The LPGA's Top Rivalries, June 2014 Edition

With summer and the U.S. Women's Open both fast approaching, it's time to reexamine how the LPGA's last 8 generations stack up.  Check out the career money and wins/majors totals for the top players in the generations that span the Sorenstam Era (1994-2008), the overlapping Ochoa Era (2003-2009), the overlapping Tseng Dynasty (2008-2013), and the current interregnum during which Inbee Park and Stacy Lewis have been the most dominant golfers 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 2 non-member wins; ***=includes 3 non-member wins.]

1994-1996: The Sorenstam Generation (aka AnniKarrie!)

[1. Annika Sorenstam (1994) $22.57M (#1), 72/10]
2. Karrie Webb (1996) $18.79M (#2), 41*/7
3. Catriona Matthew (1995) $8.56M (#15), 4/1
4. Pat Hurst (1995) $6.96M (#23), 6/1
5. Lorie Kane (1996) $6.95M (#24), 4/0
6. Wendy Ward (1996) $4.97M (#45), 4/0
{7. Carin Koch (1995) $4.44M (#50), 2/0}

Hurst and Kane are locked in a real fight for the #4 spot and to see who can 1st become a $7M woman.  Webb continues to inch closer to Sorenstam (more so in winnings than wins, of course, though 2 of the latter already this season is nothing to sneeze at!).

1997-1999: The Pak Generation (aka PaKerr!)

1. Cristie Kerr (1997) $15.55M (#3), 16/2
2. Se Ri Pak (1998) $12.49M (#6), 25/5
[3. Mi Hyun Kim (1999) $8.62M (#14), 8/0]
{4. Sophie Gustafson (1998) $6.17M (#28), 5/0}
5. Maria [Hjorth] McBride (1998) $6.10M (#30), 5/0
[6. Rachel Hetherington (1997) $5.73M (#36), 8/0]
7. Laura Diaz (1999) $5.23M (#44), 2/0
8. Karen Stupples (1999) $3.98M (#57), 2/1
9. Janice Moodie (1998) $3.68M (#62), 2/0

Even though Kerr's passed Pak and Ochoa on the career money list, she'll have to join them in the Hall of Fame to have her name on a generation, too. With Kim and Hetherington retired, and Gustafson limiting herself to the LET for the foreseeable future, McBride has a great opportunity to move up the list. Stupples is still this close to breaking the $4M barrier, but will she play well enough in her limited LPGA schedule to get there?

2000-2002: Angela and the Seoul Sisters

1. Angela Stanford (2001) $8.42M (#17), 5/0
2. Hee-Won Han (2001) $7.04M (#22), 6/0
3. Jeong Jang (2000) $6.63M (#26), 2/1
4. Candie Kung (2002) $5.84M (#33), 4/0
[5. Grace Park (2000) $5.44M (#41), 6/1]
6. Natalie Gulbis (2002) $4.85M (#46), 1/0
{7. Gloria Park (2000) $3.28M (#77), 2/0}
8. Heather Bowie Young (2000) $3.19M (#79), 1/0
9. Jennifer Rosales (2000) $2.81M (#90), 2/0
10. Dorothy Delasin (2000) $2.65M (#94), 4/0
11. Nicole Castrale (2002) $2.56M (#98), 1/0
12. Giulia Sergas (2002) $2.23M (#113), 0/0

Stanford is increasing her lead on Han as the top player of this generation in terms of winnings, but until she can get into the winner's circle more often, it's still hard to argue that her overall career tops the retired (and much missed) Grace Park's. Meanwhile, the "other" Park's pursuers are slowly catching up on her.

2003-2005: The Ochoa Generation

[1. Lorena Ochoa (2003) $14.86M (#4), 27/2]
2. Suzann Pettersen (2003) $11.90M (#7), 14/2
3. Paula Creamer (2005) $10.87M (#8), 10/1
4. Brittany Lincicome (2005) $5.56M (#39), 5/1
5. Christina Kim (2003) $4.47M (#48), 2/0
6. Meena Lee (2005) $4.45M (#49), 2/0
7. Katherine [Hull] Kirk (2004) $3.70M (#61), 2/0
[8. Stacy Prammanasudh (2003) $3.54M (#68), 2/0]
9. Karine Icher (2003) $3.35M (#72), 0/0
{10. Shi Hyun Ahn (2004) $2.65M (#95), 1*/0}
11. Lindsey Wright (2004) $2.63M (#96), 0/0
{12. Young Kim (2003) $2.36M (n.r. [~#106]), 1/0}
13. Jimin Kang (2003) $2.29M (#110), 2/0

With Lorena looking less and less likely to ever come back to the LPGA full-time, the only real questions are how close Pettersen and Creamer can come to matching her career, whether Lincicome will ever challenge them, and who among the rest will finish at #5. Creamer, Lincicome, and Lee (the top '05ers) are the 1st from this generation that I've started tracking more closely with a wider variety of stats and have included in my career ranking that focuses mainly on the younger generations.

