Check out the second 50 of the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and you'll find Moira Dunn at #92 and Ai Miyazato at #93. I don't quite get how the GSPI formula evaluates performances over the past 52 weeks, and their posted numbers show that Ai-chan plays a tougher schedule and has slightly better W-L-T records against the top 10, top 50, and top 100 (although Moira's overall record is better), but I'm not complaining. It's great to see Moira in the top 100 again!
In fact, Moira has had a solid start to 2008 (for a New Yorker), building on similar play in the second half of 2007 to keep her card while Ai-chan's game was falling apart. Now that Ai-chan is making a slow-motion comeback (at least compared to my hopes if not yet my expectations), it'll be interesting to see how soon she passes Moira. Unfortunately, even though she got a top 10 there last season, she'll be sitting out this year's Corning Classic to get some well-deserved rest before the LPGA's major season begins, so I'll have to wait for my personal Clash of the Titans--between my 2 favorite golfers--for at least a couple of weeks.
Of course, I'm rooting for both to qualify for the LPGA's extended playoff season in October and November. The good news for them is that at this point in the season the top 20 on the money list is only a few top 5s out of reach. The bad news is that that's true for about 100 other players. To be on the safe side, they should have made between $225K and $275K by mid-September (based on winnings for the #50 golfer in each season this decade). If Moira can do it, 2008 would rank among her top 5 seasons in her 14-year career, while if Ai-chan is struggling to get there, this will have been her worst season as a professional, so their expectations are quite different. Ai-chan's past a third of the way there while Moira is around the one-quarter mark. Good luck, ladies!
[Update 1 (10:49 am): Yes, I know Moira is #172 in the latest Rolex Rankings, but she is ahead of Grace Park and on a pace to pass Michelle Wie. Even though Ai-chan's fallen to #27 and will fall further still until she starts getting top 10s again, there's no way Moira is catching her there.]
[Update 2 (4:56 pm): Wonder how Hound Dog's ranking system rates Moira and Ai-chan!]
[Update 3 (5/20/08, 10:39 am): Sweet! He devoted an entire post to the question.]
1 comment:
The answer you seek is up at HDLPGA.
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