Who are the best players on the JLPGA heading into their 3rd major of the season, the Japan Women's Open? This functionally illiterate expert will attempt to answer that question and update his July JLPGA ranking 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.
Momoko's back--the JWO will be her 8th JLPGA event this season. But even though she's won twice in 7 tries this season, I can't justify returning this irregular to the top of the ranking just yet.
1. Mi-Jeong Jeon: #2 2008 money (￥72.67M), #33 RR (3.11) [5], #45 GSPI (71.51) [7], #3 2007 money (￥110.9M). Even though she's cooled off a bit after winning the JLPGA's 1st major for her 9th win in the past 3 seasons, she's still racked up 6 top 5s, 13 top 10s, and 16 top 20s in 2008.
2. Momoko Ueda: #16 2008 money (￥41.00M), #11 RR (4.68) [2], #19 GSPI (70.61) [2], #1 2007 money (￥166.11M). With this past weekend's victory bringing her totals to 7 wins over the past 2 seasons and 5 top 5s in 7 starts this year, March's #1-ranked player is on track to regain that status if she plays as often as I expect her to on the JLPGA the rest of the season.
3. Sakura Yokomine: #5 2008 money (￥68.21M), #25 RR (3.59) [4], #34 GSPI (71.05) [4], #2 2007 money (￥114.9M). With 6 wins in the past 3 seasons and 11 top 5s, 15 top 10s, and 17 top 20s this season, not to mention the lowest scoring average on tour this year, Yokomine's inability to seal the deal all season is the only thing keeping her this low this ranking.
4. Akiko Fukushima: #1 2008 money (￥82.89M), #39 RR (2.82) [6], #41 GSPI (71.30) [5], #11 2007 money (￥51.6M). Let's see: 6 wins the past 3 seasons and 7 top 5s, 12 top 10s, and 17 top 20s this one, as well as being the tour's 2nd repeat winner and having the 5th-lowest scoring average.... It's hard to justify ranking her this low.
5. Ji-Yai Shin: #27 2008 money (￥24.18M), #7 RR (6.26) [1], #4 GSPI (69.04) [1], n.a. 2007 money (not a member). With 3 runner-ups on the JLPGA this season to go with her non-member win, Shin will be playing in her 5th JLPGA event sometime this season, I'm sure, even if she pulled out of the Japan Women's Open in favor of the Samsung World Championship this week. With the recent struggles of the rest of the top JLPGA regulars, I can't justify putting her any lower in this ranking.
6. Miho Koga: #3 2008 money (￥72.54M), #44 RR (2.58) [7], #55 GSPI (71.64) [10], #4 2007 money (￥94.3M). With 6 wins the past 3 seasons to go with 8 top 5s, 13 top 10s, and 20 top 20s this one, she's been better than everyone behind her, despite her 2 missed cuts.
7. Yuri Fudoh: #10 2008 money (￥51.83M), #15 RR (4.52) [3], #51 GSPI (71.59) [8], #6 2007 money (￥87.1M). Somehow the 1st player to get 3 wins in 2008 and to break the billion-yen barrier in career winnings is still having problems with consistency this season. She only has 4 top 5s, 6 top 10s, and 10 top 20s against 2 missed cuts and 4 finishes outside the top 30. Still, she has 7 wins in the past 3 seasons and seems to have gotten that fire in her belly rekindled after her great performance in the Women's British Open.
Right behind these lucky 7 are another talented septet:
8. Ji-Hee Lee: #4 2008 money (￥70.74M), #50 RR (2.15) [11], #31 GSPI (70.92) [3], #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--11 top 5s (7 of them top 3s), 15 top 10s, and 19 top 20s. With the 2nd-best scoring average on tour, she is so due for win #2.
9. Hyun-Ju Shin: #6 2008 money (￥64.20M), #47 RR (2.31) [9], #42 GSPI (71.43) [6], #12 2007 money (￥48.5M). Her win in the JLPGA's 2nd major over Ji-Yai Shin vaulted her up these rankings. Now with a pair of wins, 6 top 5s, 10 top 10s, and 13 top 20s this season, she's definitely among the tour's best.
10. Erina Hara: #7 2008 money (￥57.08M), #58 RR (1.90) [15], #58 GSPI (71.68) [13], #19 2007 money (￥39.7M). Was the hottest player on tour for the weeks leading up to her 1st win, bringing her top 5 total to 7, her top 10 total to 9, and her top 20 total to 17.
11. Yuko Mitsuka: #8 2008 money (￥54.81M), #53 RR (2.04) [14], #62 GSPI (71.74) [14], #14 2007 money (￥45.3M). She's got 6 top 5s, 10 top 10s, and 16 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).
12. Shinobu Moromizato: #13 2008 money (￥46.01M), #51 RR (2.14) [12], #73 GSPI (72.07) [15], #7 2007 money (￥85.3M). No longer winless, her 5 top 5s, 13 top 10s, and 17 top 20s offset her 4 missed cuts this season.
13. Shiho Oyama: #15 2008 money (￥42.69M), #45 RR (2.50) [8], #57 GSPI (71.66) [12], #8 2007 money (￥71.7M). It's amazing that someone with 7 wins in the 2 previous seasons would still have none this one, but her 7th-ranked scoring average and excellent performance at the LPGA's Mission Hills Q-School qualifier suggest there are more in her future, as do her 6 top 5s, 9 top 10s, and 14 top 20s.
