Lexi Thompson and Shanshan Feng Shooting Up LPGA Career Rankings

It's fitting that on Columbus Day a sizeable percentage of the planet is discovering 2 new galaxy-class stars in the universe of women's professional golf.

Lexi Thompson, who soundly thrashed the best female golfers on the planet yesterday in Kuala Lumpur for her 1st victory as an LPGA member and 2nd on tour in the last 3 seasons, has risen into the top 10 in my ranking of the players who began their LPGA careers from 2005 to 2013.  Having raised her winning percentage to 4.55%, Thompson finds her way into the winner's circle at a faster rate than all but 6 other golfers in that group--Ji-Yai Shin, Ya Ni Tseng, Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park, Ai Miyazato, and Na Yeon Choi--while only 2 others (Paula Creamer and Na Yeon Choi) win at a rate of 4% or better.  That's pretty good company!

Shanshan Feng, after beating Stacy Lewis with a walkoff eagle in the 1st-ever LPGA event in mainland China a couple of Sundays ago, finished 2nd to Thompson yesterday.  As a result, she smashed through the $3M mark in career winnings and leaped into the #13 spot in my rankings, one spot ahead of Morgan Pressel and one behind Anna Nordqvist.

I explain my ranking system in my "Best of the Tseng Dynasty" post, but in a nutshell each major is worth 100 points, each win is worth 40 points, each percentage point in winning rate is worth 32 points, each in top-3 rate is worth 16, each in top-10 rate is worth 8, each in top-20 rate is worth 4, and each in finish rate (no MC, DQ, or WD) is worth 1, while each $100 of winnings per start and finish is worth 1 point, as well.

Here's the top 50--compare it to where they stood about 2 months ago!

Simply the Best

1. Ya Ni Tseng (3960)

The Contenders

2. Ji-Yai Shin (3402)

3. Na Yeon Choi (2859)

4. Paula Creamer (2731)

5. Inbee Park (2729)

6. Stacy Lewis (2681)

7. So Yeon Ryu (2510)

The Next Best

8. Ai Miyazato (2244)

9. In-Kyung Kim (1776)

10. Lexi Thompson (1671)

Quantum Leap Candidates

11. Brittany Lincicome (1497)
12. Anna Nordqvist (1452)

13. Shanshan Feng (1404)

14. Morgan Pressel (1367)

15. Michelle Wie (1331)

16. Mika Miyazato (1248)

17. Song-Hee Kim (1226)

18. Seon Hwa Lee (1224)

19. Hee Young Park (1206)

20. Hee Kyung Seo (1193)

21. Beatriz Recari (1179)

22. Azahara Munoz (1130)

23. Amy Yang (1102)

24. Sun Young Yoo (1044)

25. Eun-Hee Ji (1036)

26. Jee Young Lee (1017)

The Best of the Rest

27. Lizette Salas (985)

28. Brittany Lang (948)

29. Caroline Hedwall (907)

30. Jessica Korda (896)

31. Meena Lee (857)

32. Carlota Ciganda (799)

33. Momoko Ueda (765)

34. Julieta Granada (760)

35. Chella Choi (735)

36. Ilhee Lee (730)

37. Sandra Gal (718)

38. Caroline Masson (696)

39. Jennifer Johnson (679)

40. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (672)

T41. Chie Arimura, Jenny Shin (650)

43. Gerina Piller (624)

44. Ayako Uehara (615)

45. Ji Young Oh (614)

46. Kristy McPherson (607)

47. Mi Jung Hur (584)

48. Haeji Kang (545)

49. Pornanong Phatlum (527)

50. Vicky Hurst (525)