Q-School Saturday: Go Time!

The 4th-round pairings and Q-School leaderboard tell an interesting story: of the 49 golfers between E (T41) and +4 (T84), 31 are playing the Champions course and only 18 are playing the Legends. With that many people playing the course that has given up more rounds in the 60s, you can expect the cut line (currently at +2) to go down. So there's a lot of pressure on players like Jaclyn Sweeney (+4, T84), Sophia Sheridan (+3, T80), and Melissa Reid (+2, T67) to go low on a narrower course, just in case it goes all the way down to E. But even the 6 players on the right side of the bubble on the Legends--Sarah Kemp (-3, T20), Alison Walshe, Paola Moreno, Taylor Leon, Liz Janangelo, and Sarah Lynn Sargent (all -1, T31)--can't rest easy. They can't let the most important cut line--20th place--get too far out of reach. With 4 players already double digits under par and 14 at -5 or better, not to mention almost everyone already under par on the Champions course, I wouldn't be surprised to see those numbers swell to 8 and 24 by day's end. So the attitude of most people playing at all well this week has to be, put the pedal to the metal.

Right now I'd say that the best way to ensure you get an LPGA card worth anything is to try to get double digits under par by the 90th hole. That's why I don't expect to see the usual cut-line carnage today, with players wilting under the pressure of getting into the top 70 and ties (that's what tomorrow's hard top 20 is for!). What I expect to see is people leapfrogging each other with low scores. If you're not breaking 70 on the Champions course, you're probably moving backwards. We'll see if I'm right in less than 12 hours....

[Update 1 (11:12 pm): Well, here's how my top 20 fared:

1. Shiho Oyama 64-70-71-71 -12 4th (CLLC) yay!
2. Sun-Ju Ahn 78-68-WD (LCL) oh, man!
3. Miki Saiki 74-72-70-72 E T50 (LCCL) needs mid-60s or better tomorrow
4. Anna Nordqvist 74-71-73-69 -2 T35 (LCLC) needs her best round of the week to come tomorrow
5. Amy Yang 67-71-70-67 -13 3rd (CLLC) yay!!!
6. Michelle Wie 69-65-72-68 -14 2nd (LCLC) yay!!!
7. Stacy Lewis 69-66-71-67 -15 1st (CLLC) yay!!!
8. Melissa Reid 79-74-65-71 +1 T58 (LCCL) needs mid-60s or better tomorrow
9. Alison Walshe 79-72-64-70 -3 T29 (LCCL) time to go low again!
10. Mika Miyazato 66-74-72-68 -8 11th (CLLC) that's more like it!
11. Martina Eberl 80-68-73-69 +2 T61 (LCCL) needs mid-60s or better tomorrow
12. Dewi Claire Schreefel 74-70-74-74 +4 T9 (LCLC) oh, man!
13. Charlotte Mayorkas 75-67-66-69 -11 T5 (LCLC) wow!!!!
14. Anna Rawson 71-71-68-71 -7 T12 (CLLC) keep on keepin' on!
15. Tania Elosegui 79-66-71-69 -3 T29 (LCLC) all right, then!
16. Onnarin Sattayabanphot 70-74-75-73 +4 T79 (CLLC) oh, man!
17. Song Yi Choi 77-71-68-72 +2 T61 (LCCL) needs mid-60s or better tomorrow
18. Hannah Jun 74-70-78-68 +2 T61 (CLLC) needs mid-60s or better tomorrow
19. Carolina Llano 70-70-71-70 -7 T12 (LCLC) keep on keepin' on!
20. Pornanong Phatlum 75-69-72-71 -1 T44 (LCLC) time to go low tomorrow!

Not bad, but let's see how many strike-outs I pitched after 90 holes.]

[Update 2 (11:20 pm): Here are Hound Dog and Average Golfer.]

[Update 3 (11:21 pm): Here's LPGA.com.]

[Update 4 (11:30 pm): Here are the Golf Channel highlights.]

[Update 5 (11:33 pm): Eric Adelson is getting more meta as the week goes on. You gotta love it!]

[Update 6 (11:36 pm): Speaking of meta, do you get the feeling that maybe Ron Sirak is reading this blog?]

[Update 7 (11:39 pm): Nice of Beth Ann Baldry to profile some of my picks.]

[Update 8 (12/7/08, 10:18 am): Lisa Mickey does a nice little story on the 10 who made it on the dot into Sunday's play.]

