Tuesday, March 12, 2013

The LPGA's Top Rivalries: Generation Gaps, March 2013


With the LPGA just about to make its 2013 U.S. debut, 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) $17.44M (#2), 38*/7
3. Catriona Matthew (1995) $7.72M (#16), 4/1
4. Pat Hurst (1995) $6.92M (#20), 6/1
5. Lorie Kane (1996) $6.91M (#21), 4/0
6. Wendy Ward (1996) $4.96M (#43), 4/0
{7. Carin Koch (1995) $4.44M (#47), 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 Championships--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) $14.38M (#4), 15/2
2. Se Ri Pak (1998) $11.83M (#6), 25/5
[3. Mi Hyun Kim (1999) $8.62M (#13), 8/0]
4. Sophie Gustafson (1998) $6.16M (#25), 5/0
5. Maria Hjorth (1998) $6.06M (#26), 5/0
[6. Rachel Hetherington (1997) $5.73M (#32), 8/0]
7. Laura Diaz (1999) $5.15M (#41), 2/0
8. Karen Stupples (1999) $3.94M (#52), 2/1
9. Janice Moodie (1998) $3.68M (#56), 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 with Kim's serious health issues retirement, 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) $7.34M (#18), 5/0
2. Hee-Won Han (2001) $6.89M (#22), 6/0
3. Jeong Jang (2000) $6.54M (#24), 2/1
4. Candie Kung (2002) $5.60M (#35), 4/0
[5. Grace Park (2000) $5.44M (#38), 6/1]
6. Natalie Gulbis (2002) $4.65M (#45), 1/0
{7. Gloria Park (2000) $3.28M (#69), 2/0}
8. Heather Bowie Young (2000) $3.10M (#72), 1/0
9. Dorothy Delasin (2000) $2.65M (#86), 4/0
10. Jennifer Rosales (2000) $2.62M (#89), 2/0
11. Nicole Castrale (2002) $2.36M (#100), 1/0
12. Guilia Sergas (2002) $1.89M (#120), 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. It'll be interesting to see if Han, Jang, and Kung can make up any ground on Stanford this season. 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) $9.70M (#7), 9/1
3. Suzann Pettersen (2003) $9.39M (#8), 10/1
4. Brittany Lincicome (2005) $5.05M (#42), 5/1
5. Christina Kim (2003) $4.10M (#49), 2/0
6. Meena Lee (2005) $3.89M (#53), 2/0
7. Katherine Hull-Kirk (2004) $3.42M (#63), 2/0
8. Stacy Prammanasudh (2003) $3.39M (#64), 2/0
9. Shi Hyun Ahn (2004) $2.65M (#87), 1*/0
10. Lindsey Wright (2004) $2.47M (#93), 0/0
11. Karine Icher (2003) $2.42M (#96), 0/0
{12. Young Kim (2003) $2.36M (n.r. [~#100]), 1/0}
13. Jimin Kang (2003) $2.24M (#106), 2/0

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 has broken 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 4th 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. The newly-included Icher and Wright have already passed her and it's only a matter of time before Kang does, too.

2006-2008: The Tseng Dynasty

1. Ya Ni Tseng (2008) $9.17M (#9), 15/5
2. Na Yeon Choi (2008) $7.82M (#15), 7/1
3. Ai Miyazato (2006) $7.07M (#19), 9/0
4. Inbee Park (2007) $5.50M (#37), 4/1
5. In-Kyung Kim (2007) $5.16M (#40), 3/0
6. Morgan Pressel (2006) $4.70M (#44), 2/1
7. Seon Hwa Lee (2006) $4.04M (#51), 4/0
8. Brittany Lang (2006) $3.71M (#55), 1/0
9. Song-Hee Kim (2007) $3.66M (#57), 0/0
10. Sun Young Yoo (2006) $3.61M (#61), 2/1
11. Jee Young Lee (2006) $3.38M (#65), 1*/0
12. Amy Yang (2008) $2.92M (#78), 0/0
13. Julieta Granada (2006) $2.87M (#86), 1/0
14. Eun-Hee Ji (2007) $2.85M (#80), 2/1
15. Hee Young Park (2008) $2.76M (#89), 1/0
16. Shanshan Feng (2008) $2.39M (#98), 1/1
17. Angela Park (2007) $2.12M (#110), 0/0
18. Kristy McPherson (2007) $1.97M (#115), 0/0
19. Sandra Gal (2008) $1.80M (#123), 1/0
20. Momoko Ueda (2008) $1.62M (#129), 2*/0
21. Ji Young Oh (2007) $1.53M (#134), 2/0
22. Kyeong Bae (2006) $1.44M (#143), 0/0
23. Katie Futcher (2006) $1.28M (#159), 0/0
24. Meaghan Francella (2006) $1.19M (#170), 1/0
{25. Teresa Lu (2006) $1.13M (#175), 0/0}
26. Jane Park (2007) $1.07M (#182), 0/0

The Tseng Dynasty is still strong, but fellow '08er NYC is making some noise and Inbee is buzzing up the list. Will this be the year my favorite golfer breaks through for her 1st major? That Amy Yang gets her 1st win? This generation is the deepest in LPGA history, despite the fact that so many golfers in it have already suffered huge slumps in their short careers. Few LPGA generations have more than 4 players with 5 or more wins, but I'll bet this turns out to be one of them!

