The JLPGA's Finest, 2009 Edition

I've just finished my profiles of the top 30 players on the JLPGA, but just for Hound Dog's readers, here's a peek at my top 10.

1. Sakura Yokomine: #1 2009 money (￥175.02M), #14 GSPI (70.28) [3], #15 RR (4.90) [3], #3 2008 money (￥103.19M). Did she do well enough this season to move up from #2 last season? Only if breaking the single-season winnings record on the JLPGA and winning 2 of her last 3 events--bringing her totals to 6 wins and 1 major for 2009 in the process--count as significant improvements in your book. Oh, and in 33 starts, she snagged 4 silver medals, 3 bronzes, and 3 other top 5s (2 more than last season) and ended up with 21 top 10s (1 more than last season). If she hadn't had a short mid-season slump, she would most likely have broken the 200-million yen mark. An apt goal for 2009's JLPGA Player of the Year in 2010.

2. Shinobu Moromizato: #2 2009 money (￥165.26M), #27 GSPI (70.87) [7], #17 RR (4.21) [4], #12 2008 money (￥64.37M). It's a good thing she didn't take my advice from last November to build "more off-weeks into her 2009 schedule." She only won 5 more times this season than last and gave herself a chance for a Grand Slam heading into the JLPGA's 3rd major, the Japan Women's Open. Even though she wasn't meant to have another major (Song won that week and Yokomine beat her in the final one of the season, the Ricoh Cup, to take the money title away from her, as well), she still had an historic season, coming within about a million yen of the winnings record set by Shiho Oyama in 2006 and nearly matched by Momoko Ueda in 2007. As if that wasn't enough to move her up 13 spots from last year's final ranking, she ended up with 13 top 5s and 20 top 10s in 34 starts.

3. Chie Arimura: #3 2009 money (￥105.21M), #28 GSPI (70.88) [8], #21 RR (3.97) [5], #23 2008 money (￥47.35M). -20. That's what she shot in only 54 holes while taking her 5th title of 2009 in the penultimate event of the year. She was right in the mix for the money-list title for most of the following week, but came up a few shots shy in the end. Still, by snagging 5 silvers, 1 bronze, 14 top 5s in all, and 21 top 10s in 33 starts, she advanced a whopping 23 spots in this year's ranking. That's what coming close to matching Yuri Fudoh's best season will do for you!

4. Mi-Jeong Jeon: #4 2009 money (￥127.29M), #19 GSPI (70.39) [4], #22 RR (3.95) [6], #6 2008 money (￥90.85M). This was arguably the best season in her 5-year JLPGA career. Most wins, most winnings, lowest scoring average, 2nd-highest finish ever...the list goes on (including 11 top 5s and 20 top 10s in 29 starts). The most I can move her up, though, is 5 spots from last year's ranking. The culprit? Those 4 silver medals and 1 bronze--most of them were definite wins that got away. Let's hope she can completely escape the fallout from her +3 finish over her final 2 holes of 2008--the only reason 2009 wasn't her 4th-straight season in the 100 Million Yen Club--in 2010!


5. Ji-Yai Shin: #24 2009 money (￥37.40M), #2 RR (9.27) [1], #6 GSPI (69.43) [1], #24 2008 money (￥45.54M). A gold, a silver, 3 top 5s and 5 top 10s in 6 JLPGA starts this season is enough for me to make her my #5 on tour for the 2nd-straight season. Her worst finish was in her 1st event: T15. She clearly would have been a POY candidate if she had played a full season on tour.

6. Ai Miyazato: #14 2009 money (￥46.56M), #8 GSPI (69.54) [2], #8 RR (6.74) [2], #32 2008 money (￥27.89M). She ended up with a gold, a silver, a bronze, and 5 top 10s in 8 JLPGA starts in 2009, but had trouble making birdies in Japan (3.26 per round vs. 3.90 per round on the LPGA). If this season featured her return to her 2004-2006 JLPGA form without the wins in bunches (she put herself in contention 13 times but walked away with only 2 worldwide wins), I wonder what next season has in store for her? Here's hoping that final-round 64 of hers in the Kyoraku Cup is a sign of things to come in 2010.

7. Momoko Ueda: #21 2009 money (￥42.38M), #24 GSPI (70.80) [6], #26 RR (3.65) [7], #17 2008 money (￥54.62M). She switches places with Miyazato from last year's list, mostly because in 12 JLPGA starts she could only manage a gold, a silver, 4 top 5s, and 8 top 10s. To add insult to injury, Annika's former caddie Terry McNamara was on In-Kyung Kim's bag when she won in Dubai last Saturday. I wonder if Momo-chan's trial run with him is over. I wouldn't be too concerned if it is, though. She seemed to be pressing all season. Here's hoping things click for her in 2010.

8. Ji-Hee Lee: #6 2009 money (￥79.70M), #22 GSPI (70.64) [5], #29 RR (3.37) [8], #2 2008 money (￥119.65M). 2008's #1-ranked player slips all the way down here in 2009, but a putt not dropping here or there was all the difference between her 2 seasons. In 25 starts (2 down from last year), she won only once and had to settle for 3 silvers, 10 top 5s (5 down), and 15 top 10s (6 down). What's more, she had a WD and 4 finishes outside the top 20, as opposed to last season, when she came back from an opening MC with 25 of 26 top 20s. Here's hoping Team Korea's victorious captain in this year's Kyoraku Cup has a breakthrough season next year--and that the injuries she suffered when her team dropped her during a celebratory captain toss afterwards quickly heal.

9. Yuko Mitsuka: #5 2009 money (￥89.79M), #30 GSPI (71.02) [9], #38 RR (2.90) [11], #7 2008 money (￥83.56M). Maybe I'm letting her waterlogged LPGA Q-School performance unduly influence me, but it certainly brought out her inconsistency this season. Yes, she won the 1st event of the season and got a bronze in its last, but in between she didn't win another, missed 2 cuts, withdrew from 2 events, finished outside the top 20 5 other times, racked up only 2 silvers and 2 more bronzes, and ended up with 10 top 5s and 16 top 10s in 30 starts. So the most I can do is move this 3rd-year pro up 2 spots from last season's final ranking. If she continues to improve in her 4th season like she did between each of her 1st 3, watch out for her in 2010.

10. Miho Koga: #8 2009 money (￥72.11M), #32 GSPI (71.18) [10], #40 RR (2.83) [12], #1 2008 money (￥120.85M). It was a frustrating 2009 for 2008's money-list leader and #4-ranked player on the JLPGA. She went winless for the 1st time since 2005 and only the 2nd time since breaking into the top 10 on the money list in 2003. Sure, she extended her streak in money-list top 10s to 4 in a row and 6 in her last 7 seasons, but just when it seemed she was finally building up some momentum mid-season, she stumbled a bit at the end. In 31 starts, she got 3 silvers, 3 bronzes, 7 top 5s, and 17 top 10s--a career season for most people but not for a player of her caliber.