Pinx Cup Saturday: Let It Snow, Let It Snow....

Here were the planned match-ups for the 1st-round of the Pinx Cup.

1 10:00 So Yeon Ryu vs. Yuko Mitsuka
2 10:09 Eun-Hee Ji vs. Yuri Fudoh
3 10:18 Jeong Jang vs. Ayako Uehara
4 10:27 Na Yeon Choi vs. Hiromi Mogi
5 10:36 Hyun Ju Shin vs. Miho Koga
6 10:45 Ji-Hee Lee vs. Shinobu Moromizato
7 10:54 Inbee Park vs. Erina Hara
8 11:03 Seon Hwa Lee vs. Sakura Yokomine
9 11:12 Ha-Neul Kim vs. Maiko Wakabayashi
10 11:21 Hee Kyung Seo vs. Akiko Fukushima
11 11:30 Mi-Jeong Jeon vs. Momoko Ueda
12 11:39 Ji-Yai Shin vs. Akane Iijima

These head-to-head stroke play showdowns, however, were delayed by...wait for it...snow! Read the Seoul Sisters.com thread and weep! I'd offer the Easiest Course in the World as a backup site, but it, too, is under a foot of snow. Here's hoping the planned Ji-Fudoh, Lee-Yokomine, Kim-Wakabayashi, and Jeon-Ueda showdowns eventually come to pass....

2008 Pinx Cup Preview

Wow, the Korean and Japanese teams are loaded for the 2008 Pinx Cup!

Even without Shiho Oyama, who's contending at the LPGA's Q-School this weekend, Team Japan is fielding the strongest squad in its history, including 5 of the top 10 players on the JLPGA in 2008:

#2 Sakura Yokomine
#3 Yuri Fudoh
#4 Miho Koga
#6 Momoko Ueda
#8 Akiko Fukushima
#11 Yuko Mitsuka
#15 Shinobu Moromizato
#16 Erina Hara
#17 Hiromi Mogi
#18 Ayako Uehara
#19 Akane Iijima
#28 Hiroko Yamaguchi
#29 Maiko Wakabayashi

Wonder why #20 Mayu Hattori wasn't given a shot over Yamaguchi, who stumbled badly at the end of the JLPGA's season. And where is #7 Ai Miyazato? Team Japan could certainly use her, given how strong Team Korea is, what with its highly-ranked LPGA stars joining the top KLPGA (minus Sun-Ju Ahn, who it appears just WDed from LPGA's Q-School) and JLPGA players this weekend:

[#3 LPGA]/#5 JLPGA Ji-Yai Shin
#8 LPGA Seon Hwa Lee
#9 LPGA Na Yeon Choi
#12 LPGA Jeong Jang
#13 LPGA Inbee Park
#14 LPGA Eun-Hee Ji
#15 LPGA Hee-Won Han
#1 JLPGA Ji-Hee Lee
#9 JLPGA Mi-Jeong Jeon
#12 JLPGA Hyun-Ju Shin
Hee Kyung Seo
Ha-Neul Kim
So-Yeon Ryu

The KLPGA site lists last year's results as a tie, but Japan definitely won in a playoff. Team Japan is much less of an underdog this year than last, but without Ai-chan I'd still say they are not the favorites, particularly with the event being played on Team Korea's home turf.

Probably the best place to follow the action is at Seoul Sisters.com. If the KLPGA can get their act together, they might have some live scoring on their site. Check it out if you want to be reminded that there's more to women's golf than Michelle Wie!

Q-School Friday: To the Leaders Go the Legends

The way the pairings have been reshuffled for the 3rd round of the LPGA's Q-School underscores what a huge advantage it is to have gotten off to a good start. The top 70 are playing the Legends course today, which means that those who make the Saturday cut will play the Champions course 2 days in a row. Even for those near the bottom of the top 70 who might struggle there today, I'd much rather be trying to make up ground on the Champions course than the Legends tomorrow. There's an even bigger advantage for those who started on the Champions course like Shiho Oyama, Stacy Lewis, Amy Yang, Mollie Fankhauser, and Mika Miyazato: they'll get to play the Legends course two days in a row. Good players playing well should be able to improve on their Thursday performance (although it's hard to imagine that even Lewis could top yesterday's 66!).