2006-2008: The Tseng Dynasty

1. Ya Ni Tseng (2008) $9.55M (#9), 15/5
2. Na Yeon Choi (2008) $8.85M (#11), 7/1
3. Inbee Park (2007) $8.47M (#16), 10/4
4. Ai Miyazato (2006) $7.63M (#20), 9/0
5. In-Kyung Kim (2007) $6.31M (#27), 3/0
6. Morgan Pressel (2006) $5.37M (#42), 2/1
7. Shanshan Feng (2008) $4.41M (#51), 3/1
8. Brittany Lang (2006) $4.19M (#52), 1/0
9. Seon Hwa Lee (2006) $4.08M (#54), 4/0
10. Sun Young Yoo (2006) $4.05M (#55), 2/1
11. Amy Yang (2008) $3.78M (#59), 1/0
12. Hee Young Park (2008) $3.77M (#60), 2/0
13. Song-Hee Kim (2007) $3.67M (#63), 0/0
14. Jee Young Lee (2006) $3.60M (#67), 1*/0
15. Eun-Hee Ji (2007) $3.37M (#71), 2/1
16. Julieta Granada (2006) $3.30M (#75), 1/0
17. Sandra Gal (2008) $2.36M (#105), 1/0
18. Angela Park (2007) $2.12M (#116), 0/0
19. Kristy McPherson (2007) $2.10M (#117), 0/0
20. Momoko Ueda (2008) $1.70M (#131), 2*/0
21. Ji Young Oh (2007) $1.67M (#132), 2/0
22. Kyeong Bae (2006) $1.44M (#150), 0/0
23. Katie Futcher (2006) $1.36M (#156), 0/0
24. Jane Park (2007) $1.36M (#157), 0/0
25. Meaghan Francella (2006) $1.19M (#179), 1/0
26. Teresa Lu (2006) $1.13M (#180), 1*/0

The Tseng Dynasty is still in power for this generation if not for the LPGA as a whole any more, but fellow '08er NYC is hanging tough and Inbee continues buzzing up the list. This generation is the deepest in LPGA history, despite the fact that so many golfers in it have already suffered huge slumps in their careers. Few LPGA generations have more than 4 players with 5 or more wins, but I'll bet this turns out to be one of them.  It's starting to look like it'll be Feng who's the next to 5 career LPGA victories, although I'm hoping Inky turns it around soon!

2009-2011: New Blood

1. Stacy Lewis (2009) $7.18M (#21), 10/2
2. Ji-Yai Shin (2009) $6.15M (#29), 11**/2*
3. Anna Nordqvist (2009) $4.03M (#56), 4/1
4. Michelle Wie (2009) $3.82M (#58), 3/0
5. Azahara Munoz (2010) $3.09M (#81), 1/0
6. Mika Miyazato (2009) $3.05M (#83), 1/0
7. Chella Choi (2009) $2.35M (#106), 0/0
8. Hee Kyung Seo (2011) $2.20M (#114), 1*/0
9. Beatriz Recari (2010) $1.99M (#121), 3/0
10. Jessica Korda (2011) $1.47M (#144), 3/0
11. Vicky Hurst (2009) $1.46M (#147), 0/0
12. Haeji Kang (2009) $1.40M (#152), 0/0
13. Jenny Shin (2011) $1.29M (#166), 0/0
14. Mi Jung Hur (2009) $1.26M (#169), 1/0
15. Gerina Piller (2010) $1.22M (#172), 0/0
16. Pornanong Phatlum (2009) $1.20M (#178), 0/0
17. Caroline Hedwall (2011) $1.18M (#180), 0/0
18. Ilhee Lee (2010), $1.14M (#184), 1/0
19. Jennifer Johnson (2011) $1.02M (#199), 1/0
20. Mina Harigae (2010) $.99M (#203), 0/0
21. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (2011) $.84M (#230), 0/0
22. Mariajo Uribe (2010) $.65M (#258), 0/0
23. Alison Walshe (2010) $.63M (#261), 0/0
24. Mindy Kim (2009) $.59M (#266), 0/0
25. Dewi Claire Schreefel (2010) $.55M (#273), 0/0
[26. Amanda Blumenherst (2010) $.53M (#276), 0/0]
27. Christel Boeljon (2011) $.52M (#280), 0/0
28. Pernilla Lindberg (2010) $.51M (#291), 0/0
29. Cindy LaCrosse (2010) $.49M (#294), 0/0
{30. Gwladys Nocera (2010) $.49M (#297), 0/0}
31. Belen Mozo (2011) $.48M (#300), 0/0
32. Tiffany Joh (2011) $.41M (#315), 0/0

