The LPGA's Top Rivalries: Generation Gaps Revisited, June 2011

Now that the 2011 season is really kicking into gear, it's time to reexamine how the LPGA's last 6 generations stack up. Check out the career money list and wins/majors totals for the top players in the generations that span the Sorenstam Era (1994-2008) and the overlapping Ochoa Era (2003-2009). Will we characterize the next LPGA era as the Tseng Dynasty, as bangkokbobby and others have suggested? Only time will tell, but I'd say it's too soon to tell just yet.

[Note: [square brackets] indicate the player has retired from professional golf; {squiggle brackets} indicate the player is no longer an LPGA member but still playing on another tour; *=includes non-member win; **=includes 3 non-member wins.]

1994-1996: The Sorenstam Generation

[1. Annika Sorenstam (1994) $22.57M (#1), 72/10]
2. Karrie Webb (1996) $16.30M (#2), 38*/7
3. Lorie Kane (1996) $6.80M (#16), 4/0
4. Pat Hurst (1995) $6.74M (#17), 6/1
5. Catriona Matthew (1995) $6.42M (#19), 3/1
6. Wendy Ward (1996) $4.80M (#38), 4/0
{7. Carin Koch (1995) $4.43M (#41), 2/0}

The race between Kane, Hurst, and Matthew continues to tighten up. Koch is living in Sweden and playing exclusively on the LET, so unless she does well in future Women's British Opens and Evian Masters--or moves back to the States--she will fall further behind her peers from here on out. A more interesting question is whether Webb will be able to catch Sorenstam!

1997-1999: The Pak Generation

1. Cristie Kerr (1997) $12.78M (#5), 14/2
2. Se Ri Pak (1998) $11.11M (#6), 25/5
3. Mi Hyun Kim (1999) $8.49M (#10), 8/0
[4. Rachel Hetherington (1997) $5.73M (#26), 8/0]
5. Sophie Gustafson (1998) $5.69M (#28), 5/0
6. Maria Hjorth (1998) $5.63M (#30), 5/0
7. Laura Diaz (1999) $5.10M (#35), 2/0
8. Karen Stupples (1999) $3.47M (#54), 2/1

Even though Kerr's passed Pak on the career money list, she'll have to join her in the Hall of Fame to have her name on the generation, too. With Hetherington retired, the Gustafson-Hjorth-Diaz race takes on added urgency.

2000-2002: Seoul Sisters

1. Jeong Jang (2000) $6.44M (#18), 2/1
2. Hee-Won Han (2001) $6.37M (#20), 6/0
3. Angela Stanford (2001) $5.85M (#22), 4/0
4. Grace Park (2000) $5.38M (#33), 6/1
5. Candie Kung (2002) $4.83M (#36), 4/0
6. Natalie Gulbis (2002) $4.23M (#42), 1/0
{7. Gloria Park (2000) $3.28M (#62), 2/0}

Jang continues to hold off Han, while Stanford has passed Grace Park and Kung is closing on her. With Jang taking the year off (marriage and pregnancy) and Han slumping, will Stanford become the top player of this generation? The "other Park" is on the KLPGA in 2011.

2003-2005: The Ochoa Generation

[1. Lorena Ochoa (2003) $14.86M (#3), 27/2]
2. Paula Creamer (2005) $8.20M (#12), 9/1
3. Suzann Pettersen (2003) $7.45M (#14), 7/1
4. Christina Kim (2003) $3.98M (#45), 2/0
5. Brittany Lincicome (2005) $3.78M (#50), 4/1
6. Stacy Prammanasudh (2003) $3.25M (#64), 2/0
7. Meena Lee (2005) $3.12M (#66), 2/0
8. Katherine Hull (2004) $2.91M (#73), 2/0
9. Shi Hyun Ahn (2004) $2.61M (#80), 1*/0
{10. Young Kim (2003) $2.36M (#89), 1/0}
11. Lindsey Wright (2004) $2.16M (#98), 0/0

With Lorena looking less and less likely to ever come back to the LPGA, the only real question is how close Creamer and Pettersen can come to matching her career. The race between the 3 mid-level Americans and between the 2 Australians and 3 Koreans below them will be of interest, as well, but Young Kim will need to rejoin the LPGA to participate in it. She's in her 2nd season in a row on the JLPGA and seems to be liking it, so I don't expect her to rejoin the race anytime soon.