Of course, for those looking to make up ground after a bad 1st round and break into the top 70, it's not such a bad thing to get 2 rounds in a row on the Champions course. But that's a lot of pressure on people way down the leaderboard like Melissa Reid (+9, 9:21 am off the back) and Alison Walshe (+7, 8:48 am off the back), who will need a very good round today to put themselves in position to make the cut on Saturday, as well as a good round tomorrow to give themselves a chance at the top 20 on Sunday. On the other hand, players already inside the probable cut line like Song Yi Choi (+4, 8:59 am off the front), Martina Eberl (+4, 9:10 am off the front), and Miki Saiki (+2, 10:05 am off the front) have a great chance to get under par today and build some serious momentum heading into Saturday for their 2nd shot at the Legends course. Still, if I were JLPGAer Saiki, I'd be a little disappointed that I didn't get the same shot at the Legends course today that LETer Beatriz Recari (+2, 10:05 am off the back) and KLPGAer Sun-Ju Ahn (+2, 9:54 am off the back) got. But there are plenty of people at +2 who join her on the Champions course, among them hotshot amateurs Jaclyn Sweeney (in her group) and Paola Moreno (2 groups ahead of her) and LPGAers Liz Janangelo (in the group ahead of her), Tracy Hanson (in the group after her), and Jackie Gallagher-Smith (ditto).

In the end, of course, the only thing that matters is what you shoot. Everyone will get 2 shots at each course before everyone left plays the same course Sunday. But golf is a game of momentum. We'll soon see who goes with the flow and who makes it against the current.

I only have time for a post-round recap today, but follow the LPGA Insider as she follows the final pairing of Oyama, Wie, and Lewis.

[Update 1 (4:24 pm): Got unexpected lake effect snow all day here, so I'm heading off to pick up the girls from day care early. Just have time for a quick overview of how my predicted top 20 did today:

1. Shiho Oyama 64-70-71 (CLL) yay!!!
2. Sun-Ju Ahn 78-68-???? (LCL) did she just WD?!!!!
3. Miki Saiki 74-72-70 (LCC) moving in the right direction, at least
4. Anna Nordqvist 74-71-73 (LCL) at least she plays the Champions tomorrow
5. Amy Yang 67-71-70 (CLL) yay!!
6. Michelle Wie 69-65-72 (LCL) yay!!
7. Stacy Lewis 69-66-71 (CLL) yay!!
8. Melissa Reid 79-74-65 (LCC) wow!!!
9. Alison Walshe 79-72-64 (LCC) wow!!!!
10. Mika Miyazato 66-74-72 (CLL) ok...on to the Champions!
11. Martina Eberl 80-68-73 (LCC) uh-oh, she needs to get it done on the Legends now
12. Dewi Claire Schreefel 74-70-74 (LCL) needs to go low on the Champions tomorrow
13. Charlotte Mayorkas 75-67-66 (LCL) wow!!!
14. Anna Rawson 71-71-68 (CLL) well done!!
15. Tania Elosegui 79-66-71 (LCL) on to the Champions!
16. Onnarin Sattayabanphot 70-74-75 (CLL) needs to go low on the Champions tomorrow
17. Song Yi Choi 77-71-68 (LCC) keep it going!
18. Hannah Jun 74-70-78 (CLL) uh oh
19. Carolina Llano 70-70-71 (LCL) on to the Champions!
20. Pornanong Phatlum 75-69-72 (LCL) on to the Champions!

More later!]

[Update 2 (9:01 pm): Here are Hound Dog, Brent Kelley, and Average Golfer on the 3rd round. Plus, Bob Smiley got an exclusive interview with Michelle Wie! (Psych!)]

[Update 3 (12/6/08, 3:52 am): LPGA.com confirms that Ahn WDed before the round started.]

[Update 4 (4:34 am): Here are the Golf Channel highlights.]

[Update 5 (4:44 am): GC's Tom Abbott files a great report on Friday's final threesome.]

[Update 6 (4:52 am): Ron Sirak writes a half-decent 3rd-round preview, but misses the key fact that the leaders would be playing the Legends course. What will really tell if they have a mind to turn conservative is when they get to the Champions course later today.]

[Update 7 (4:55 am): Sirak gets the course right in his Day 3 story, but gets the new priority status system completely wrong, still using the old categories of exempt and non-exempt. It's almost as if he doesn't read this blog!]

[Update 8 (5:20 am): Dan Mirocha of Golfweek outdoes the LPGA Insider.]

