Golf5 Ladies Sunday: Li-Ying Ye Gets 1st JLPGA Win

Even though Talas was downgraded to a tropical depression by the time it made landfall in Japan, it still dumped a lot of rain and caused at least 15 deaths.  While it didn't shut down the Golf5 Ladies tournament in Gifu, it did make scoring difficult, as Megumi Kido's 71 was the low round--and only under-par round--of the day.  Many golfers left with their hopes drenched, including Miki Saiki, who was hoping to move to the top of the JLPGA money list with a win but instead shot a 76, and 39-year-old Naoko Oshitani, who had to settle for a career-best finish in a JLPGA event of 9th when she, too, stumbled to a 76.  Saiki's fall probably hurt worse, as she was tied for the lead through 10 holes  at -6, but perhaps Hiromi Takesue's--which was caused by 3 bogeys in her last 4 holes--was the most painful collapse of the day, as Takesue was still -6 on the 15th tee whereas Saiki had already doubled the 11th and bogeyed the 14th by that time.

So who were the beneficiaries of these late collapses?  Li-Ying Ye and Ritsuko Ryu got front-row seats to Saiki's and Na-Ri Kim to Takesue's and Oshitani's, and it was this trio of golfers who ended up battling it out down the stretch.  Ryu, who was going for her 2nd win on the JLPGA in as many weeks, started the day tied for the lead with Ye, Saiki, and Takesue at -6, but quickly fell behind with 2 bogeys in her 1st 5 holes.  Still, after birdieing the 388-yard par-4 6th, she found herself tied at -5 with Ye and Kim, as Ye was actually +1 over her 1st 8 birdie-less holes, while Kim matched Ryu's bogey on the 524-yard par-5 2nd but bounced back with a birdie on 178-yard par-3 4th.  From the 7th hole on, Ryu would par out, finishing with a 73 that only 5 other golfers would match and 4 would beat.  But it wouldn't be enough.  Ye birdied the 386-yard par-4 9th just as Kim did the same in the group ahead of her on the 471-yard par-5 10th to take the dual lead at -6 (Saiki bogeyed 9 to drop to -5 at this point and her birdie on 10 to join them would be the last good thing she did on the course today).  They briefly gave the lead to Takesue when 1st Kim and then Ye bogeyed the 396-yard par-4 14th in turn, but as Takesue was collapsing they held strong.  In the end, Ye's birdie on the 508-yard par-5 16th made the difference, as she played the last 4 holes in -1 while Kim and Ryu could only manage to par out.  The win was the 1st of Ye's JLPGA career and best finish since taking 2nd at the 2009 Suntory Ladies Open.

Here are the final results:

1st/-6  Li-Ying Ye (68-70-72)
T2/-5 Na-Ri Kim (66-73-72), Ritsuko Ryu (69-69-73)
T4/-3 Junko Omote (71-70-72), Mi-Jeong Jeon (70-70-73), Hiromi Takesue (67-71-75)
T7/-2 Saiki Fujita (70-71-73), Miki Saiki (67-71-76)
9th/-1 Naoko Oshitani (68-71-76)
T10/E Megumi Kido (75-70-71), Eun-A Lim (72-70-74), Maiko Wakabayashi (72-70-74), Rikako Morita (68-74-74)

T14/+1 Esther Lee (72-72-73), Hiromi Mogi (74-69-74)
T18/+2 Erika Kikuchi (71-72-75), So-Hee Kim (71-71-76), Yuki Ichinose (70-72-76), Miki Sakai (68-74-76), Nikki Campbell (71-70-77), Shanshan Feng (69-71-78)
T26/+3 Akane Iijima (72-74-73), Kumiko Kaneda (71-72-76), Miki Uehara (69-74-76), Young Kim (68-74-77), Bo-Bae Song (69-72-78)
T33/+4 Shinobu Moromizato (73-72-75), Mayu Hattori (69-75-76)
T36/+5 Akiko Fukushima (77-69-75), Mika Takushima (71-75-75), Sakura Yokomine (70-76-75), Onnarin Sattayabanphot (73-71-77)
49th/+11  Maria Iida (73-72-82)
T51/+14 Sakurako Mori (69-77-84)

Having moved her up from #48 to #21 (right behind countrywoman Shanshan Feng) on the JLPGA money list, Ye's win gives her the best chance of finishing in its top 35 for the 1st time in her career.  Ryu, Omote, and Kim also made big moves up the money list today.