2006-2008: Young Guns

1. Ya Ni Tseng (2008), $5.53M (#31), 7/3
2. Ai Miyazato (2006), $4.82M (#37), 6/0
3. Na Yeon Choi (2008), $4.70M (#39), 4/0
4. In-Kyung Kim (2007), $4.04M (#44), 3/0
5. Seon Hwa Lee (2006), $3.98M (#46), 4/0
6. Morgan Pressel (2006), $3.80M (#49), 2/1
7. Song-Hee Kim (2007), $3.36M (#57), 0/0
8. Jee Young Lee (2006), $3.29M (#61), 1*/0
9. Inbee Park (2007), $2.67M (#78), 1/1
10. Brittany Lang (2006), $2.52M (#82), 0/0
11. Sun Young Yoo (2006), $2.48M (#85), 1/0
12. Julieta Granada (2006), $2.32M (#93), 1/0
13. Eun-Hee Ji (2007), $2.30M (#94), 2/1
[14. Angela Park (2007), $2.12M (#100), 0/0]
15. Kristy McPherson (2007), $1.77M (#115), 0/0
16. Ji Young Oh (2007), $1.49M (#125), 2/0
17. Hee Young Park (2008), $1.49M (#127), 0/0
18. Kyeong Bae (2006), $1.33M (#142), 0/0
19. Amy Yang (2008), $1.24M (#152), 0/0
20. Meaghan Francella (2006), $1.13M (#167), 1/0
21. Teresa Lu (2006), $1.13M (#168), 0/0
22. Momoko Ueda (2008), $1.11M (#170), 1*/0
23. Jane Park (2007), $.99M (#189), 0/0
24. Shanshan Feng (2008), $.93M (#201), 0/0

Looks to me like the Young Guns have come of age--and take it from me, they're just beginning to hit their stride!

2009-2011: New Blood

1. Ji-Yai Shin (2009), $3.97M (#47), 8**/1*
2. Michelle Wie (2009), $2.07M (#103), 2/0
3. Anna Nordqvist (2009), $1.40M (#137), 2/1
4. Stacy Lewis (2009), $1.24M (#153), 1/1
5. Mika Miyazato (2009), $1.01M (#187), 0/0
6. M.J. Hur (2009), $.87M (#213), 1/0
7. Vicky Hurst (2009), $.75M (#230), 0/0
8. Azahara Munoz (2010), #.43M (#295), 0/0
9. Beatriz Recari (2010), $.32M (#337), 1/0
10. Haeji Kang (2009), $.31M (#335), 0/0
11. Amanda Blumenherst (2010), $.30M (#340), 0/0
12. Gwladys Nocera (2010), $.30M (#343), 0/0
13. Mindy Kim (2009), $.24M ($373), 0/0
14. Chella Choi (2009), $.24M (#377), 0/0
15. Hee Kyung Seo (2011), $.14M (#447), 1*/0
16. Shiho Oyama (2009), $.13M (#465), 0/0
17. Mina Harigae (2010), $.12M (#478), 0/0
18. Mariajo Uribe (2010), $.11M (#491), 0/0
19. Maria Hernandez (2010), $.10M (#500), 0/0

Obviously with this generation, it's really too soon to tell who's going to have a great LPGA career. I can't wait to see who among the newbies in the Class of '11 makes this list by the end of the year. Not to mention whether Pernilla Lindberg, Pornanong Phatlum, Dewi Claire Schreefel, and Jeehae Lee from earlier classes in this generation will be able to take advantage of their full status on tour this season via Q-School--as well as Mina Harigae, who didn't need to go to it, and Paola Moreno, who got partial status out of it. So far only Harigae and Hernandez have cracked the $100K barrier (and Hernandez only by rounding up!).