Simply the Best
1. Eun-Hee Ji: Sure, she doesn't have a major like Inbee Park and is not the leading money winner in her class like Angela Park, but cut the kid some slack--she's only played in half as many LPGA events as they have. In that brief time, she's already got a win and made a million dollars. Yes, I know I ranked Inbee Park ahead of her in my latest Best of the LPGA ranking, but Ji has been outplaying her since June, which is enough to give her a better--if shorter--career. There's a reason I said in that post that she reminds me of Seon Hwa Lee.
2. Angela Park: She's jumped from #26 to #15 in the Best of the LPGA ranking, regained the top spot on the career money list, and has become one of the hottest players on tour in the second half of the season. If she can just start closing the deal when she's in contention, she'll be back in the top spot faster than you could say "best swing on the LPGA."
3. Inbee Park: Sorry, Inbee, but a post-Open hangover is not the way to consolidate your #1 spot. Hopefully your runner-up finish this past weekend in Korea is a sign of better things to come. Focus on hitting greens and the rest will follow. I await the results of this latest effort to invoke the Mostly Harmless reverse jinx.
The Contenders
4. In-Kyung Kim: Strange decision to skip the Safeway Classic when she had been riding a 3-tournament top 20 streak and had 2 top 10s in her last 6 events. If she needed a late-summer break, why go play in Korea? If she starts hitting some more greens, watch out for her in the last third of the season. But if she plays like she did in Korea, she'll be passed very soon by the rest of the contenders.
5. Song-Hee Kim: T4 at the Canadian Women's Open and a top 20 at the Safeway Classic--not to mention a top 10 in Korea this past week--show that this season's stats leader in her class is not done just yet. Waiting to see how good she can get.
6. Jane Park: She's finally starting to make more birdies, but the European and Northern swings were real disappointments, even if they show that she's getting a bit less inconsistent. Has the talent to close out the season in style. But will she?
7. Ji Young Oh: So much for that "tendency to blow up on Sundays" that I complained about last Super Soph ranking. You'd think a playoff victory over Ya Ni Tseng would get her more respect in my book, but that missed-cut rate sticks out like a sore thumb (as it does for Inbee Park and Song-Hee Kim).
8. Kristy McPherson: Right on cue, she started playing great in July. Even though she lost some momentum up North, expect her to come out swinging down South.
Quantum Leap Candidates
9. Jin Joo Hong: Talk about good timing! She had her best finish of the season in the season's richest event--a solo 4th at the Evian Masters. It's a good thing she did it, as she withdrew from the Canadian Women's Open and didn't start the Safeway Classic. Hope she's not hurt.
10. Na On Min: Did I say last time that she was a lock to win her card? Well, don't look down, Ms. Min! Forget that you're #80 on the money list, focus on hitting greens, and the rest will follow. That's the same advice as I'm giving Inbee Park and In-Kyung Kim, so you're in good company.
11. Irene Cho: Slipped to #74 on the money list for the same reason that Min is on the bubble. Is she still a lock to get her card?
12. Charlotte Mayorkas: Needs to go on a birdie barrage in the last third of the season to even get near the bubble, although a top 100 finish is certainly within easy reach for a player of her talents.
On the Bottom Looking Up
13. Paige Mackenzie: Another non-exempt player making a bit of a run lately, but will it be enough ro get her in the top 100, much less the top 80?
14. Sophie Giquel: Remains in extreme danger of losing her card.
15. Seo-Jae Lee: Has improved her ball-striking considerably since the last ranking, making 5 cuts in a row. But she still has a long way to go to get out of the woods..
16. Becky Lucidi: In a tailspin lately, lending truth to that old cliche about driving and putting.
17. Su A Kim: Also in a tailspin, but without Lucidi's length.
On the Outside Looking In
18. Sarah Lynn Sargent: Not sure why she hasn't focused more on the Futures Tour, as there's a huge difference between finishing #5 on the money list there and #6.
19. Cindy Pasechnik: A lock for Q-School.
20. Jeanne Cho-Hunicke: Ditto.
For your reference--and mine--here are the stats on which I'm basing the June ranking.