[Update 9 (5:25 am): Eric Adelson comments on the Wie hoopla but also participates in the boring meme of Wie's "newfound maturity" and "ability to bounce back from mistakes," whereas the facts are, if anything, even more boring: she trusts her game now as she didn't before; she's hitting her irons well enough to give herself loads of birdie chances this week; and she has 2 shots at the easier Champions course still ahead of her. Given that she got off to a great start, there's no need to panic over a bad drive and a putting lapse.]

The Best off the LPGA: JLPGA's Finest, November 2008 Edition

Who were the best players on the JLPGA in 2008? This functionally illiterate expert will attempt to answer that question by combining the Rolex Rankings, the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, the final JLPGA money list, and Hound Dog's JLPGA ranking. Having picked Shiho Oyama and Miki Saiki to finish 1-3 in the LPGA's Q-School this week, I would suggest that anyone on this list could be a top 100 player on the LPGA--and that more than half could be top 50 or much better (3 of them already are).

Who's the new #1? Almost any of the top 10 could have got it this season, but I vote for...

1. Ji-Hee Lee: #2 2008 money (￥119.65M), #43 RR (2.60) [9], #19 GSPI (70.60) [2], #1 HD, #38 2007 money (￥23.4M). 1 major, 2 wins, 9 top 3s, 15 top 5s, and 21 top 10s in 27 starts is a fantastic season, particularly when you consider that Lee finished outside the top 20 only once after missing the cut in the 1st event of '08. She had the 2nd-lowest scoring average on tour and the lowest among JLPGA regulars. So what if she got edged in the money list by Miho Koga thanks to a fluky final hole in the final major of the season?

2. Sakura Yokomine: #3 2008 money (￥103.19M), #27 RR (3.51) [4], #22 GSPI (70.74) [3], #4 HD, #2 2007 money (￥114.9M). 1 win, 8 top 3s, 14 top 5s, and 20 top 10s in 29 starts is a great year by any standard. Not only was Yokomine 3rd in scoring average (2nd among the JLPGA regulars) and had the highest birdie rate (3.54 per 18 holes) on tour, she finished out of the top 20 only twice and never missed a cut, as well. She's been that consistent for a long time: she's made the top 4 on the money list each of the last 5 years and broken the 100-million yen mark in season winnings the last 3 in a row. Once she gets a money title, I suspect she's headed to the States.

3. Yuri Fudoh: #5 2008 money (￥91.86M), #12 RR (4.65) [2], #41 GSPI (71.23) [7], #3 HD, #6 2007 money (￥87.1M). 4 wins, 6 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 10 top 10s in 22 starts would be a great season for anyone but the JLPGA's career money leader and first billion-yen golfer in tour history. But she missed 2 cuts and finished outside the top 20 4 times in '08. Next season will be her 12th--can she win another money title now that there's so much more parity and so many very good young players on tour?

4. Miho Koga: #1 2008 money (￥120.85M), #34 RR (2.90) [5], #51 GSPI (71.51) [12], #5 HD, #4 2007 money (￥94.3M). Tied Fudoh for the most wins on tour in '08. Even though she wasn't as consistent as Yokomine or Lee, she was more explosive, as evidenced by her missed cut sandwiched between her 2 wins over its last 3 weeks. Even though she had 4 wins (including 1 major), 7 top 3s, 11 top 5s, and 17 top 10s in 33 starts, I have to put her here due to her 5 finishes outside the top 20 and 3 missed cuts.

5. Ji-Yai Shin: #24 2008 money (￥45.54M), #6 RR (7.41) [1], #2 GSPI (69.08) [1], #10 HD, n.a. 2007 money (not a member). Had 1 win and 3 runner-ups in 5 official starts on tour (her 1st one, a win, got her her membership, but doesn't count toward her official totals), not to mention the lowest scoring average, even with her jet-lag/exhaustion-influenced disappointing performance last week.

6. Momoko Ueda: #17 2008 money (￥54.62M), #14 RR (4.33) [3], #26 GSPI (70.81) [4], #8 HD, #1 2007 money (￥166.11M). Had 2 wins, 3 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 8 top 10s in 13 starts on tour. #1 in winnings over the past 2 seasons; even with her limited Japan schedule this one, she made more on the JLPGA than LPGA.

7. Ai Miyazato: #32 2008 money (￥27.89M), #38 RR (2.84) [6], #45 GSPI (71.34) [9], n.r. HD, #89 2007 money (￥4.32M). Had 3 top 3s and 4 top 10s in only 5 events and the 4th-best scoring average on tour.

