Super Soph Top 20: October 2007 Edition

With only the Mizuno Classic, the Tournament of Champions, and the ADT Championship left to play, it's time to update my May, June, July, August, and September Super Soph rankings. The main purpose of these rankings remains to determine who among the Rookie Class of 2006 has had the best career to date, with consistency and improvement the key criteria. Feel free to disagree in comments!

Top Super Sophs

1. Seon Hwa Lee: Holds onto her #1 ranking for the second (and what should be the third) time in a row.
2. Morgan Pressel: Has a chance to pass the $1M mark on the season if she can recover from her late-season slump in her last two tournaments.
3. Jee Young Lee: Back from her injury, looking to join the $1M club, and due for her first win soon--maybe even this year.

Certified Super Sophs

4. Ai Miyazato: Showing some signs of life after revealing that she's been struggling with a nagging injury since her runner-up finish at the HSBC, but no longer close to the top 3. [Update 11/3/07: Here's hoping her friend Louise Stahle does well in Q-School, because there are no big names from the JLPGA in the field for yet another year.]
5. Julieta Granada: Needs a late charge over the next two weeks to sneak her way into the tournament she won last year and salvage a disappointing 2007.
6. Brittany Lang: Looking to improve on her best finish since the Canadian Women's Open in Thailand (T11) at the Mizuno Classic this week and build some positive momentum for 2008.
7. Kyeong Bae: Has shown she can make cuts--she's on pace to pass Granada in cut rate soon--and if she continues to show improvement in GIR is bound to win in 2008 on the LPGA.
8. Meaghan Francella: Holding on to one of the last two spots for the ADT Championship by her fingernails; has a chance for a great finish to the year if she plays well at the Tournament of Champions and ADT.

Super Sophs in Waiting

9. Hye Jung Choi: Won in Korea, but not enough to move her up this LPGA ranking. Still most likely to succeed of this group.
10. Linda Wessberg: Next-most-likely to succeed. Like Bae, can win in 2008 if she starts hitting more greens.
11. Sun Young Yoo: A late charge has helped salvage her 2007, but needs to do more than make cuts if she wants to move up the ranking.
12. Teresa Lu: Can extend her lead on Sjodin with a good finish in Japan.
13. Karin Sjodin: Looking to end her late-season slump in Japan.


Super Potential

14. Katie Futcher: Looks like it's back to Q-School to try to improve on her non-exempt status for 2008. [Update 11/3/07: Surprise, surprise! Futcher is not in the final field at Q-School.]
15. Nina Reis: Gave it the old college try on the LPGA for two years, but as a fully exempt player in 2008 on the LET likely to play there full-time and reduce her LPGA schedule to Zorzi-like proportions. [Update 11/3/07: Shows what I know: Reis is in the Q-School final field.]
16. Minea Blomqvist: In the same boat as Futcher. Did not try for Q-School on the LET, so putting all her eggs in the LPGA basket for 2008. [Update 11/3/07: Yet not playing in Q-School. Curious.]
17. Kim Hall: Exempt for 2008. Goes to show that one tournament can make your season, no matter how few cuts you make.
18. Virada Nirapathpongporn: Played better at the end of the season, but still in the same boat as Futcher and Blomqvist. [Update 11/3/07: And unlike them, she's actually going to Q-School.]
19. Veronica Zorzi: Full-time LET player content with non-exempt LPGA status, it appears, as she can make cuts but can't seem to crack the top 50 here.
20. Na Ri Kim: In the same boat as Nirapathpongporn, except for the playing better at the end of the season part. Is she KLPGA-bound in 2008? [Update 11/3/07: I guess a lot depends on her Q-School results.]

For your reference--and mine--are the stats on which I'm basing the October ranking.

2007 LPGA Money List (rank), stroke average (compared to last year's), birdies per round average (compared to last year's), greens in regulation (compared to last year's): I'm going to focus on four key indicators of how well someone is playing this season--how much money they've made, how they're scoring, how many birdies they're averaging per round, and average greens in regulation per round. (I figure I can figure out how well they're hitting their irons and putting by comparing the last three figures, so I won't include putts per green in regulation here. And by comparing this year's and last's results on those same three figures, I can see who's improving and who's backsliding.) Some of the figures Hound Dog thinks are most important I'm looking at in the career stats (below), where I think they belong. These stats are all about the present and future.