Obviously with this generation, it's really too soon to tell who's going to have a great LPGA career, besides Shin and Lewis, but Nordqvist and Wie are making bids to be considered. For now, I'm erring on the side of inclusiveness by putting everyone over $400K 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 the end of 2015 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 in the same amount of time. The problem for everyone who hasn't already done it is they are all competing against each other and are sandwiched between 2 historic generations. Still, this is about the time in a player's career that she starts to make quantum leaps, if she's going to at all. And we're starting to see more fine play from those in the middle of this pack....

2012-2014: Generation Prodigy

1. So Yeon Ryu (2012) $2.87M (#88), 2*/1*
2. Lexi Thompson (2012) $2.47M (#100), 4*/1
3. Lizette Salas (2012) $1.47M (#143), 1/0
4. Lydia Ko (2014) $.63M (#260), 3**/0
4. Mo Martin (2012) $.58M (#269), 0/0
5. Danielle Kang (2012) $.53M (#278), 0/0
6. Carlota Ciganda (2012) $.50M (#293), 0/0
7. Caroline Masson (2013) $.43M (#310), 0/0
8. Sydnee Michaels (2012) $.34M (#335), 0/0
9. Moriya Jutanugarn (2013) $.34M (#340), 0/0
10. Ayako Uehara (2013) $.29M (#355), 0/0
11. Chie Arimura (2013) $.28M (#358), 0/0
12. Thidapa Suwannapura (2012) $.26M (#368), 0/0
13. Jacqui Concolino (2012) $.21M (#392), 0/0
14. Mi Hyang Lee (2012) $.21M (#397), 0/0
15. Austin Ernst (2013) $.20M (#399), 0/0
16. Mirim Lee (2014) $.17M (#416), 0/0
17. Rebecca Lee-Bentham (2012) $.15M (#427), 0/0
18. Line Vedel (2014) $.14M (#432), 0/0
19. Lisa McCloskey (2013) $.14M (#434), 0/0
20. Veronica Felibert (2012) $.14M (#435), 0/0
21. Brooke Pancake (2013) $.12M (#454), 0/0
22. Sandra Changkija (2012) $.12M (#458), 0/0
23. Katie Burnett (2013) $.11M (#475), 0/0

OK, why am I so high on this generation if there's such a big gap between its leaders and its pack?  It's true that very few from the Class of 2012 have made over $500K in their short careers and only 8 '13ers have broken the $100K barrier thus far.  But I'm still optimistic, partly because I don't think many in this generation have really begun to fight, and partly because Lydia Ko has already exceeded rookie expectations this season, as have Mirim Lee and Line Vedel.

Top Career Performance Stats among Those Who Joined the LPGA since 2005

Last post, I revisited my ranking of the top 50 golfers to join the LPGA since 2005.  What allows me to compare golfers who joined the LPGA at such different times is assigning points based on career averages in different outcomes.  Let's break it down and see who's best at what!

Finish Rate (ratio of non-WD, -DQ, or -MC finish to starts)
1. Lydia Ko (100%)
2. Na Yeon Choi (97.44%)
3. Ji-Yai Shin (96.94%)
4. Paula Creamer (95.37%)
5. So Yeon Ryu (94.92%)
6. Anna Nordqvist (94.35%)
7. Amy Yang (89.76%)
8. Stacy Lewis (88.89%)
9. Lizette Salas (88.68%)
10. Ya Ni Tseng (88.24%)

Top-20 Rate
1. Na Yeon Choi (71.15%)
2. Ji-Yai Shin (70.41%)
3. Paula Creamer (70.37%)
4. Lydia Ko (66.67%)
5. So Yeon Ryu (66.10%)
6. Stacy Lewis (60.74%)
7. Ya Ni Tseng (57.52%)
8. Anna Nordqvist (54.84%)
9. Lexi Thompson (53.45%)
10. In-Kyung Kim (50.88%)

