Mizuno Classic - Epilogue

Jiyai Shin's eighth career victory gives her nine Hall of Fame points and moves her into sixth place among active players, behind Laura Davies (25), Cristie Kerr (16), Liselotte Neumann (14), Paula Creamer (10) and Sherri Steinhauer (10).  At age 22, Jiyai is two years younger than Creamer, eleven years younger than Kerr and at least 22 years younger than each of the other three players in front of her.

As I mentioned in yesterday's recap, Shin prevented Yani Tseng from taking control of the Rolex Player of the Year race.  Below are the current POY standings alongside what the standings would have been had Jiyai finished second to Yani at Mizuno:

Event winners get 30 POY points while second place gets only 12.  Had Tseng prevailed, she would have been guaranteed to be in front going into the Tour Championship and could have clinched the title by finishing in front of each of her four closest pursuers at the Ochoa Invitational.  As it stands now, any of these five could take the lead with a win this week and Tseng could retain the lead by finishing second or third even if one of the other four wins.

On a related subject - when Amanda Blumenherst, Beatriz Recari (who wasn't in the field) and Gwladys Nocera did not win the Mizuno Classic, Azahara Munoz clinched the 2010 Rolex Rookie of the Year Award.  With two events remaining, Munoz' 313-point lead is now insurmountable.  Congratulations Aza!

As I predicted, three JLPGA regulars finished in the Top 10 this week - too bad I got the wrong three players.  At least I considered Yukari Baba and Young Kim while making my picks.  Since Miki Saiki finished in solo fourth place, I award her this week's Big Surprise.  While I'm on the subject of predictions, my choice of Shin to win gave me two straight winners!  Might not sound like much but after you start the season oh-fer-20....

Stacy Lewis' third-place finish was only surprising if you focus on the fact that it was only her third Top 10 of the year.  Stacy has held steady in my rankings around the #30 position since the end of June, mainly with a slew of finishes in the teens (11 total Top 20 finishes).  A record like that is typical of an "under the radar" type of player who is going to surprise us with a big win one of these weeks.

The Big Disappointment is, unfortunately, an easy choice.  Ai Miyazato shot 79 on Saturday and finished T69 in a 78-player field.  That doesn't bode well for an Ai-chan last-minute push for POY.