8. Akiko Fukushima: #4 2008 money (￥96.50M), #45 RR (2.59) [10], #42 GSPI (71.23) [8], #2 HD, #11 2007 money (￥51.6M). 2 wins, 5 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 14 top 10s in 30 events and no missed cuts is great, but she did finish outside the top 20 9 times and really faltered in the last third of the season. I never thought she would have missed the best opportunity for her 1st career 100-million yen season since she came 400,000 short in 1997, her 2nd season in a row to top the money list. At this rate, she's probably about 3 seasons away from joining Fudoh in the billion-yen club.

9. Mi-Jeong Jeon: #6 2008 money (￥90.85M), #40 RR (2.73) [7], #62 GSPI (71.75) [14], #6 HD, #3 2007 money (￥110.9M). Speaking of faltering down the stretch, Jeon's +3 finish in her final pair of holes of the season cost her her 3rd straight 100-million yen season. With 2 wins, 4 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 15 top 10s in 30 starts--but 2 missed cuts, 1 WD, and 9 finishes outside the top 20--I have to drop my former #1 all the way down here.

10. Shiho Oyama: #8 2008 money (￥75.04M), #42 RR (2.70) [8], #49 GSPI (71.47) [11], #9 HD, #8 2007 money (￥71.7M). Made the top 10 on the money list for the 4th straight year playing a limited schedule by JLPGA standards: 1 win, 4 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 12 top 10s, to go with 2 missed cuts and 4 finishes outside the top 20, in "only" 25 starts. It's no surprise she's leading Q-School thus far.

The next 10 are closely bunched and more than half of them are very close to breaking into the top 10:

11. Yuko Mitsuka: #7 2008 money (￥83.56M), #49 RR (2.19) [12], #35 GSPI (71.15) [5], #11 HD, #14 2007 money (￥45.3M). Great 2nd-half to her season leapfrogged her to the head of the chase pack going into 2009. 1 win, 5 top 3s, 9 top 5s, and 14 top 10s, to go with 2 MCs, 2 WDs, and 4 finishes outside the top 20 in 32 events is very impressive for this 24-year-old Super Soph.

12. Hyun-Ju Shin: #11 2008 money (￥64.63M), #48 RR (2.22) [11], #48 GSPI (71.43) [10], #7 HD, #12 2007 money (￥48.5M). If injuries hadn't cut her season short, she would definitely have been a top 10 player. 2 wins, 4 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 10 top 10s in only 21 events with no missed cuts and 8 finishes outside the top 20 show the kind of talent she has. Here's hoping she gets and stays healthy in 2009.

13. Bo-Bae Song: #13 2008 money (￥63.47M), #59 RR (1.92) [16], #39 GSPI (71.19) [6], #12 HD, #16 2007 money (￥44.4M). A bad final round last week kept her from bookend wins for the 2008 season, but it was still a good one. 1 win, 3 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 14 top 10s, to go with 1 MC, 1 WD, and only 3 finishes outside the top 20 in 26 events suggest that this 22-year-old Super Soph is going to be a threat in 2009.

14. Eun-A Lim: #9 2008 money (￥73.41M), #52 RR (2.06) [13], #71 GSPI (71.96) [18], #17 HD, #86 2007 money (￥5.1M). With 1 win, 5 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 10 top 10s to go with 3 MCs and 9 finishes outside the top 20 in 29 events, Lim makes it 6 Koreans in the top 15 on the JLPGA in '08.

15. Shinobu Moromizato: #12 2008 money (￥64.37M), #53 RR (2.01) [14], #69 GSPI (71.91) [16], #13 HD, #7 2007 money (￥85.3M). Only 22 years old, Moromizato played her 4th season on tour in 2008, competing in 34 events. With 1 win, 2 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 16 top 10s to go with 4 MCs and 7 finishes outside the top 20, she might benefit from building more off-weeks into her 2009 schedule.

16. Erina Hara: #10 2008 money (￥65.87M), #65 RR (1.69) [19], #59 GSPI (71.73) [13], #14 HD, #19 2007 money (￥39.7M). Breakthrough year for this 21-year-old Super Soph who got her 1st win and 1st top 10 on the money list this season, but she did it by playing a Ji-Yai Shin-like schedule of 37 events (Shin's was worldwide--Hara's was on the JLPGA alone!). 1 win, 3 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 10 top 10s are fine, but 3 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20 suggest that kind of iron-woman schedule can take its toll.