1. Sun-Ju Ahn ￥70.99M
2. Chie Arimura ￥62.02M
3. Miki Saiki ￥59.03M
4. Ji-Hee Lee ￥56.51M
5. Sakura Yokomine ￥52.58M
6. Yuri Fudoh ￥36.32M
7. Ritsuko Ryu ￥35.08M
8. Hiromi Mogi ￥30.34M
9. Rui Kitada ￥29.18M
10. Ayako Uehara ￥27.57M
11. Junko Omote ￥24.89M
12. Inbee Park ￥24.33M
13. Kumiko Kaneda ￥24.20M
14. Mi-Jeong Jeon ￥24.16M
15. Na-Ri Kim ￥23.36M
16. Bo-Bae Song ￥23.34M
17. Yukari Baba ￥21.48M
18. Rikako Morita ￥20.74M
19. Mayu Hattori ￥19.78M
20. Shanshan Feng ￥19.50M
21. Li-Ying Ye ￥19.09M
22. Saiki Fujita ￥18.81M
23. Asako Fujimoto ￥18.16M
24. Akiko Fukushima ￥16.33M
25. Teresa Lu ￥16.12M
26. Ji-Woo Lee ￥15.54M
27. Bo-Mee Lee ￥15.44M
28. Eun-A Lim ￥15.09M
29. Shinobu Moromizato ￥14.75M
30. Hyun-Ju Shin ￥14.40M
31. Esther Lee ￥14.27M
32. Ah-Reum Hwang ￥13.97M
33. Momoko Ueda ￥13.77M
34. Na-Ri Lee ￥13.56M
35. Soo-Yun Kang ￥13.31M
36. Eun-Bi Jang ￥12.77M
37. Young Kim ￥12.77M
38. So-Hee Kim ￥12.49M
39. Shiho Oyama ￥12.38M
40. Ji-Yai Shin ￥11.91M
41. Akane Iijima ￥11.83M
42. Nikki Campbell ￥11.17M
43. Kaori Aoyama ￥11.13M
44. Yumiko Yoshida ￥11.07M
45. Miho Koga ￥10.67M
46. Mie Nakata ￥10.25M
47. Megumi Kido ￥9.89M
48. Yeo-Jin Kang ￥9.85M
49. Yuki Ichinose ￥8.75M
50. Hiromi Takesue ￥8.71M

Next week is the Konica Minolta Cup.  Momoko Ueda and Teresa Lu will join Shanshan Feng and Shiho Oyama as the only dual LPGA-JLPGA members to skip the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship for the JLPGA's 2nd major.  Both Ai and Mika Miyazato will be skipping the Navistar LPGA Classic the week after, however, to get ready for the Japan Women's Open, perhaps by playing in 1 or both of the intervening JLPGA events.  Unfortunately, the field lists for the Munsingwear Ladies Tokai Classic and the Miyagi TV Cup Dunlop Ladies Open haven't yet been released, so we'll just have to wait a bit to find out--not to mention see whether Ji-Yai Shin, Inbee Park, and Hee Young Park will join them after playing in Alabama.  Right now it's looking like Ji-Yai, Hee Young, and Shanshan will be playing in the Imperial Springs LPGA event instead of in the JWO.  But we should know for sure in a week or 2.

Golf5 Ladies Saturday: Can Ritsuko Ryu Make It 2 in a Row?

Last week, Ritsuko Ryu came from behind for her 1st career JLPGA victory. This week, her 2nd-straight 69 launched her into a tie for the lead at the Golf5 Ladies with Miki Saiki, Li-Ying Ye, and Hiromi Takesue. A 3-birdie run in a 4-hole stretch midway through the back that allowed her to close with a 34 (tied with many for best score on that side of the day) enabled Ryu to catch her co-leaders and pass 1st-round leader Na-Ri Kim, who stumbled with a couple of bogeys both early and late in her round but is still only 1 behind Ryu, just like the biggest dark horse in the entire field. Naoko Oshitani turns 40 in November but certainly isn't a JLPGA veteran, as she has made money on tour only in 2008 and 2010. Never having broken into the top 30 in a single start on the big tour and 0-for-1 in made cuts there this year, she recently graduated from the Step-Up Tour and will be facing off against the likes of Shanshan Feng and Mi-Jeong Jeon at -4 and Bo-Bae Song, Saiki Fujita, and Nikki Campbell at -3.

