Successful LPGA Golfers From University of Southern California

In sports, University of Southern California is best known for their college football.  But more recently, the USC women's golf team have been well represented in the LPGA.  Below is the list of the LPGA golfers who were affiliated with the Trojans.  Measured success based on LPGA career money total.  Data all from LPGA website at the time of this writing (2014).

Candie Kung is the leader in career money, and currently adding to her total.  Jennifer Rosales seems to be playing on a part time basis, enough to retain her card.  Lizette Salas has been playing since 2012 and is the No. 21 ranked golfer in the world (2014).  Current USC golfers who we might see in LPGA:  Doris Chen, Annie Park, Kyung Kim, Karen Chung, and Sophie Popov.

LPGA Rookies Classes 2009 to 2013; Prediction for 2014 Rookie Class

Let's take a look at the rookie classes from 2009 thru 2013 and how each class performed as a group.  Trends seen from this analysis will be used to evaluate the 2014 rookie class.  Data (2013 Money List and Rolex Rankings) are mostly from the LPGA website.  

2013 LPGA Money List 

Figure 1



The Rolex rankings are current at the time of this post (March 1, 2014).  Golfers may have changed their name since their rookie season, and I looked up current stats with names used as rookies.  However, if I missed any name changes, the error is expected small for this assessment.
The highlighted name in yellow was the Rookie of the Year.  The highlighted ranking in light brown are those that are within the top 100 in the current Rolex rankings.


2009
The 2009 Rookie class had 21 golfers, a group with extraordinary amount of golfing talent that consisted of Chella Choi, Michelle Wie, Stacy Lewis, Anna Nordqvist, Mika Miyazato and Jiyai Shin.  Stacy Lewis, Anna Nordqvist and Jiyai Shin are LPGA major winners.  The top Thai golfer, Pornanong Phatlum is a 2009 rookie.  Haeji Kang, Vicky Hurst, and M.J. Hur are also prominent players from the 2009 class.

2009 LPGA Rookies
Figure 2

2010

The 2010 Rookie class consisted of 28 incoming golfers.  Some of which are current top international players from Europe.  Azahara Munoz, Beatriz Recari, Dewi Claire Schreefel, and Mariajo Uribe hail from this crop of rookies.  A lot of expectations from American Amanda Blumenherst, but most of her golfing success came as an amateur.  The top American is Gerina Pillar, who arrived after an appearance on Golf Channel's Big Break series.



2010 LPGA Rookies
Figure 3

2011

The influx of current top international players continued in 2011 with the introduction of Hee Kyung Seo, Jenny Shin, Belen Mozo, Jodi Ewart, and Caroline Hedwall.  Top Americans today from this list are Jennifer Johnson and Jessica Korda.  In 2011, many picked Jennifer Song as the most likely to be successful in the LPGA.  She is currently splitting her playing time on the Symetra tour.

2011 LPGA Rookies
Figure 4

2012

2012 introduced some top Americans.  One of them, Lexi Thompson, joined the LPGA before the age of 18 with a commissioner's exemption.  US Open winner So Yeon Ryu and Lizette Salas arrive and make immediate impact to the weekly leaderboard.  Two time U.S. women's amateur champion, Danielle Kang turns professional; and Carlota Ciganda adds to the strong compendium of Spanish golfers.

2012 LPGA Rookies
Figure 5

2013

The 2013 rookie class is the largest since 2009 with 35 members.  This class is also the least fruitful so far when you compare the performance of golfers from that 5 year period.  It has only been a year, so the "jury is still out".  Significant contributors would be Moriya Jutanugarn and Caroline Masson.  Brooke Pancake, Lisa McClosky, and Austin Ernst have barely made much of an impact as new professionals.

2013 LPGA Rookies
Figure 6

Summary

Figure 7 shows that 52% of the 2009 class were in the top 100 of the 2013 season and 43% of them are in the Rolex top 100.  This is the top rookie class during the 2009 to 2013 period.  The rookies from 2009 thru 2013 make-up half of the money list's top 100 in 2013 and 31 of them are Ranked in Rolex top 100.

There were a total of 145 rookies during that period, 35% of them were able to survive and golf their way into 2013 Top 100 Money List, and 21% of them are currently in the Rolex top 100. 

Using the 2013 percentages as typical, we can predict who and how many rookies in the class of 2014 will perform similarly.

