Top 70 - May 2010

We have a new Number One on the HD charts and our first rookie (in bold) cracks the Top 70.  It's probably not the rookie you think it is.  Notes are after the jump.

With 2010 statistics now accounting for 35% of the ranking, Ai Miyazato's three victories push her ahead of Jiyai Shin.  As the emphasis on 2010 increases with every event, so will Ai's lead unless Jiyai starts winning some tournaments.

Sun Young Yoo's victory at Sybase moves her to #16.  You may wonder why Se Ri Pak's Bell Micro victory didn't give her a similar boost.  Pak's two missed cuts this year and lesser 2009 season (as compared to Yoo) are the reasons.

Second-year player Mindy Kim is the highest debuting player this month at #61.  Her 60^th place standing on the money list and 36^th place in scoring are responsible for that.  Mindy has made the cut in all three of her 2010 starts and finished T14 at Tres Marias.

Azahara Munoz - not Amanda Blumenherst - is the first rookie to make one of my 2010 rankings.  Aza gets there ahead of Amanda due to a better scoring average (71.45 to 72.63) and money list standing (28^th to 32^nd despite having played two fewer events).  Neither has missed a cut yet so these two are the early front-runners for Rookie of the Year.