Congratulations to Karrie Webb and Chella Choi!

The top 2 finishers in the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open each have a career milestone to celebrate:  Karrie Webb earned LPGA victory #40 and Chella Choi broke the $2M barrier in career winnings on the LPGA.  Congratulations to them both!

Jenny Shin pulled narrowly ahead of Gerina Piller in their race to the $1M mark, as each nabbed top 10s yesterday.

Look for Sun Young Yoo to cross the $4M rubicon soon and for Beatriz Recari to join Choi in the $2M Club before too long.  Lexi Thompson will have to bounce back quickly from her missed cut to beat Recari to membership.

Meanwhile, only 12 points separate Stacy Lewis, Inbee Park, and Paula Creamer in my career ranking spreadsheet.

Let's see how they all do in Thailand this week!

Merry QSMS from Mostly Harmless!

QSMS is of course how onechan first tried to spell Christmas.  Speaking of which, we don't celebrate it in this Jewish-Buddhist-not-very-religious Constructivist household--and imoto doesn't like it.  So she hung up one of her socks by the fireplace and tried to stay up for Santa as long as she could.  I was glad for the company while I was up grading (she was paging through some Simpsons comic books I took out from the local library until they put her right to sleep, but before that we had a fun discussion on whether Santa is real).

Ah, I should call it a night so I'm fresh for Mongolian buffet for dinner tonight!  Hope your Christmas is going to be as awesome as ours....

Sophie Gustafson and Amanda Blumenherst Stepping Away from LPGA

As Brent Kelley and Geoff Shackelford have been picking up on Randall Mell's reporting that Amanda Blumenherst and Sophie Gustafson are stepping away from competitive golf, it looks like it's official that the LPGA will have to do without 2 of its most respected and popular players.  At the same time, neither has been playing good golf for some time now.  Except for a pair of T5s early in 2012 and a T13 at the ShopRite, Blumenherst's performances the last year and a half have been nothing to write home about, leading to her falling to #9 in my latest ranking of the Class of 2010.  Gustafson, a 5-time winner on the LPGA, has dropped off the map the last calendar year, falling to #12 in my last ranking of 3-to-6-time winners on tour.

Looking at my last update of the LPGA's top rivalries, I wonder how long it will be before Cristie Kerr and Se Ri Pak are the only golfers from their "generation" to be competing on the LPGA.  Blumenherst is the 3rd player from her rookie class to definitively step away from competitive golf, following Whitney Wade and Jane Chin (who are now coaching).  Unfortunately, their departures are a normal fact of life on the LPGA.  Players reach their mid-20s and reassess their prospects; players reach their late 30s and reassess their priorities.  For every big-name player who makes headlines when she steps away from the spotlight (Annika, Lorena, Grace Park, Mi Hyun Kim), a handful of lesser-known players decide their golf is never going to swing the spotlight toward them.

So as we mourn Gustafson's and Blumenherst's decisions and wish them well in their future endeavors, let's extend the same courtesy to all the unsung players who have tried to make a living and make history on the links.

[Update 1 (9/2/13, 1:41 am):  Whoops, turns out Gustafson will be playing full-time on the LET next season and isn't ruling out a return to the LPGA; neither is Blumenherst, but with her husband in the majors and a baby in the works, we're talking about an extended time away from the LPGA, as well.]

Suntory Ladies Set-Up: 23-Year-Old Kumiko Kaneda Looks for 2nd Career JLPGA Victory

At -8, Kumiko Kaneda leads the Suntory Ladies after 54 holes on the strength of a bogey-free 69 today that leapfrogged her 1 shot ahead of Esther Lee (72) and 2 shots ahead of 19-year-old Mamiko Higa (73) and kept her 2 shots ahead of  living legend Yuri Fudoh (68) and Yumiko Yoshida (whose 66 matched Sun-Ju Ahn's from the 1st round and Rikako Morita's from the 2nd round as 2nd-best scores of the week thus far after Misuzu Narita's opening 64).  Former and current money list leaders are only 3 shots off the pace, as Ahn (71) and Morita (72) played solidly, while Sakura Yokomine made a bid to get into contention with a bogey-free 67 that left her 5 shots behind Kaneda.

