This is the 1st time I'm ranking the Class of 2011, the last of 3 classes in what I'm calling the LPGA's "New Blood" generation.
Simply the Best
1. Hee Kyung Seo: After winning handily as a non-member in 2010, she's been the near-miss kid since joining the LPGA but still sets the pace for the '10ers. Nevertheless, it's time she improved her iron play and putting, for her lead on her lead chase pack shrunk in 2013.
The Contenders
2. Caroline Hedwall: She was one of the young leaders of the European Solheim Cup team and her awesome performance there helped her to her best season on the LPGA (her #34 finish on the LET's 2013 Order of Merit was pretty darn good, too, given it was based on only 5 starts). The only weakness in her game is a vulnerability to making big numbers, but that ties to her strength, which is her aggressive play.
3. Jessica Korda: She had one of the best birdie rates on the LPGA in 2013 and that helped her tie for 10th in top-10 rate. Like Hedwall, she needs to learn when to throttle it down a little, as both had way too high scoring averages for the quality of their overall performance stats. Unlike Hedwall, Korda can stand to improve on the greens quite a bit, even though she was in the top 3 in their flat-stick-challenged class last season.
The Next Best
4. Jennifer Johnson: She got her 1st LPGA victory of her career in Alabama, denying classmate Korda her 2nd career victory and '09er Pornanong Phatlum her 1st. Even though it wasn't enough to get her on the U.S. Solheim Cup team in 2013, the fact that she followed it up with 3 top 10s and 5 top 20s the rest of the season convinced me she's for real. The next step in her evolution as a golfer is to improve her putting.
5. Jodi Ewart Shadoff: The only thing that kept her 2013 from being a truly great season was average putting.
6. Jenny Shin: She had a solid but not exceptional 2013; if she can make incremental improvements in all phases of her game, watch for her to have a much better 2014.
Quantum Leap Candidates
7. Christel Boeljon: She also needs to improve every aspect of her game to make that quantum leap into the tour's elite. A #53 finish on the LET's Order of Merit in 7 starts last season shows how far she has to go, too.
8. Belen Mozo: Ditto. At #72 on the 2013 LET Order of Merit in 5 starts, it's not like she was tearing it up on the other side of the pond, either.
9. Ryann O'Toole: Ditto, but with even more room to improve on the greens.
10. Tiffany Joh: Let's see if her fantastic play at LPGA Q-School psychs her up for 2014 and marks the end of her 2-season slump.
11. Harukyo Nomura: The 21-year-old has 2 top 20s as an LPGA member, both at the Mizuno Classic, and has decided to forego her JLPGA membership (where she finished inside the top 30 on the money list in 2013) to focus on the LPGA in 2014, thanks to her coming in 2nd in the 4-way playoff for the last 2 Category 12 spots available via Q-School.
On the Bottom, Looking Up
12. Jennifer Song: After another disappointing LPGA campaign in 2013, and a missed 72-hole cut at the final stage of Q-School, it looks like this 2-time Futures Tour winner will be seeing if she can add to her victory total on the Symetra Tour and get her career back on track in 2014 [Update (1/12/13, 4:15 am): At #145 on the 2014 LPGA Priority Status List, she'll be getting many more LPGA starts than I anticipated in 2014, so I'm moving her from the top of the next category to the top of this one.]
13. Danah Bordner: Squeaked into the top 100 on the LPGA money list in 2013, thereby earning her a full schedule in 2014. She'll need to hit a lot more greens to avoid Q-School in 2014.
14. Dori Carter: After finishing just outside the top 100 on the LPGA money list and not entering Q-School, it's looking like she'll be bouncing between the LPGA and Symetra Tour in 2014. [Update (1/12/13, 4:15 am): Good news for Carter fans! She's #142 on the priority status list, which means she'll get into any full-field event on the LPGA that she wants to enter!]
15. Amelia Lewis: Ditto. Let's see if she can improve on her #26 finish on the Symetra Tour's money list next season. [Update (1/12/13, 4:15 am): At #146 on the priority status list, she'll be getting more LPGA starts than I anticipated in 2014.]