Top-10 Rate
1. So Yeon Ryu (54.24%)
2. Lydia Ko (50%)
3. Stacy Lewis (47.41%)
4. Ji-Yai Shin (46.94%)
5. Na Yeon Choi (43.59%)
6. Paula Creamer (43.06%)
7. Ya Ni Tseng (41.18%)
8. In-Kyung Kim (33.92%)
9. Inbee Park (33.14%)
10. Ai Miyazato (31.35%)

Top-3 Rate
1. Lydia Ko (25%)
2. Ya Ni Tseng (24.84%)
3. Ji-Yai Shin (22.45%)
4. Paula Creamer (19.91%)
5. Na Yeon Choi (19.87%)
6. Stacy Lewis (18.52%)
7. Lexi Thompson (15.52%)
8. Inbee Park (14.20%)
9. So Yeon Ryu (13.56%)
10. Michelle Wie (12.71%)

Winning Percentage
1. Lydia Ko (21.43%)
2. Ji-Yai Shin (10.89%)
3. Ya Ni Tseng (9.80%)
4. Stacy Lewis (7.41%)
5. Lexi Thompson (6.78%)
6. Inbee Park (5.92%)
7. Ai Miyazato (4.86%)
8. Paula Creamer (4.63%)
9. Jessica Korda (4.55%)
10. Na Yeon Choi (4.49%)

$/Start
1. Ji-Yai Shin ($62.7K)
2. Ya Ni Tseng ($62.4K)
3. Na Yeon Choi ($56.8K)
4. Stacy Lewis ($53.2K)
5. Lydia Ko ($52.4K)
6. Paula Creamer ($50.3K)
7. Inbee Park ($50.1K)
8. So Yeon Ryu ($48.6K)
9. Lexi Thompson ($42.6K)
10. Ai Miyazato ($41.3K)

$/Finish
1. Ya Ni Tseng ($70.7K)
2. Ji-Yai Shin ($64.7K)
3. Stacy Lewis ($59.8K)
4. Inbee Park ($58.8K)
5. Na Yeon Choi ($58.3K)
6. Paula Creamer ($52.8K)
7. Lydia Ko ($52.4K)
8. So Yeon Ryu ($51.2K)
9. Lexi Thompson ($49.4K)
10. Ai Miyazato ($48.6K)

More analyses of these patterns to come as I break down career performances by rookie year and LPGA generation in the coming days!

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

In the midst of an off-week before the U.S. Women's Open follows the guys at Pinehurst, it's a fine time to take another look at how the best players to join the LPGA since 2005 stack up against each other, something I haven't done since April.  For the full rundown, check out my spreadsheet.  The numbers in brackets following the player's name and point total represent how many points they have gained or lost since my last ranking.

Simply the Best

1. Ya Ni Tseng (3790) [-30]

The Contenders

2. Ji-Yai Shin (3376)
3. Lydia Ko (3020) [+662]
4. Stacy Lewis (2975) [+218]
5. Inbee Park (2843) (2762) [+81]

6. Na Yeon Choi (2722) [-46]

7. Paula Creamer (2719) [-33]

The Next Best

8. So Yeon Ryu (2295) [-72]
9. Lexi Thompson (2179) [+20]
10. Ai Miyazato (2131) [-24]

Quantum Leap Candidates

11. In-Kyung Kim (1699) [-35]
12. Anna Nordqvist (1696) [+42]

13. Shanshan Feng (1642) [+44]
14. Michelle Wie (1607) [+55]

15. Brittany Lincicome (1446) [-8]

16. Morgan Pressel (1323) [-23]
17. Azahara Munoz (1256) [-8]
18. Lizette Salas (1248) [+165]

19. Amy Yang (1229) [-8]
20. Song-Hee Kim (1226)
21. Jessica Korda (1195) [+136]
22. Seon Hwa Lee (1177) [-26]
23. Hee Kyung Seo (1170) [-10]

24. Mika Miyazato (1163) [-22]
25. Angela Park (1114)
26. Beatriz Recari (1084) [-31]

27. Hee Young Park (1080) [-14]

28. Eun-Hee Ji (1036) [-8]

29. Sun Young Yoo (1034) [-9]

The Best of the Rest

30. Jee Young Lee (976) [-20]
31. Caroline Hedwall (929) [-14]

32. Brittany Lang (912) [-6]
33. Meena Lee (856) [+18]

34. Chella Choi (853) [-2]

35. Momoko Ueda (765)
36. Gerina Piller (763) [+22]
37. Julieta Granada (761) [+5]
38. Jenny Shin (747) [+88]
39. Sandra Gal (726) [-8]
40. Jennifer Johnson (705) [+58]
41. Pornanong Phatlum (656) [+16]
42. Ilhee Lee (651) [-33]
43. Jodi Ewart Shadoff (637) [+7]
44. Ji Young Oh (590) [-12]
45. Teresa Lu (585)

