Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic: Here Come the Rookies
Apr 4, 2015; Rancho Mirage, CA, USA; Sei Young Kim tees off on the 18th during the third round of the ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills CC – Dinah Shore Tournament Course. Mandatory Credit: Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
With first round tee times at the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic beginning in less than 12 hours, let’s take a look at the top rookies who’ll be standing in the tee box this week. If the pattern holds, one or two of them will be on the first page of the board come Sunday afternoon, and the odds are good that one of them could claim the victory.
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Just a quick glance at the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year and the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year standings tells quite a tale. Sei Young Kim’s leading in both awards standings at this point in the season and not since Nancy Lopez — who notched 9 victories in her rookie year — won both awards in 1978 has a rookie been in this position.
With two wins already on her resume, Sei Young Kim is well on her way to matching Lopez’s achievement, and she’s also leading the Tour’s Official Money List and Birdies list. But the Tour’s 2015 rookie class has extraordinary strength and while Kim is leading right now, she has some very close company.
LPGA Standout Rookies
At least one rookie has finished inside the top-10 in every Tour event this year. I have all six of these rookies on my watch list going in to the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
| Tournament | Top Rookie | Finish |
| Coates Golf Championship | Ha Na Jang | T2 |
| Pure Silk-Bahamas | Sei Young Kim | Win |
| ISPS Handa Australian | Ariya Jutanugarn | 3 |
| Honda LPGA Thailand | Sei Young Kim | T5 |
| HSBC Women’s Champions | Hyo Joo Kim | T8 |
| JTBC Founders Cup | Hyo Joo Kim | Win |
| Kia Classic | Alison Lee | 4 |
| ANA Inspiration | Sei Young Kim | T4 |
| LPGA Lotte | Sei Young Kim | Win |
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Sei Young Kim – Kim, 22, has been the LPGA’s best player thus far, with two wins and five top-six finishes. Her win last week in Hawaii, with a chip-in to force a playoff against Inbee Park and a dramatic hole-out eagle in the playoff, was the best finish of the season.
Hyo Joo Kim – Kim, 19, took a giant step last year as a non-member by out-playing Hall of Famer Karrie Webb and winning the Evian Championship, the final major championship of 2014. She has come back this year with a victory at the JTBC Founders Cup and three other finishes in the top eight.
Ariya Jutanugarn – The 19-year-old from Thailand has a second and third this season and leads the LPGA in Driving Distance (274.1-yard average) along with ranking third in the rookie standings.
Ha Na Jang – Another South Korean rookie, the 22-year-old has a second, sixth and seventh thus far in 2015 and ranks fourth in the rookie standings.
Minjee Lee – The Australian resident, 18, was the world’s top amateur before turning pro last fall. She has a T7 this season and is fifth in the rookie standings.
Alison Lee – The 20-year old American who cut short her collegiate golf career with the UCLA Bruins when she earned her Tour card at Q-School has been playing strong and making her presence known on the Tour. Her season-best fourth-place finish is probably just a starting point.
Although not in the Swinging Skirts field, three other rookies are also highly touted: 19-year old Englishwoman Charley Hull has an eighth this year; Cheyenne Woods has made the cut in four of her first six starts; and South Korea’s Julie Yang, 19, leads the Tour in Putting (27.17 putts per round, edging out Lydia Ko, Inbee Park and Stacy Lewis).
Editor’s note; Research for this post by LPGA’s Ward Clayton