1. Seon Hwa Lee, $1.06M (#6), 71.60 (+.30), 3.10 (-.36), 66.4% (-1.4%)
2. Morgan Pressel, $.95M (#9), 71.26 (-.25), 3.46 (-.15), 67.7% (-3.3%)
3. Jee Young Lee, $.93M (#10), 71.62 (+.16), 3.45 (-.44), 68.2% (+.1%)
4. Ai Miyazato, $.77M (#16), 72.92 (+1.70), 2.93 (-.79), 57.5% (-10.8%)
5. Meaghan Francella, $.49M (#27), 72.94 (-.81), 2.73 (?), 63.9% (?)
6. Julieta Granada, $.40M (#33), 72.87 (+1.54), 2.59 (-.61), 61.3% (-6.7%)
7. Brittany Lang, $.33M (#37), 73.16 (+1.81), 2.73 (-1.15), 64.3% (-5.1%)
8. Kyeong Bae, $.31M (#39), 72.84 (+.51), 3.31 (+.27), 59.8% (-7.7%)
9. Hye Jung Choi, $.27M (#46), 73.20 (+.30), 2.66 (?), 61.3% (?)
10. Karin Sjodin, $.18M (#61), 73.72 (+.91), 2.72 (-.77), 62.0% (-6.1%)
11. Teresa Lu, $.17M (#63), 72.90 (+.01), 2.87 (-.04), 65.0% (-1.7%)
12. Linda Wessberg, $.17M (#64), 72.93 (-4.57), 3.10 (?), 54.1% (?)
13. Kim Hall, $.13M (#74), 73.84 (+.10), 2.40 (-.12), 57.8% (-7.5%)
14. Sun Young Yoo, $.13M (#75), 73.03 (+.50), 2.65 (-.31), 63.6% (-5.4%)
15. Minea Blomqvist, $.09M (#93), 73.96 (+.92), 2.64 (-.03), 57.2% (-3.4%)
16. Katie Futcher, $.08M (#95), 74.04 (+1.21), 2.50 (-.46), 61.1% (-6.7%)
17. Nina Reis, $.05M (#118), 73.84 (+.93), 2.77 (+/-.00), 59.5% (-6.5%)
18. Na Ri Kim, $.04M (#122), 74.15 (-2.80), 2.46 (?), 62.0% (?)
19. Virada Nirapathpongporn, $.04M (#123), 73.48 (+.04), 2.82 (+.45), 61.1% (-1.2%)
20. Ashley Hoagland, $.03M (#136), 73.78 (+.90), 2.11 (?), 57.5% (?)

Career LPGA Money List (rank), LPGA Majors/Wins/Top 3s/Top 10s/Made Cuts Rate (and totals): About the only thing these stats are useful for is comparing people who entered the LPGA in the same year. Between inflation, changing purses, and length/timing of careers, it's very hard to compare and contrast winnings across generations of LPGA greats. Fortunately the Super Sophs have been at this for barely two years, so the career money list is a decent stat for comparing their short careers, even if it's a bit unfair to people who were not exempt in either or both years. What would really be great is if we had a world money list in inflation-adjusted dollars, with inflation- and exchange-adjusted other cash denominations added in (or just totalled up separately to avoid comparing dollars and yen), which included all each golfer earned as a professional on any tour. But even the guys don't have that, so that'll have to remain a dream for now. I include these other ways of seeing how the Super Sophs finished relative to their competition in the tournaments they entered because they reveal a lot about how well someone is able to compete at every level, from just making cuts to getting top 10s, top 3s, and victories. So here's how they stand:

1. Julieta Granada, $2.03M (#78), 0/1/5/10/.759 (41/54)
2. Seon Hwa Lee, $1.98M (#80), 0/2/6/14/.963 (52/54)
3. Jee Young Lee, $1.51M (#104), 0/0/4/15/.957 (44/46)
4. Morgan Pressel, $1.41M (#112), 1/1/4/17/.915 (43/47)
5. Ai Miyazato, $1.30M (#119), 0/0/4/13/.814 (35/43)
6. Brittany Lang, $.87M (#179), 0/0/2/9/.673 (35/52)
7. Kyeong Bae, $.59M (#226), 0/0/2/6/.745 (35/47)
8. Meaghan Francella $.49M (#243), 0/1/1/4/.654 (17/26)
9. Sun Young Yoo, $.36M (#275), 0/0/0/2/.729 (35/48)
10. Karin Sjodin, $.31M (#296), 0/0/0/3/.643 (27/42)
11. Hye Jung Choi, $.28M (#311), 0/0/0/2/.654 (17/26)
12. Teresa Lu, $.25M (#331), 0/0/0/2/.625 (25/40)
13. Katie Futcher, $.20M (#351), 0/0/0/3/.600 (24/40)
14. Nina Reis, $.19M (#356), 0/0/0/2/.591 (26/44)
15. Virada Nirapathpongporn, $.19M (#361), 0/0/0/1/.513 (20/39)
16. Linda Wessberg, $.17M (#376), 0/0/0/3/.643 (9/14)
17. Minea Blomqvist, $.16M (#381), 0/0/0/0/.563 (18/32)
18. Kim Hall, $.16M (#383), 0/0/0/1/.387 (12/31)
19. Veronica Zorzi, $.09M (#450), 0/0/0/0/.813 (13/16)
20. Na Ri Kim, $.05M (#501), 0/0/0/0/.375 (9/24)

Other Career Measures: Rolex Ranking (as of 10/29/07) and rank, Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index (as of 10/28/07) and rank, International (as of the end of the 2006 season) and Non-Member LPGA Wins: This is a way of seeing how those Super Sophs who sometimes or regularly or always compete on other tours stack up over the course of their careers to date (the RR includes results over the past 104 weeks on the LPGA, LET, JLPGA, KLPGA, and Futures Tour; the GSPI includes results over the past 52 weeks on all these tours except the KLPGA).

