Where Were They Then?

Usually the question that gets asked is "where are they now", as we try to figure out whatever happened to a person we used to see all of time.  I thought I would turn that question on its head by taking several players we are all currently familiar with, and look at "where they were" at the beginning of the 2008 season.  You might be surprised how much can change in 13 months.

Yani Tseng

Prior to last year's SBS Open, Tseng was ranked #138 in the Rolex Rankings.  She was a fully-exempt rookie by virtue of finishing sixth at Q-School in December 2007.  Yani had made four career starts in LPGA events, making two cuts and finishing T6 at the '07 Canadian Open.  Prior to that performance, she had won once on the Asian Tour, once on the CN Canadian Tour and before turning pro had won 19 amateur titles including the 2004 Women's Amateur Public Links Championship.  I thought she was the second most likely candidate for the Rookie of the Year title.  Now Tseng is #2 in the world according to Rolex and solidly in the HD Top 5.

Katherine Hull

Katherine was ranked #146 prior to the 2008 season.  A member of the 2004 rookie class, she was beginning her fifth full season on Tour.  Hull had made 91 career starts with six Top 10 finishes, 41 missed cuts (a cut percentage of 45.1!) and had never finished higher than 55^th on the money list.  After the 2006 season, Katherine had to go back to Q-School where she retained her card by finishing T7.  Her only career Top 5 finish had been a runner-up at the 2005 Canadian Open, which foreshadowed her breakthrough at the same event in August 2008.  Hull is now Rolex #12 and approaching my Top 15.

Brittany Lincicome

At the start of last season, Brittany was #16 in the Rolex Rankings and #17 on the HD chart.  In three full seasons, she had collected two victories, nine Top 10s and over $1.8 million in winnings.  One of the longest hitters on Tour, Lincicome ranked third in Total Driving in 2006 and second in 2007.  She underwent some swing changes after the 2007 season and the results were disastrous - 22 starts, one Top 10 (T7 at the Farr), 11 missed cuts, 92^nd on the money list.  By missing the fairway at a much higher rate, she fell to #83 in Total Driving.  She is currently ranked 75^th by Rolex and well above #100 in my system.  Brittany has been playing on the Suncoast Series Tour in recent weeks, trying to get her game back.

Angela Stanford

Stanford opened 2008 ranked #33 by Rolex and #16 by me.  She had one career victory (2003 ShopRite) in seven LPGA seasons but was coming off her best year with 12 Top 10 finishes.  Angela had acquired a reputation of not being able to hold onto the lead on Sunday, if only because of the two times Cristie Kerr overtook her during the final round to win.  '08 started off pretty much like '07 with three Top 10s and four other Top 20s in her first nine events as she climbed to #6 in the Hound Dog rankings.  Then, inexplicably, she registered only two Top 20s and missed three cuts over her next 12.  This four-month slump dropped Stanford completely out of my Top 30.  When the calendar flipped to September, her current nine-event Top 10 streak began, with victories at Bell Micro, the Ochoa Invitational and SBS.  Angela is now a Top 10 player in both the Rolex and HD rankings.

Inbee Park

In February 2008, Inbee was coming off her rookie LPGA season.  She had collected only two Top 10 finishes but those were a tie for second at the Safeway Classic and a tie for fourth at the U.S. Open.  Park also missed eight cuts with the majority coming in the first half of the season, further suggesting she was making headway as the year wore on.  She started her sophomore season ranked as Rolex #66.  While she still missed three cuts before the end of May, Inbee had finished in the Top 10 four times by the time she got to Interlachen for her second U.S. Open - which she won, of course.  She followed that victory with a 10^th at Arkansas.  Park had risen to Rolex #12 and HD #6.  She's currently on a streak of 12 straight events without a Top 10 with her best finish during that streak (debatably) being T21 at the Canadian Open.  She was 19^th at Samsung but only 20 players teed it up that week.  Inbee now stands at HD #13 and Rolex #23.