Are the 2022 LPGA Rookies the Best Ever?

[tonyj5]

Are the 2022 LPGA Rookies the Best Ever?

Riveling the highly regarded class of 2015 that produced stars including Ariya Jutanugarn and Brooke Henderson, Tony Jesselli rates the LPGA Tour rookies to watch during the 2022 LPGA season. Photos by Ben Harpring.

This year’s LPGA rookies appear to be a special class. Many believe they could be amongst the best ever.

There are a total of 32 rookies this year:

2021 SYMETRA TOUR GRADUATES (4)

• Casey Danielson (United States)
• Sophia Schubert (United States)
• Amanda Doherty (United States)
• Morgane Metraux (Switzerland)

LPGA Q-SERIES TOP-45 AND TIES (28)

• Na Rin An (Republic of Korea)
• Hye-Jin Choi (Republic of Korea)
• Allisen Corpuz (United States)
• Olivia Cowan (Germany)
• Karis Davidson (Australia)
• Ayaka Furue (Japan)
• Linn Grant (Sweden)
• Haylee Harford (United States)
• Lauren Hartlage (United States)
• Yaeeun Hong (Republic of Korea)
• Yu-Chiang Hou (Chinese Taipei)
• Yu-Sang Hou (Chinese Taipei)
• Gina Kim (United States),
• Stephanie Kyriacou (Australia)
• Agathe Laisne (France)
• Brooke Matthews (United States)
• Sanna Nuutinen (Finland)
• Kaitlyn Papp (United States)
• Jessica Peng (Chinese Taipei)
• Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (France)
• Hinako Shibuno (Japan)
• Maddie Szeryk (Canada)
• Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand)
• Savannah Vilaubi (United States)
• Dewi Weber (Netherlands)
• Ruoning Yin (China)
• Katie Yoo (United States)
• Weiwei Zhang (China)

 

COMPARING THE ROOKIE CLASSES

Earning your LPGA card, and keeping it are two very different things.

In the last decade only 38% of LPGA rookies maintained their playing privileges for the following season (without having to go back to the LPGA Q-Series).

Let us look at a couple of the most successful rookie classes of the last decade:

• 2015 – 19 of 33 = 57.6%
• 2014 – 14 of 29 = 46.44%

Now the not so successful:

2013 – 8 of 35 = 22.8%

2018 – 7 of 30 = 23.3%

The rookie class of 2015 was by far the best rookie class of the last decade. It included many players that have gone on to be stars on the LPGA Tour. Here are the players from that year that have won at least one LPGA tournament:

• Sei Young Kim
• Hyo Joo Kim
• Brooke Henderson
• Minjee Lee
• Ha Na Jang
• Charley Hull
• Ariya Jutanugarn
• Wei Ling Hsu

It may be a very long time before we see a group like that again. But I think that this year’s rookie class can come close.

Here are my top five picks out of this year’s rookie class (in reverse order):

5. Hye Jin Choi – South Korea 23 years old.

She shocked us all when she had the lead at the 2017 U.S. Women’s open after 70 holes. Unfortunately, her hopes came to an end when she put her ball in the water on the 71^st hole.

She is currently ranked #53 in the current Rolex World Rankings.

4. Hinako Shibuno – Japan 23

She won the 2019 AIG Women’s British Open! At that time she turned down LPGA membership. Known as the “Smiling Cinderella”, she currently ranked #41 in the Rolex Rankings.

Na Rin An at 2021 LPGA Q-Series. Photo by Ben Harpring.

3. Na Rin An – South Korea 25

Medalist at the 2021 LPGA Q-Series. Tied for 3^rd at the 2021 BMW Ladies Championship.

She is a 2x KLPGA Tour winner, and is currently ranked #56 in the Rolex Rankings.

2. Atthaya Thitikul – Thailand 18

Only 18 years old and already ranked #19 in the Rolex Rankings! Last year she was both the Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year on the Ladies European Tour. She had 2 wins and 11 top five finishes on that tour. She was twice runner up on the LPGA tour in 2021. Long term I look for her to be the most outstanding player on this list. Look for her to make a serious run at the Louise Suggs LPGA Rookie of the Year Award this year.

1. Ayaka Furie – Japan 21

I am only giving her the nod over Atthaya Thitikul because of her experience, and think she will take rookie honors this year. She is a 7X winner on the JLPGA Tour. She is currently ranked #14 in the Rolex Rankings. Last year she finished 4^th at the Amundi Evian Championship, and 20^th at the AIG Women’s British Open.

Ayaka Furue at 2021 LPGA Q-Series.

Player that may make me look foolish for leaving her off the list: Pauline Roussin-Bouchard (France).