Other notables lost ground on the leader, including Ji-Hee Lee (72, -3), Ritsuko Ryu (74, -2), Narita (who shot her 2nd-straight 75 to fall back to -2 for the week), 2nd-round co-leader Akane Iijima (78, -1), Shinobu Moromizato (71, -1), Miki Saiki (69, E), Shiho Oyama (73, E), Soo-Yun Kang (71, +1), Yuko Mitsuka (72, +1), Mi-Jeong Jeon (75, +2), last week's winner Junko Omote (75, +2), Tamie Durdin (75, +3), Young Kim (73, +4), and Simin Feng (73, +4).  But at least they're playing on the weekend, unlike Harukyo Nomura, Na-Ri Kim, Erina Hara, Li-Ying Ye, and Onnarin Sattayabanphot, who all missed the cut, or Teresa Lu, who WDed during the 2nd round with abdominal pain.

Still, the winner will most likely come from the group of 8 golfers within 3 shots of the lead who are playing together tomorrow in the final 3 threesomes.  It'll be interesting to see if Fudoh can continue the JLPGA veterans' winning streak, Kaneda or Higa can strike a blow for the youngsters, Ahn or Lee can put Korea back on the map, Yoshida or Kaori Nakamura can pull off a surprise win, Morita can extend her money-list lead, or Yokomine can go super-low and steal the title from everyone else!

Resort Trust Ladies Sunday: 19-Year-Old Mamiko Higa Wins for the 2nd Time in 2013

19-year-old Mamiko Higa won the Resort Trust Ladies today by a shot over Mayu Hattori and 2 shots over money-list leader Rikako Morita, but she had to dig deep on the back 9 to get her 2nd career victory on the JLPGA.  Just like her 1st win at this year's Yamaha Ladies, Higa played well when it mattered the most.  She started the day at -7 and stayed there for most of the front 9 while a host of big names were making serious runs at her.  Yuko Mitsuka birdied 4 of her 1st 5 holes and 5 of her 1st 8 to get to -6, while Yukari Baba birdied 5 of her 1st 6 holes to join her.  Meanwhile, Hattori and Morita each birdied 3 of their 1st 5 holes to climb to -7.  And playing partner Phoebe Yao, a 20-year-old from Taiwan, birdied the 6th hole to catch Higa at -7, as well.

But then the tide started turning and all the leaders started struggling.  Mitsuka bogeyed the 9th, Baba bogeyed the 7th and 8th.  Morita bogeyed the 7th and 9th.  Yao bogeyed the last 3 holes on the front in a row, just as Megumi Kido, another youngster playing in the final group, had bogeyed 3 of 4 holes mid-way through the front.  Higa herself bogeyed the 9th.  All of a sudden Hattori, who bogeyed the 6th but birdied the 7th had the lead at -7.

Then Sakura Yokomine jumped into the fray, following up her 2 birdies on the front with a couple more on 10 and 11 to get to -6.  Even Junko Omoto (birdie on 9 to get to -5) and Maiko Wakabayashi (birdie on 10 to get to -5) got themselves in the mix.

But not for long.  Higa responded to her mistake on 9 with a birdie on 10, the 2nd time that day she bounced back from a bogey on a par 4 with a birdie on the following par 5.  She followed it up with a birdie on the short par-4 12th--the only player who finished in the top 10 to accomplish that feat.  But the 25-year-old Hattori, who was looking for her 5th career JLPGA win, wasn't backing down from 3 groups ahead of Higa's.  She birdied the 375-yard par-4 15th to join Higa at -8.  What had started out as a free-for-all was now a long-distance shootout between a pair of rising stars.

Neither would blink, either.  Hattori parred the long par-4 16th, as Higa parred the medium-length par-5 13th.  Hattori parred the 160-yard par-3 17th, as Higa parred the 173-yard par-3 14th.  But as Hattori was parring the medium-length par-4 18th, Higa got a birdie of her own on 15 to take a slim 1-shot lead into the home stretch.  And she parred out to secure the win.

With Morita rallying on the back to take solo 3rd at -6, 8 players tying for 4th at -5, and #2 Miki Saiki falling back in the pack with a closing 74, the money-list leader extended her lead this week.

