Must. Get. LPGA. Back. On. Top.

So here are the new women's world rankings and LPGA money list. It's nice to see 31 people over $100K in winnings this early in the season, but a bit depressing when you look at the PGA money list: there are 31 people over $1M in winnings there and you have to go down to #44-#53 even to get into Ochoa territory. (Shigeki Maruyama has made more than Moira Dunn this year, despite his playing the worst golf of his career and her approaching her best. I like Shigeki a lot, but that ain't fair!)

True, there have been far more men's tournaments than women's this year, so I'm not exactly making a fair comparison, but I'll stand by my main point: the LPGA has a long way to go, baby, before women's golfers are making comparable money for comparable play. That's why I can't wait till Wie's return. Sorenstam's was originally scheduled for the same time (the end of this month), but her people have been backing away from that announcement almost from the moment it was made. I don't see her coming back until late summer at the earliest, myself. Why jeopardize the rest of what could still be a very long career by rushing back to competition too soon?

But the LPGA's future is bright: once Angela Park gets comfortable in contention, she'll join Ochoa and Granada as standout South-of-the-U.S.-ers; once Ai-chan figures out how to win on the LPGA she'll join Karrie Webb, Se Ri Pak, Mi Hyun Kim, Shi Hyun Ahn, Jee Young Lee, and the other great Seoul Sisters representing the various Asian tours (and just imagine if the other Japanese golfers in the world top 50 learned how to compete on the LPGA!); Sorenstam's absence is reminding people that there are a lot of great European golfers, from veterans like Davies and Matthews to new-to-the-spotlight-ers like Castrale and Cavalleri; and Wie, Inkster, Kerr, Creamer, Pressel, Prammanasudh, Hurst, and Gulbis are already world famous (in golfing circles, at least). So we're talking something like 25-50 actual and potential global superstars competing almost every week from January to November. Total media domination is around the corner--and the money will follow the attention.

But when will the U.S. golf media get over their provincialism and laziness? So far the only stories they bother to spin are the Great White (Pin-Up) Hopes Against the Faceless Yellow Peril. Yeesh.