top 20s, finished worse than T31 only once when she made the cut, and did it all without being pushed much by her fellow rookies. If she can improve her key performance stats in 2011, you'll see much better results from the player who won the 1st professional event she entered (on the LET in 2009).
27. Christina Kim: #26 money ($436.0K), #35 HD, #51 RR (2.60), #54 GSPI (71.51). She only got 4 top 10s in 24 starts, but 2 of them came in the majors that followed her silver at the Farr. Even though she couldn't find that kind of magic with her putter the rest of the season, she did move up 13 spots from last year's ranking. And 2011 is a Solheim Cup year!
28. Kristy McPherson: #27 money ($418.2K), #34 HD, #34 RR (3.27), #49 GSPI (71.44). A silver in Canada, another top 5, and 4 top 10s in 22 starts doesn't add up to a great season, but given that she was dealing with injuries for at least the 2nd half of it, it's not all that bad, either. If she can get healthy and improve her iron play and putting in 2011, watch out for her!
29. Se Ri Pak: #32 money ($368.8K), #36 HD, #31 RR (3.30), #63 GSPI (71.70). After notching her 25th career win in a playoff at the Bell Micro, the Hall of Famer suffered from injuries and burnout, but she came back toward the end of the season with another top 5 and her 3rd top 10 in 15 starts. Here's hoping she plays a fuller schedule in 2011.
30. Juli Inkster: #29 money ($403.0K), #32 HD, #50 RR (2.66), #26 GSPI (70.77). A silver in Malaysia shows that despite getting only 3 top 10s in 21 starts, the Hall of Famer is never that far away from winning again on the LPGA.
31. Shanshan Feng: #38 money ($281.3K), #26 HD, #79 RR (1.85), #37 GSPI (71.55). She didn't place as well as she played in 2010, with only 1 top 5 and 4 top 10s in 17 starts despite impressive performance stats, but she carried over her good play at the end of the LPGA season to JLPGA Q-School, where she finished 2nd behind Hee Young Park (who made up 5 shots on her over the last 5 holes). Let's see how well she handles dual membership in 2011.
32. Meena Lee: #33 money ($357.1K), #29 HD, #74 RR (1.98), #33 GSPI (70.97). Another golfer who didn't place as well as she played, with only 1 top 5 and 2 top 10s in 23 starts, she did miss only 2 cuts and enjoyed plenty of solid finishes.
33. Vicky Hurst: #28 money ($409.7K), #51 HD, #57 RR (2.44), #86 GSPI (72.16). A silver at the Hana Bank Championship, a T7 at the HSBC Women's Champions, and a T11 at the Evian Masters show what this Futures Tour standout is capable of, but she didn't have too many other bright spots among her 24 starts in 2010. I'm thinking she's due for a quantum leap in her 3rd year on tour.
34. Amy Hung: #48 money ($216.3K), #39 HD, #97 RR (1.46), #30 GSPI (70.92). The #2 Taiwanese player on the LPGA in 2010 had 9 top-25 finishes in 20 starts, but when your best finish of the year is a T15 at the CVS, there's plenty of room for improvement, as her key performance stats suggest.

A huge number of players have at most 2 top 40s and/or at least 3 top 50s:

