The Best of the LPGA: June 2008 Edition
by The Constructivist
on Jun 30, 2008 7:01 PM EDT
I closed April's ranking of the Best of the LPGA with this comment on Lorena Ochoa's dominance: "No one can stay in the zone forever...." After the loss of her uncle and grandfather, I'm sorry to see her sublime play come to an end. But the 2nd half of the season becomes even more interesting, doesn't it, when anyone can win any given week?
Who has the best chance to make up the most ground on Ochoa this summer? Let's find out by combining the most recent results from the Rolex Rankings, the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, the LPGA Official Money List, and Hound Dog's Top 30. (For #21-35, head on over to Mostly Harmless!)
Despite her recent struggles, there's no question who's #1:
1. Lorena Ochoa: #1 money ($2.03M), #1 RR (19.46), #1 GSPI (68.00), #1 HD. She still leads in almost every single significant statistical category the LPGA keeps track of, but the gap between her and her closest competitors is closing. More important, her run of utter dominance is over. The LPGA's Young Guns are gaining in confidence; with each win by one of their peers, it makes the rest of them wonder why they haven't yet done it. Rookies Louise Friberg and Ya Ni Tseng and Junior Mint Seon Hwa Lee woke up Super Sophs Eun-Hee Ji and Inbee Park. Who will be next? With Ochoa not returning to competition for a few weeks, the possibilities are endless....
While it's clear who Ochoa's top competition on tour is and that this chase pack has been gaining on her, it's just as clear that they've been dealing with problems of their own, as symbolized by Suzann Pettersen's and Paula Creamer's inability to close the deal the past 2 weeks (and Jeong Jang's multiple near-misses this season), along with Annika Sorenstam's inability to build on her own dominating win back in mid-May. The only 1 moving up is a rookie--and Tseng's been playing hurt, just like Jang.
2. Annika Sorenstam: #2 money ($1.46M), #2 RR (11.39), #3 GSPI (69.24), #2 HD. If she was putting 1/10th as well as she was striking the ball, she'd have made up some serious ground on Ochoa. As it is, she's missed the top 10 in 4 of 5 tournaments since she ran away with the Michelob Ultra.
3. Paula Creamer: #3 money ($1.06M), #4 RR (8.08), #4 GSPI (69.41), #3 HD. With her final round blow-up at the U.S. Women's Open, she missed her chance to pass Sorenstam and get tha "best player without a major" label off her back at the ripe old age of 21. But she did get her 3rd straight top 10.
4. Ya Ni Tseng: #5 money ($876.8K), #6 RR (6.16), #5 GSPI (69.86), #5 HD. This is not a typo. I'm ranking Tseng ahead of Pettersen. Winning a major will do that for you. With tricep tendonitis, though, she's better think long and hard about getting some rest before the European swing.
5. Suzann Pettersen: #8 money ($729.5K), #3 RR (8.93), #2 GSPI (69.52), #4 HD. After blowing up in the first round of the Open, she outplayed just about everyone over her final 3 rounds. But that's been the story of her season--she's probably playing better than she was last year, but one big round has dashed her hopes for contention. And when she has been in the hunt, she hasn't closed the deal: 3 top 3s but 0 wins will not put her back in the top 4.
6. Jeong Jang: #6 money ($826.0K), #8 RR (5.10), #8 GSPI (70.17), #7 HD. With 5 top 3s this season and missed chances for multiple wins, Jang knows just how Pettersen is feeling. And with a bad wrist, she ought to be considering a short break before the European swing just as Tseng should be.
Surprisingly, there's only 1 player in the top 10 in 3 of the 4 systems:
7. Karrie Webb: #10 money ($524.6K), #5 RR (6.34), #12 GSPI (70.61), #8 HD. She has 3 top 3s but no other top 10s this season. I call it veteran-itis. Don't expect her to remain in the top 10 next ranking. There are too many hungry young guns behind her playing better and more consistent golf than she has been the past 2 years.
The rest of the lead pack has fallen back a bit and can be found in the top 10 in only 2 of the 4 systems (and/or in the top 20 in all):
8. Seon Hwa Lee: #7 money ($738.8K), #14 RR (4.47), #16 GSPI (70.72), #6 HD. Seemed to be coming out of a bad stretch in May but hasn't followed up on her amazing come-from-behind win in the Ginn Tribute.