As I was looking over player bios among the leaders, I was expecting that Takesue, who won in her rookie year in 2003 and enjoyed her next-best year as a pro in 2010 but hadn't done anything positive this year until she finished in 6th the past 2 weeks in a row, or Ye, who joined the JLPGA in 2009 but has never improved on her silver medal at the Suntory Ladies Open from that year and has never cracked the top 35 on the money list--or perhaps Rie Murata, whose best career finish on tour (4th) came all the way back in 2002--would be the biggest underdogs heading into the final round. But Oshitani takes the cake. Let's see if she's eating it this time tomorrow! With Sun-Ju Ahn, Chie Arimura, and Yuri Fudoh sitting this one out and Sakura Yokomine and Akiko Fukushima barely making the cut--and with Jeon having trouble closing the deal throughout her great JLPGA career, Feng bogeying her last 2 holes in a row to make her 2nd career JLPGA win all that more difficult to attain, Ryu and Kim also looking for only their 2nd wins on tour, and Saiki playing great this year but only having 3 career JLPGA victories to her name--this may be the best opportunity in Oshitani's life to apply Marie Antoinette's dictum to herself.

Here are the players with the best shot of sending Oshitani to the figurative guillotine.  Can Ryu play executioner to the field for the 2nd week in a row?

T1/-6 Ritsuko Ryu (69-69), Li-Ying Ye (68-70), Miki Saiki (67-71), Hiromi Takesue (67-71)
T5/-5 Naoko Oshitani (68-71), Na-Ri Kim (66-73)
T7/-4 Mi-Jeong Jeon (70-70), Shanshan Feng (69-71)
T9/-3 Junko Omote (71-70), Nikki Campbell (71-70), Saiki Fujita (70-71), Bo-Bae Song (69-72), Rie Murata (69-72)

T14/-2 Eun-A Lim (72-70), Maiko Wakabayashi (72-70), So-Hee Kim (71-71), Yuki Ichinose (70-72), Young Kim (68-74), Rikako Morita (68-74), Miki Sakai (68-74)
T21/-1 Hiromi Mogi (74-69), Kumiko Kaneda (71-72), Erika Kikuchi (71-72), Miki Uehara (69-74)
T26/E Onnarin Sattayabanphot (73-71), Esther Lee (72-72), Mayu Hattori (69-75)
T34/+1 Megumi Kido (75-70), Shinobu Moromizato (73-72), Maria Iida (73-72)
T42/+2 Akiko Fukushima (77-69), Akane Iijima (72-74), Mika Takushima (71-75), Sakura Yokomine (70-76), Sakurako Mori (69-77)

MC: Kaori Ohe (75-72), Yukari Baba (74-73), Ayako Uehara (74-73), Na-Ri Lee (73-74), Rui Kitada (72-75), Miho Koga (71-76), Yun-Jye Wei (76-72), Yuko Mitsuka (75-73), Tao-Li Yang (73-75), Asako Fujimoto (75-74), Erina Hara (78-74), Yuki Sakurai (75-79), Lala Anai (74-80), Erina Yamato (80-76), Aiko Ueno (77-80)

Sure, with 25 players within 5 shots of the lead, virtually anything can happen tomorrow. But wouldn't it be cool if Ryu got her 2nd win in a row or Oshitani came out of nowhere for her 1st?

LPGA 2011 Rookie Report Card - Part 2

Three months have passed since I last did a report card on this year's rookies.

I would like to change this up a bit this time, by strictly rating these girls on their chances of retaining LPGA cards for the 2012 season. Any successes or failures on other tours are not considered here. My only concern here is, are they safe for the upcoming season, or will they have to go back to qualifying school?

For those of you who might need some information on how the LPGA "Priority List" works, here is a brief explanation:

If you finish in the top 80 on the 2011 money list, that will be your priority rating for 2012. In other words, if a player finishes #45 on the money list this year, she will be #45 on the priority list next year. That also means she will be eligible for all tournaments, since even limited fields have more than 45 players.

It starts to get real tricky after that, as players finishing 81-100 on the money list and 1-20 in 2011 qualifying school, then alternate onto the priority list. The top 5 players from the Futures Tour get ranked higher than this group.

If you finish outside the top 100 on the money list, your priority ranking will be so poor that you will not get into many events, or even lose your card. Many of these players will choose to go back to qualifying school to try to improve their ranking or even choose to play on another tour.