17. Hiromi Mogi: #18 2008 money (￥52.62M), #76 RR (1.46) [21], #68 GSPI (71.91) [15], #15 HD, #15 2007 money (￥44.9M). This 6th-year pro got her 5th straight top 20 on the JLPGA season-ending money list in 2008, but it was her lowest finish in that stretch, with 1 win, 2 top 3s, 3 top 5s, and 9 top 10s in 33 events, along with 2 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20 (half of them coming in her last 6 events of the season).

18. Ayako Uehara: #14 2008 money (￥63.31M), #80 RR (1.38) [22], #70 GSPI (71.92) [17], #16 HD, #25 2007 money (￥32.9M). This 25-year-old played 33 events in her 6th season on the JLPGA, with the best results in her career: 1 win, 3 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 8 top 10s, along with 4 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20.

19. Akane Iijima: #19 2008 money (￥51.40M), #75 RR (1.46) [20], #83 GSPI (72.30) [20], #18 HD, #10 2007 money (￥60.3M). The 25-year-old 4th-year pro played 37 events this season, with 1 win, 3 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 7 top 10s for her efforts, along with 4 MCs, 3 WDs, and 9 finishes outside the top 20. Another player who might benefit from ratcheting back her 2009 schedule a bit.

20. Mayu Hattori: #15 2008 money (￥58.72M), #60 RR (1.89) [16], #84 GSPI (72.31) [21], #20 HD, #44 2007 money (￥18.49M). This 21-year-old Super Soph played 36 events in 2008, getting her 1st career win, along with 2 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 9 top 10s--most in the stretch run of the season, after she had missed 3 cuts and finished outside the top 20 15 times (she would add 2 more in her last 2 events, probably due to fatigue). It'll be hard to convince her to play fewer events in 2009.

The next 10 are pretty closely bunched and not all that far behind the 5 ahead of them:

21. Miki Saiki: #20 2008 money (￥50.84M), #56 RR (1.97) [15], #90 GSPI (72.41) [23], n.r. HD, #9 2007 money (￥62.6M). This 24-year-old Super Soph hit rock bottom in the middle of the season, missing cuts in 6 of 9 events, but she pulled herself together down the home stretch. Despite missing 7 cuts in all and withdrawing from 1 event, Saiki got 3 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 11 top 10s in 28 starts, finishing outside the top 20 only 4 times. Here's hoping she can draw on that experience as she tries to come back from her 74-72 start in the LPGA's Q-School.

22. Ji-Woo Lee: #22 2008 money (￥47.63M), #101 RR (1.04) [31], #88 GSPI (72.35) [22], #19 HD, #47 2007 money (￥16.7M). With 1 top 3, 3 top 5s, and 12 top 10s in 34 events, along with only 4 missed cuts (all of which came in the 1st third of the season) and 9 finishes outside the top 20, this 23-year-old Super Soph has a bright future on the JLPGA.

23. Midori Yoneyama: #25 2008 money (￥45.29M), #82 RR (1.35) [23], #75 GSPI (72.05) [19], n.r. HD, #21 2007 money (￥35.3M). Finished outside the top 20 on the money list for the 3rd year in a row, after making it the previous 7 straight seasons, despite playing in 35 events in '08. With only 2 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 9 top 10s to go with 1 MC, 2 WDs, and 13 finishes outside the top 20, you have to wonder how long she can keep ahead of the JLPGA's young guns.

24. Yukari Baba: #26 2008 money (￥44.14M), #94 RR (1.14) [26], #131 GSPI (73.18) [32], n.r. HD, #28 2007 money (￥27.9M). Notched her 5th straight top 30 season and her most lucrative in her career, thanks to her 2nd career win in '08. But with only 1 other top 3, an additional top 5, and 7 total top 10s--all in the 1st half of the season--to go with 10 MCs and 8 finishes outside the top 20 in 33 starts, this 25-year-old needs to play even better in '09 just to remain a top 30 player.

25. Esther Lee: #16 2008 money (￥54.94M), #97 RR (1.09) [28], #123 GSPI (73.03) [28], n.r. HD, #46 2007 money (￥17.1M). Unlike Saiki, this 22-year-old Super Soph was the hottest player on the JLPGA in the middle of the season, making the top 4 in 4 of 5 events in a row at one point, but had a tough start and disappointing finish to her 2008 campaign. In 36 events, she had 5 top 3s and 7 top 5s, but failed to notch another top 10, finished outside the top 20 9 times, and missed 12 cuts.

