Top 70 - September 2009

I wasn't planning on posting an updated ranking until our next break in the schedule but since it has undergone a major shake-up and the Player of the Year race is in full swing, I decided to do one today.  The ranking is now entirely based on 2009 results.  Rookies are in bold, the player's previous ranking is in parenthesis and comments are after the jump.

All hail the new Number One - Jiyai Shin!

Lorena Ochoa had been ranked #1 since my final rankings in 2006.  I knew she would eventually drop out of that spot but I never dreamed she would get passed by four players in one go.  She is still in the thick of the HD Player of the Year race, as are all of the top eight.  The next seven players would also jump into the race should they win in the next couple of weeks.  This race is so crazy that unless one player wins three or more of the final seven events, Rolex and my system could likely pick different players as #1.

Ochoa dropped so far because of Ai Miyazato's continued outstanding play and Suzann Pettersen's win in Canada.  Only 20 rating points separate first and sixth place so if Angela Stanford had won yesterday's playoff instead of Jiyai Shin, Angela would have been pushing Cristie Kerr and Shin for the #1 spot.  And in that case, Ochoa would have fallen to sixth.  If this kind of shuffle keeps occurring, I may have to post the rankings every week.

While we're playing the what-if game, Sun Young Yoo would have probably made the Top 15 had she won the Arkansas playoff.  As it is, she's in the Top 20 for the first time after spending the entire season in the 23-28 range.

Annika Sorenstam finally drops out of the Top 70.  It took eight months.  Angela Park did it in half the time but of course she didn't have quite as far to fall.  Despite being out on maternity leave for the rest of the year, Mi Hyun Kim will finish 2009 somewhere in the Top 70.  She's earned enough points to be certain of that.  This month's highest debut is at #42 by M.J. Hur, your Safeway Classic champion.