Just posted my latest JLPGA Top 25 over at Mostly Harmless.  For Hound Dog's readers, here's the top 12.

We've got a new #1 in town...but she's got lots of company.

1. Sakura Yokomine: #1 2009 money (￥59.38M), #19 GSPI (70.57) [1], #21 RR (3.33) [2], #3 2008 money (￥103.19M). Last season, she had 1 win, 8 top 3s, 14 top 5s, and 20 top 10s in 29 starts--plus, she finished out of the top 20 only twice and never missed a cut--so I put her at #2, right behind Ji-Hee Lee, who was even better. This may turn out to be Yokomine's breakout season, however. She already has 2 wins, 5 top 3s, and 10 top 10s in 12 starts, with her worst finish of the year being T11 (twice). Last year, I speculated that when she finally wins a JLPGA money title, she would be headed for the LPGA. This may be that year.

2. Ji-Hee Lee: #7 2009 money (￥28.04M), #23 GSPI (70.79) [3], #35 RR (2.53) [3], #2 2008 money (￥119.65M). Last season, she had 1 major, 2 wins, 9 top 3s, 15 top 5s, and 21 top 10s in 27 starts--and finished outside the top 20 only once, at the Mizuno Classic (in addition to her MC her 1st start)--so I made her my #1 JLPGA golfer of 2008. This season, she has 9 straight top 20s and an early win, but only 4 top 10s. Still, she's head and shoulders ahead of the next pair of JLPGA players.

3. Yuko Mitsuka: #3 2009 money (￥50.11M), #27 GSPI (71.05) [4], #44 RR (2.27) [4], #7 2008 money (￥83.56M). A great 2nd half to her 2008 season leapfrogged her to the head of the up-and-coming pack, bringing her to 1 win, 5 top 3s, 9 top 5s, and 14 top 10s, to go with 2 MCs, 2 WDs, and 4 finishes outside the top 20 in 32 events. This season, she's elevated her game even further, with a win, a runner-up, and 7 other top 10s in 13 starts, along with 1 missed cut and 1 other finish outside the top 20. With a 5-event top-10 streak and 9-event top-20 streak going, she's one of the hottest golfers on the JLPGA right now.

4. Mi-Jeong Jeon: #4 2009 money (￥40.44M), #37 GSPI (71.42) [5], #47 RR (2.21) [6], #6 2008 money (￥90.85M). Last season, although she had 2 wins, 4 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 15 top 10s in 30 starts--to go with 2 missed cuts, 1 WD, and 9 finishes outside the top 20--her +3 finish in her final pair of holes cost her her 3rd straight 100-million yen year. This season, she's got 1 win and 2 more heartbreaking runner-ups, along with 5 other top 10s in 11 starts, but she also has a WD and 1 other finish outside the top 20.

Still waiting for the other elite JLPGA players to jump-start their seasons. But as you can see, it takes a lot for the up-and-coming stars on tour to catch them.

5. Shinobu Moromizato: #2 2009 money (￥57.48M), #57 GSPI (71.85) [8], #54 RR (1.81) [9], #12 2008 money (￥64.37M). Last season, she had 1 win, 2 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 16 top 10s to go with 4 MCs and 7 finishes outside the top 20 in 34 events, and ranked #15. This season, she already has 2 wins (including the year's 1st major) and 5 other top 10s in 13 starts, but she's also finished outside the top 20 5 times.

6. Yuri Fudoh: #15 2009 money (￥18.38M), #21 GSPI (70.70) [3], #19 RR (3.39) [1], #5 2008 money (￥91.86M). Last season, her 4 wins, 6 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 10 top 10s in 22 starts would have been a great year for anyone but the JLPGA's career money leader and first billion-yen winner in tour history. But she missed 2 cuts and finished outside the top 20 4 times in '08. This season, she's already missed a cut and finished outside the top 20 1 other time, but also has a runner-up finish and 4 other top 10s in 8 starts, so look for her to challenge for the top again.

7. Akiko Fukushima: #13 2009 money (￥21.83M), #47 GSPI (71.60) [6], #51 RR (2.06) [7], #4 2008 money (￥96.50M). Last season, her 2 wins, 5 top 3s, 8 top 5s, and 14 top 10s in 30 events and no missed cuts was great, but she did finish outside the top 20 9 times and really faltered in the last third of the season, missing the best opportunity for her 1st career 100-million yen season, so I ranked her #8, behind Shin, Ueda, and Miyazato. This season, she's been coming on strong since finishing outside the top 20 in her 1st 2 events, with a runner-up and 3 other top 10s, for a total of 6 straight top 20s out of 8 starts.

8. Miho Koga: #14 2009 money (￥18.65M), #62 GSPI (72.03) [10], #45 RR (2.26) [5], #1 2008 money (￥120.85M). Even though she lead the 2008 money list and had 4 wins (including 1 major), 7 top 3s, 11 top 5s, and 17 top 10s in 33 starts, I put her at #4 at the end of last season due to her 5 finishes outside the top 20 and 3 missed cuts. This season, she's already missed a cut and finished outside the top 20 2 other times, so her 4 top 10s (including a runner-up) in 10 starts move her down this ranking.

The next group of players are very closely bunched and if they can find more consistency can easily join the lead chase pack.

9. Ayako Uehara: #9 2008 money (￥26.48M), #73 GSPI (72.23) [13], #72 RR (1.39) [13], #14 2008 money (￥63.31M). Last season was the best in her career, with 1 win, 3 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 8 top 10s, along with 4 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20 in 33 starts. This season, she started hot with a runner-up and a win in her 1st 2 events, but since then has only gotten 3 other top 10s in her other 9 starts to go with 2 missed cuts and 4 other finishes outside the top 20.

10. Chie Arimura: #5 2009 money (￥31.71M), #114 GSPI (72.91) [23], #74 RR (1.33) [14], #23 2008 money (￥47.35M). Last season, she got her 1st career win in an incandescent mid-year stretch, but only ended up with 3 top 3s, 4 top 5s, and 10 top 10s to go with 8 MCs, 1 WD, and 12 finishes outside the top 20 in 35 events. This season, she started slow, with a missed cut and 2 other finishes outside the top 20 in her 1st 3 starts, but in her last 10 events, she's fallen out of the top 20 only once and has 6 top 10s, including a runner-up finish and her 2nd career win.

11. Eun-A Lim: #10 2008 money (￥24.47M), #67 GSPI (72.10) [12], #53 RR (1.96) [8], #9 2008 money (￥73.41M). Last season, her 1 win, 5 top 3s, 6 top 5s, and 10 top 10s, along with 3 MCs and 9 finishes outside the top 20 in 29 events made her the 6th Korean in the top 15 on the JLPGA. This season, she already has a win and a runner-up finish, but with only 1 other top 10 in 10 starts to go with 2 missed cuts and 3 other finishes outside the top 20, her status as #3 Korean on tour is in jeopardy.

12. Erina Hara: #12 2009 money (￥23.80M), #63 GSPI (72.03) [11], #68 RR (1.43) [11], #10 2008 money (￥65.87M). Last season she had 1 win, 3 top 3s, 7 top 5s, and 10 top 10s, along with 3 MCs and 10 finishes outside the top 20 in 37 starts. This season, she got off to a fast start with 2 runner-ups in her 1st 3 starts, but she's only gotten 2 other top 10s, has missed the cut 4 times, and has fallen outside the top 20 2 other times in her 10 other starts.