#16  Hee-Won Han  (28-17-13)

Aside from winning an event and finishing only 19^th on the money list, it was a typical Hee-Won Han season in 2008.  Nine Top 10s (from '03 to '06, her range was 8-11 per season) with two missed cuts (two per year in that prior stretch).  All four of her Top 5s came after June 1, with T3s at Wegmans and Hana Bank KOLON being her season's best.  One of my best pre-season guesses.

#17  Candie Kung  (NR-NR-17)

Candie won the Hana Bank KOLON event in November to cap her year-long comeback.  Injury had limited her to only 15 starts in 2007 and Kung had only registered three Top 10s in two seasons.  This year began with two great finishes at the Ginn Open and Michelob Ultra, two missed cuts at Sybase and Corning, then a steady climb towards a tie for second at Navistar and the win in Korea.

Until that win, Helen Alfredsson had the Comeback Player of the Year award locked up and I still believe she deserves it.  Kung obviously "came back" too.  Both had last won in 2003, were unranked and out of the money list Top 30 in 2007 but Helen's standing had dropped much further.  Even when she won in 2003, she was not a Top 30 player and hadn't been since 1999.  Add in the fact that she ranks higher for the 2008 season and I have to give her the nod over Candie.

#18  Song-Hee Kim  (NR-NR-12)

Assuming you were paying attention to the Futures Tour in 2006, isn't this the kind of season you would have expected Song-Hee Kim to have as a rookie last year?  Kim won five times and collected 11 Top 10 finishes in her season on the developmental tour, and I (like many others) expected that success to carry over to the Big Tour in '07.  Song-Hee recorded no Top 20 finishes in her rookie season and proceeded to lose her exempt status.  Her first four events in 2008 looked like more of the same (two MCs although she got her first Top 20, a T15 at Fields) but she finally got going with a runner-up in the weak field at Corona, followed by a tie for fifth at the Ginn Open.  Kim also contended at the Ginn Tribute and Samsung, finishing third and second respectively.  Her seven Top 10s are a little off-set by the four missed cuts but it's a solid Top 20 season.

#19  Karen Stupples  (NR-NR-13)

Five of Karen's seven Top 10 finishes were also Top 5s which makes her money-list finish outside the Top 20 a little surprising.  Her best finish, a tie for second at Michelob, was even in one of the higher dollar events.  Just an anomaly, I suppose.  Stupples had great putting stats this year - T4 in PPGIR, T23 in putting average - and excellent distance off the tee (261 T12).  For such a long hitter, her GIR is surprisingly low (only 51^st) but consistent with her record prior to maternity leave.

#20  In-Kyung Kim  (NR-29-18)

Won the Longs Drugs Challenge in October, finished in the Top 10 eight times, but missed five cuts (all by early June).  I haven't compiled my final Total Driving stats for 2008 yet but Inky will almost certainly be the worst driver of any player in my Top 20 (if not Top 40).  She finished 106^th in distance while only ranking T78 in accuracy.  Consequently, she came in 96^th in GIR.  Being T4 in PPGIR and 11^th in putting average apparently was enough to overcome the disadvantage.