Simply the Best
1. Seon Hwa Lee: She didn't play any warm-up events in 2009 before her Thailand debut, and it showed. But she can turn it around any week.
2. Morgan Pressel: Early verdict on those swing changes she's been working on for a while now? Still a work in progress. But more positive signs lately than negative ones.
3. Jee Young Lee: Playing the best golf lately of all her classmates except perhaps Brittany Lang. But even though she's been racking up top 10s and top 20s, she still hasn't found the consistency to contend as often as a golfer of her caliber should.
The Contenders
4. Ai Miyazato: She's back, baby! Now, if she can just cut down on all those bogeys she's been making since starting the season Down Under, she'll find herself in the winner's circle very soon.
5. Brittany Lang: Her top-10 streak is up to 7, so it's no surprise that I just put her as the 4th-hottest player in the world of professional women's golf. In fact, the only thing keeping her behind Ai-chan on this list is that she's played in 8 more events and made less money than her.
Quantum Leap Candidates
6. Sun Young Yoo: Had a great 2008--will 2009 be her breakout year? She's getting off on the right foot, thanks to a T11 in Thailand.
7. Teresa Lu: Good result in Thailand gets her 2009 back in the right gear, after she had continued late 2008's struggles in her debut performance in Hawaii.
8. H.J. Choi: Missed the cut in Hawaii, but she's too good for that to happen much more often this season.
9. Julieta Granada: Did great in LET Q-School, so can bail for Europe any time if her struggles on the LPGA continue, as they did in Hawaii.
10. Meaghan Francella: Made the cut in Hawaii, a good start to her 2009 comeback campaign.
11. Allison Fouch: Made the cut in Hawaii, but results were rather disappointing considering how hot her 2008 season was. She can pass a lot of people if she plays as well or better in 2009.
12. Kyeong Bae: Back to making birdies and cuts, it appears. Anther one who can move up these rankings quickly.
13. Minea Blomqvist: She's not hitting many greens this season, but is still making a lot of birdies, so watch out for her once her ballstriking improves, as it's bound to do soon.
14. Linda Wessberg: Another player with a lot of potential who's been struggling of late, but at least she made her 1st cut of the season.
On the Bottom Looking Up
15. Katie Futcher: Made her 1st cut of the season--barely.
16. Sarah Jane Smith: Let's see how her 1st full season on tour goes.
17. Karin Sjodin: Can she arrest her slide in these rankings this season?
18. Kim Hall: Watch for her to nab a top 10 when you least expect it this season. But I'd be amazed if she's able to keep her card (i.e., Category 1 status) for next season.
19. Danielle Downey: Ditto.
20. Louise Stahle: A surprisingly solid Q-School gives her another lease on LPGA life. Let's see if this former LET rookie of the year can take advantage this time around.
On the Outside Looking In
21. Virada Nirapathpongporn: Recovering from shoulder surgery, she will spend a lot of time on the Futures Tour in 2009. She'll have a lot of Thai company, at least.
22. Na Ri Kim: Ditto, except the company will be Korean and with Category 16 status, she will get into a few LPGA events this season. Here's hoping she plays better than she did in Hawaii.
23. Nina Reis: Will be playing the LET full-time in '09.
24. Veronica Zorzi: Ditto.
25. Ashley Johnston: Hasn't used her medical exemption for 2008--will she have it for 2009?
***
For your reference--and mine--here are the stats on which I'm basing the February ranking.