1. Rikako Morita ￥63.63M
2. Miki Saiki ￥54.15M
3. Sakura Yokomine ￥42.48M
4. Hiromi Mogi ￥34.83M
5. Mamiko Higa ￥34.11M
6. Mi-Jeong Jeon ￥33.58M
7. Onnarin Sattayabanphot ￥32.14M
8. Natsuka Hori ￥30.80M
9. Yuki Ichinose ￥25.26M
10. Ritsuko Ryu ￥23.15M
11. Maiko Wakabayashi ￥21.96M
12. Yukari Baba ￥21.81M
13. Teresa Lu ￥20.02M
14. Na-Ri Kim ￥17.56M
15. Shiho Oyama ￥17.16M
16. Kumiko Kaneda ￥16.84M
17. Mayu Hattori ￥16.79M
18. Junko Omote ￥16.41M
19. Miki Sakai ￥16.13M
20. Erika Kikuchi ￥14.88M
21. Yumiko Yoshida ￥14.23M
22. Rui Kitada ￥14.02M
23. Megumi Kido ￥13.86M
24. Soo-Yun Kang ￥13.27M
25. Na-Ri Lee ￥13.25M
26. Harukyo Nomura ￥12.63M
27. Yuki Sakurai ￥12.53M
28. Phoebe Yao ￥12.52M
29. Erina Hara ￥12.01M
30. Bo-Mee Lee ￥11.45M
31. Sun-Ju Ahn ￥11.44M
32. Ji-Woo Lee ￥11.18M
33. Esther Lee ￥11.15M
34. Da-Ye Na ￥10.72M
35. Kaori Ohe ￥10.72M

So Higa's win knocks Mi-Jeong Jeon (who started this week well but had to WD) out of the top 5, making it an all-Japanese top 5 on the JLPGA money list for the 1st time in my memory.  Instead of camping out in the top 20 of the money list as in previous years, the top Koreans on tour for the most part find themselves on the outside, looking in.  Let's see if this year's trend of a generational struggle replacing Korean dominance continues in the Yonex Ladies next week.  Higa's rise has come too quickly for her to be featured on the field list, but rest assured she is in the field.  Jeon has won here in 2009 and 2010, while Hiromi Mogi did so in 2011.  Last year's winner Shanshan Feng will be defending a different title, the Wegmans LPGA Championship, in my neck of the woods.  I plan to head out to Pittsford on Tuesday and Thursday and next weekend to cover the LPGA's 2nd major in person, but will try to give the Yonex Ladies a little bit of my attention, as well!

Resort Trust Ladies Set-Up: The Kids Are Alright

KLPGA superstar Bo-Mee Lee shared the 1st-round lead with Maiko Wakabayashi at the Resort Trust Ladies on the strength of a 7-birdie 66, but after birdieing her 1st hole today she fell apart with 2 doubles and 2 bogeys over her final 13 holes, dropping all the way to -1 and opening the door for a pair of young Japanese rising stars.  Walking right through it were 19-year-old Okinawa native Mamiko Higa and 23-year-old Megumi Kido, who fired a bogey-free 67 and 68, respectively, to take the lead at -7.

20-year-old Taiwan native Phoebe Yao got into the act, as well, bouncing back from back-to-back bogeys to start her round with 6 birdies over her last 14 holes to move to -6 for the week.  Wakabayashi, meanwhile, bogeyed 15, 16, and 17 to fall back to -5, where she was caught by 2 veterans, recent money-list leader Miki Saiki and Yayoi Arasaki.  Current money-list leader Rikako Morita bounced back from a bad opening round with a 7-birdie 66 of her own that brought her to -4 with fellow youngsters Mayu Hattori and Yuki Ichinose, along with mid-career types like Yumiko Yoshida, Megumi Shimokawa, and Mihoko Iseri, as well as veteran Junko Omote.

With Mi-Jeong Jeon withdrawing, Harukyo Nomura and Tamie Durdin missing the cut, Ji-Hee Lee barely making it at +2, Shinobu Moromizato doing hardly any better at +1, and Yuko Mitsuka, Ritsuko Ryu, and Yukari Baba tied with Lee at -1, the only name players with a chance to charge into contention tomorrow are Sakura Yokomine, Hyun-Ju Shin, Akane Iijima, and Erina Hara at -2 and youngsters Erika Kikuchi, Miki Sakai, and Satsuki Oshiro (whose best career finish on the JLPGA came here in 2011) at -3.

Higa and Kido each have 1 JLPGA victory to her name, but haven't been consistently near the top of the leaderboard this season, so it'll be interesting to see how they handle being paired with Yao tomorrow--and how all 3 young guns deal with having Morita chasing them from 2 groups ahead and Saiki from the group right before them!

Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies Open Set-Up: Rikako Morita-Shiho Oyama Showdown in the Works

Tomorrow's final round of the Chukyo TV Bridgestone Ladies Open is a microcosm of the 2013 JLPGA season.  Whereas in the recent past Korean golfers were either dominating the tour (Sun-Ju Ahn) or regularly in the running (Mi-Jeong Jeon, Ji-Hee Lee, Bo-Mee Lee, Inbee Park), this year has been characterized by a clash between older and younger generations of Japanese golfers.