The above is a general explanation, as trying to list all the categories on the priority list is too time-consuming and potentially confusing. This link will go into more detail.

I have broken down the rookies into 5 categories, based on their chances of retaining cards, and/or a chance at a good priority rating, for next year.

Very Secure

Hee Kyung Seo - Has made over a half million dollars this year which ranks her #16 on the money list. Her 2nd-place finish at the U.S. Open, and 3 other top 20 finishes, has her leading the rookie of the year race and has secured her card for next year.

Ryann O'Toole - A huge surprise. She has missed only 2 of 8 cuts this year. Her top-10 finishes at the U.S. Open and the Safeway Classic has catapulted her to #37 on the money list. A Solheim Cup pick, she is secure for next year.

Caroline Hedwall - Has only played in 3 LPGA tournaments this year, but has made the best of her limited opportunities. Not missing a cut, she is #54 on the money list and we will be seeing much more of her next year.

Looking Very Good

Tiffany Joh - A strong second half, including last week's twelfth-place finish at the CN Open, has her #57 on the money list. She has made 6 of 8 cuts and is very close to clinching a spot for next year.

Jenny Shin - Her 6th-place finish last week at the CN Open turned around her entire season. Going from oblivion to #60 on the money list, it is a good bet we will be seeing her next year.

Christel Boeljon - She has played mostly in Europe this year, as her first priority was to make the Solheim Cup team. That accomplished, she will be playing the LPGA tour the rest of the year. Christel has only missed 2 of 8 cuts and has moved up to #74 on the money list. Already a solid player, retaining her LPGA card looks like a good bet.

Jennifer Song - Not playing quite as well as one would have expected. That said, she has made 7 of 12 cuts and is #76 on the money list. I'm looking for better things from her in the future.

On the Borderline

Jessica Korda - She has struggled mightily this year. Playing in 12 tournaments, she has made only 5 cuts. If that wasn't bad enough, 2 of the cuts she made were from sponsor's exemptions, where the money earned does not count on the money list. As a result, she is currently #92. Many think she is a future star; I think she better step it up soon.

Stephanie Sherlock - Has made just 4 of 10 cuts, but has a top-20 finish. Currently #94 on the money list, her fate has yet to be determined.

Not Looking Good

Haru Nomura - She has missed 5 of 9 cuts and sits at #102. Has the game to improve her ranking, but she better do it quickly.

Amelia Lewis - Her poor priority ranking has limited her to only 6 events this year. Currently #105 on the money list, she needs to take advantage of her opportunities or go back to qualifying school.

Danah Bordner - Has only made 4 of 10 cuts. At #108 on the money list, her chances are dwindling down to a precious few more events.

Belen Mozo - Her priority list ranking has gotten her plenty of opportunities to play. Too bad she hasn't taken advantage of them. She has made only 4 of 11 cuts, and her #116 money list ranking means she is in big trouble.

Dori Carter and Jennie Lee - Both have made only 3 of 8 cuts this year. Currently #133 and #130 respectively, it's now or never.

Looking Dismal

Sara Brown - This is as bad as it gets. Sara has missed the cut in all 8 tournaments she has played in.

Kimberly Kim, Allison Whitaker, and Shasta Averyhardt - Each has missed the cut in all 5 tournaments they have played in.

Jodi Ewart and Stephanie Kim - Only playing in one tournament apiece because of a terrible priority rating, they may not get any more chances to play. Stephanie has played 13 events on the Futures Tour and Jodi 12, but neither has played well there, either.


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Golf5 Ladies Friday: Na-Ri Kim Birdies Last 3 in a Row for 1-Shot Lead

Na-Ri Kim, a member of the LPGA's rookie class of 2006 but since last year a full-time JLPGAer, birdied her last 3 holes in a row to get to -6 and take a 1-shot lead on Miki Saiki and Hiromi Takesue into the 2nd round of the Golf5 Ladies. Defending champion Akane Iijima could only manage an even-par 72, but with Young Kim and Rikako Morita only 2 back, Shanshan Feng, Bo-Bae Song, and Ritsuko Ryu 3 behind, and Sakura Yokomine and Mi-Jeong Jeon within 4 of the lead, Kim has her work cut out for her if she wants to earn her 2nd career JLPGA victory this weekend.

