Last year’s Louise Suggs Rookie of the year race was no race at all. Jeongeun Lee6 took control early in the season and ran away with the award. When she won the U.S. Women’s Open in May, every other rookie was playing for second place.

This year it appears that it will be very different. With only 19 rookies (there were 27 in 2019), there doesn’t appear to be a clear cut favorite. That is not to say that there isn’t any top-notch talent joining the tour this year. In fact, quite the opposite. This year’s rookie class has some of the best players to come out of collegiate golf in quite some time.

As stated above, nineteen rookies will be teeing it up for the first time as members of the LPGA Tour this year. Past history has shown us that earning your LPGA Tour privileges and keeping them going into the following year, are certainly two different stories.

Let’s take a look at how successful past rookies have been

In 2019, only 11 rookies out of a total of 27 succeeded in keeping their full-time LPGA playing privileges without having to go back to the LPGA Qualifying Tournament. Now let’s see how that stacked up against other years.

2015 – 19 of 33 = 57.6%
2014 – 14 of 29 = 46.4%
2012 – 12 of 33 = 36.3%
2017 – 13 of 37 = 35.1%
2016 – 9 of 29 = 31.0%
2019 – 11 of 27 = 29.7%
2018 – 7 of 30 = 23.3%

As you can see, it has become increasingly more difficult for LPGA rookies to retain their full time playing privileges for more than one year.

Why is that you might ask. In my opinion, the answer to that is very simple. The LPGA has more depth in each week’s playing field than it ever had before. The players that have come over from other countries over the past decade (especially the republic of Korea and Thailand) have made the tour much stronger than it was even a decade ago.
That said, I think we are in for a treat this year as a number of 2020 rookies appear up for the challenge.

Here is my list of the top eight rookies to keep an eye on this year (in reverse order)

8. Haley Moore – USA
As a junior, Moore won the deciding match in the 2018 NCAA Women’s Golf Championship, to give the University of Arizona the title over the University of Alabama. Upon graduation in May of 2019, Moore turned professional the following month. She played on the Cactus Tour, winning twice. Moore earned her LPGA Tour card by finishing in 11th place at the 2019 Q-Series.

7. Jiwon Jeon – Republic of Korea
It’s no secret that players from the Republic of Korea have won the Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year Award the last five years. Jeon is their best chance of having that streak continue. A graduate from the University of Alabama, Jeon’s biggest moment to date was when she defeated Lauren Stephenson in 23 holes to get into the final of the 2018 Women’s Amateur Championship. She went on to lose the final match to Kristen Gillman.

6. Andrea Lee – USA
The most decorated golfer in Stanford University history, Lee announced in November that she would forego the remainder of her senior year and immediately turn professional. She then went on to finish 30th at the 2019 Q-Series to earn her 2020 LPGA card. Her priority ranking (161st) could severely limit the number of starts she will get at the start of the season. She will have to take advantage of those starts in hopes to improve that ranking when the LPGA has its first player reshuffle later in the year.

5. Esther Henseleit – Germany
At No. 162 on the LPGA priority list, Henseleit is in a similar position as Andrea Lee. Henseliet recently won the Order of Merit on the Ladies European Tour (finishing in first place on that tour’s money list). Success on the L.E.T. has not always translated into success on the LPGA Tour.

4. Leona Maguire – Ireland
Unquestionably one of the best players ever to come out of collegiate golf! Maguire’s 135 weeks on top of the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings is the longest in history. The Duke grad won twice last year on the Symetra Tour.

3. Albane Valenzuela – Switzerland
A two-time runner up at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, she skipped her final semester at Stanford University and turned professional for the 2020 season. She is the No.1 ranked player in Switzerland and qualified for the 2016 Olympics. She has two top-five finishes on the Ladies European Tour and was the low amateur at the 2016 ANA Inspiration. She finished tied for 6th place at 2019 Q-Series to earn her LPGA playing card.

2. Patty Tavatanakit – Thailand
Considered by many the favorite to win the 2020 Louise Suggs Rookie of the Year Award. She destroyed her competition on the Symetra Tour in 2019 when she won three times in her first eight starts. She finished No. 2 on that tour’s money list in spite of not joining the tour until late June and playing in less than half of the tournaments on the schedule.

1. Yealimi Noh – USA
This is one of the toughest years ever to pick the year’s top rookie. My pick is Yealimi Noh. The youngest player on this list, she is only 18 years old. She turned down a golf scholarship to UCLA and turned pro. Noh came close to winning twice in 2019 on the LPGA Tour as a Monday qualifier. She finished 6th (23 under par) at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic and topped that with a second-place finish (20 under par) at the Cambia Portland Classic. She finished in 3rd place at the 2019 LPGA Q-series to earn her tour card.

Here is a complete list of the 2020 LPGA rookies (LPGA priority ranking in parenthesis).

2019 Symetra Tour Graduates

• Patty Tavatanakit – Thailand (95)
• Jillian Hollis – USA (98)
• Leona Maguire – Ireland (100)
• Esther Lee – USA (102)

2019 Q-Series Top 45

• Yealimi Noh – USA (128)
• Albane Valenzuela – Switzerland (135)
• Yui Kawamoto – Japan (137)
• Jennifer Chang – USA (138)
• Haley Moore – USA (143)
• Jiwon Jeon – Republic of Korea (147)
• Maia Schechter – USA (150)
• Matilda Castren – Finland (154)
• Linnea Johansson – Sweden (156)
• Andrea Lee – USA (161)
• Esther Henseleit – Germany (162)
• Yujeong Son – Republic of Korea (163)
• Nuria Iturrioz – Spain (165)
• Bianca Pagdanganan – Philippines (167)
• Kyung Kim – USA (169)

Tony

Feature photo of Jiwon Jeon and all other photos taken by Ben Harpring