Through 2 rounds in Aichi, 23-year-old Rikako Morita (67-67, -10) leads Shiho Oyama, who turns 36 today, by 2 shots, with only 1 other player, 23-year-old Shiho Toyonaga, within 5 shots of the lead.  Oyama gave herself quite the birthday present today by birdieing her last 3 holes in a row and 4 of her last 6 holes, making up for a slow start that saw her fall 4 shots behind Morita in the 1st 8 holes.  Whether Morita will get her 2nd win of the season and 4th of her career or Oyama will make her 13th career victory her 1st in 2 seasons is a great story.

But the generation gaps go lower down the leaderboard as well.  Natsuka Hori (-4), Miki Sakai (-3), and Da-Ye Na (-3) are representing the youngsters, while Sakura Yokomine (-3), Momoko Ueda (-3), Miki Saiki (-3), and Mihoko Iseri (-3), not to mention Mi-Jeong Jeon (-3) and Ji-Hee Lee (-2), have all achieved veteran status.  At -1, Harukyo Nomura takes on Yuri Fudoh, Yuko Mitsuka (who got to -6 early in her round but couldn't keep it going), Akane Iijima, Yukari Baba, and Na-Ri Kim.

Can't wait to see who prevails and whether generation rather than nation will continue to be the major fault line on the JLPGA.

The LPGA's Top Rivalries: Generation Gaps, Revisited

Now that the 2011 LPGA season is over, 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), the overlapping Ochoa Era (2003-2009), and the overlapping Tseng Dynasty (2008-present).  Thanks to Mike Scanlan for sending me the excel file of the complete career money list; hopefully LPGA.com will return to including it instead of limiting it to a top 50 that excludes many of the biggest young stars on tour!

[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) $16.52M (#2), 38*/7
3. Catriona Matthew (1995) $6.93M (#16), 4/1
4. Pat Hurst (1995) $6.89M (#17), 6/1
5. Lorie Kane (1996) $6.84M (#18), 4/0
6. Wendy Ward (1996) $4.91M (#39), 4/0
{7. Carin Koch (1995) $4.43M (#43), 2/0}

Matthew and Hurst both passed Kane in the 2nd half of the season.  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 (in winnings, not wins)!

1997-1999: The Pak Generation

1. Cristie Kerr (1997) $13.53M (#4), 14/2
2. Se Ri Pak (1998) $11.39M (#6), 25/5
3. Mi Hyun Kim (1999) $8.62M (#11), 8/0
4. Sophie Gustafson (1998) $6.00M (#24), 5/0
5. Maria Hjorth (1998) $5.96M (#25), 5/0
[6. Rachel Hetherington (1997) $5.73M (#29), 8/0]
7. Laura Diaz (1999) $5.11M (#37), 2/0
8. Karen Stupples (1999) $3.83M (#50), 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, although given the way Diaz has been playing lately, she'll need a real turnaround to catch even Hetherington.

2000-2002: Seoul Sisters

1. Hee-Won Han (2001) $6.59M (#20), 6/0
2. Angela Stanford (2001) $6.52M (#21), 4/0
3. Jeong Jang (2000) $6.44M (#22), 2/1
4. Grace Park (2000) $5.43M (#35), 6/1
5. Candie Kung (2002) $5.06M (#38), 4/0
6. Natalie Gulbis (2002) $4.32M (#45), 1/0
{7. Gloria Park (2000) $3.28M (#64), 2/0}

With Jang taking the year off (marriage and pregnancy) and Han only playing so-so golf as a relatively new mom, herself, it looks like Stanford is on track to 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) $8.78M (#9), 9/1
3. Suzann Pettersen (2003) $8.19M (#13), 8/1
4. Brittany Lincicome (2005) $4.43M (#42), 5/1
5. Christina Kim (2003) $4.06M (#48), 2/0
6. Meena Lee (2005) $3.51M (#57), 2/0
7. Stacy Prammanasudh (2003) $3.32M (#60), 2/0
8. Katherine Hull (2004) $3.00M (#70), 2/0
9. Shi Hyun Ahn (2004) $2.65M (#82), 1*/0
{10. Young Kim (2003) $2.36M (#92), 1/0}
11. Lindsey Wright (2004) $2.22M (#100), 0/0
12. Jimin Kang (2003) $2.11M (#104), 2/0

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 finished her 2nd season in a row on the JLPGA and seems to be liking it, so I don't expect her to return to the LPGA anytime soon.