Here's how the leaders and notables stand:

1st/-6 Na-Ri Kim (66)
T2/-5 Miki Saiki, Hiromi Takesue (67)
T4/-4 Young Kim, Rikako Morita, Li-Ying Ye, Miki Sakai, Naoko Oshitani (68)
T9/-3 Shanshan Feng, Bo-Bae Song, Ritsuko Ryu, Mayu Hattori, Nachiyo Ohtani, Sakurako Mori, Miki Uehara, Rie Murata, Chiharu Tsunekawa (69)

T18/-2 Sakura Yokomine, Mi-Jeong Jeon, Saiki Fujita, Yuki Ichinose (70)
T23/-1 Miho Koga, Kumiko Kaneda, Junko Omote, Nikki Campbell, So-Hee Kim, Mika Takushima, Erika Kikuchi (71)
T36/E Akane Iijima, Rui Kitada, Eun-A Lim, Esther Lee, Maiko Wakabayashi (72)
T46/+1 Shinobu Moromizato, Na-Ri Lee, Onnarin Sattayabanphot, Maria Iida, Tao-Li Yang (73)
T63/+2 Yukari Baba, Ayako Uehara, Hiromi Mogi (74)
T73/+3 Yuko Mitsuka, Asako Fujimoto, Kaori Ohe, Megumi Kido, Yuki Sakurai (75)
T83/+4 Yun-Jye Wei (76)
T91/+5 Akiko Fukushima, Aiko Ueno (77)
T99/+6 Erina Hara (78)
101st/+7 Erina Yamato (79)
WD Mie Nakata, Jae-Hee Bae

Takesue, Feng, and Yeo-Jin Kang had the only bogey-free rounds of the day today. The 471-yard par-5 10th gave up the only eagles, to Morita and Fujita. I've got a good feeling about Hattori this week. She closed out her last event with a 67 and would have matched it today but for her bogey-bogey finish. Her scoring average is the lowest of her career and she's due for her 3rd career victory. Will it come this week?

Team Euro Looks Tough This Year for the Solheim Cup

Looking over the LET's rundown of Team Euro, I'm struck by how competitive the 2011 Solheim Cup ought to be this year. Using my admittedly-slightly-dated Best of the LPGA ranking from early last month, consider how the teams match up on paper and the likely contributions each team member is likely to make:

#2 Cristie Kerr vs. #3 Suzann Pettersen: Not only has Pettersen already beaten Kerr in a match-play final this year, but Kerr's been trying to groove some swing changes and has been wildly inconsistent by her incredibly high standards. Not to say there isn't time for her to build more confidence in her swing, but right now I'd say Team Euro has the edge here.

#6 Stacy Lewis vs. #15 Maria Hjorth: Yes, this is Stacy's 1st Solheim Cup and Hjorth has played brilliantly many times in the last year (winning about as much as anyone not named Tseng), but I have to give the edge to Lewis here, as her all-around game's more consistent than Hjorth's.

#7 Paula Creamer vs. #21 Anna Nordqvist: Of the 2 precision players, I'd day Creamer's a little closer to her best than Nordqvist right now, plus she has a lot more Solheim Cup experience.

#11 Angela Stanford vs. #22 Catriona Matthew: Wow, I'd love to see these 2 gritty competitors face off in a singles match! Stanford's been struggling to turn very good play into great play, while Matthew's also been knocking at the door lately. With both having relatively equal Solheim Cup experience, this one's too tough to call.

#12 Morgan Pressel vs. #23 Sandra Gal: Give Pressel the edge for her fire and experience, but watch out if Gal's putter gets hot Solheim Cup week.

#13 Brittany Lincicome vs. #28 Sophie Gustafson: Another singles match I'd love to see, as both bombers are capable of truly roller-coaster rounds. Edge to Lincicome, however, as she really seems to be maturing on the golf course of late.

#18 Michelle Wie vs. #31 Karen Stupples: Despite Team Euro Assistant Captain Annika Sorenstam's attempts to needle Wie in the run-up to the Solheim Cup--or maybe because of them--I see Wie coming to Killeen Castle with a massive chip on her shoulder and I see Team USA rallying around her. I pity anyone who tries to beat her. Stupples definitely deserves to be on Team Euro, but I can't imagine her contributing as much as Wie that week.

So, yeah, on paper and based on past performances (and more recent ones), I'd give Team USA the edge over Team Euro if it were a 7-player-per-team event. But the gap between them isn't as large as it's been in past years. And check out how evenly matched the next 5 are:

#24 Brittany Lang vs. #35 Azahara Munoz: Lang gets the edge because she seems to have emerged from the 2nd big slump of her pro career, but Munoz came in 2nd to Pettersen at the LET event at Killeen Castle this year and is also rebounding from a little bit of a sophomore jinx, so it's a very small edge we're talking about here.

