Even though Shigeki Maruyama didn't win yesterday, his second-place finish guaranteed him his 2008 PGA card and vaulted him past Ai Miyazato in season earnings. Congratulations, Shigeki! I still hope Ai-chan regains her lead, though.
In other golf news, LPGA.com has a tournament preview and final field out for the Mizuno Classic, even if they still haven't bothered to link to the official tournament site from the JLPGA. I guess they've been too busy updating their stats or something. The new LPGA money list and Rolex Rankings are out, and by both measures, the LPGA component of the field in Japan is pretty weak, with #4 Mi Hyun Kim, #7 Jeong Jang, #8 Angela Park, and #10 Jee Young Lee the only representatives from the top 10 on the former and #2 Karrie Webb the only one from the latter. So this tournament represents a real opportunity for JLPGA stars like Rolex #17 Shiho Oyama, #19 Sakura Yokomine, #20 Mi-Jeong Jeon, #21 Momoko Ueda, #22 Yuri Fudoh, #32 Na Zhang, #39 Miki Saiki, #43 Miho Koga, #44 Hyun-Ju Shin, #45 Shinobu Moromizato, and #48 Akane Iijima to test their games not only against the slumping (but still #16) Miyazato but also against closely-ranked LPGA and LET standouts like #26 Sophie Gustafson and #31 Maria Hjorth.
Gustafson, by the way, looks like she'll be the last regular qualifier for the ADT Championship, knocking out KLPGA star and LPGA rookie Eun-Hee Ji with a finish this week--provided, that is, that she stays ahead of Catriona Matthew on the second-half money list, not to mention those in the Mizuno Classic field a bit further behind her like Amy Hung, Brittany Lang, Joo Mi Kim, Reilley Rankin, and Alena Sharp. Matthew and Kim are eligible to play in the Tournament of Champions next week, so Gustafson needs a strong finish this week to pad her lead on them in particular. If she can do it, it looks to me like Meaghan Francella and Matthew will round out the 32-player field, unless rookies In-Kyung Kim or Inbee Park and/or defending champion Julieta Granada can pass one or both of them on the season money list with a great finish this week in Japan (and, for Granada, in the TOC as well).
So there is one last regular-season head-to-head battle of the Super Sophs shaping up between Francella and Granada over the next two weeks, with the latter spotting the former almost a $100K lead over the course of the season to date. (I won't be rooting for both of them to make it, however, as that would mean rooting against new mom Matthew.) Once that race is settled, the TOC and ADT will feature another battle among the Super Sophs, this time for the season money lead, as Seon Hwa Lee, Morgan Pressel, and Jee Young Lee are neck-and-neck (even though only Seon Hwa so far has broken the $1M barrier).
It's not that I'm looking past the Mizuno Classic, it's just that I'm dreading the Mostly Harmless jinx will strike Ai-chan on her home turf this weekend.
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