16. Jenny Suh: Lost in that same LPGA Q-School playoff that Nomura (and Ashleigh Simon) won, thereby dropping down to Category 17 status for next season. With her #35 finish on the Symetra Tour's money list, it'll be interesting to see how she'll divide her time between the bigs and the minors (and how much choice she gets in the matter, given that she'll be depending on people not to enter LPGA events to give her starts on the big tour). [Update (1/12/13, 4:15 am): She's #160 on the priority status list, which doesn't bode well for getting LPGA starts in 2014.]
17. Jaclyn Sweeney: Finished #10 on the 2013 Symetra Tour money list, thereby earning her LPGA card for 2014. Let's see what she does with it! [Update (1/12/13, 4:15 am): I moved her from 12 to 17 to be more in keeping with her lack of prior starts on the LPGA!]
On the Outside, Looking In
18. Jennie Lee: After a tough season on the LPGA in 2013 and a missed 72-hole cut at the final stage of Q-School, she, too, will be focusing her efforts on the Symetra Tour in 2014.
19. Stephanie Sherlock: Ditto.
20. Becky Brewerton: She's back full-time on the LET, where she's a 3-time winner and most recently finished #108 on their Order of Merit.
21. Alison Whitaker: She finished #96 on the LET Order of Merit in 2013 and #56 on the ALPG's. I expect she'll be splitting her time on both tours in 2014.
22. Shasta Averyhardt: She got only 1 LPGA start in 2013, missing her 8th-straight cut, then also missed the 72-hole cut at the final stage of LPGA Q-School. I'm hoping she decides to return to the Symetra Tour in 2014 (she finished #181 on their money list in 2013 in only 8 starts), as she needs more tournament experience.
Status Unknown
23. Sara Brown: She finished #142 on the Symetra Tour money list in only 7 starts last season, but didn't enter any Q-Schools that I can tell. Anyone know what she's up to?
24. Sarah Brown: She hasn't updated her professional Facebook page since 2012. Looks like the most she'll get out of her professional golf career is what her dad negotiated for her when she was improperly DQed back in 2010.
25. Ayaka Kaneko: She ended up #141 on the Symetra Tour money list in only 6 starts in 2013, but didn't enter LPGA Q-School (or any other, as far as I can tell). Not sure what her plans are for 2014.
26. Stephanie Kim: She had a MC and a WD in her only 2 starts on the Symetra Tour in late June, and also didn't enter any Q-Schools.
27. Kimberly Kim: Neither her web site nor twitter account has been updated lately. Hard to tell what her plans for 2014 are as a result, but as she didn't make it past Stage I of LPGA Q-School in 2013, her options are quite limited.
28. Junko Nakada: She played 2 Florida events on the Symetra Tour back in 2011, but hasn't shown up on the leaderboards of any tournaments in the States since.
For your reference--and mine--here are the stats on which I'm basing the January 2014 ranking.
2013 LPGA Money List (rank), scoring average (rank), birdies per round average (rank [in total birdies]), greens in regulation rate (rank): I focus on five key indicators of how well someone played last season--how much money they won, how they scored, how many birdies they've averaged per round, how many greens they hit in regulation on average per round, and how many putts per green in regulation they took on average, plus how they ranked in each category (except for birdies, which LPGA.com ranks by total and not by average). Some of the figures Hound Dog thinks are the most important I've incorporated into my career ranking (below), where I think they belong. These stats are all about the immediate past and future.
