Numbers in parentheses are the player's final 2008 ranking, their preseason ranking and the highest position they reached during the 2009 season.

6.  Suzann Pettersen  (7-5-4)

Ended a drought of nearly two years when she won the Canadian Open in September.  Even during the dry spell, Suzann continued to perform at a level consistent with being a Top 10 player. Had she won the playoff at Safeway (losing to M.J. Hur the week prior to Canada), she would have gone down to the wire with Ochoa, Shin and Kerr for Rolex Player of the Year.  Pettersen finished 16^th in Total Driving, 10^th in GIR and 14^th in Total Putting, making her the lowest ranked player who finished in the Top 20 of all three Big Three stats.

7.  Anna Nordqvist  (NR-NR-7)

If Nordqvist had not won the season-ending Tour Championship, none of the four 2009 major champions (Lincicome, Ji, Matthew) would have ranked among my Top 10.  I don't even have to research it - that has never happened in all the LPGA seasons I've researched going back to 1950.  Just more evidence that the Tour's depth is at an all-time high.  And maybe some more evidence that those majors aren't so much harder to win after all.

As I mentioned a few days ago, four of my top six ranked in the Top 20 of each of the Big Three while the other two made the Top 20 in two of them.  Then there's Nordqvist - her best number is 24^th in Total Putting (30^th in GIR, 40^th in Total Driving).  Anna was a very steady player in that she was one of only five regulars not to miss a cut this year (Ochoa, Kerr, Miyazato, NY Choi).  But in another regard, she wasn't consistent at all.  Aside from the two victories, she only collected three Top 10s (none in the Top 5) in those 15 starts and she had five finishes of 36^th or worse.

The word "consistent" has really gotten its definition twisted around in the sporting vernacular, much like the grossly misused "mediocre".  When somebody says a player or team is consistent nowadays, they really mean "consistently good" or "consistently in contention".  Strictly speaking, I would say Lorena Ochoa is consistently in contention, Anna Nordqvist is consistently good, and (for 2009 at least) Liselotte Neumann and Dorothy Delasin are consistent.

8.  Yani Tseng  (5-4-4)

Although she won the Corning Classic in May, Yani continued her rookie habit of knocking on the door multiple times into her sophomore season.  She was the runner-up three times and collected a total of nine Top 5s in 2009.

Tseng led the Tour in birdies and ranked second in eagles.  Of course, leading in events played (she was the only player to start all 27) gave her a few more chances in those categories.  Putting seemed to be the only problem with her game this year as she finished 55^th in Total Putting (down from #22 in 2008) and wasn't in the Top 50 of either traditional putting stat.  

9.  Angela Stanford  (8-12-5)

Stanford won the season-opening SBS Open and for most of the year was among the 5-6 best players on Tour.  Her mom was diagnosed with breast cancer in September so Angela took a break to be with her, skipping the Asian swing.  When she returned for the final two events of the season, she finished 33^rd and T32.  Coupled with the late wins by Choi and Nordqvist, Stanford slipped to #9.

Angela was my inspiration for developing Total Driving when I noticed she seemed to have the best combination of distance and accuracy back in 2007.  She finished second in that stat this year and wound up 12^th in GIR and 30^th in Total Putting, meaning that she only slightly fell back in GIR (from 8^th) while greatly improving in the other two (20^th and 52^nd respectively).

10.  Michelle Wie  (59-14-10)

Well, look who's here!  Wiesy played 19 events (instead of the widely-predicted 12-14), finished in the Top 4 six times and earned her first professional victory at the Ochoa Invitational, about five weeks after her 20^th birthday.  I probably won't be predicting a POY run for Michelle next year but after presuming a 14^th place performance for her rookie season, she may want me to.  Incidentally, she was #11 in my 2006 final rankings so this is the highest position Wie has ever held on the HD chart.

Until she improves on her driving accuracy rate, Wie (nor we) shouldn't expect any POY titles.  Even though she ranked 4^th in distance, her Total Driving ranking was 74^th due to only hitting the fairway at a .582 clip.  Just six players on Tour found the fairway less often than Michelle Wie.  She ranked seventh in Total Putting and despite the poor average start off the tee, she managed to finish 21^st in GIR.  That performance from fairway to green and the great putting is what ultimately made Wie a Top 10 player, ironically not her booming drives.