The LPGA's Top Rivalries: Generation Gaps, July 2012 Edition

Now that we've reached the halfway point of the 2012 LPGA season, it's time to reexamine how the LPGA'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), the overlapping Ochoa Era (2003-2009), and the overlapping Tseng Dynasty (2008-present).

[Note: [square brackets] indicate the player has retired from professional golf; {squiggle brackets} indicate the player is no longer an LPGA member but still playing on another tour; *=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) $16.81M (#2), 38*/7
3. Catriona Matthew (1995) $7.08M (#16), 4/1
4. Pat Hurst (1995) $6.92M (#17), 6/1
5. Lorie Kane (1996) $6.90M (#18), 4/0
6. Wendy Ward (1996) $4.93M (#39), 4/0
{7. Carin Koch (1995) $4.43M (#46), 2/0}

Ever since Matthew and Hurst both passed Kane in the 2nd half of last season, Kane had been playing much better golf than she has in years, so we now have a real fight for the #4 and possibly the #3 spot.  Koch is living in Sweden and playing exclusively on the LET, so unless she does well in future Women's British Opens and Evian Masters--or moves back to the States--she will fall further behind her peers from here on out. A more interesting question is whether Webb will be able to catch Sorenstam (in winnings, not wins)!

1997-1999: The Pak Generation

1. Cristie Kerr (1997) $13.86M (#4), 14/2
2. Se Ri Pak (1998) $11.63M (#6), 25/5
3. Mi Hyun Kim (1999) $8.62M (#12), 8/0
4. Sophie Gustafson (1998) $6.13M (#25), 5/0
5. Maria Hjorth (1998) $6.00M (#27), 5/0
[6. Rachel Hetherington (1997) $5.73M (#31), 8/0]
7. Laura Diaz (1999) $5.12M (#38), 2/0
8. Karen Stupples (1999) $3.91M (#50), 2/1
9. Janice Moodie (1998) $3.66M (#54), 2/0

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.   Even though Kim is recovering from an injury, it's unlikely Gustafson or Hjorth can catch her.  With Hetherington retired, the Gustafson-Hjorth-Diaz race takes on added urgency, although given the way Diaz has been playing lately, she'll need a real turnaround to reach even Hetherington in winnings.

2000-2002: Angela and the Seoul Sisters


1. Angela Stanford (2001) $6.89M (#19), 5/0
2. Hee-Won Han (2001) $6.73M (#22), 6/0
3. Jeong Jang (2000) $6.52M (#24), 2/1
[4. Grace Park (2000) $5.44M (#35), 6/1]
5. Candie Kung (2002) $5.37M (#36), 4/0
6. Natalie Gulbis (2002) $4.44M (#45), 1/0
{7. Gloria Park (2000) $3.28M (#67), 2/0}
8. Heather Bowie Young (2000) $3.09M (#72), 1/0
9. Dorothy Delasin (2000) $2.65M (#84), 4/0
10. Jennifer Rosales (2000) $2.59M (#), 2/0
11. Nicole Castrale (2002) $2.24M (#101), 1/0
12. Guilia Sergas (2002) $1.73M (#124), 0/0

Stanford is now the top player of this generation in terms of winnings (hence the change to the generation's name), although it's hard to argue that her overall career tops the now-retired (and much missed) Grace Park's. With Han, Jang, and Kung playing pretty darn good golf this season, though, Stanford's lead is by no means safe.  The "other Park" is on the KLPGA, so I've expanded this list to include those who I think have a chance of catching her.

2003-2005: The Ochoa Generation

[1. Lorena Ochoa (2003) $14.86M (#3), 27/2]
2. Paula Creamer (2005) $9.08M (#7), 9/1
3. Suzann Pettersen (2003) $8.66M (#11), 8/1
4. Brittany Lincicome (2005) $4.71M (#41), 5/1
5. Christina Kim (2003) $4.08M (#48), 2/0
6. Meena Lee (2005) $3.74M (#52), 2/0
7. Stacy Prammanasudh (2003) $3.33M (#63), 2/0
8. Katherine Hull (2004) $3.26M (#69), 2/0
9. Shi Hyun Ahn (2004) $2.65M (#85), 1*/0
{10. Young Kim (2003) $2.36M (n.r.), 1/0}
11. Lindsey Wright (2004) $2.29M (#98), 0/0
12. Jimin Kang (2003) $2.23M (#103), 2/0
13. Karine Icher (2003) $2.04M (#110), 0/0

With Lorena looking less and less likely to ever come back to the LPGA full-time, the only real question is how close Creamer and Pettersen can come to matching her career. The race between the 3 mid-level Americans, 2 Australians and 3 Koreans below them will be of interest, as well, as Lincicome and Lee are on the verge of breaking out of the pack, but Young Kim will need to rejoin the LPGA to participate in it (don't know why her name no longer appears on the career money list). She's playing in her 3rd season in a row on the JLPGA and seems to be liking it, so I don't expect her to return to the LPGA anytime soon.  Looks like the newly-included Icher has a great chance of passing her, as do Wright and Kang.