46. Carlota Ciganda (584) [-45]

47. Kristy McPherson (578) [-16]

48. Mi Jung Hur (562) [-15]

49. Haeji Kang (557) [+27]

50. Caroline Masson (532) [-1]

As you can see, the top point-gainers since April have been Lydia Ko, Stacy Lewis, Lizette Salas, Jessica Korda, Jenny Shin, Inbee Park, Jennifer Johnson, Michelle Wie, and Shanshan Feng.  (Ko's gain is so astronomical because she has so few events under her belt as an LPGA member.  Look for less volatility from her ranking by this time next year!)  The golfers losing the most points since the last ranking are So Yeon Ryu, Na Yeon Choi, Carlota Ciganda, In-Kyung Kim, Paula Creamer, and Ilhee Lee.  These are the golfers playing much better (or worse) in the last couple of months than their career averages would lead you to expect.

Congratulations to Inbee Park, Stacy Lewis, Misuzu Narita, Kyu Jung Baek, Anna Nordqvist, Jennifer Johnson, Mallory Blackwelder, and Min Seo Kwak

Lots of career milestones were passed the last 2 weeks around the world of women's golf!  Let's catch up:

• Thanks to a final-round 61 in Waterloo, Inbee Park joined the double-digit-wins club on the LPGA with yesterday's come-from-behind victory.
• Stacy Lewis did so the week before and became a $7M woman in the process--not to mention regained the top spot in the Rolex Rankings (her lead has now shrunk to .3 points on Inbee!).
• Misuzu Narita got her 2nd JLPGA victory of 2014 and 4th of her career.
• KLPGA rookie Kyu Jung Baek got her 2nd win of the young season (and she beat Ha Na Jang and Hyo Joo Kim to do it!).
• Anna Nordqvist broke the $4M barrier in career LPGA winnings.
• Jennifer Johnson won her 1st million on the LPGA.
• Mallory Blackwelder and Min Seo Kwak won the last 2 Symetra Tour events.

Congratulations to all!

Manulife Financial LPGA Classic Sunday: Inbee Park Smokes Field with Closing 61 to Take LPGA Victory #10

Inbee Park made 24 birdies over her final 63 holes of the Manulife Financial LPGA Classic, including 10 today, as her final-round 61 catapulted her to a 3-shot victory over Cristie Kerr (who fired a bogey-free 63 of her own!) and a 5-shot margin over 3rd-round leader Shanshan Feng.  Park, who lost her #1 Rolex Ranking last week, rode a 68-hole bogey-free run to her 10th career LPGA title the week after new #1 Stacy Lewis reached double digits in the win column herself.

The difference, as usual, was putting.  Feng stalled on the weekend on the back 9, going +1 in her last 7 holes on Saturday and only E in her last 8 on Sunday, taking 35 putts in her final round.  That opened the door for 2 of the best putters in the world who found their touch on Grey Silo's greens this week.  Kerr hit 17 greens and took only 27 putts today, but Park hit the same number of greens and took 2 fewer.

Other golfers played great this week, as well, with Belen Mozo recording her 1st top 5 since her rookie season on 9/11/11 and tying Lydia Ko at -16, Stacy Lewis posting a final-round 63 to catch Michelle Wie at -15, Chella Choi firing a bogey-free 64 to catch Suzann Pettersen at -14, and Caroline Masson shooting a bogey-free 65 to catch So Yeon Ryu, Anna Nordqvist, and Hee Young Park at -13.  Grey Silo gave up other great numbers today, including a bogey-free 63 by Karine Icher, bogey-free 64s by Louise Friberg, Gerina Piller, and P.K. Kongkraphan, and 65s by Catriona Matthew, Line Vedel, Joanna Klatten, and Katie Burnett (in addition to Mozo and Masson).  In the end, 23 golfers got to double digits under par.

So all hail the Queen Bee, who couldn't quite win the top spot back on the Rolex Rankings this week (it was mathematically impossible), but who broke a victory drought that goes back to last year's U.S. Women's Open, her last win of 2013.  And guess which tournament is less than 2 weeks away?