Best Without an LPGA Win Heading into 2010

As we head into the LPGA's 2010 season, I'm going to be breaking down the competition in various ways. Since a lot has changed since I last ranked the best on the LPGA without a win--Ai Miyazato, Na Yeon Choi, and Michelle Wie from the list got their 1st wins (not to mention Eunjung Yi and M.J. Hur from off it), for starters--I figured it was about time for an update. Since I plan to do similar lists for active players with 1 win, 2 wins, 3 wins, 4 wins, and 5 wins, I'm moving those with non-member wins off this ranking. For all these posts, I'll be using my Best of the Young Guns and Best of the LPGA rankings, as well as my ranking of the Class of 2009 and survey of the Class of 2010, to help me figure out who goes where here. So here are my top 11; for the full list of 27, head on over to Mostly Harmless:

Most Likely to Win in 2010

1. Song-Hee Kim: This Futures Tour sensation got off to a slow start on the LPGA, but now has 5 top 3s and 19 top 10s. Plus, she's an excellent putter, one of the best on tour, and has been improving her ballstriking. That's what I call due.

2. Brittany Lang: In 38 more starts than Kim, she has 1 more top 3 and 5 more top 10s, but her slump was longer than deeper than Kim's ever was. 2009 was her 1st full season when she was truly past it and she established herself as one of the tour's best ballstrikers in it. Let's see if she's able to improve her short game even more in 2010. All she needs to break through is 1 week when her putter gets hot.

3. Sun Young Yoo: This late-blooming '06er has the game to contend any given week, but hasn't done it as often as she will in 2010. She gets a good number of top 20s (31 in 104 LPGA starts) and has started to get comfortable with her name near the top of the leaderboard (3 top 3s and 13 top 10s at the end of 2009 are big improvements on where she stood at the end of 2008). So let's see if she can build on her momentum and reach escape velocity in 2010.

4. Hee Young Park: With 4 KLPGA wins to her name and the ability to go very low any time, she just has to have a week where she avoids that one big number to get her 1st LPGA win. 2 top 3s and 10 top 10s in her 53 starts as an LPGA member just scratches the surface of her potential.

5. Kristy McPherson: I don't know, I just have a great feeling about her prospects in 2010. She's a precision player who has room to improve even in that area; she's contended at majors; she's gone through Solheim Cup trial by fire; and she has 3 top 3s and 12 top 10s in her 70 LPGA starts. What's not to like?

6. Amy Yang: Yes, she didn't live up to my prediction that she'd end up the 10th-best player on the LPGA in 2009. But she improved on her rookie season, when she won 3 times on the LET, in every major statistical category. She's on the verge of really breaking through. Once she figures out how to go low outside Europe, she'll be unstoppable!

7. Vicky Hurst: I never though M.J. Hur would beat her to that 1st LPGA win, but there you have it. Still, 2009 was a pretty solid season for the tour's long-driving champion in her rookie season.

8. Stacy Lewis: 2009 was a big let-down for 2008's Q-School medalist, but still a pretty good year for a rookie. Look for her to tap into her considerable talents in 2010.

Have the Talent to Win Any Time, But....

9. Jane Park: She got off to a hot start in 2009 but then her back flared up and she was never the same golfer the rest of the season. Still, even with limited status her rookie season, she already has 3 top 3s and 6 top 10s in 57 starts as an LPGA member. And she felt well enough to caddy for Tiffany Joh at Q-School in December. So if she comes back rested and takes care of her back better in 2010, I expect a win out of her this season.

10. Shiho Oyama: 11 JLPGA wins in 9 seasons don't lie, but tendonitis in the elbows is hard to recover from. She had the wisdom to shut down her season midway through 2009 when it became clear playing through the pain was counterproductive. And she even stayed in the top 80 on the LPGA's money list, securing Category 1 status for 2010. Let's see if she comes back healthy.

11. Angela Park: Yes, her game has deserted her and she's dealing with issues bigger than golf. But even with all those problems she has 3 more top 3s and only 1 fewer top 10 than Kim. Without them, she'd be at the head of this ranking.