Summary of Results
Figure 7

2014 Prediction

There are 28 in the 2014 Rookie class, and based on the 2013 trends, about 5 should make the 2014 top 100 Money List and 3 are likely to play their way into the Rolex top 100.  To date, only 2 tourneys have been played by some of the rooks; hardly enough to make any accurate projections.  Like all the other players, you are allowed to enter a tournament based on where you fall on the priority list.  The priority list gets updated to the season's money list after the 10th tournament, so best to make cuts and climb the leaderboard in order to have priority to play.  At the start of the season, Lydia Ko and Giulia Molinaro have priority place 84 and 86 respectively.  They should be able to play in most of the first 10 tourneys, which is a huge advantage over the other rookies.  Priority place 130 or less has a chance to play in a lot of the tourneys, since many tournaments have about 140 to 150 golfers competing.  Priority place above 130 will have less chance to play unless enough players choose not to participate.  So far, Amy Anderson, Lydia Ko, Mirim Lee, Kelly Tan, Erica Popson, and Line Vedel have earned money and could move up in the priority list after the 10th tournament.  Jaye Marie Green placed tied for 24th in the HSBC tournament, but for some reason, her earnings are currently not listed as official in the LPGA website.  If those earnings do not count, then she and Giulia Molinaro will feel the pressure to perform well in the next six tournaments.  Young Chinese sensation, Janet Lin is also behind the "eight ball", she has a priority place of 124, but have not made the cut in two tournaments.

 

There are already two from this class currently in the Rolex top 100; Lydia Ko and Mirim Lee.  I pick Line Vedel as the third to make the Rolex Top 100 at end of 2014.  Joanna Klatten has a good chance too, but she will have to earn it in the LET tour, since her LPGA priority place is 166.  Lastly, for "2014 Rookie of the Year", I select Lydia Ko; not a difficult choice to make there :)

2014 LPGA Rookies
Figure 8

Top Two Finishes; Plus Jack vs. Tiger

I wrote the following in May 2013 during LPGA Kingsmill.  Thought I'd share it here again....


Before the fourth round of Kingsmill and during an interview with Golf Channel, Cristie Kerr stated that she felt her career accomplishments had  "Hall of Fame" status.  She was 10 points shy of the minimum requirements, but she said if you considered her second place finishes behind upper tier golfers like Annika and Lorena, it is worthy and equivalent.  Looking at the numbers, Cristie has 35 top 2 finishes after Kingsmills.  Just for fun, let's see how some current Hall of Famers compare.  Annika has 118 top 2 finishes, which is impressive, but Kathy Whitworth had 183 top 2's!  Some might argue that Kathy competed in a weaker field.  Maybe true, but still a staggering number to behold.  Si Re Pak has 40 top 2's, which is more in line with Cristie's 35.  Someone inclined to agree with Cristie would be Laura Davies.  Laura has been 2 points shy of the Hall for quite some time, and she has 42 top 2's.  What about the men?  Sam Snead has 139 top 2's, Jack Nicklaus has 131, and Tiger has 105 with potential for more.  One last top 2 fact, Jack Nicklaus has more second place finishes in a major than wins, 19.  Of course he won 18, making it 37 top 2's in major championships.  No one even comes close to that.  Tiger has a chance (diminishing every year) to past Jack in total majors won, but with today's competition, 38 major top 2's is virtually impossible.

Most LPGA Career Events and Money Earned Per Event

I was curious to see which LPGA player made the most per event.  Historically, the purses for women’s golf have been small.  But things are changing with the advent of the CME quest for one million dollars this year.

I tabulated career earnings along with the respective total events.  From that, I could calculate how much each player earned per event.  The money was not adjusted to today’s dollar and none of the earnings include sponsor's money or appearance fees.  My conclusions are skewed by that fact.

Here is the list of Top 50 based on rank in career earnings.  Juli Inkster is still active at 642 events at start of 2014 season.  She may be slowing down since she will be doing golf commentary for television this year.

Here is the Top 50 when sorted according to Career Events.  Marlene Hagge is credited with 930 events, but the women golfers at LPGA’s inception played many one round events.  Most events today consist of three or four rounds, and minimum of 36 holes must be completed in order for it to be an official event.  The LPGA has fewer tournaments per year compared with the Sandra Palmer and Betsy King years.

The Top 50 based on money earned per event.  The most efficient was Lorena Ochoa who earned $84,933 per event.  Yani Tseng was on a torrid money making pace with her early Major wins, but has stalled and is wrestling with golfing demons that are preventing her from reaching the winner's circle.

There were 817 total golfers in the list.  The Average Money/event is $4,851.  205 golfers averaged higher than that over their careers.  Today’s golfer has to do much traveling, since LPGA is now an international competition.  What are today’s cost for an entry fee, airfare, room and board for a week at Asia, England, or Australia?  If sponsorship is not available, then making cuts is the only way to survive. 

Q School Past Results

There are multiple ways to enter the LPGA with enough status to participate in most events.
1)  Top 10 on Symetra Tours Money List
2)  Top 20 Finishers in Q School
3)  Win a LPGA tournament and request membership immediately or for following season.

The Q school is where LPGA golfers compete to regain their card or status if they did not finish in the season's top 100 of the money list.  Newbies from college competition, junior golf, and International competition also would vie for LPGA status.  The following list shows past Medalists for Q school and their respective rookie season.

Nine Medalists went on to win Rookie of the Year (RoY) Honors.
Five Medalists were inducted into the  Hall of Fame (HOF)

Only one repeat Medalist.  Carolyn Hill won it in 1980 and later in 1983.