9. Cristie Kerr: #20 money ($395.4K), #7 RR (5.32), #7 GSPI (70.08), #14 HD. Big disappointment over the weekend at the Open, but she does have 5 straight top 20s, so seems to be overcoming her early-spring inconsistency.
10. Maria Hjorth: #13 money ($457.0K), #10 RR (4.84), #13 GSPI (70.61), #10 HD. Lost to Tseng in a playoff at the LPGA Championship right after missing the cut at the Ginn Tribute. What more can I say to illustrate her inconsistency?
11. Jee Young Lee: #15 money ($436.6K), #13 RR (4.55), #15 GSPI (70.64), #9 HD. Inconsistency has been her demon this season, as well. She's either following up top 10s with a finish in the 50s or sandwiching a missed cut among top 20s. Like Pettersen, made a good comeback after a bad start to the Open, so maybe she's due for better things....
But there's a large group of golfers with a top 10 in 1 system or top 20s in 3 of the 4.
12. Inbee Park: #4 money ($1.01M), #12 RR (4.55), #33 GSPI (71.44), #26 HD. Ever since I proclaimed that she had been passed by a couple of classmates who have much fewer events under their belts, she's been playing great in 2008. And now she's the youngest winner of the U.S. Women's Open! I love it when a plan comes together....
13. Na Yeon Choi: #11 money ($508.1K), #39 RR (2.86), #9 GSPI (70.28), #11 HD. Her worst finish on the LPGA (T32) is still her 1st event of the year and she did well to get a top 20 at the Open after competing in Korea the week before. With Tseng's injury and Ueda's lost opportunity on Open Sunday, she may be the favorite for the rookie of the year, even though she's still 97 points behind.
14. Hee-Won Han: #21 money ($395.1K), #29 RR (3.22), #10 GSPI (70.54), #20 HD. The top new mom on tour hasn't played at all well since the Michelob Ultra, but despite her uncharacteristic inconsistency, she still has 2 top 10s in that stretch. Look for her to shake off her terrible Open quickly.
15. Song-Hee Kim: #9 money ($553.4K), #56 RR (2.00), #40 GSPI (71.74), #12 HD. Was one of the hottest players on tour in the spring, but has shown signs of her early-season shakiness since her 3rd-place finish at the Ginn Tribute.
16. Mi Hyun Kim: #30 money ($338.5K), #16 RR (4.18), #11 GSPI (70.60), #16 HD. Her T6 at the Open was the 3rd straight top 10 in a major for the player with my vote for the "best w/o a major" title. Unfortunately, she has a bad history at the British Open....
17. Christina Kim: #17 money ($421.7K), #35 RR (2.92), #14 GSPI (70.63), #15 HD. She's #3 in the Solheim Cup standings and #4 in top 10s this season, so why is she ranked so low? Say it with me: inconsistency!
18. Stacy Prammanasudh: #31 money ($330.0K), #19 RR (3.86), #19 GSPI (70.95), #17 HD. She was the 12th player to finish under par at the Open, but missed out on a top 10 last weekend. Still has a good chance to salvage a season that opened with such promise (a 5th-place finish at the HSBC Women's Champions) but has resulted in only 2 other top 10s.
There are only a few golfers with top 20s in 2 of the 4 systems.
19. Eun-Hee Ji: #12 money ($486.7K), #18 RR (3.94), #22 GSPI (70.98), n.r. HD. One hot weekend in Rochester does not a season make, but beating the LPGA's #5 golfer shows just how much potential this Super Soph has!
20. Sophie Gustafson: #27 money ($360.9K), #28 RR (3.28), #17 GSPI (70.84), #19 HD. Like Pettersen and Hjorth, suffering an all-too-common European disease of being unable to finish off tournaments, but look for her to shake off her Open MC quickly.
21. Momoko Ueda: #39 money ($280.9K), #11 RR (4.57), #18 GSPI (70.84), n.r. HD. Her recent win on the JLPGA and near-miss of a top 10 at the Open may be signs of better things to come for Japan's top golfer. But she's had chances to go on a tear earlier this season and failed to sustain the momentum of twice playing in the final pairing on a Sunday. Here's hoping she heats up as the summer does.
FanPosts are written by Waggle Room members. Viewpoints expressed do not necessarily reflect those of WaggleRoom.com and its editor, Ryan Ballengee. The Waggle Room member whose byline appears with the FanPost is solely responsible for its content.