NAME/$$/SCORING AVE./BIRDIES PER ROUND/GIR/PPGIR (ranks)
1. Caroline Hedwall, $763.1K (#14), 71.075 (#20), 3.98 (#12), 73.5% (#11), 1.768 (#6)
2. Jessica Korda, $593.4K (#25), 70.821 (#15), 4.12 (#11), 73.9% (#7), 1.798 (#23)
3. Jodi Ewart Shadoff, $493.1K (#29), 71.230 (#24), 3.47 (#17), 74.8% (#4), 1.833 (#66)
4. Jennifer Johnson, $472.8K (#30), 71.548 (#31), 3.29 (#46), 71.9% (#17), 1.828 (#58)
5. Hee Kyung Seo, $446.4K (#33), 71.740 (#38), 3.29 (#43), 66.2% (#64), 1.803 (#27)
6. Jenny Shin, $333.5K (#43), 71.989 (#51), 2.98 (#30), 68.3% (#39), 1.829 (#61)
7. Christel Boeljon, $163.3K (#67), 72.385 (#63), 2.74 (#74), 66.6% (#59), 1.831 (#64)
8. Belen Mozo, $114.3K (#81), 72.323 (#58), 3.19 (#62), 67.4% (#48), 1.838 (#77)
9. Ryann O'Toole, $100.6K (#85), 72.905 (#89), 3.05 (#65), 66.1% (#65), 1.861 (#110)
10. Danah Bordner, $65.4K (#95), 72.857 (#87), 3.03 (#109), 60.6% (#127), 1.809 (#36)
11. Dori Carter, $48.0K (#104), 73.350 (#111), 2.83 (#103), 66.3% (#63), 1.872 (#128)
12. Jennifer Song, $36.2K (#108), 73.026 (#97), 2.92 (#104), 64.1% (#102), 1.820 (#48)
13. Amelia Lewis, $32.7K (#109), 72.813 (#85), 3.22 (#111), 65.5% (#75), 1.829 (#59)
14. Tiffany Joh, $25.2K (#117), 73.722 (#125), 2.67 (#116), 62.0% (#115), 1.863 (#113)
15. Jennie Lee, $17.3K (#129), 73.081 (#101), 2.76 (#112), 64.1% (#101), 1.871 (#127)
16. Stephanie Sherlock, $12.6K (#138), 73.563 (#121), 2.38 (#135), 59.2% (#133), 1.912 (#146)
Career Ranking: Between inflation, changing purses, and length/timing of careers, it's very hard to compare and contrast winnings across generations of LPGA greats. Fortunately, the members of the Class of 2011 started at the same time, even if some of them have not had full status every season (although that in itself is an indication of how someone's career has been going!). What would really be great is if we had a world money list in inflation-adjusted dollars, with inflation- and exchange-adjusted other cash denominations added in (or just totalled up separately to avoid comparing dollars and yen), which included all each golfer earned as a professional on any tour. But even the guys don't have that, so that'll have to remain a dream for now--although Thomas Atkins posted an inflation-adjusted LPGA Career Top 50 as of the end of the 2008 season and a Best of All Time ranking over at Hound Dog LPGA. In any case, building on an old analysis of finishes, I've developed a career ranking formula (the details you can check out on my spreadsheet), but since that includes only the top 6 players in the class, I'll give the details on the lower-ranked players here, many of whom are off the LPGA. [Note: [?!] indicates the LPGA's stats are incomplete for this golfer.]
NAME/$$/START/MAJOR/WIN/TOP3/TOP10/TOP20/WD/DQ/MC/FIN (RATE)