2006-2008: The Tseng Dynasty

1. Ya Ni Tseng (2008) $8.56M (#13), 15/5
2. Ai Miyazato (2006) $6.77M (#21), 9/0
3. Na Yeon Choi (2008) $6.64M (#23), 6/1
4. In-Kyung Kim (2007) $4.88M (#40), 3/0
5. Morgan Pressel (2006) $4.64M (#43), 2/1
6. Seon Hwa Lee (2006) $4.04M (#49), 4/0
7. Song-Hee Kim (2007) $3.66M (#53), 0/0
8. Brittany Lang (2006) $3.54M (#58), 1/0
9. Sun Young Yoo (2006) $3.48M (#59), 2/1
10. Inbee Park (2007) $3.42M (#61), 1/1
11. Jee Young Lee (2006) $3.34M (#62), 1*/0
12. Eun-Hee Ji (2007) $2.75M (#79), 2/1
13. Amy Yang (2008) $2.70M (#82), 0/0
14. Julieta Granada (2006) $2.60M (#86), 1/0
15. Hee Young Park (2008) $2.55M (#89), 1/0
16. Angela Park (2007) $2.12M (#106), 0/0
17. Shanshan Feng (2008) $2.09M (#107), 1/1
18. Kristy McPherson (2007) $1.94M (#115), 0/0
19. Sandra Gal (2008) $1.58M (#129), 1/0
20. Ji Young Oh (2007) $1.52M (#133), 2/0
21. Momoko Ueda (2008) $1.48M (#137), 2*/0
22. Kyeong Bae (2006) $1.44M (#144), 0/0
23. Meaghan Francella (2006) $1.19M (#166), 1/0
24. Katie Futcher (2006) $1.16M (#169), 0/0
{25. Teresa Lu (2006) $1.13M (#172), 0/0}
26. Jane Park (2007) $1.02M (#187), 0/0


Time to retire the Young Guns moniker for this generation; not only have they come of age, but Tseng has imprinted her name on it, although Miyazato and Choi are in hot pursuit and Lang, Yoo, Yang, Feng, and Gal are moving up the list fast.  Glad to see that Angela Park's going to try to make a return to competitive golf!

2009-2011: New Blood

1. Ji-Yai Shin (2009) $4.65M (#42), 8**/1*
2. Stacy Lewis (2009) $3.16M (#70), 3/1
3. Michelle Wie (2009) $2.47M (#91), 2/0
4. Anna Nordqvist (2009) $2.21M (#104), 2/1
5. Mika Miyazato (2009) $2.03M (#111), 0/0
6. Azahara Munoz (2010) $1.86M (#121), 1/0
7. Hee Kyung Seo (2011) $1.55M (#131), 1*/0
8. Vicky Hurst (2009) $1.18M (#167), 0/0
9. Mi Jung Hur (2009) $.99M (#189), 1/0
10. Chella Choi (2009) $.75M (#228), 0/0
11. Beatriz Recari (2010) $.62M (#245), 1/0
12. Haeji Kang (2009) $.51M (#268), 0/0
13. Mindy Kim (2009) $.49M ($274), 0/0
14. Jenny Shin (2011) $.47M (#281), 0/0
15. Gwladys Nocera (2010) $.46M (#283), 0/0
16. Mina Harigae (2010) $.43M (#288), 0/0
17. Amanda Blumenherst (2010) $.42M (#289), 0/0
18. Caroline Hedwall (2011) $.30M (#325), 0/0
19. Pornanong Phatlum (2009) $.29M (#330), 0/0
20. Ilhee Lee (2010), $.28M (#333), 0/0
21. Mariajo Uribe (2010) $.27M (#337), 0/0
22. Jessica Korda (2011) $.27M (#339), 1/0
23. Tiffany Joh (2011) $.27M (#340), 0/0
24. Jennifer Johnson (2011) $.26M (#344), 0/0
25. Christel Boeljon (2011) $.25M (#349), 0/0
26. Ryann O'Toole (2011) $.25M (#353), 0/0
27. Cindy LaCrosse (2010) $.24M (#357), 0/0
28. Alison Walshe (2010) $.23M (#360), 0/0
29. Gerina Piller (2010) $.22M (#363), 0/0
30. Dewi Claire Schreefel (2010) $.19M (#377), 0/0
31. Jennifer Song (2011) $.17M (#385), 0/0
32. Jodi Ewart (2011) $.15M (#394), 0/0
33. Belen Mozo (2011) $.15M (#397), 0/0
34. Maria Hernandez (2010) $.15M (#399), 0/0
{35. Shiho Oyama (2009) $.14M (#403), 0/0}
36. Pernilla Lindberg (2010) $.13M (#409), 0/0

Obviously with this generation, it's really too soon to tell who's going to have a great LPGA career. I'm erring on the side of inclusiveness by putting everuone over $100K in career winnings in this generation on this list. As we get further into their careers, I'll slowly start raising the bar, until by 2014 they'll need to have broken the $1M barrier to stay on the list. I'd be very impressed if as many of them did it as in the previous generation!

2012-2014: Generation Prodigy

1. So Yeon Ryu (2012) $.52M (#264), 1*/1*
2. Lexi Thompson (2012) $.31M (#322), 1*/0
3. Lizette Salas (2012) $.10M (#428), 0/0
4. Veronica Felibert (2012) $.10M (#429), 0/0
5. Danielle Kang (2012) $.09M (#439), 0/0
6. Mo Martin (2012) $.08M (#445), 0/0
7. Numa Gulyanamitta (2012 $.05M (#476), 0/0
8. Maude-Aimee Leblanc (2012) $.04M (#499), 0/0
9. Sydnee Michaels (2012) $.04M (#505), 0/0
10. Sandra Changkija (2012) $.03M (#523), 0/0


Clearly, it's really really to be determined who from the Class of 2012 will even keep their cards for next season, but I'm listing the top 10 for now and will include anyone who makes over $50K by the end of the season.