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good list
looks like a solid list there Con – but you must not have gotten the memo. Michelle Wie is playing again and as such, her highness is to be moved to #1 in all rankings lists. :-)
I’m guessing Momoko Ueda won’t be in that 21st spot long. She has too much game to be ranked that low for very long.
Any thoughts on whether Vicky Hurst will get a chance to make a splash on the big tour this year ?
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Jun 30, 2008 8:12 PM EDT 0 recs
thanks
I’m rooting for Momo-chan, that’s for sure, but it’s just very hard to move up the ranks in the LPGA these days. Now if she wins the British Open….
I would love to see the Futures Tour institute a “battlefield promotion” rule (say, for your 4th win?). In lieu of that, I’d love to see Michelle Wie (and Nike) swallowing her pride (and foregoing appearance money in Europe and Asia) and asking for some invites to compete with her on the Futures Tour. We know Wie is well behind Tseng, Yang, and Inbee Park (among other really young guns) right now, but she and Hurst (and Hur and Kim) could have some really great showdowns this summer.
I think I remember reading we’ll be seeing Hurst at the State Farm event before the European swing….
by The Constructivist on Jun 30, 2008 8:36 PM EDT 0 recs
blasphemer !!!!!!!!
How DARE you suggest that her highness reduce herself to playing with the commoners ??? OFF with his head !!(I kid) :-)
Wie shouldn’t be ranked in the top 100 right now. She’s had one decent finish in two years, plus that tournament in Germany a few weeks back. She should be way down the list right now.
I kind of disagree with you on how fast someone can move up the ladder. Even the present #1 made what seemed to be a ridiculously fast rise to the top spot – from a good top tenner to almost doubling Annika’s point total. Yani Tseng is #4 on your own list from relative obscurity.
We disagree on something else. With Ochoa’s game out of whack (no pun intended), a lot of other players do have a chance to win – but this is like the PGA Tour without Tiger – someone wins, but it’s like the last man standing. I want to see a bunch of guys, or ladies, putting up a battle for the wins. I want to see them making shots – not gagging on them. What we keep seeing is the field playing poorly on Sunday – no chasing, no closing, no head to head battle with two or three, players pushing themselves to beat the others and claim the championship – not playing conservatively to protect a paycheck. The Women’s Open had a couple of moments – but when the leaders jumped out to a thrill packed set of double bogies, and they never really recovered, the excitement was pretty much over. We were left with a miracle finish at 18 by Sorenstam, and an eagle by Alfredsson that might have jump started a run – but fizzled almost immediately.
The best aren’t around – show us what you’ve got ! Remember those days on the Nationwide Tour when you had to go low or go home ? It’s time to start playing that way again. I don’t know if the women have that same sort of exciting flash – the women’s game is pretty conservative on the whole – but come on – go forward on Sunday – not backwards.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on Jun 30, 2008 9:06 PM EDT 0 recs
playing conservative?
I think the 20-30 mph winds had more to do with the high scores Sunday at the Open than anything else, cg! In fact, Creamer regretted being too aggressive at times during her final round. Going forward is easier said than done!
That said, I love the go low or go home mentality myself. If you want an example of someone going low on the weekend, how about Eun-Hee Ji’s 13 finish at Rochester? That’s just from last month-want more?
It’ll no doubt restore your faith in the Rolex Rankings to know that MW is closer to #200 than #100 now. But somehow she’s ranked ahead of Vicky Hurst, still….
As for speed of moving up the ranking, Tseng at worst is 6th. Personally, I have a problem with the difficulty of moving up the Rolex without winning a major. It seems designed more for stability at the top than anything else (witness how inordinately high Juli Inkster is ranked and how Karrie Webb stays up there despite not playing well since pre-LPGA 2007). But one nice feature is that it really means something to get into the top 50, 30, 15—consistency over 104 weeks is very hard to achieve. In any case, I have more volatile systems to balance it out.
Looking over my entire top 35, Tseng moved up 8 spots while Angela Stanford fell 12 spots—I think that fairly reflects how bunched the near-elite are and what it takes tomake that quantum leap. I’m a little less comfortable moving Inbee Park up 16 spots but Lindsey Wright definitely deserves to drop 15 spots. Other big movers include Na Yeon Choi (up 13) and Natalie Gulbis (down 15), Sophie Gustafson (up 12) and Se Ri Pak (down 14+), and Christina Kim (up 8) and Morgan Pressel (down 10). Song-Hee Kim leapfrogged a lot of people to get to #15, as did Teresa Lu and Jane Park to get in the ranking at all.
