Top 70 - September 2010

As this is our final multi-week break of the year (unless other cancellations have slipped by me), it makes sense to update the HD Rankings.  2010 stats now account of 85% of the rating.  As usual - the players in bold are rookies, the ones in italics are non-members of the Tour and the numbers on the right are their previous rankings.  Notes are after the jump.

Not many changes near the top.  I already had Tseng at #1 (before Rolex did, I might add) and Miyazato's Safeway win moves her ahead of Shin.  Yani and Ai are solidly in front of the pack now so Shin and Kerr will need a win to get back even while Choi, Pettersen and Song-Hee Kim probably need two wins to have any kind of shot at the title.

This isn't strictly on-topic, but have you noticed that only three of the 17 tournaments this year were won by players not ranked in the Top 15?  Only Hee Kyung Seo at Kia, Se Ri Pak at Bell Micro and Sun Young Yoo at Sybase were not ranked in my Top 15 prior to the victory.  Of course with Miyazato, Tseng and Kerr owning ten of the 17 titles, that reduces the amount of leftovers for everyone else.

Inbee Park rises to #11 due to her fourth-place finish in Arkansas.  Jee Young Lee moves into the Top 20 on the strength of her tie for second in Canada and T12 at Safeway.  Kristy McPherson's year-long slump ended in a big way with Top 5s at both Canada and Arkansas.  Lexi Thompson's rise is solely because I reduced the arbitrary penalty I put on her ranking last month - I'm still lowering her ranking, just not as much.  Basically I inserted her above Catriona Matthew because head-to-head, I believe Lexi has had a better season in five events than Matthew has had in 14.  Congrats to Karine Icher, who makes the Hound Dog Top 30 for the first time in her eight seasons on Tour.  T8 in Canada pushed her over the threshold.

Those tumblin' down include Matthew (three missed cuts in four starts), Brittany Lang (last year's Top 20 season has faded from memory), M.J. Hur (two MCs and a T49), Sophie Gustafson (#41 after four straight finishes outside the Top 40) and Maria Hjorth (three MCs in four starts, seven in her last twelve).  Amanda Blumenherst, who was a viable Rookie of the Year candidate as recently as July, has missed the cut in five of her last six starts and falls out of the Top 70.  She is replaced by Mina Harigae, whose Top 10 at Safeway earns the #70 spot but Mina is miles away from catching Azahara Munoz for ROY.