1. Morgan Pressel, 5.78 (#10), 70.60 (#9), 0
2. Jee Young Lee, 5.29 (#13), 70.37 (#7), 2
3. Ai Miyazato, 4.93 (#16), 71.93 (#40), 14
4. Seon Hwa Lee, 4.75 (#18), 70.81 (#20), 3
5. Julieta Granada, 3.19 (#38), 72.54 (#63), 0
6. Meaghan Francella, 2.29 (#50), 72.36 (#57), 0
7. Brittany Lang, 2.24 (#51), 73.15 (#84), 0
8. Linda Wessberg, 1.86 (#67), 72.21 (#46), 5
9. Kyeong Bae, 1.51 (#82), 72.39 (#58), 3
10. Hye Jung Choi, 1.25 (#101), 73.00 (#78), 0
11. Karin Sjodin, 1.07 (#119), 73.38 (#105), 1
12. Teresa Lu, 1.01 (#129), 73.31 (#99), 0
13. Sun Young Yoo, .96 (#135), 72.49 (#61), 0
14. Veronica Zorzi, .92 (#138), 73.82 (#141), 2
15. Minea Blomqvist, .79 (#161), 73.86 (#144), 5
16. Kim Hall, .75 (#168), 74.23 (#179), 0
17. Nina Reis, .58 (#212), 74.06 (#166), 5
18. Virada Nirapathpongporn, .53 (#226), 74.20 (#174), 0
19. Katie Futcher, .49 (#237), 73.99 (#158), 0
20. Na Ri Kim, .20 (#373), 74.74 (#225), 0

Pond Scum Tuesday

With a reminder to get the old homestead ready for the winter:

Tuesday Notes

Even though Shigeki Maruyama didn't win yesterday, his second-place finish guaranteed him his 2008 PGA card and vaulted him past Ai Miyazato in season earnings. Congratulations, Shigeki! I still hope Ai-chan regains her lead, though.

In other golf news, LPGA.com has a tournament preview and final field out for the Mizuno Classic, even if they still haven't bothered to link to the official tournament site from the JLPGA. I guess they've been too busy updating their stats or something. The new LPGA money list and Rolex Rankings are out, and by both measures, the LPGA component of the field in Japan is pretty weak, with #4 Mi Hyun Kim, #7 Jeong Jang, #8 Angela Park, and #10 Jee Young Lee the only representatives from the top 10 on the former and #2 Karrie Webb the only one from the latter. So this tournament represents a real opportunity for JLPGA stars like Rolex #17 Shiho Oyama, #19 Sakura Yokomine, #20 Mi-Jeong Jeon, #21 Momoko Ueda, #22 Yuri Fudoh, #32 Na Zhang, #39 Miki Saiki, #43 Miho Koga, #44 Hyun-Ju Shin, #45 Shinobu Moromizato, and #48 Akane Iijima to test their games not only against the slumping (but still #16) Miyazato but also against closely-ranked LPGA and LET standouts like #26 Sophie Gustafson and #31 Maria Hjorth.

Gustafson, by the way, looks like she'll be the last regular qualifier for the ADT Championship, knocking out KLPGA star and LPGA rookie Eun-Hee Ji with a finish this week--provided, that is, that she stays ahead of Catriona Matthew on the second-half money list, not to mention those in the Mizuno Classic field a bit further behind her like Amy Hung, Brittany Lang, Joo Mi Kim, Reilley Rankin, and Alena Sharp. Matthew and Kim are eligible to play in the Tournament of Champions next week, so Gustafson needs a strong finish this week to pad her lead on them in particular. If she can do it, it looks to me like Meaghan Francella and Matthew will round out the 32-player field, unless rookies In-Kyung Kim or Inbee Park and/or defending champion Julieta Granada can pass one or both of them on the season money list with a great finish this week in Japan (and, for Granada, in the TOC as well).

So there is one last regular-season head-to-head battle of the Super Sophs shaping up between Francella and Granada over the next two weeks, with the latter spotting the former almost a $100K lead over the course of the season to date. (I won't be rooting for both of them to make it, however, as that would mean rooting against new mom Matthew.) Once that race is settled, the TOC and ADT will feature another battle among the Super Sophs, this time for the season money lead, as Seon Hwa Lee, Morgan Pressel, and Jee Young Lee are neck-and-neck (even though only Seon Hwa so far has broken the $1M barrier).

It's not that I'm looking past the Mizuno Classic, it's just that I'm dreading the Mostly Harmless jinx will strike Ai-chan on her home turf this weekend.

Graffiti Monday

Mizuno Classic Official Website Not That Hard to Find

Seriously, the link to the official Mizuno Classic website is right there on the JLPGA schedule. Even if your Japanese is as bad as mine, it's not too hard to find out about the course as well as who from the LPGA and JLPGA are competing in the climax of the Asian Swing. So why does none of this information appear on the LPGA.com tournament site?