Since Hound Dog hasn't yet updated his first JLPGA Top 10, this functionally illiterate expert will update his May rankings by combining the Rolex Rankings, the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, the current JLPGA money list, and the final 2007 money list to identify the Best of the JLPGA. This is of particular interest to Women's British Open fans, as Yukari Baba, Yuri Fudoh, Ji-Hee Lee, Eun-A Lim, Miki Saiki, Bo-Bae Song, and Sakura Yokomine will be teeing it up this coming week at Sunningdale.
There's a new #1 in town, but it's getting more and more crowded at the top....
1. Mi-Jeong Jeon: #2 2008 money (￥60.65M), #31 RR (3.27) [3], #59 GSPI (71.93) [9], #3 2007 money (￥110.9M). This past week she nabbed her 2nd win in her last 5 events, during which she's finished no worse than 7th, to up her 2008 totals to 5 top 5s, 10 top 10s, and 12 top 20s. She's the hottest golfer on tour right now--and perhaps over the past 3 seasons, with 9 wins in that stretch--so I'm moving her to the top of the list. That's a big jump from #12 a couple of months ago, but you'll see why she's moved so far so fast in a second.
2. Sakura Yokomine: #6 2008 money (￥46.99M), #24 RR (3.56) [2], #29 GSPI (71.12) [1], #2 2007 money (￥114.9M). Even though she has yet to win in 2008, she's still made more money than anyone else on the JLPGA over the past 2 seasons (except Momoko Ueda, who's only played twice on tour this season, and Jeon). With 6 wins in the past 3 seasons, 7 top 5s, 10 top 10s, and 12 top 20s this season, not to mention the lowest scoring average on tour this year, Yokomine is this close to retaining her #1 standing, but her inability to seal the deal early in the season and comparative coolness of late has done her in, for this ranking, at least.
3. Akiko Fukushima: #1 2008 money (￥73.88M), #35 RR (3.02) [4], #35 GSPI (71.29) [2], #11 2007 money (￥51.6M). Let's see: 6 wins the past 3 seasons, 6 top 5s, 9 top 10s, and 12 top 20s this one, as well as being the tour's 2nd repeat winner and having the 3rd-lowest scoring average.... It's hard to keep her #3, but I can't justify putting her ahead of Yokomine just yet.
4. Miho Koga: #5 2008 money (￥47.16M), #46 RR (2.39) [8], #49 GSPI (71.70) [4], #4 2007 money (￥94.3M). With 5 wins the past 3 seasons, along with 6 top 5s, 9 top 10s, and 15 top 20s this one, she's pretty evenly matched with Fukushima, but because of her recent missed cut I'm moving her back this ranking, despite the fact that she's made more money the past 2 seasons.
5. Yuri Fudoh: #13 2008 money (￥36.37M), #22 RR (3.66) [1], #45 GSPI (71.63) [3], #6 2007 money (￥87.1M). Somehow the 1st player to win twice in 2008 and to break the billion-yen barrier in career winnings is having problems with consistency this season. She only has 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s, and 8 top 20s against 2 missed cuts and 3 finishes outside the top 30. But she has won 6 times in the last 3 seasons, so she's still among the JLPGA's best. The only question is what kind of season this one will end up being--like 2 of the last 3 seasons, when she was barely in the top 15, like last season, when she almost made the top 5, or like 2005, when she won 6 times and was #1 on the money list for the 6th straight year? So far, her #20-ranked scoring average suggests the 2nd option is the best she can hope for, but there's a long way to go before 2008 is in the books.
6. Shiho Oyama: #11 2008 money (￥37.42M), #39 RR (2.83) [5], #50 GSPI (71.77) [5], #8 2007 money (￥71.7M). It's amazing that someone with 7 wins in the 2 previous seasons would have none thus far in this one, but her 7th-ranked scoring average suggests there are more in her future, as do her 5 top 5s, 8 top 10s, and 11 top 20s.
