Rolex Rankings Movers of the Year

As we wait one more week for the Sybase Match Play Championship to begin, let us see what players made the biggest jumps and dives in the Rolex Rankings this year.

Rolex ranks the ladies based on average points per event on a rolling 2 year calendar. For example, Yani Tseng (the #1 player in the world) has accumulated 616.68 points playing in 52 events over that period, for an average of 11.86 points per tournament. I have gone back to the first published RR of the year and compared them to the rankings released today. The only requirement for my list is that a player must have been in the top 100 at the start of the year or the top 100 now.

This Year's Biggest Winners:

1- Stacy Lewis - 5.35 - 3.23 Gain of 2.12 (Moved from #37-14)
2- Yani Tseng - 11.86 - 9.75 Gain of 2.11 (Move 5-1)
3- Karrie Webb - 7.02 - 5.08 Gain of 1.94 (Move 16-9)
4- Sandra Gal - 2.96 - 1.11 Gain of 1.85 (Move 126-35)
5- Kumiko Kaneda - 1.84 - 0.49 Gain of 1.35 (Move 234-72)
6- Yuri Fudoh - 4.82 - 3.74 - Gain of 1.08 (Move 27-17)
7- Katie Futcher - 1.72 - 0.95 - Gain of 0.77 (Move 146-77)
8- Kristie Smith - 1.54 - 0.87 - Gain of 0.67 (Move 159-87)
9- Ha Neul Kim - 1.84 - 1.20 - Gain of 0.64 (Move 120-73)
10-Maria Hjorth - 4.90 - 4.29 - Gain of 0.61 (Move 23-16)

This Year's Biggest Losers:

1- Ai Miyazato - 7.42 - 9.47 - Loss of 2.05 (Move 6-7)
2- Cristie Kerr - 8.72 - 10.14 - Loss of 1.42 (Move 2-5)
3- Na Yeon Choi - 8.86 - 10.00 - Loss of 1.14 (Move 4-4)
4- Anna Nordqvist - 4.00 - 5.12 - Loss of 1.12 (Move 14-25)
5- Mi-Jeong Jeon - 4.11 - 5.09 - Loss of 0.98 (Move 15-20)
6- Hee Young Park - 2.09 - 2.83 - Loss of 0.92 (Move 43-60)
7- Sakura Yokomine - 4.48 - 5.39 - Loss of 0.91 (Move 13-19)
8- Lindsey Wright - 1.48 - 2.33 - 0.85 - (Move 64-94)
9- Song-Hee Kim - 6.22 - 6.98 - Loss of 0.76 (Move 9-13)
10-Kristy McPherson - 2.54 - 3.27 - Loss of 0.73 (Move 34-46)

As you can see there have been some very important moves so far this year. On the upside I think Stacy Lewis and Sandra Gal have really established themselves this year as serious threats. The only disturbing drop so far is Miyazato. She started the year only 1.13 points away from the leader at that point (Jiyai Shin), and now finds herself 4.44 off the lead and is just 0.60 points away from falling out of the top ten completely. My thinking is she will straighten herself out soon, but it is now a long way back to the top.

Bonus Stats (through 6 tournaments):

Rolex Player of the Year (carries Hall of Fame point):
1- Karrie Webb and Yani Tseng 69 points
3- Stacy Lewis 68
4- Sandra Gal and Maria Hjorth 33
6- Morgan Pressel 28
7- Michelle Wie 26
8- I.K. Kim and Angela Stanford 24
10-Na Yeon Choi - 20
11-Creamer, Kerr and Futcher 18
14-Suzann Pettersen 13
15-Lincicome, S.H. Kim and J. Shin 12

Rolex Rookie of the Year:
1- Hee Kyung Seo 130
2- Christel Boeljon 106
3- Stephanie Sherlock 66
4- Jennifer Song 64
5- Jenny Shin 44
6- Jessica Korda 42
7- Jenny Suh 26
8- Amelia Lewis 21
9- Ryann O'Toole 18
10-Harukyo Nomura 13

The Vare Trophy (carries Hall of Fame point):
1- Yani Tseng 70.29
2- I.K. Kim 70.69
3- Sandra Gal 71.05
4- Karrie Webb 71.09
5- Stacy Lewis 71.17
6- Cristie Kerr 71.43
7- Na Yeon Choi - 71.45
8- Suzann Pettersen 71.55
9- Morgan Pressel 71.65
10-Amelia Lewis 71.67

Rolex Ranking Moves of the Week:
Sun Ju Ahn - Winner this week of JLPGA event #13 to #8.
Christel Boeljon - Winner this week of LET event #103 to #79.