35. Hee Young Park: #34 money ($327.5K), #31 HD, #43 RR (2.83), #43 GSPI (71.35). The medalist at JLPGA Q-School had 6 top 10s in 22 LPGA starts, with her best, a T4, coming at the State Farm on the strength of a Sunday 63. There's no doubt The Rocket's got game, but she needs to improve her putting to make the kind of quantum leap in 2011 that Inbee Park made in 2010.
36. Brittany Lang: #35 money ($297.2K), #44 HD, #48 RR (2.70), #64 GSPI (71.71). A T5 at Oakmont and a T10 at the KNC were about the only highlights of a deeply disappointing 2010 campaign during which her driver gave her trouble for most of her 22 starts.
37. Catriona Matthew: #40 money ($264.7K), #42 HD, #32 RR (3.29), #59 GSPI (71.58). Motherhood weighed heavily on the '09 WBO champion, as she started strong with a T6 at the Kia and a T5 at the Sybase, but couldn't break into the top 20 again after getting her 5th in her 7th start at the ShopRite. During that 11-event drought, she missed the cut 4 times in a 6-tournament run that included the U.S. Women's Open and WBO.
38. Momoko Ueda: #44 money ($238.2K), #37 HD, #45 RR (2.80), #51 GSPI (71.48). A nagging knee injury didn't stop the former JLPGA money-list title-holder from grinding out 17 starts on both the JLPGA and LPGA in 2010, but it kept the quality of her play far below her expectations all season. At #27 on the JLPGA with only 3 top 5s, she could only manage 2 top 10s on the LPGA, with a T9 at the WBO (even with a final-round 74) her most impressive finish.
39. M.J. Hur: #31 money ($370.4K), #41 HD, #44 RR (2.80), #47 GSPI (71.43). Her runner-up to Ai Miyazato at the ShopRite (despite going 67-64-68!!) was the highlight of her season, but her 5 top 20s in 24 starts were just enough to keep her within 2 spots of where she ended last season's ranking. Her ballstriking remains her Achilles heel, however.
40. Seon Hwa Lee: #42 money ($253.9K), #38 HD, #72 RR (2.03), #41 GSPI (71.16). She got 5 top 25s in her 1st 7 starts, but then missed 2 cuts in a row for the 1st time in her LPGA career; from then on, she really struggled with her game, but she got a T5 in NW Arkansas and top 20s in 2 of her last 4 starts, so maybe, just maybe, the former top gun among the LPGA's young guns can put her worst professional season behind her and come back strong in 2011.
41. Candie Kung: #36 money ($288.5K), #47 HD, #71 RR (2.03), #46 GSPI (71.38). A bronze at the Kia Classic got her season off on the right foot, but she didn't come close to playing that well again in 2010 until she closed out the year with 3 top 20s in her last 5 starts (out of 23 in all).
42. Beatriz Recari: #39 money ($265.5K), #43 HD, #55 RR (2.45), #127 GSPI (73.00). The rookie was struggling to keep her card for most of the season, missing cuts like they were going out of style, but a win at the CVS and top 10s at the Sime Darby and LPGA Tour Championship showed that her 2 earlier top 10s were no flukes.
43. Sophie Gustafson: #45 money ($231.7K), #52 HD, #33 RR (3.27), #61 GSPI (71.65). It's hard to believe the LET's leading money-winner in 2009 could manage only 1 top 10 in 21 starts on the LPGA in 2010, but that's why she ended her 5-year run of top 30 finishes on the tour's money list and dropped 25 spots from last year's ranking.
44. Jeong Jang: #41 money ($262.6K), #40 HD, #92 RR (1.59), #42 GSPI (71.25). She played well in June and July and finished in the top 25 in 3 of 4 majors, but her comeback from wrist surgery got dreailed in the llast third of the season and she could only get 1 top 10 in 17 starts.
45. Gwladys Nocera: #37 money ($285.1K), #62 HD, #88 RR (1.67), #123 GSPI (72.94). A silver to fellow rookie and LETer Recari at the CVS was the highlight of her season, but she got 1 other top 10 and 7 top 25s in 22 starts and was among the best off the tee on the LPGA in 2010. Look for her to get her sea legs under her in 2011.
46. Shi Hyun Ahn: #61 money ($153.2K), #50 HD, #105 RR (1.36), #31 GSPI (70.93). She got 3 top 20s in 15 starts mostly because her iron play was sub-par.

