Looking at the 2015 LPGA Money List, it’s not a surprise at all that the LPGA Final Qualifying School field is the strongest in the tournament’s history. Littered throughout that field were players in the Top-100 in the Rolex World Golf Rankings – eight, to be exact, at the time.
Now, that’s coming to fruition on the LPGA as well. Six months into the LPGA season, those Q-School graduates have turned into LPGA stars in what’s one of the strongest crops in LPGA Tour history.
As it sits now, six LPGA rookies sit in the top-27 on the Money List. Four times already a rookie has walked away the winner.
2014 might have been the year of the rookie star – the precocious 17-year-old Race to the CME Globe winner Lydia Ko that saw her win three times as a rookie. But from a depth perspective, this is the Year of the Rookie. Below are the dynamic half dozen that have made their way into the top-25 on the money list as we near the midway point of their rookie seasons.
Sei Young Kim – Sei Young Kim’s not only the top rookie on the Tour, she’s one of the best players in the world. She’s must-see TV every week. She hits it a mile, piles up a ton of birdies and eagles (tops on Tour in both), and enjoys herself on the golf course as much as any player on Tour. And no one this season – maybe even ever – has won in as much dramatic of fashion as Kim. The two shots – a made chip on the 18th to force a playoff and a 154-yard fairway hole out on the 1st playoff hole to win - ranked No. 2 on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays for the month of April for her win at the Lotte Championship Presented by Hershey in Hawaii.
She’s proven her mettle on the grandest of all stages, too, with pairings in the final group of the day at each of the season’s first two majors before finishing in a tie for fourth at the ANA Inspiration and a solo second at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. At only 22, Kim’s in the top five on the money list, Rolex Player of the Year and Race and Race to the CME Globe standings.
Hyo Joo Kim – As the 2014 Evian Championship winner, which included a major championship record first-round 61, she didn’t need a win to validate herself as a rookie, but she got that too. She’s already won the JTBC Founders Cup, putting up a ridiculous 21-under-par 267 for a three-shot win in April.
With her 20th birthday not until mid-July, only Lydia Ko has a claim to a more prodigious resume at her age. Hyo Joo is ranked in the top five in the world and leads the Tour in rounds under par. At this point in the season, only Inbee Park and Stacy Lewis can lay claim to a lower scoring average than Kim, and she’s finishing in the top-10 about 60 percent of the times she tees it up.
Minjee Lee – Everyone knew Minjee Lee was great before the former world No. 1 amateur earned co-medalists honors at LPGA Final Qualifying School and the Aussie has continued to shine on the LPGA Tour. After reeling off top-25 finishes in five of six LPGA events a year ago as an amateur, the 19-year-old posted a win on the LPGA Tour in only her 15th career LPGA start, outlasting fellow rookie Alison Lee at the Kingsmill Championship for her first win in May. She saw an early season poor stretch of form with three missed cuts in a row but has showed her talent in a hurry recently with six top-20 finishes in eight tournaments from April through early June. Following her win, she finished T4 at the Manulife LPGA Classic and followed that up with solid form at a major championship with a T13 at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. She’s one to watch for years and years to come.
Ha Na Jang – Ha Na Jang wasn’t sure she would come over to the LPGA’s Final Qualifying School as she entered the summer months of last season. But when she earned entry into the LPGA’s final major of the season in 2014 – the Evian Championship – and finished in a tie for third, she figured it was time to test herself against the best in the world on a weekly basis. From the very first event, Jang’s proven she belonged, owning the third-round lead at the Coates Golf Championship to open the season before finishing in a tie for second. It’s been more of the same from the charismatic rookie as she managed to post top-10s in three of her first five events. A notoriously solid ball striker, Jang ranks 15th on the Tour in greens in regulation but might rival Kim for the player that seems to have the most fun during a round.
Alison Lee – The Europeans brought LET rookie Charley Hull to the Solheim Cup in 2013, and the Americans might bring a rookie of their own to the Solheim Cup in Germany in September if Lee continues to post the finishes she has thus far in her rookie season. The 20-year-old California native tied Minjee Lee for medalist honors at the Final Qualifying School, and she finished in solo third to Minjee at the Kingsmill Championship after holding the third round lead. On the year Lee’s only missed three cuts and she issued notice to the Tour that she can go low with a third-round, 9-under-par 63 at the JTBC Founders Cup where she finished in 10th. She almost won the following week as well where she challenged Cristie Kerr early on Sunday at the Kia Classic before finishing in solo fourth. She’s climbed all the way up to 18th in Solheim Cup points as a result, but she’s climbed all the way up to 53rd in the Rolex World Golf Rankings and looks like she could challenge for the two highest ranked spots outside of the top eight in points. Either way, Solheim Cup Captain Juli Inkster has already mentioned Lee as someone she’s watching, and she will certainly be under consideration when Inkster decides the final two spots.
Ariya Jutanugarn – One of the longest hitters on Tour, the 19-year-old Thai bomber finished in the top-five in five consecutive starts as a 17-year-old in 2013 playing on sponsor’s exemptions and through Monday qualifiers. She had a bad shoulder injury that required surgery and sidelined her for much of the latter half of 2013 and early part of 2014, but she earned her card in December with a third-place at Q-School. She posted five top-20s in her first six starts of 2015 including a playoff loss at the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic and a third place finish the next tournament at the ISPS Handa Australian Women’s Open. It seems only a matter of time before Jutanugarn’s five career top-three finishes turns into a win, especially on courses that favor long hitters as she ranks seventh in driving distance on Tour.
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