26. Chie Arimura: #23 2008 money (￥47.35M), #83 RR (1.33) [24], #134 GSPI (73.20) [33], n.r. HD, #13 2007 money (￥47.6M). This 21-year-old Junior Mint got her 1st career win in 2008 in a mid-year stretch that may even have been hotter than Esther Lee's, but otherwise her season was kind of blah, with only 3 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 10 top 10s to go with 8 MCs, 1 WD, and 12 finishes outside the top 20 in 35 events.

27. Rui Kitada: #28 2008 money (￥36.34M), #99 RR (1.05) [30], #121 GSPI (73.01) [27], n.r. HD, #33 2007 money (￥26.4M). Without her win, she wouldn't be anywhere near the top 30, as she only got 1 other top 5 and had only 6 top 10s in all, along with 9 MCs, 1 WD, and 10 finishes out of the top 20 in 35 events. Can this 26-year-old regain in 2009 the form that earned her 4 wins and a 3rd-place finish on the 2004 money list?

28. Hiroko Yamaguchi: #27 2008 money (￥42.85M), #103 RR (1.03) [32], #110 GSPI (72.78) [25], n.r. HD, #24 2007 money (￥33.1M). Got her 1st win since 2001, but she struggled to make the top 30 on the money list for the 3rd straight year in '08, after making the top 20 in 4 of her 1st 5. She only added 2 other top 5s and got 6 top 10s in all, compared with 5 MCs, 1 WD, and 17 finishes outside the top 20 in 35 events.

29. Maiko Wakabayashi: #21 2008 money (￥50.06M), #88 RR (1.24) [25], #148 GSPI (73.32) [37], n.r. HD, #113 2007 money (￥2.03M). With 1 win, 3 top 3s, and 6 top 10s to go with 11 MCs (most in the 1st half of the season), 1 WD, and 13 finishes outside the top 20 in 37 starts, this 20-year-old Super Soph is poised for a much better 2009.

30. Saiki Fujita: #29 2008 money (￥31.72M), #96 RR (1.10) [27], #144 GSPI (73.28) [35], n.r. HD, #26 2007 money (￥32.3M). Posted 1 win and made the top 30 on the money list for the 3rd season in a row, but this 23-year-old 4th-year pro struggled for most of 2008, getting only 1 other top 3 and an additional top 5 to bring her total to 4 top 10s in all, against 7 MCs, 3 WDs, and 10 finishes outside the top 20 in 30 starts.

And here are the best of the rest:

31. Yun-Jye Wei: #30 2008 money (￥29.63M), #98 RR (1.05) [29], #126 GSPI (73.11) [31], n.r. HD, #29 2007 money (￥27.66M). With only 1 top 3, 1 top 5, and 4 top 10s to go with 8 MCs and 11 finishes outside the top 20 in 29 events, this 29-year-old continued her slide over the past 2 years after having garnered 2 top 10s, 3 top 15s, and 5 top 25s in her previous 5 seasons. Can she arrest it in 2009?

32. Mie Nakata: #31 2008 money (￥28.33M), #106 RR (1.01) [34], #113 GSPI (72.80) [26], n.r. HD, #20 2007 money (￥38.08M). Got 8 top 10s, but only 1 of them was a top 5, plus she missed 6 cuts and finished outside the top 20 13 times.

33. Nikki Campbell: #33 2008 money (￥27.04M), #105 RR (1.01) [33], #125 GSPI (73.11) [30], n.r. HD, #17 2007 money (￥42.7M). 2 top 5s and only 3 top 10s--all coming in her last 7 events--helped this 28-year-old salvage what would otherwise have been a disappointing season, what with her 5 MCs, 1 WD, and 12 finishes outside the top 20. At least she had a good Lexus Cup.

34. Na Zhang: #42 2008 money (￥18.34M), #62 RR (1.86) [17], #103 GSPI (72.63) [24], n.r. HD, #5 2007 money (￥92.1M). Injuries limited this 27-year-old Super Soph to only 16 events in 2008, where she posted 1 top 3, 1 other top 5, 2MCs, 2 WDs, and 8 finishes outside the top 20, but if she can come back healthy in 2009, watch out for her: in her rookie season, she almost broke the 100-million yen barrier and finished 5th on the money list.