There's a smaller group with at most 2 top 50s and/or at least 3 top 60s:

47. Hee-Won Han: #43 money ($250.7K), #49 HD, #76 RR (1.92), #69 GSPI (71.66).
48. Karen Stupples: #46 money ($221.8K), #48 HD, #90 RR (1.59), #53 GSPI (71.49).
49. Stacy Prammanasudh: #47 money ($219.3K), #46 HD, #99 RR (1.43), #55 GSPI (71.54).
50. Na On Min: #55 money ($172.9K), #45 HD, #135 RR (1.04), #58 GSPI (71.57).
51. Laura Davies: #79 money ($88.2K), #60 HD, #49 RR (2.67), #65 GSPI (71.71).
52. Wendy Ward: #49 money ($213.6K), n.r. HD, #93 RR (1.53), #100 GSPI (72.49).

There's a large group with at most 2 top 60s and/or at least 3 top 70s:

53. Eun-Hee Ji: #57 money ($168.1K), #57 HD, #70 RR (2.06), #62 GSPI (71.69).
54. Heather Bowie Young: #62 money ($143.0K), #59 HD, #124 RR (1.11), #56 GSPI (71.55).
55. Kyeong Bae: #50 money ($204.7K), #63 HD, #84 RR (1.70), #76 GSPI (71.88).
56. Natalie Gulbis: #52 money ($178.0K), #58 HD, #98 RR (1.45), #88 GSPI (72.17).
57. Alena Sharp: #56 money ($172.6K), #59 HD, #128 RR (1.08), #83 GSPI (72.04).
58. Lindsey Wright: #60 money ($155.3K), #68 HD, #64 RR (2.33), #84 GSPI (72.11).
59. Amanda Blumenherst: #51 money ($178.2K), #66 HD, #91 RR (1.59), #99 GSPI (72.48).
60. Meaghan Francella: #58 money ($168.0K), #65 HD, #111 RR (1.26), #117 GSPI (72.79).
61. Haeji Kang: #59 money ($156.0K), #69 HD, #120 RR (1.15), #103 GSPI (72.52).
62. Sarah Jane Smith: #66 money ($106.5K), #54 HD, #150 RR (.93), #87 GSPI (72.17).
63. Pat Hurst: #54 money ($174.5K), n.r. HD, #102 RR (1.39), #101 GSPI (72.50).

And here are the players with at most 2 top 70s and/or at least 3 top 80s:

64. Teresa Lu: #64 money ($120.7K), #61 HD, #100 RR (1.40), #93 GSPI (72.39).
65. Katie Futcher: #63 money ($122.0K), #67 HD, #146 RR (.95), #105 GSPI (72.54).
66. Mina Harigae: #77 money ($90.2K), #64 HD, #173 RR (.79), #85 GSPI (72.15).
67. Karin Sjodin: #76 money ($91.3K), #70 HD, #178 RR (.77), #116 GSPI (72.76).
68. Michele Redman: #65 money ($119.2K), n.r. HD, #96 RR (1.50), #107 GSPI (71.60).
69. Sandra Gal: #67 money ($106.4K), n.r. HD, #126 RR (1.11), #126 GSPI (73.00).
70. Sherri Steinhauer: #69 money ($101.0K), n.r. HD, #199 RR (.69), #80 GSPI (71.99).
71. Mariajo Uribe: #70 money ($101.0K), n.r. HD, #175 RR (.78), #106 GSPI (72.60).
72. Laura Diaz: #68 money ($105.2K), n.r. HD, #163 RR (.84), #140 GSPI (73.19).

2 comments:

tony jesselli said...

I would be interested in knowing where you put a 15 year old girl named Lexi if she was allowed membership.

The Constructivist said...

Unfortunately, I don't include non-members in my list. But you can see where Hound Dog put her in his and I believe she shows up in Rolex and the GSPI, as well. So if you know what she earned in 2010, you can pretty much figure out which tier she'd be in and insert her wherever you choose.

If she does get membership for 2011, I'll include her in that list, but I don't think that option's even on the table.

BTW, I excluded Mika Miyazato from my "Best Off the LPGA" list, even though she won 1 JLPGA major, came in 2nd in another, and got a T5 at the Mizuno Classic, for precisely the same reason: she isn't a JLPGA member.