Previewing the LPGA's 2010: The Bloggers and the Golf Writers

I've been collecting links to bloggers' previews of the 2010 LPGA season ever since the 2009 season ended.

Here's an '09-Q-School-centric look from Dave Andrews. He's quite a bit higher on Amanda Blumenherst's prospects in her rookie season than I am. She'll have to do a lot better than Stacy Lewis did in hers to have a chance at what he projects.

Here's Andrews again, this time with a focus on the tour's prospects in 2010.

Here are those joining me (thus far) in the 2010 LPGA Prognostication Derby: Hound Dog, rjay, Verdant Garden.... There's still a little time left to join in!

Here are Jamie RS's wishes for the LPGA in 2010, Hound Dog's predictions, and Matt Cooper's questions.

Here's Stephanie Wei's latest entry in her "Know Your Asians" series, this one focusing on Hee Young Park--and it includes a video interview!

Here's Jeff Skinner's brief overview of the LPGA's youth movement and interview with Vicky Hurst.

Here's Brent Kelley's preview, focusing on the wide-open Player of the Year race. He thinks it's going to come down to Ji-Yai Shin and Michelle Wie and he has a poll where you can pick your POY.

Oh, and tune in to Waggle Room every week for a new LPGA video interview.

So how do the professional golf writers stack up against the bloggers when it comes to previewing the LPGA's 2010 season?

Here's Beth Ann Baldry with a short profile of '09 Futures Tour money-list leader Mina Harigae.

Here's Jim McCabe on how Alison Walshe plans to handle her dual LPGA-LET status.

Here's Larry Dorman with a few words on the LPGA's prospects for 2010, which Bill Jempty finds a tad optimistic (if by "tad" you mean "Dorman is making Pollyanna sound like Chicken Little"!).

Here's Jason Sobel's Weekly 18--go to the last hole for his responses to questions from Dave Andrews and me on the LPGA's 2010.

Here's Baldry again on Amanda Blumenherst's sponsor exemptions, Natalie Gulbis's commitments to every 2010 LPGA event, and Suzann Pettersen's off-season preparations.

Here are Randall Mell and Ron Sirak with good profiles of new Commissioner Mike Whan and his approach to rebuilding the LPGA. And here's Sobel again, this time with a great interview with Whan. Much more interesting than Larry Bohannan's overview.

Matty G interviews Paula Creamer and gets more out of her than Mike Walker.

Brad Ziemer's following Samantha Richdale's 3-week tour of Taiwan in preparation for her rookie season on the LPGA. Since she's shut out of the early Asian swing, her 1st event won't be until late March when the tour returns to the States.

Steve DiMeglio uses the top players' outlooks on the LPGA's 2010 as the foundation for his own good points about the effects of the schedule.

Finally, an anonymous AP writer reports on Momoko Ueda's pledge to win on the LPGA in 2010.

So what conclusions would you draw from this unscientific and noncomprehensive juxtapositioning of posts and articles that happened to catch my eye?

The one thing that leaps out at me is that no major golf magazines have put out anything on the web that resembles a LPGA preview issue. I understand that Mike Whan is a breath of fresh air and I appreciate the looks at individual players, but where are the usual attempts to identify the key players and rivalries as we head into a new season?

[Update 1 (1:44 pm): Regular reader courtgolf will be happy to know (if he doesn't already!) that Stephanie Wei just interviewed rookie Jean Reynolds!]

[Update 2 (2/17/10, 6:08 am): Here's another one from the bloggers, this time a solid preview from TeeOff Post.]

[Update 3 (6:18 am): Here's Ryan Ballengee's video interview with Wendy Ward:



Cool beans!]

[Update 4 (11:14 am): Here's Larry Dorman's interview with Mike Whan.]

[Update 5 (8:34 pm): Here's Bill Jempty's season preview and projected top 30.]

[Update 6 (10:25 pm): Here's the Armchair Golfer's look at the start of the LPGA season.]

[Update 7 (10:39 pm): Golfweek just got around to posting on the web this January 1st feature on Michelle Wie by Beth Ann Baldry.]

[Update 8 (10:41 pm): Here's Baldry again with notes from Thailand on the 2010 season.]

[Update 9 (10:47 pm): Here's Randall Mell on the race to chase down Lorena Ochoa that's begun today.]

[Update 10 (10:51 pm): Gary Van Sickle focuses on Ochoa vs. Shin.]

[Update 11 (10:55 pm): Just as a side note, Van Sickle has been recycling various LPGA-related stories at the Press Tent blog; I'll give the advantage to Baldry's reports from Thailand at the Tour Blog. So far, Golf Channel's Shag Bag hasn't really tried to enter the competition, nor has Local Knowledge. Let's see how the pros' blogging stacks up against us amateurs this season.]

[Update 12 (11:01 pm): Steve Elling focuses on Lorena Ochoa.]

[Update 13 (2/18/10, 7:12 am): Here's Jamie's preseason top 30 picks at Snap Hook Herald--I'm going to judge that he just got them in under the wire! Now to wait and see when Ron Sirak's top 30 goes onto the web....]

[Update 14 (11:25 am): Ah, Bill Jempty posted Sirak's top 30 over at Hound Dog's place. There are now 7 of us in the derby this season, unless Mulligan Stu wants to come out of retirement with a late entry!]

[Update 15 (5:02 pm): Jay Busbee offers his own overview of the LPGA's outlook in 2010 and kindly links to this post.]

[Update 16 (2/21/10, 12:20 pm): Here's Sirak's top 30, in his own words.]