Anna Nordqvist was #76 in my player ranking system coming into the LPGA Championship - not quite as far down the list as Brittany Lincicome was right before the Kraft Nabisco but certainly not on the radar of possible major champions.  She had only one Top 20 finish in her four 2009 starts (T17 at Corona) but she had not missed any cuts, meaning that every event she has been in she's at least been the 70^th best player that week (and usually better).  This wasn't a fluke victory - it was a "came out of nowhere" victory, since Anna hadn't yet established that she could NOT play this well.  Nevertheless, Nordqvist is the slam-dunk choice for this week's Big Surprise Award.

Just what we needed - another Rookie of the Year candidate!  Nordqvist is now second in Rolex Rookie points to Jiyai Shin, despite having only half the starts of her six closest competitors.  Speaking of starts, Anna does not immediately get her priority raised by winning yesterday.  She will still be player #154 for three more events.  At Wegmans she is guaranteed a spot by virtue of having just finished in the Top 10 at Bulle Rock but that exemption would not carry over to the next event, the Jamie Farr Classic.  The major win automatically qualifies her for the U.S. Open the following week and the next-scheduled revision in the priority standings will take effect after that (although since Evian, the British Open and Solheim are the next three events, the new standings won't actually get used until Safeway the last week of August).  Having said all that, Anna shouldn't have any worries.  Player #154 has been able to play every full-field event so far this year (#157 has been cut out twice).

I agree with Stephanie Wei that Golf Channel did a bang-up job on the event, for all the reasons Stephanie mentioned.  Being the cynic that I am, I must point out that they nearly duplicated their worst-ever player snub.  Back in 2007 at this same event, Angela Park and Na On Min were in contention all day but were shown only a handful of times despite playing in the same groups as Karrie Webb and eventual champion Suzann Pettersen.  Yesterday Kyeong Bae birdied four of her first five holes on the back nine, climbing to within three of the lead when Nordqvist bogeyed 13, but none of those birdies was shown.  Kristy McPherson and Nicole Castrale were in the same position at the time but they didn't lack for exposure.  We finally saw KB when she played her approach at 16 to within five feet.  Unfortunately (for Bae and this argument) she missed that putt and another reasonable-chance putt at 17 to end her run as she finished fourth.  GC kind of got caught up in the "match play" feel of the Nordqvist-Wright pairing but they had plenty of time to show Bae's results (as they managed to show those of Shin, to their credit).  Usually the player who finishes fourth in a major gets more airtime than that and whenever this happens to an Asian, I have to expect foul play.

Bae earns an "Atta Girl" this week for that great finish, along with Amy Yang and Jin Young Pak.  It was Bae's first Top 10 since last July, Yang's first since November (and second of her career) and Pak's first ever.  Brandie Burton fired a 67 on Sunday, missing her first Top 10 since October 2006 by one shot.

Before this Epilogue gets too lengthy, I must not forget to award the Big Disappointment.  Remember the five players I predicted were the favorites this week?  I'm going to toss out Paula Creamer because she finished T16 and Suzann Pettersen because (I believe) she withdrew because of a physical problem.  Yes - the Big Disappointments are Lorena Ochoa, Yani Tseng and Cristie Kerr.  None of them finished in the Top 20 and none of them ever sniffed the title that they should have contended for.  Better luck at Saucon Valley.