Top 30 – October 2007

We’re coming down the home stretch now, only four events left to play. There is finally a solid #2 but the rest of the Top 10 is still bunched closely together. I purposely kept the comments short this time – I’m planning to do longer profiles of all 30 players (and more) after the season ends. Previous rankings are in parentheses.

#1 Lorena Ochoa (1)

#2 Suzann Pettersen (3)
Two wins (plus a fifth place) in her last three tournaments make Suzann the rock-solid #2. Only way she fails to finish second is if she totally collapses over the next four events while one of the ladies behind her wins at least twice.

#3 Paula Creamer (2)

#4 Mi Hyun Kim (5)

#5 Morgan Pressel (4)

#6 Seon Hwa Lee (7)

#7 Stacy Prammanasudh (11)
#6-12 rate very closely – my system shows only three points separating the seven of them. Stacy jumps to her highest rank ever thanks to finishes of second at Navistar and eighth at Samsung.

#8 Cristie Kerr (8)
Still ranks Top 10 due to the value of her U.S. Open win. Without that accomplishment, this would have been a terrible season for Kerr. Subtract the money and points I award for a major victory and she would rank around 18th place.

#9 Jee Young Lee (9)
T6 at Samsung and T18 in Korea hopefully shows that she’s recovered from her shoulder problems.

#10 Se Ri Pak (6)
Drops four spots even though she’s not playing badly – T11, T10 and T18 over the last three weeks. Last time, I placed her ahead of both Lees even though my system scored her as slightly behind. She’s a couple of points farther behind them now so I have to over-correct for that. When players are this closely matched, wild swings from month-to-month should be expected.

#11 Angela Park (14)
Angela scored back-to-back T3s at Longs and Samsung, clinching Rookie of the Year in the process. I was going to move her into the Top 10 but her last-place finish in Korea put a stop to that.

#12 Jeong Jang (13)

#13 Nicole Castrale (17)
Her Solheim success sparked a resurgence – sixth at Longs, T9 at Navistar.

#14 Annika Sorenstam (12)
Has not played since the State Farm. Returns at the Thailand event this weekend.

#15 Brittany Lincicome (10)
The anti-Castrale. Her struggles at Solheim have continued – an MC at Navistar, a reasonable T17 at Longs but then a poor 17th out of 20 at Samsung.

#16 Angela Stanford (15)

#17 Maria Hjorth (29)
Up 12 spots, the most this month, because of her win at Navistar plus a Top 10 at Longs.

#18 Shi Hyun Ahn (19)
Had not played since missing the cut at State Farm, but finished tied for eighth in Korea.

#19 Sherri Steinhauer (16)

#20 Juli Inkster (21)

#21 Karrie Webb (25)
Karrie jumps four spots on the strength of two Top 10 finishes, her first ones since finishing second at the LPGA Championship.

#22 Sarah Lee (18)
The Samsung mess gave Sarah her first prominent mention since June. Good thing she got into the event - her tie for 10th was her first Top 10 since the LPGA Championship.

#23 Catriona Matthew (22)

#24 Laura Davies (23)

#25 Natalie Gulbis (28)

#26 Christina Kim (24)

#27 Sophie Gustafson (27)

#28 Laura Diaz (26)
Missed the cut at Navistar and only T26 at Longs.

#29 Hee-Won Han (30)
Makes her return this weekend to defend her title at the Honda LPGA Thailand. Han hasn’t played since the Kraft Nabisco due to the birth of her first child in July.

#30 Ai Miyazato (20)
Ouch. Down ten spots because of two missed cuts and 18th in a 20-player field at Samsung. She ranked as #13 just two months ago. If ANYBODY just outside of this Top 30 (Young Kim or Meaghan Francella, for example) had done ANYTHING positive in the last month, Ai-chan would have been bye-bye. Hopefully playing in front of the home folks next week won’t traumatize her any further.

DROPPED OUT: none.