7. Miki Saiki: #17 2008 money (￥33.52M), #42 RR (2.60) [6], #53 GSPI (71.84) [6], #9 2007 money (￥62.6M). The other shoe's dropped for this former member of the JLPGA's Big 4 who still hasn't won in 2008. She's gone from being one of the JLPGA's hottest golfers to one of the coldest, missing 4 cuts in her last 6 events and having trouble breaking 75. So despite her 6 top 5s and top 10s and 10 top 20s this season, I'm dropping her a few spots in this ranking. If my suspicion is correct that she's trying to play her way through an injury, expect her to drop still further by September's ranking.
8. Shinobu Moromizato: #21 2008 money (￥25.16M), #50 RR (2.11) [10], #56 GSPI (71.89) [8], #7 2007 money (￥85.3M). Another winless but highly-ranked player, due to her 3 top 5s, 9 top 10s, and 12 top 20s this season. She's missed 2 cuts in her last 6 events, though, so her position in the Elite 8 is quite vulnerable.
Closing in on them is a quintet with a top 5 and/or 2 top 10s:
9. Ji-Hee Lee: #3 2008 money (￥59.03M), #57 RR (1.97) [12], #66 GSPI (72.07) [12], #38 2007 money (￥23.4M). She's been a top-10 player 5 of the last 8 seasons, so last year was something of a glitch. She's won 4 times the last 3 seasons and put herself in the mix more often than anyone else this one--9 top 5s (6 of them top 3s), 12 top 10s, and 15 top 20s. With the 2nd-best scoring average on tour, she should get her 2nd win soon. Those ahead of her had better watch out--the world rankings have definitely not caught up to Lee's meteoric rise this season.
10. Ayako Uehara: #4 2008 money (￥47.73M), #79 RR (1.45) [20], #101 GSPI (72.88) [21], #25 2007 money (￥32.9M). This 2007 Lexus Cupper is definitely coming into her own in 2008, with a win, 5 top 5s, 6 top 10s, and 11 top 20s. Again it's a case of the rankings lagging behind her performance.
11. Yuko Mitsuka: #7 2008 money (￥42.96M), #48 RR (2.13) [9], #79 GSPI (72.32) [15], #14 2007 money (￥45.3M). She's got 3 top 5s, 7 top 10s, and 12 top 20s to go with her win this season, but she's also failed to finish 4 events (2 missed cuts and 2 WDs or DQs), so I'm putting her behind the healthy players with a top 5 somewhere. As she's moved up 7 spots since May, I don't think she'd complain.
12. Bo-Bae Song: #10 2008 money (￥38.52M), #60 RR (1.87) [13], #60 GSPI (71.94) [10], #16 2007 money (￥44.4M). After winning the 1st event of the season and then running off 7 straight top 20s (including 4 straight top 10s) in its middle stretch, she's cooled off a bit in her last 2 events (including 1 missed cut), but she still has 3 top 5s, 7 top 10s, and 10 top 20s.
13. Na Zhang: #26 2008 money (￥16.13M), #43 RR (2.58) [7], #77 GSPI (72.28) [14], #5 2007 money (￥92.1M). Her back injuries seem to be back. She's missed 3 cuts in her 12 starts this season, and has failed to break into the top 30 in the rest except for one brief stretch where she got 2 straight top 5s. Once Hound Dog updates his JLPGA rankings and I stop counting 2007 winnings, expect her to drop sharply.
Next is a big group of up-and-coming players with 1 top 10 and/or 3 top 20s:
14. Chie Arimura: #12 2008 money (￥37.17M), #70 RR (1.65) [16], #84 GSPI (72.53) [17], #13 2007 money (￥47.6M). Until she missed the cut this past week, she had 8 straight top 20s, including her win and 2 other top 5s, bringing her top 10 total to 9 and top 20 total to 11, so it's no surprise that she moved up 10 spots since the last ranking.
