Just about every recent rookie class has a dominant player as queen of the hill: Paula Creamer is head and shoulders above the rest of the Class of 2005, Seon Hwa Lee stands above the Senior Standouts, Ya Ni Tseng is outpacing the Super Sophs, and Ji-Yai Shin is the clear favorite to win Rookie of the Year. But not so the Junior Mints. They have multiple players with 2 wins, a couple of U.S. Women's Open champions, and some of the top players without a win on tour, so how do they stack up, now that we're in the middle of the LPGA's summer vacation?  For the entire top 20, head on over to Mostly Harmless, where you can see how Hound Dog's August rankings compare to the Rolex and Sagarin systems--and also catch my new way of breaking down everyone's career stats (I calculate a finished events rate by dividing the total number of events a player didn't miss the cut, withdraw, or get disqualified in by the number of events she started).

Simply the Best

1. Eun-Hee Ji: The 2nd U.S. Women's Open champion among the Junior Mints has had an on-again off-again season, but I doubt she'll suffer the same kind of Open hangover from which Inbee Park has only recently recovered. Sure, her DQ at the Women's British Open, the 3rd of her career, makes it harder for her to break the $1M barrier in season winnings, but she's the 3rd player in her class to pass the $2M mark in career winnings--and she did it in her 47th LPGA event (not counting the 2 tournaments she played in Korea before joining the tour, which aren't counted toward her totals). The scary thing is, she still has some room for improvement with her approach shots and putting. Despite her great accuracy off the tee (she's hitting 77.5% of her fairways, 10th on tour), her greens in regulation and birdie rates (68.1%/3.26) are only better than average, while her 1.797 putts per green in regulation rate puts her just outside the top 30 on tour. If she comes back from summer vacation having improved in these areas, she could put herself smack dab in the middle of the Player of the Year race.
2. In-Kyung Kim: She's having the best year of anyone in her class and is a legitimate contender for Player of the Year. Having broken the $1M barrier in season winnings for the 1st time in her career and become the 2nd Junior Mint to pass the $2M mark in career winnings, she's at the top of her class in both categories. But I can't put my favorite Junior Mint in the #1 spot here just yet: Ji's accomplished about as much as she has in 20 fewer events. So she'll need to pass Ji in total wins and extend her leads in top 3s, top 10s, and top 20s on Ji if she wants to take the top spot away from Ji
3. Angela Park: It's great to hear that she's not retiring, after all (thank Larry the Looper for that rumor!). And I think she made the right call to pull the plug on the European Swing. She'd only made 1 cut in her previous 7 starts. Hopefully she's had time to rest and recover from whatever it is that's been bothering her. Even though she's fallen from her #1 spot last ranking, every player goes through a rough spot at least once in her career. There's no reason she can't be back among the game's elite again.

The Contenders

4. Song-Hee Kim: She's having a great year that could turn awesome if she finally breaks through for that 1st LPGA win. To do it, she'll need to improve on her ballstriking, accuracy, and precision (she only hits 70.8% of her fairways, which puts her in 57th place on tour, and 68.4% of her greens in regulation, but still averages 3.88 birdies per round and 1.742 putts per green in regulation--imagine how much better she'd be scoring if she were just giving herself a couple more good looks for birdies per round).
5. Inbee Park: Her slump is over. She's made 7 cuts in a row and even got a top 20 in that run (at the LPGA Championship, no less). If she keeps it up, she'll move back into the top 50 on the money list and qualify for the Asian Swing.
6. Ji Young Oh: Even with 2 wins (tied for most in her class), I can't justify putting her any higher on this list. Call her the Rodney Dangerfield of her class!
7. Kristy McPherson: All signs suggest she's the #4 player in her class this season, but I just can't justify putting the 7th player in the class to join the Million Dollar Club in career winnings any higher than this just yet.
8. Jane Park: Back problems sabotaged her Solheim Cup run-up, so she'll have to wait another couple of years to make the U.S. team. She put some good rounds together on the European Swing and got a top 20 at the Women's British Open, so let's hope she carries that over to the Safeway and beyond. She's on the bubble to make the Asian Swing.

Quantum Leap Candidates

9. Na On Min: Yes, she's been struggling big-time over her 1st 2 full seasons on the LPGA and she hasn't played on the LPGA since the Corning Classic, but her career record still outshines those below her. I wonder if her very low GIR rate this season suggests she'd been trying to play through an injury and decided to rest it? Even more to the point, I wonder if she'll be back for the Safeway?
10. Jin Joo Hong: She'll need to play well in her last few events to stay in the top 100 on the money list--and even better if she wants to crack the top 80. She's WDed from 3 of her last 7 events, so I suspect she's been trying to play through an injury. If I'm right, the LPGA's summer vacation might be just what the doctor ordered.
11. Irene Cho: She's the only on in this group playing at all well, but will need to make a move if she wants to play on the Asian Swing. She's certainly making enough birdies per round (3.33) to do it.
12. Charlotte Mayorkas: She's only made 2 cuts all season, but at #135 on the priority status list, will get into the last few regular-season events. Still, she'll need to make a real charge to avoid Q-School, much less qualify for the Asian Swing.