2009 LPGA Money List (rank), scoring 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. (I figure I can figure out how well they're hitting their irons and putting by comparing the last three figures, so I won't include putts per green in regulation here.) Some of the figures Hound Dog thinks are the 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. Brittany Lang, $100.6K (#6), 70.71 (#5), 2.86 (#18), 77.8% (#5)
2. Ai Miyazato, $60.0K (#11), 71.57 (#13), 3.57 (#4), 70.4% (#25)
3. Jee Young Lee, $38.6K (#15), 71.71 (#17), 68.5% (#31)
4. Sun Young Yoo, $33.4K (#19), 72.14 (#23), 3.00 (#16), 59.3% (#80)
5. Teresa Lu, $31.1K (#21), 72.57 (#33), 3.14 (#11), 70.4% (#25)
6. Morgan Pressel, $25.4K (#26), 72.43 (#30), 2.71 (#24), 63.0% (#63)
7. Minea Blomqvist, $14.9K (#38), 73.57 (#58), 3.43 (#6), 44.4% (#130)
8. Kyeong Bae, $9.9K (#50), 73.00 (#39), 3.33 (#54), 77.8% (#5)
8. Meaghan Francella, $9.9K (#50), 73.00 (#39), 2.00 (#79), 68.5% (#31)
10. Allison Fouch, $9.0K (#57), 75.00 (#76), 2.71 (#24), 55.6% (#100)
11. Seon Hwa Lee, $7.2K (#65), 73.50 (#57), 2.25 (#57), 67.7% (#15)
12. Sarah Jane Smith, $5.6K (68), 73.67 (#59), 2.00 (#79), 68.5% (#31)
13. Katie Futcher, $2.3K (#90), 75.67 (#98), 1.33 (#96), 74.1% (#13)
13. Louise Stahle, $2.3K (#90), 75.67 (#98), 2.00 (#79), 63.0% (#63)
15. Linda Wessberg, $2.2K (#94), 76.33 (#108), 0.67 (#130), 53.7% (#116)
16. Na Ri Kim, $0K (n.r.), 76.00 (#101), 1.00 (#142), 55.6% (#100)
16. H.J. Choi, $0K (n.r.), 77.50 (#125), 1.00 (#130), 50.0% ($122)
16. Kim Hall, $0K (n.r.), 77.50 (#125), 1.00 (#130), 55.6% (#100)
16. Julieta Granada, $0K (n.r.),78.00 (#133), 1.50 (#114), 55.6% (#100)
16. Danielle Downey, $0K (n.r.), 78.00 (#133), 1.50 (#114), 58.3% (#87)
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 Senior Standouts 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 every year or who have chosen to focus more on other tours. 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--although Thomas Atkins has posted an inflation-adjusted LPGA Career Top 50 as of the end of the 2008 season over at Hound Dog's place. In any case, I include these other ways of seeing how the Senior Standouts 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. Seon Hwa Lee, $3.19M (#52), 87/0/4/10/23/45/82 (.943)
2. Jee Young Lee, $2.38M (#73), 80/0/0/6/25/47/75 (.938)
3. Morgan Pressel, $2.17M (#83), 76/1/2/6/23/38/67 (.882)
4. Julieta Granada, $2.15M (#84), 83/0/1/5/10/21/56 (.675)
5. Ai Miyazato, $1.79M (#100), 71/0/0/4/18/27/57 (.803)
6. Brittany Lang, $1.62M (#106), 83/0/0/4/19/34/61 (.735)
7. Sun Young Yoo, $1.08M (#159), 81/0/0/1/9/21/63 (.778)
8. Teresa Lu, $.82M (#202), 70/0/0/1/6/16/52 (.743)
9. Kyeong Bae, $.77M (#210), 76/0/0/2/7/12/54 (.711)
10. Meaghan Francella $.64M (#230), 54/0/1/1/4/9/31 (.574)
11. Minea Blomqvist, $.59M (#240), 60/0/0/1/3/8/40 (.667)