2008 LPGA Money List (rank), stroke average (rank), birdies per round average (rank [in total birdies]), greens in regulation rate (rank): I focus on four key indicators of how well someone is playing this season--how much money they've made, how they've scored, how many birdies they've averaged per round, and how many greens they've hit in regulation on average per round, plus how they rank in each category (except for birdies, which LPGA.com ranks by total and not by average). I figure I can figure out how well they're hitting their irons and putting by comparing the last three figures, so I don't include putts per green in regulation here. Some of the figures Hound Dog thinks are most important I'm looking at in the career stats (below), where I think they belong. These stats are all about the present and future.
1. Inbee Park, $1.10M (#5), 71.29 (#15), 3.55 (#9), 62.8% (#85)
2. Eun-Hee Ji, $819.8K (#12), 71.23 (#13), 3.23 (#22), 64.7% (#57)
3. Angela Park, $784.9K (#13), 71.61 (#26), 3.38 (#18), 64.6% (#58)
4. Song-Hee Kim, $710.0K (#15), 71.02 (#11), 3.61 (#29), 68.2% (#7)
5. Jane Park, $560.9K (#18), 71.44 (#20), 3.24 (#37), 67.6% (#11)
6. Ji Young Oh, $545.6K (#21), 71.55 (#25), 3.24 (#13), 65.1% (#50)
7. In-Kyung Kim, $446.9K (#30), 71.84 (#39), 3.51 (#33), 61.1% (#106)
8. Kristy McPherson, $306.1K (#48), 71.63 (#27), 3.30 (#42), 65.7% (#37)
9. Jin Joo Hong, $300.4K (#50), 72.12 (#49), 2.93 (#67), 62.6% (#90)
10. Irene Cho, $135.2K (#74), 72.98 (#93), 3.23 (#79), 61.7% (#97)
11. Na On Min, $114.7K (#80), 73.39 (#114), 2.64 (#65), 59.5% (#134)
12. Paige Mackenzie, $76.0K (#106), 72.77 (#75), 3.03 (#119), 61.3% (#104)
13. Charlotte Mayorkas, $75.2K (#107), 73.07 (#96), 2.43 (#104), 62.2% (#94)
14. Sophie Giquel, $67.5K (#113), 73.47 (#121), 2.62 (#115), 63.4% (#74)
15. Becky Lucidi, $65.2K (#115), 73.41 (#115), 2.85 (#122), 66.7% (#22)
16. Seo-Jae Lee, $59.3K (#119), 73.12 (#99), 2.73 (#101), 56.9% (#151)
17. Su A Kim, $48.8K (#132), 73.47 (#121), 2.68 (#114), 57.2% (#149)
18. Cindy Pasechnik, $16.6K (#157), 74.77 (#154), 2.04 (#157), 53.2% (#160)
19. Sarah Lynn Sargent, $12.9K (#160), 74.28 (n.r.), ?, ?
20. Jeanne Cho-Hunicke, $2.5K (#185), 76.73 (n.r.), ?, ?
Career LPGA Money List (rank), # of LPGA events entered/majors/wins/top 3s/top 10s/top 20s/cuts made (made cut rate): About the only thing these stats are useful for is comparing people who entered the LPGA in the same year (although if you count generations by 3 years, it can be interesting). 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 Super Sophs haven't been at this all too long, so the career money list is a decent stat for comparing them, even if it's a bit unfair to people who have not been exempt both years. 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. I include these other ways of seeing how the Super Sophs finished relative to their competition in the tournaments they entered because they reveal a lot about how well someone is able to compete at every level, from just making cuts to grinding out top 20s and top 10s to contending for wins. So here's how they stand:
1. Angela Park, $1.77M (#97), 47/0/0/6/14/19/43 (.915)
2. Inbee Park, $1.48M (#111), 47/1/1/3/9/15/33 (.702)
3. Eun-Hee Ji, $1.07M (#154), 24/0/1/4/8/10/20 (.833)
4. In-Kyung Kim, $.90M (#188), 43/0/0/2/8/14/35 (.814)
5. Song-Hee Kim $.79M (#203), 44/0/0/3/7/14/30 (.682)
6. Ji Young Oh, $.69M (#220), 43/0/1/1/4/7/29 (.674)
7. Jane Park, $.63M (#232), 30/0/0/3/4/7/24 (.800)
8. Jin Joo Hong, $.46M (#267), 39/0/0/0/2/6/24 (.615)
9. Na On Min, $.42M (#272), 41/0/0/1/2/5/25 (.610)
10. Kristy McPherson, $.39M (#283), 35/0/0/0/4/7/24 (.686)
11. Charlotte Mayorkas, $.23M (#356), 39/0/0/0/0/3/26 (.667)
12. Irene Cho, $.20M (#375), 35/0/0/0/2/2/19 (.543)
13. Paige Mackenzie, $.13M (#426), 33/0/0/0/0/1/16 (.485)
14. Sophie Giquel, $.09M (#457), 23/0/0/0/0/0/11 (.478)
15. Becky Lucidi $.07M (#491), 18/0/0/0/0/1/6 (.333)
16. Seo-Jae Lee, $.07M (#492), 21/0/0/0/0/0/9 (.429)
17. Su A Kim, $.06M (#499), 22/0/0/0/0/0/10 (.455)
18. Sarah Lynn Sargent, $.05M (#529), 26/0/0/0/0/0/12 (.462)
19. Jeanne Cho-Hunicke, $.02M (#594), 18/0/0/0/0/1/2 (.111)
20. Cindy Pasechnik, $.02M (#606), 18/0/0/0/0/0/5 (.278)
Other Career Measures: Rolex Ranking (as of 8/25/08) and rank, Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index (as of 8/24/08) and rank, International and Non-Member LPGA Wins (as of the end of the 2007 season): This is a way of seeing how those Super Sophs 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, LET, JLPGA, KLPGA, and Futures Tour; the GSPI includes results over the past 52 weeks on all these tours except the KLPGA).
1. Inbee Park, 4.74 (#12), 71.02 (#33); 0
2. Angela Park, 4.68 (#13), 70.60 (#17); 0
3. Eun-Hee Ji, 4.57 (#15), 70.46 (#15); 4
4. In-Kyung Kim, 2.99 (#38), 71.57 (#47); 0
5. Jane Park, 2.78 (#40), 71.20 (#36); 0
6. Song-Hee Kim, 2.56 (#44), 70.94 (#29); 0
7. Ji Young Oh, 2.02 (#54); 70.95 (#30); 0
8. Jin Joo Hong, 1.45 (#77), 71.80 (#62); 2
9. Kristy McPherson, 1.33 (#85), 71.83 (#64); 0
10. Na On Min, 1.29 (#87), 73.17 (#128); 0
11. Irene Cho, .87 (#120), 73.14 (#125); 0
12. Charlotte Mayorkas, .76 (#137), 73.47 (#137); 0
13. Sophie Giquel, .62 (#164), 73.61 (#170); 1
14. Paige Mackenzie, .42 (#214), 73.58 (#166); 0
15. Becky Lucidi, .29 (#259), 74.01 (#204); 0
16. Seo-Jae Lee, .24 (#288), 73.75 (#181); 0
17. Su A Kim, .24 (#292), 73.73 (#179); 0
18. Sarah Lynn Sargent, .05 (#501), 75.13 (#294); 0
19. Jeanne Cho-Hunicke, .05 (#503), 76.74 (#426); 0
20. Cindy Pasechnik, .02 (#685), 75.18 (#300); 0
So there you have it. I'll be checking back in on these rankings on the following schedule:
February: Junior Mints
March: Super Sophs
April: both
May: Junior Mints
June: Super Sophs
July: Junior Mints
September: both (post-Navistar)
October: Junior Mints (pre-Korea Championship)
November: Super Sophs (post-ADT)
December: all the Young Guns (post-Q School)
1 comment:
Waggle Roomed the top 12.
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