2009-2011: New Blood

1. Ji-Yai Shin (2009) $5.76M (#29), 11**/2*
2. Stacy Lewis (2009) $4.39M (#48), 6/1
3. Anna Nordqvist (2009) $2.63M (#88), 2/1
4. Mika Miyazato (2009) $2.60M (#90), 1/0
5. Michelle Wie (2009) $2.60M (#91), 2/0
6. Azahara Munoz (2010) $2.19M (#108), 1/0
7. Hee Kyung Seo (2011) $1.75M (#125), 1*/0
8. Vicky Hurst (2009) $1.33M (#150), 0/0
9. Chella Choi (2009) $1.21M (#165), 0/0
10. Mi Jung Hur (2009) $1.12M (#177), 1/0
11. Beatriz Recari (2010) $1.09M (#180), 1/0
12. Haeji Kang (2009) $.86M (#216), 0/0
13. Jenny Shin (2011) $.65M (#245), 0/0
{14. Gwladys Nocera (2010) $.61M (#250), 0/0}
15. Mina Harigae (2010) $.59M (#255), 0/0
16. Mindy Kim (2009) $.52M (#264), 0/0
17. Ilhee Lee (2010), $.50M (#275), 0/0
18. Amanda Blumenherst (2010) $.48M (#281), 0/0
19. Jessica Korda (2011) $.48M (#339), 1/0
20. Pornanong Phatlum (2009) $.43M (#294), 0/0
21. Mariajo Uribe (2010) $.42M (#295), 0/0
22. Gerina Piller (2010) $.41M (#298), 0/0
23. Jennifer Johnson (2011) $.39M (#302), 0/0
24. Cindy LaCrosse (2010) $.39M (#306), 0/0
25. Caroline Hedwall (2011) $.37M (#311), 0/0
26. Alison Walshe (2010) $.32M (#327), 0/0
27. Dewi Claire Schreefel (2010) $.31M (#336), 0/0
28. Tiffany Joh (2011) $.29M (#344), 0/0
29. Christel Boeljon (2011) $.28M (#348), 0/0
30. Belen Mozo (2011) $.26M (#356), 0/0
31. Ryann O'Toole (2011) $.25M (#362), 0/0
32. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (2011) $.24M (#363), 0/0
33. Pernilla Lindberg (2010) $.23M (#376), 0/0
34. Jennifer Song (2011) $.22M (#379), 0/0
35. Maria Hernandez (2010) $.18M (#395), 0/0

Obviously with this generation, it's really too soon to tell who's going to have a great LPGA career, besides Shin and Lewis. For now, I'm erring on the side of inclusiveness by putting everyone over $150K 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 in the same amount of time. The problem for everyone who hasn't already done it is they are all competing against each other and are sandwiched between 2 historic generations. Still, this is about the time in a player's career that they start to make quantum leaps. Let's see if Shin and Lewis can pull others in their generation in their wakes.

2012-2014: Generation Prodigy

1. So Yeon Ryu (2012) $1.36M (#148), 2*/1*
2. Lexi Thompson (2012) $.68M (#243), 1*/0
3. Danielle Kang (2012) $.31M (#334), 0/0
4. Lizette Salas (2012) $.31M (#338), 0/0
5. Sydnee Michaels (2012) $.19M (#389), 0/0
6. Mo Martin (2012) $.17M (#402), 0/0
7. Carlota Ciganda (2012) $.12M (#433), 0/0
8. Veronica Felibert (2012) $.11M (#444), 0/0
9. Moriya Jutanugarn (2013) $.09M (#469), 0/0
10. Numa Gulyanamitta (2012) $.07M (#490), 0/0
11. Jane Rah (2012) $.06M (#505), 0/0
12. Chie Arimura (2013) $.06M (#509), 0/0
13. Jacqui Concolino (2012) $.05M (#517), 0/0

OK, why am I so high on this generation if very few from the Class of 2012 made over $50K in their rookie season and only 2 '13ers have joined them? Partly it's because I don't think those already in it have really begun to fight (So Yeon and Lexi has better watch out for Ciganda, Kang, Arimura, Jutanugarn, and Uehara--at least--this season), and partly it's because I'm anticipating that Ariya Jutanugarn and Hyo-Joo Kim will be joining the LPGA next year. And if Lydia Ko changes plans, all bets are off!

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