The Best to Join the LPGA Since 2005, July 2014 Edition

With all due respect to the JLPGA's Nichi-Iko Ladies, the LET's ISPS Handa Ladies European Masters, and the KLPGA's Kumho Tire Women's Open, I'm going to take advantage of the LPGA's off-week before the Ricoh Women's British Open to take another look at how the best players to join the LPGA since 2005 stack up against each other, career-wise, something I just did in June before the U.S. Women's Open.  For the full rundown, check out my spreadsheet.  The first number in brackets following each active player's name and point total represents how many points they have gained or lost since my last ranking; the 2nd, how many they have gained or lost in 2014.

Simply the Best

1. Ya Ni Tseng (3759) [-31] [-165]

The Contenders

2. Ji-Yai Shin (3376)
3. Stacy Lewis (3158) [+183] [+456]
4. Lydia Ko (3146) [+126] [n/a]
5. Inbee Park (2827) [-16] [+102]

6. Na Yeon Choi (2724) [+2] [-100]

7. Paula Creamer (2717) [-2] [+22]

The Next Best

8. So Yeon Ryu (2346) [+51] [-118]
9. Lexi Thompson (2185) [+6] [+343]
10. Ai Miyazato (2117) [-14] [-101]
11. Michelle Wie (1926) [+319] [+569]

Quantum Leap Candidates

12. In-Kyung Kim (1694) [-5] [-65]
13. Anna Nordqvist (1678) [-18] [+231]

14. Shanshan Feng (1635) [-7] [+12]

15. Brittany Lincicome (1449) [+3] [-38]

16. Morgan Pressel (1317) [-6] [-38]
17. Amy Yang (1254) [+25] [+15]
18. Azahara Munoz (1245) [-11] [+64]
19. Song-Hee Kim (1226)
20. Lizette Salas (1215) [-33] [+246]

21. Seon Hwa Lee (1173) [-4] [-51]
T22. Jessica Korda (1170) [-25] [+308]
T22. Hee Kyung Seo (1170) [+/-0][-89]

24. Mika Miyazato (1148) [-15] [-79]
25. Angela Park (1114)
26. Hee Young Park (1085) [+5] [-103]
27. Beatriz Recari (1072) [-12] [-92]

28. Eun-Hee Ji (1032) [-4] [-15]

29. Sun Young Yoo (1028) [-6] [-37]

The Best of the Rest

30. Jee Young Lee (969) [-7] [-39]
31. Caroline Hedwall (913) [-16] [-84]

32. Brittany Lang (909) [-3] [-28]
33. Meena Lee (879) [+23] [+28]

34. Chella Choi (874) [+21] [+92]
T35. Jenny Shin (770) [+33] [+132]
T35. Julieta Granada (770) [+9] [+16]

37. Momoko Ueda (765)
38. Gerina Piller (753) [-10] [+61]
39. Sandra Gal (725) [-1] [-5]
40. Jennifer Johnson (704) [-1] [+16]
41. Pornanong Phatlum (694) [+38] [+90]
42. Ilhee Lee (642) [-9] [-84]
43. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (624) [-13] [-39]
44. Ji Young Oh (589) [-1] [-23]
45. Teresa Lu (585)
46. Kristy McPherson (576) [-2] [-28]
47. Mi Jung Hur (566) [+4] [-31]

48. Carlota Ciganda (564) [-20] [-204]

49. Haeji Kang (552) [-5] [+4]

50. Caroline Masson (531) [-1] [+1]

So here are the golfers performing the most better thus far this season than their career averages would lead you to expect:

• Michelle Wie +41.9%
• Jessica Korda +35.7%
• Lizette Salas +25.4%
• Jenny Shin +20.7%
• Lexi Thompson +18.6%
• Stacy Lewis +16.9%
• Anna Nordqvist +16.0%
• Pornanong Phatlum +14.9%
• Chella Choi +11.8%
• Gerina Piller +8.8%
• Azahara Munoz +5.4%
• Inbee Park +3.7%
• Meena Lee +3.3%

And here are those performing the most worse:

• Carlota Ciganda -26.6%
• Ilhee Lee -11.6%
• Hee Young Park -8.7%
• Caroline Hedwall -8.4%
• Beatriz Recari -7.9%
• Hee Kyung Seo -7.1%
• Mika Miyazato -6.4%
• Jodi Ewart Shadoff -5.9%
• Mi Jung Hur -5.2%
• So Yeon Ryu -4.8%
• Ai Miyazato -4.6%
• Kristy McPherson -4.6%
• Ya Ni Tseng -4.2%
• Seon Hwa Lee -4.2%
• Jee Young Lee -3.9%
• Ji Young Oh -3.8%
• In-Kyung Kim -3.7%
• Na Yeon Choi -3.5%
• Sun Young Yoo -3.5%

To clarify the difference between these lists and those Tony Jesselli just did in his most recent surprises and disappointments post, my system isn't about absolute expectations (say, how high we might have expected a player to finish on the year-end money list, Player of the Year ranking, or Race to the CME Globe), but relative expectations (how well we'd expect them to perform this year based on their past performances).  

I set out my absolute expectations back in January, so you can see that my top disappointments thus far this season would be Ai Miyazato, Caroline Hedwall, Beatriz Recari, Carlota Ciganda, Mika Miyazato, Na Yeon Choi, In-Kyung Kim, Hee Young Park, and Sun Young Yoo (given Suzann Pettersen's injury and Hee Kyung Seo's pregnancy, it's not fair to put them on this list), while my biggest surprises would be Michelle Wie, Jessica Korda, Lizette Salas, Karrie Webb, Pornanong Phatlum, Anna Nordqvist, Cristie Kerr, Gerina Piller, and Meena Lee.

Given the greater potential volatility for those players with fewer starts as LPGA members (say, Ciganda, Hedwall, Ryu, Ewart Shadoff, Lee, and Seo on the down side and Salas, Thompson, Korda, Shin, and Phatlum on the up side), I would have to say that the most impressive improvements thus far this season on their own past performances have been made by Wie, Lewis, and Nordqvist, while those falling the furthest beneath the expectations their past performances have established are The Rocket, Recari, and Mikan.  True, Ai-sama's season has been going from mediocre to bad to worse, but not only has she built herself a big cushion with those 9 wins, she's also gone through slumps before.  I admit things aren't looking good for her heading into what used to be her best major (until she missed the cut in it the last 3 years in a row!), but I maintain that she just needs to find something on the greens to end this slump.

Next up, I'm going to take a closer look at how Michelle Wie's U.S. Open victory has affected her ranking among those to perform the best in LPGA majors since 2000.  Then I'll be in position to update my ranking of the best on the LPGA without a major next week and set up my picks for the WBO.