2006-2008: The Tseng Dynasty

1. Ya Ni Tseng (2008) $7.54M (#15), 12/5
2. Ai Miyazato (2006) $5.71M (#31), 7/0
3. Na Yeon Choi (2008) $5.67M (#32), 5/0
4. In-Kyung Kim (2007) $4.56M (#40), 3/0
5. Morgan Pressel (2006) $4.39M (#44), 2/1
6. Seon Hwa Lee (2006) $4.01M (#49), 4/0
7. Song-Hee Kim (2007) $3.65M (#54), 0/0
8. Jee Young Lee (2006) $3.31M (#62), 1*/0
9. Brittany Lang (2006) $3.12M (#67), 0/0
10. Inbee Park (2007) $2.99M (#72), 1/1
11. Sun Young Yoo (2006) $2.80M (#76), 1/0
12. Eun-Hee Ji (2007) $2.45M (#87), 2/1
13. Julieta Granada (2006) $2.40M (#90), 1/0
14. Hee Young Park (2008) $2.32M (#96), 1/0
[15. Angela Park (2007) $2.12M (#103), 0/0]
16. Amy Yang (2008) $2.04M (#108), 0/0
17. Kristy McPherson (2007) $1.88M (#117), 0/0
18. Ji Young Oh (2007) $1.49M (#131), 2/0
19. Momoko Ueda (2008) $1.40M (#141), 2*/0
20. Kyeong Bae (2006) $1.40M (#142), 0/0
21. Shanshan Feng (2008) $1.24M (#160), 0/0
22. Sandra Gal (2008) $1.21M (#163), 1/0
23. Meaghan Francella (2006) $1.16M (#169), 1/0
{24. Teresa Lu (2006) $1.13M (#173), 0/0}
25. Jane Park (2007) $1.01M (#191), 0/0
26. Katie Futcher (2006) $1.00M (#192), 0/0

Time to retire the Young Guns moniker for this generation; not only have they come of age, but Tseng has imprinted her name on it!

2009-2011: New Blood

1. Ji-Yai Shin (2009) $4.31M (#46), 8**/1*
2. Michelle Wie (2009) $2.43M (#89), 2/0
3. Stacy Lewis (2009) $2.22M (#99), 1/1
4. Anna Nordqvist (2009) $1.90M (#115), 2/1
5. Mika Miyazato (2009) $1.49M (#133), 0/0
6. Azahara Munoz (2010) $.92M (#205), 0/0
7. Vicky Hurst (2009) $.92M (#208), 0/0
8. M.J. Hur (2009) $.90M (#213), 1/0
9. Hee Kyung Seo (2011) $.73M (#238), 1*/0
10. Chella Choi (2009) $.53M (#274), 0/0
11. Beatriz Recari (2010) $.49M (#288), 1/0
12. Gwladys Nocera (2010) $.48M (#290), 0/0
13. Mindy Kim (2009) $.42M ($301), 0/0
14. Amanda Blumenherst (2010) $.42M (#302), 0/0
15. Haeji Kang (2009) $.39M (#310), 0/0
16. Mina Harigae (2010) $.27M (#364), 0/0
17. Tiffany Joh (2011) $.24M (#383), 0/0
18. Ryann O'Toole (2011) $.19M (#410), 0/0
19. Mariajo Uribe (2010) $.17M (#429), 0/0
20. Christel Boeljon (2011) $.17M (#430), 0/0
21. Pornanong Phatlum (2009) $.17M (#436), 0/0
22. Jenny Shin (2011) $.16M (#441), 0/0
{23. Shiho Oyama (2009) $.14M (#459), 0/0}
24. Dewi Claire Schreefel (2010) $.14M (#466), 0/0
25. Cindy LaCrosse (2010) $.14M (#469), 0/0
26. Jennifer Johnson (2011) $.13M (#474), 0/0
27. Alison Walshe (2010) $.13M (#476), 0/0
28. Caroline Hedwall (2011) $.13M (#477), 0/0
29. Ilhee Lee (2010), $.12M (#484), 0/0
30. Maria Hernandez (2010) $.11M (#502), 0/0
31. Belen Mozo (2011) $.10M (#505), 0/0
32. Gerina Piller (2010) $.10M (#510), 0/0

Obviously with this generation, it's really too soon to tell who's going to have a great LPGA career. I'm erring on the side of inclusiveness by putting everuone over $100K in career winnings in this generation on this list.  As we get further into their careers, I'll slowly start raising the bar, until by 2014 they'll need to have broken the $1M barrier to stay on the list.  I'd be very impressed if as many of them did it as in the previous generation!

2012-2014: Generation Prodigy

To be determined!