Part of the reason for these jumps is my decision not to average their rankings but instead to break down the top players by how many top 5s, 10s, 20s, etc. they get. and then compare players in the same category a little subjectively. So yeah, Laura Diaz, Angela Stanford, and Karen Stupples (#22-24) could well be ranked higher than several who are in my top 12-18. But it didn’t make sense to me to average the rankings b/c each system is based upon fairly different assumptions and criteria. And I didn’t want to lock myself into some formula that simply sums up the different numbering systems (which would also mean dropping HD b/c he doesn’t list his raw numbers, just his rankings)....
But hey, there’s plenty of room for another ranking system. If you come up with a good one, I’ll incorporate it into mine! ;)
by The Constructivist on Jul 1, 2008 10:31 AM EDT 0 recs
I like the movement !
Hey – you’re moving players around based on recent play as well as the last year. I’ll take that any day. I hate looking at rankings and seeing players who have one good year, then float around in the top 10-20 for years without any real follow up. Natalie Gulbis STILL only has one win for all the hype she has received over the years. Karrie Webb hasn’t had the wins lately, but she’s still finishing regularly in or around the top 10. I’m still amazed that Phil Mickelson is the 2nd ranked player in the world. He seems to get bonus points for being a fan favorite.
Diaz, Stanford, and Stupples…talented and steady, but ranking them in the low 20’s is fine. You’re not going to see them pushing the leaders on the weekend very often. I like your system. If they get on a string of good finishes, they move up. If not, they move down or stay still if they finish where they are ranked. Nothing wrong with that.
We have a caller every now and then who is not a big Tiger Woods fan. When Tiger goes on a string of tournaments where he doesn’t win, this guy calls and says “Tiger Woods is a chump, man. What’s he done lately ? He ain’t no winner”...which cracks us all up.
Those winds last Sunday were gusts up to 30 mph. The steady winds were 10-20 according to the weather that day. Big difference. The women don’t hit the ball over the tree line very often and that’s where the wind has the strongest effect. A 30 mph wind will blow balls all over the place, and you didn’t see that. The guys at The Players were hitting into 30 mph winds at 17.
What I want to see is these guys and girls pushing themselves. I get tired of watching golf and seeing players who are capable of pulling off great shots look at their bank books before they look at the trophy. I understand the point of being a professional – but when the title is there for the taking – MAKE THE SHOT ! Don’t pull out a wedge and miss the green. These guys sit on the range all day hitting irons to 10 feet – then they go to the putting green and roll putt after putt. They know how to make the shots – just do it. Play to win – not play to protect your position. Greatness is scary – but look how much Tiger enjoys being great.
Oh – and no – the Rolex rankings are still bogus. Has Wie played 15 events in the last 18 months ? She’s listed as playing in 17, but there should be a penalty for pulling out the way she has. How is Vicky Hurst ranked in the Rolex rankings ? She’s played 8 events this year in her first season as a pro – 7 Futures and 1 LPGA. They have her listed at 11 events – so she must’ve gotten some invites as an amateur.
Fire Rolex – install the Constructivist poll !!!
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on
Jul 1, 2008 11:06 AM EDT
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on Webb
She won in Australia this season-a great comeback on the back 9 to catch Ji-Yai Shin and then to beat her in the playoff-and won twice there last year, BUT she’s been the model of inconsistency in those 2 seasons on the LPGA. 6 top 10s last season, but 3 of them came in a bunch in September-December. She gets just enough to stay in the top 10 on the Rolex, but not for long…. Nothing against her—she just tanks it every time I play her in the Packpicker!
by The Constructivist on Jul 1, 2008 12:38 PM EDT 0 recs
give her a little break
Karrie Webb has been a professional for a long time (LPGA since 1996 and in Australia before that). She chased down Annika Sorenstam in her prime, and has played around the world her entire career. She’s winding down a Hall of Fame career. I’m not going to get on her too much for being inconsistent these days.
"this ball will fit in that fairway"
by courtgolf on
Jul 1, 2008 1:20 PM EDT
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