14. Ayako Uehara: #9 2008 money (￥52.15M), #84 RR (1.40) [21], #83 GSPI (72.32) [16], #25 2007 money (￥32.9M). This 2007 Lexus Cupper is definitely coming into her own in 2008, with a win, 6 top 5s, 7 top 10s, and 13 top 20s, but she's stalled of late.
The next septet are having trouble breaking through to the next level:
15. Bo-Bae Song: #12 2008 money (￥46.17M), #60 RR (1.88) [16], #52 GSPI (71.59) [9], #16 2007 money (￥44.4M). Looks to be returning to the early-season form that saw her win and rattle off a string of top 20s, now with 4 top 5s, 9 top 10s, and 14 top 20s.
16. Akane Iijima: #14 2008 money (￥44.83M), #70 RR (1.62) [18], #96 GSPI (72.53) [22], #10 2007 money (￥60.3M). Her 2nd-place finish this past week was her best since her win this season, bringing her totals to 4 top 5s, 7 top 10s, and 17 top 20s. With 4 wins in the past 3 seasons, I wouldn't be surprised at all if she made a big move up these rankings by the end of November.
17. Miki Saiki: #21 2008 money (￥36.84M), #48 RR (2.19) [10], #94 GSPI (72.50) [20], #9 2007 money (￥62.6M). Seems to be coming out of a horrible tailspin in which she missed 6 cuts in 9 events, thanks to an electrifying Mission Hills performance. But she's definitely fallen behind the JLPGA's elite, with 7 top 5s and top 10s and only 11 top 20s this season.
18. Hiromi Mogi: #18 2008 money (￥40.14M), #77 RR (1.44) [20], #54 GSPI (71.64) [11], #15 2007 money (￥44.9M). Has notched top 20s in 7 of 8 tournaments since her win, bringing her season totals to 2 top 5s, 9 top 10s, and 18 top 20s.
19. Chie Arimura: #17 2008 money (￥40.19M), #75 RR (1.49) [19], #105 GSPI (72.65) [24], #13 2007 money (￥47.6M). She's cooled off hard since a missed cut broke her streak of 8 straight top 20s (including her win and 2 other top 5s); she now has 10 top 10s and 13 top 20s on the season.
20. Eun-A Lim: #11 2008 money (￥46.18M), #69 RR (1.64) [17], #86 GSPI (72.36) [18], #86 2007 money (￥5.1M). She has 3 top 5s, 7 top 10s, and 10 top 20s in all this season to go with her win. Her winnings are a bit inflated due to her better performance in richer events than many of her peers, so with a 19th-ranked scoring average, she may have found her level on the JLPGA.
21. Yukari Baba: #19 2008 money (￥39.55M), #87 RR (1.27) [22], #126 GSPI (72.98) [28], #28 2007 money (￥27.9M). So much for that quantum leap I mentioned last ranking--she's missed 5 cuts in her last 7 events and hasn't added to her season totals of 1 win, 3 top 5s, 8 top 10s, and 13 top 20s in that span.
And here are the best of the rest:
22. Hiroko Yamaguchi: #20 2008 money (￥38.57M), #95 RR (1.13) [24], #100 GSPI (72.58) [23], #24 2007 money (￥33.1M). She has 1 win, 3 top 5s, 6 top 10s, and 11 top 20s this season.
23. Ji-Woo Lee: #22 2008 money (￥34.44M), n.r. RR, #95 GSPI (72.50) [21], #47 2007 money (￥16.7M). Still one of the hottest players on tour, having upped her season totals to 2 top 5s, 8 top 10s, and 16 top 20s. The only thing lacking is her 1st career JLPGA win....
24. Midori Yoneyama: #24 2008 money (￥29.65M), #89 RR (1.22) [23], #85 GSPI (72.35) [17], #21 2007 money (￥35.3M). 3 top 5s, 6 top 10s, and 14 top 20s put her right behind 1 Lee and right ahead of another.
25. Esther Lee: #23 2008 money (￥30.61M), n.r. RR, #159 GSPI (73.46) [32], #46 2007 money (￥17.1M). She has 5 top 5s and top 10s to go with 10 top 20s. Still, those 11 missed cuts this season (including in 5 of her last 10 events) are holding her back.
26. Rui Kitada: #25 2008 money (￥29.33M), #102 RR (1.07) [27], #141 GSPI (73.26) [29], #33 2007 money (￥26.4M). She has a win, 2 top 5s, 6 top 10s, and 10 top 20s this season.
27. Saiki Fujita: #26 2008 money (￥29.33M), #97 RR (1.12) [26], #171 GSPI (73.61) [34], #26 2007 money (￥32.3M). She has a win, 3 top 5s, 4 top 10s, and 7 top 20s this season, bringing her total to 3 wins in the past 3 seasons.
28. Na Zhang: #33 2008 money (￥18.34M), #52 RR (2.13) [13], #87 GSPI (72.41) [19], #5 2007 money (￥92.1M). Her back injuries are definitely back. But even with a limited schedule and as many missed cuts or WDs as top 20s this season, she still has the talent to rise up these rankings in a heartbeat. It's difficult to say that of anyone else on tour not in these rankings.
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