#33 Juli Inkster vs. n.r. Laura Davies: Another must-see singles match. Fortunately for Team Euro, this year's Solheim Cup isn't being played on U.S. soil, which is like Kryptonite for Davies of late. Given Inkster's struggles of late and her duties as one of Team USA's assistant captains, this one is too tough to call.

#49 Ryann O'Toole vs. n.r. Melissa Reid: Who wouldn't want to watch a singles match between the "It" Girls of each tour? In one sense, the pressure's on O'Toole, who Rosie Jones picked over #29 Mindy Kim, #32 Katie Futcher, #43 Stacy Prammanasudh, #44 Paige Mackenzie, #47 Natalie Gulbis, and #48 Pat Hurst, but in another sense it's on Reid, who's the top LET qualifier and who wants to prove to herself she can compete against the best in the world. This one's too tough to call.

#54 Vicky Hurst vs. #50 Caroline Hedwall: Hurst leapfrogged a lot more possible captain's picks than Hedwall, who's ranked behind only Beatriz Recari in LPGA performance, but it was Hedwall's outstanding play on the LET in her rookie season this year that made her a lock for the team. Hurst will contribute a lot in doubles matches simply because of her length, but I have to give the edge to Team Euro here.

#63 Christina Kim vs. #65 Christel Boeljon: This is the worst Kim's ever played in a Solheim Cup year, but she's shown some signs of life lately while Boeljon's not taken the LPGA by storm, to say the least. But she has been steadier than Kim, who's probably going to contribute more on intangibles--mainly pumping up Wie--than with her actual play.

Thinking of who matches up well with each other on Team USA, I'd like to see Wie and Kim, and Creamer and Inkster, together at least once, but I'd also like to see how well Kerr and Pressel, Creamer and O'Toole, Wie and Stanford, Lewis and Lincicome, and Lang and Hurst play together, particularly in the alternate-shot format.

But I think Team Euro captain Alison Nicholas may have a little more flexibility when it comes to pairing up players than Team USA's Jones. I'd love to see her pair Pettersen with Nordqvist and Hedwall and Reid in turn, but keep veterans Hjorth and Gustafson, and Stupples and Davies, together at least once. I think Matthew has the reliability, intensity, and experience to help fellow LPGAers Munoz and Gal get accustomed to Solheim Cup pressure. And Davies could play the same role, particularly with Reid and Boeljon, whom she's played a lot with on the LET, provided she's bringing any kind of game to Ireland. But if need be, Nicholas could go young, as Nordqvist, Reid, Munoz, Hedwall, Gal, and Boeljon have plenty of experience despite their youth and have solid all-around games that could lead to a host of good pairings.

Where Jones has to be careful, even with Killeen Castle's generous fairways, is in keeping Wie and Lincicome apart (too much of a chance of their drivers getting them in trouble on the same hole in best-ball or in consecutive holes in alternate-shot), keeping Creamer and Pressel apart (they're giving up too much distance off the tee), keeping Kerr, Stanford, and Lang apart (they're too valuable as straight shooters to be paired togethere; their combination of distance and accuracy means they could pair up as well with bombers as with precision players), keeping the rookies apart (which means that Lewis can't really play the same kind of anchor role that Kerr, Creamer, Pressel, and Stanford should and O'Toole and Hurst may not be as reliable when it comes to bringing the power as Wie and Lincicome), and keeping Inkster, Hurst, and Kim apart (none of whom seem to be playing particularly well heading into the competition). That's a lot of red flags--something I just don't see Team Euro having to worry about.

I'm looking forward to seeing how Hound Dog (who's absolutely right that having 2 spots on the U.S. team decided by Rolex Rankings instead of Solheim Cup points is pretty meaningless), Brent Kelley (who's absolutely right that this is Team Euro's best chance for a win in a very long time), Tony Jesselli, bangkokbobby, and Ruthless Mike size up the teams and matches in the coming weeks. And I'd be even more excited if the JLPGA and KLPGA would synchronize their Pinx/Kyoraku Cup annual competition with the Solheim Cup by 2013 (in timing and format), so that the winning and losing teams from each could face off in 2014!

[Update 1 (5:20 pm): Here's Ward Clayton's take on LPGA.com.]