Will this year’s class challenge that 2015 rookie class as best ever? I will revisit this later on in the year.

 

https://womensgolf.com/2022-lpga-rookies-rated

[KBong]

Tony:

Good stuff....a good article to look at to find a list of the many 2022 rookies.

I assume you have a yearly running total on successful rookie %'s who have maintained their LPGA cards for the following year....otherwise it would be a daunting task to start fresh.

 

As I've said before....I think Thitikul needs to improve her putting to truly shine.

I might give Furue better odds to be 2022 ROY if she had a bit more distance.

 

I know she has not won a LPGA event yet....but fan fav....Alison Lee aka GIMMEE was also a rookie in 2015.

 

Yes.....I think it will be a tight race for 2022 ROY.

 

 

FWIW

Now that Cindy is a retired school teacher....you might ask her to proof read....lol.

It's rivaling...not riveling.

You misspelled Furie, once.

Edited February 4, 2022 by KBong

[ChronicSlicer]

Might be a slight unfair comparison considering the players from 2015 have 7 years of accomplishments under their belts.

[Golf Dino]

11 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Might be a slight unfair comparison considering the players from 2015 have 7 years of accomplishments under their belts.

 

true, but most of these high profile "rookies" already have wins on the LET, KLPGA, JLPGA . . . so in many ways, they are already accomplished "rookies" in name only . . . perhaps the LPGA needs to adopt the NHL rule (Sergei Makarov rule)  . . . that to be considered a rookie they need to be new to professional golf and not veterans of other tours.   

 

[KBong]

57 minutes ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Might be a slight unfair comparison considering the players from 2015 have 7 years of accomplishments under their belts.

Tony's not comparing the 2015 rookies vs the 2022 rookies...IMO...what he's trying to convey is the DEPTH/SKILL of the 2022 rookies in comparison to the DEPTH/SKILL of the 2015 rookies.

 

I agree that the 2015 rookie class had great DEPTH that hasn't been seen until this year....I think 2022 is a bit DEEPER than 2015.

[Seamus_McDuff]

I’d like to see the full list of 33 from 2015. 
 

From the ‘22 class I think Linn Grant has huge upside. Might take a few years though. 

[KBong]

42 minutes ago, Seamus_McDuff said:

I’d like to see the full list of 33 from 2015. 

https://www.lpga.com/statistics/points/louise-suggs-rolex-rookie-of-the-year?year=2015

 

A list of 30.

IMO....there are 7 really good pros.

1-4, 6, 10, 13

6 players with majors...total of 7 major titles.

 

Now that I've seen the 2015 list in detail....I'll change my mind and say that 2015 will have more "successful" pros, titles and majors than 2022.

But we'll need to wait till at least 2032 as a minimum to see how things pan out.

[ChronicSlicer]

12 hours ago, KBong said:

Tony's not comparing the 2015 rookies vs the 2022 rookies...IMO...what he's trying to convey is the DEPTH/SKILL of the 2022 rookies in comparison to the DEPTH/SKILL of the 2015 rookies.

 

 

So he's comparing them,lol. 

[North Texas]

14 hours ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Might be a slight unfair comparison considering the players from 2015 have 7 years of accomplishments under their belts.

 

It looked like to me the main point of comparison is how many retain their card after the first year. Until we see that, there is nothing to compare. 

[ChronicSlicer]

4 hours ago, North Texas said:

 

It looked like to me the main point of comparison is how many retain their card after the first year. Until we see that, there is nothing to compare. 

Considering the title of the thread, I sure hope the "best rookie class ever" isn't being judged on how many kept their tour cards after their first year. 
 

[North Texas]

1 hour ago, ChronicSlicer said:

Considering the title of the thread, I sure hope the "best rookie class ever" isn't being judged on how many kept their tour cards after their first year. 
 

 

In fairness, wins was also talked about. So, no, I don't think how many keep their tour card is the only point of comparison that the best rookie class will be judged on. 

 

Feel free to throw out any other points of comparison that you think are relevant. 

[ChronicSlicer]

1 hour ago, North Texas said:

 

In fairness, wins was also talked about. So, no, I don't think how many keep their tour card is the only point of comparison that the best rookie class will be judged on. 

 

Feel free to throw out any other points of comparison that you think are relevant. 

For me it's a no brainer that wins and top finishes, and other on course achievements are what determine "best evers" in any sport really. So in my eyes it's not really possible to compare the 2015 to the 2022 on an LPGA level simply because 2015 has a few years head start on 2022 in terms of wins and such.

 

After this season, we could easily use " the rookie year only" and do some "as of now" comparisons.