2013 - Jaye Marie Green (R 2014)*
2012 - Rebecca Lee-Bentham (R 2012)*,
           Moriya Jutanugarn (RoY 2013)*
2011 - Junthima Gulyanamitta (R 2012)*
2010 - Aree Song (R 2004)*
2009 - Amanda Blumenherst (R 2010)*
2008 - Stacy Lewis (R 2009)*
2007 - Jane Park (R 2007)*
2006 - Hye Jung Choi (R 2006)*,
           In-Kyung Kim (R 2007)*
2005 - Ai Miyazato (R 2006)*
2004 - Paula Creamer (RoY 2005)*
2003 - Iben Tinning (2004)*, Isabelle Beisiegel (R 2004)*,
           Catherine Cartwright(R 2002)*
2002 - Marilyn Lovander (R 1992)*
2001 - Suzanne Strudwick (RoY 1993)*
2000 - Sue Ginter (Ginter-Brooker) (R 1998)*
1999 - Kellee Booth (R 2000)*
1998 - Shanie Waugh (R 1996)*
1997 - Se Ri Pak (RoY 1998,  HOF)*, Cristie Kerr (R 1997)*
1996 - Vickie Odegard (R 1997)*
1995 - Luciana Bernvenuti (R 1994)*
1994 - Denise Philbrick (R 1995)*
1993 - Leigh Ann Mills (R 1993)*
1992 - Nicky LeRoux (R 1985)*
1991 - Susie Redman (Parry) (R 1985)*, Kiernan Prechtl (R 1992)*
1990 - Katie Peterson (R 1991)*
1989 - Hiromi Kobayashi (RoY 1990)*
1988 - Caroline Pierce (McMillan) (R 1989 est)
1987 - Trish Johnson (R 1988)*
1986 - Deborah Skinner (R 1975)*
1985 - Sherri Steinhauer (R 1986)*, Mary Murphy (R 1985)*, Tammy Fredrickson(R 1986)*
1984 - Caroline Gowan(1985)*, Kris Monaghan (R 1985)*
1983 October - Kathy Williams (R 1983)*, Carolyn Hill (R 1980)*,
                         Marta Figueras-Dotti (R 1984)*
1983 August - Juli Inkster (RoY 1983, HOF)*, Kathy Baker (Guadagnino) (R 1983)*
1983 January - Anne-Marie Palli (R 1979)*
1982 July - Judy Ellis (Sams) (R 1982)*
1982 January - Colleen Walker (R 1982)*
1981 July - Nancy Maunder (R 1981)*
1981 January - Yuko Moriguchi (R 1981)*
1980 July - Patty Sheehan (RoY 1981, HOF)*
1980 January - Carolyn Hill (R 1980)*
1979 July - Cindy Hill (R 1979)*
1979 February - Beth Daniel (RoY 1979, HOF)*
1978 July - Julie Pyne (R 1978 est)
1978 January - Lauren Howe (R 1978)*
1977 July - Vicki Fergon (R 1977)*
1977 February - Eva Chang (R 1977)*
1976 July - LeNore Beserra (R 1971)*
1976 January - Ai-Yu Tu (R 1976)*
1975 June - Bonnie Lauer (RoY 1976)*
1975 January - Michelle Walker (R 1974)*
1974 July - Christi Pastore (R 1974 est)
1974 January - Pat Bradley (R 1974, HOF)*
1973 June - Mary Bea Porter (Porter-King) (R 1973)*
1973 January - Roberta Speer (R 1973 est)

2014 LPGA Season Kicks Off with Familiar Faces and Rookies

The 2014 LPGA began this season at the Pure Silk-Bahamas LPGA Classic, total purse is $1,300,000.  The field is without 5 of the top 10 in the Rolex Rankings, so an opportunity for rookies and lower ranked players to make the cut and earn some cash.  The venue can be windy for the afternoon start times.

After round two, Jessica Korda is leading at -11 by one stroke over Paula Creamer.  Michelle Wie is tied for third with Jenny Suh.  Suh was one of two Monday qualifiers for the tourney;  Birdie Kim was the other qualifier who also managed a +1 or better score to make the cut.

2014 Rookies who made the cut:
Kelly Tan
Megan Grehan
Line Vedel
Erica Popson
Mirim Lee
Lydia Ko

Rookie Lydia Ko was the leader after round one and is currently tied for 5th going into the weekend.
The winner of last year's Q school, rookie Jaye Marie Green, missed the cut by one stroke;  she carded a 77 after day two's afternoon round.

A lot of my favorites are within 5 shots of the leader: Stacy Lewis, Amy Yang, Pornanong Phatlum, Sandra Gal, Lizzette Salas, and Na Yeon Choi.
Anything can happen with two more days of competition; especially if the winds are strong and gusty.
I will pick Jessica Korda, since she has a history of winning 1st tourney of year.  I also like Lydia's and Pornanong's consistency.