12. H.J. Choi, $.56M (#245), 55/0/0/0/7/11/38 (.691)
13. Karin Sjodin, $.42M (#278), 66/0/0/0/3/9/38 (.576)
14. Alison Fouch, $.39M (#286), 32/0/0/1/3/6/21 (.656)
15. Katie Futcher, $.38M (#288), 64/0/0/0/3/5/43 (.672)
16. Kim Hall, $.34M (#305), 58/0/0/1/3/4/26 (.448)
17. Linda Wessberg, $.33M (#308), 37/0/0/0/5/6/24 (.649)
18. Virada Nirapathpongporn, $.23M (#361), 57/0/0/0/1/4/28 (.491)
19. Nina Reis, $.23M (#363), 52/0/0/0/3/4/28 (.538)
20. Danielle Downey, $.13M (#424), 33/0/0/0/1/2/10 (.303)
21. Sarah Jane Smith, $.11M (#446), 19/0/0/0/1/3/8 (.421)
22. Na Ri Kim, $.09M (#459), 37/0/0/0/0/2/16 (.434)
23. Veronica Zorzi, $.09M (#473), 16/0/0/0/0/1/13 (.813)
24. Louise Stahle, $.05M (#519), 23/0/0/0/0/1/12 (.522)
25. Ashley Johnston, $.05M (#538), 13/0/0/0/0/0/6 (.462)
Other Career Measures: Rolex Ranking (as of 3/2/09) and rank, Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index (as of 3/1/09) and rank, International and Non-Member LPGA Wins (as of the end of the 2007 season): This is a way of seeing how those Senior Standouts 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, JLPGA, KLPGA, LET, and Futures Tour; the GSPI includes results over the past 52 weeks on all these tours except the KLPGA).
1. Seon Hwa Lee, 4.06 (#10), 70.60 (#20); 3
2. Jee Young Lee, 3.55 (#16), 70.31 (#14); 2
3. Morgan Pressel, 3.22 (#24), 71.47 (#55); 0
4. Brittany Lang, 2.58 (#33), 70.82 (#29); 0
5. Ai Miyazato, 2.52 (#35), 70.86 (#30); 14
6. Sun Young Yoo, 1.89 (#50), 70.97 (#34); 0
7. Teresa Lu, 1.69 (#57), 71.07 (#37); 0
8. Minea Blomqvist, 1.46 (#61), 71.53 (#57); 5
9. Allison Fouch, 1.16 (#76), 72.41 (#90); 0
10. H.J. Choi, .93 (#95), 72.40 (#87); 1
11. Meaghan Francella, .90 (#98), 73.47 (#153); 0
12. Linda Wessberg, .88 (#102), 73.30 (#141); 6
13. Kim Hall, .67 (#124), 73.68 (#172); 0
14. Katie Futcher, .61 (#132), 71.84 (#66); 0
15. Julieta Granada, .58 (#138), 73.54 (#158); 0
16. Kyeong Bae, .57 (#140), 73.00 (#124); 3
17. Karin Sjodin, .48 (#167), 73.84 (#189); 1
18. Danielle Downey, .44 (#177), 73.82 (#183); 0
19. Sarah Jane Smith, .43 (#184), 72.81 (#116); 0
20. Veronica Zorzi, .38 (#200), 74.37 (#238); 2
21. Louise Stahle, .37 (#206), 72.87 (#117); 0
22. Nina Reis, .27 (#243), 73.55 (#159); 5
23. Virada Nirapathpongporn, .22 (#263), 74.27 (#225); 0
24. Ashley Johnston, .02 (#697), n.r. [not in database], 0
25. Na Ri Kim, n.r. [not in database], 73.58 (#160); 0
FYI, here's the rest of my 2009 schedule:
March: Class of 2007 (pre-Kraft Nabisco)
April: Class of 2008 (post-Corona)
May: Young Guns (post-Corning)
June: Class of 2006 (post-Wegmans)
July: Class of 2007 (pre-WBO)
August: Class of 2008 (post-Safeway)
September: Young Guns (post-Longs Drugs)
October: Class of 2006 (post-Korea)
November: Class of 2007 (post-Stanford)
December: Class of 2008 (post-Q School)
January '10: Young Guns (final 2009 ranking)
No comments:
Post a Comment