15. Yukari Baba: #9 2008 money (￥38.80M), #76 RR (1.48) [18], #96 GSPI (72.75) [20], #28 2007 money (￥27.9M). She's been a consistent top 30 player for most of her career, but seems to be making a quantum leap this one, with a win, 3 top 5s, 8 top 10s, and 13 top 20s. She's cooled off a bit since the May ranking, with 2 missed cuts in her last 6 events, but as she's otherwise stayed in the top 20, I can't see putting her any lower than this.
16. Hiromi Mogi: #15 2008 money (￥35.03M), #78 RR (1.46) [19], #55 GSPI (71.87) [7], #15 2007 money (￥44.9M). I'm putting her right behind Baba on the strength of her win, 2 top 5s, 8 top 10s, and 14 top 20s this season.
17. Akane Iijima: #14 2008 money (￥35.40M), #66 RR (1.68) [15], #81 GSPI (72.49) [16], #10 2007 money (￥60.3M). Her 3rd-place finish this past week was her best since her win 8 events earlier, bringing her totals to 3 top 5s, 5 top 10s, and 12 top 20s. With 4 wins in the past 3 seasons, however, she's due to start moving up these rankings by the end of September.
18. Hyun-Ju Shin: #16 2008 money (￥34.25M), #53 RR (2.07) [11], #63 GSPI (72.02) [11], #12 2007 money (￥48.5M). With a win, 3 top 5s, 5 top 10s, and 8 top 20s, she's sliding down these rankings and will slide faster once I no longer consider the 2007 money list--unless she returns to her early-season form.
19. Eun-A Lim: #8 2008 money (￥41.78M), #65 RR (1.71) [14], #85 GSPI (72.55) [18], #86 2007 money (￥5.1M). She's only had 1 good result since her win 7 tournaments ago--a T2--but has 3 top 5s, 5 top 10s, 8 top 20s in all this season. Her winnings are slightly inflated due to her better performance in richer events than many of her peers, so with a 22nd-ranked scoring average, she may be due for a fall.
20. Erina Hara: #19 2008 money (￥30.62M), #72 RR (1.60) [17], #90 GSPI (72.69) [19], #19 2007 money (￥39.7M). With her fine play of late, she's brought her top 5 total to 3, her top 10 total to 5, and her top 20 total to 12. She's still looking for her 1st career win....
And here are the best of the rest:
21. Hiroko Yamaguchi: #18 2008 money (￥33.32M), #90 RR (1.19) [22], #75 GSPI (72.25) [13], #24 2007 money (￥33.1M). The only one of this bunch with a win this season. Yes, she won early, but has only garnered 1 top 10 (her 2nd top 5 of the season) and 4 top 20s in the 14 events since then.
22. Ji-Woo Lee: #20 2008 money (￥26.76M), n.r. RR, #102 GSPI (72.89) [22], #47 2007 money (￥16.7M). Hot, hot, hot! Has posted 6 top 10s in her last 7 events, half f them top 5s. The only thing lacking is her 1st career JLPGA win....
23. Esther Lee: #22 2008 money (￥22.68M), n.r. RR, #150 GSPI (73.56) [31], #46 2007 money (￥17.1M). Has sandwiched 7 top 20s--including 4 top 5s in 5 events in that stretch--between 4 missed cuts in her last 13 events, after a horrific start to her season.
24. Midori Yoneyama: #23 2008 money (￥19.10M), #93 RR (1.16) [23], #123 GSPI (73.12) [26], #21 2007 money (￥35.3M). With 2 top 5s, 4 top 10s, and 9 top 20s, she's been hanging around this season without doing anything all that special thus far.
25. Yun-Jye Wei: #25 2008 money (￥16.95M), #85 RR (1.32) [21], #140 GSPI (73.41) [28], #29 2007 money (￥12.0M). Back from the brink with 2 top 20s and only 1 missed cut in her last 4 events after a terrible middle stretch to the season when she missed 3 cuts and never cracked the top 25 in 8 events. Can she return to the form that got her 4 straight top 20s to start the season, including a runner-up and 7th-place finish?
1 comment:
Waggle Roomed the Elite 8....
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