1. Hee Kyung Seo, 1259 points.
2. Caroline Hedwall, 997.
3. Jessica Korda, 862.
4. Jennifer Johnson, 688.
5. Jodi Ewart Shadoff, 663.
6. Jenny Shin, 638.
7. Christel Boeljon, $.42M (#307), 54/0/0/0/3/6/1/0/17/36 (.667)
8. Belen Mozo, $.36M (#324), 56/0/0/0/1/3/0/0/17/38 (.679)
9. Ryann O'Toole, $.35M (#331), 56/0/0/0/2/3/0/0/24/32 (.571)
10. Tiffany Joh, $.31M (#344), 48/0/0/1/1/2/0/0/21/27 (.563)
11. Jennifer Song, $.24M (#370), 55/0/0/0/1/4/3/0/24/29 (.527)
12. Jennie Lee, $.16M (#413), 44/0/0/0/1/1/0/1/25/18 (.409)
13. Dori Carter, $.11M (#453), 41/0/0/0/0/2/0/0/26/15 (.366)
14. Danah Bordner, $.11M (#464), 32/0/0/0/0/1/0/0/17/15 (.469)
15. Amelia Lewis, $.08M (#492), 30/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/18/12 (.400)
16. Harukyo Nomura, $.07M (#516), 8/0/0/0/0/2/0/1/3/5 (.500)
17. Stephanie Sherlock, $.06M (#518), 37/0/0/0/0/1/1/0/26/10 (.270)
18. Jenny Suh, $.03M (#597), 14/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/3?/1? (?) [?!]
19. Ayaka Kaneko, $.02M (#630), 14/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/10/4 (.286)
20. Sara Brown, $.01M (#669), 10/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/?/? (?) [?!]
21. Stephanie Kim, $5.7K (#694), 2/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/1/1 (.500)
22. Becky Brewerton, $0 (n.r.), 3/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/3/0 (.000)
23. Shasta Averyhardt, $0 (n.r.), 8/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/8/0 (.000)
24. Kimberly Kim, $0 (n.r.), 13/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/13/0 (.000)
25. Jaclyn Sweeney $0 (n.r.), 0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0 (.000)
26. Sarah Brown, $0 (n.r.), 0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0 (.000)
27. Alison Whitaker, $0 (n.r.), 0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0 (.000)
28. Junko Nakada, $0 (n.r.), 0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0 (.000)
Other Career Measures: Rolex Rankings points (as of 12/30/13) and rank, Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index score (as of 12/29/13) and rank, International Wins (on JLPGA, KLPGA, LET as of 12/30/13): This is a way of seeing how those '11ers who sometimes or regularly or often compete on other tours stack up over the course of their careers to date (the RR includes results over the past 104 weeks on the LPGA, JLPGA, KLPGA, LET, ALPG, Symetra Tour, LETAS, and CLPGA; the GSPI includes results over the past 52 weeks on the LPGA, JLPGA, LET, and Symetra Tour).
1. Caroline Hedwall, 3.35 (#23), 70.33 (#19); 5 (all LET)
2. Jessica Korda, 2.50 (#41), 69.94 (#11); 0
3. Hee Kyung Seo, 2.45 (#43), 71.34 (#50); 11 (all KLPGA)
4. Jodi Ewart Shadoff, 2.07 (#54), 71.02 (#40); 0
5. Jennifer Johnson, 2.05 (#56), 71.75 (#70); 0
6. Jenny Shin, 1.55 (#72), 71.76 (#72); 0
7. Harukyo Nomura, .98 (#119), 71.74 (#68); 1 (JLPGA)
8. Christel Boeljon, .81 (#143), 72.37 (#104); 0
9. Belen Mozo, .67 (#172), 72.74 (#126); 0
10. Amelia Lewis, .46 (#221), 73.54 (#172); 0
11. Ryann O'Toole, .44 (#226), 73.41 (#167); 0
12. Dori Carter, .41 (#233), 74.12 (#206); 0
13. Danah Bordner, .31 (#268), 73.36 (#165); 0
14. Jennifer Song, .26 (#284); 74.40 (#230); 0
15. Jennie Lee, .26 (#286), 74.73 (#269); 0
16. Becky Brewerton, .18 (#347), 76.66 (#375); 3 (all LET)
17. Tiffany Joh, .16 (#361), 74.25 (#216); 0
18. Alison Whitaker, .15 (#364), 76.74 (#380); 0
19. Jaclyn Sweeney, .11 (#420), 74.68 (#261); 0
20. Jenny Suh, .06 (#515), 74.86 (#283); 0
21. Stephanie Sherlock, .04 (#577), 74.83 (#281); 0
22. Sara Brown, .03 (#636), 78.44 (n.r.); 0
23. Sarah Brown, .02 (#697), n.r.; 0
24. Shasta Averyhardt, .01 (#819), 78.75 (n.r.); 0
25. Ayaka Kaneko, n.r., 76.66 (n.r.); 0
26. Stephanie Kim, n.r., 82.84 (n.r.); 0
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