My Top 40 LPGA Player of the Year Predictions for 2023

[Tontj5]

With 34 tournaments on the schedule (including the Solheim Cup & International Crown), this season promises to be one of the most exciting ever. LPGA Tour expert Tony Jesselli shares his predictions for the 2023 Player of the Year. Photos by Ben Harpring.

Players on the LPGA Tour are getting more and more talented each and every year so it is very difficult to narrow this down to just 40 players. But let’s give it a go. Here are my top 40 picks for the 2023 season in reverse order: (last year’s actual Player of the Year finish is in parenthesis).

40. Hae Ran Ryu – (rookie) She won medalist honors at the 2022 LPGA Q-Series. She was the KLPGA Rookie of the Year in 2020, and has won five times on that tour. One of two rookies that appear on this list.

39. Maria Fassi  (56) – Maria came onto the LPGA as a rookie in 2019 with very high expectations, but has mostly struggled her first few years on tour. Last year she had a very poor first half of the season, but came roaring back in the second half with two third place finishes and three top tens. She led the tour in driving distance last year (280 yards), but was 135^th in driving accuracy. She needs to improve on that last number to finish this high.

38. A Lim Kim (53) – A winner of the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open in 2020, she hasn’t won since. She managed just 4 top tens last year in 29 starts. She had all sorts of trouble keeping the ball in the fairway, finishing 125^th in that category. She has too much talent to finish outside the top fifty again.

37. Carlota Ciganda (35) – She led Team Spain to an International Crown victory in 2014 and was supposed to be that country’s biggest star for years to come. After winning twice early in her career, she has been a disappointment. In fact, she has now gone six years without a victory on the LPGA Tour. Until she shows that she can win again, I can’t put her higher than this.

36. Eun-Hee Ji (34) – A winner last year of the Bank of Hope Match-Play Championship. It was her 6^th LPGA victory. She is a 17 year veteran on the LPGA Tour. She only managed two top tens last year in nineteen starts, so her better days may be behind her.

35. Georgia Hall (35) – Didn’t miss a single cut in nineteen starts in 2022. She managed four top tens but hasn’t won since getting her second LPGA victory in 2020. I look for her to finish about in the same place as last year.

34. Ally Ewing (33) – Not a household name, but Ally has won an LPGA tournament in each of the last three years. She needs to improve her consistency as she had only one other top ten last year. She also has to improve her putting as she was 158^th on tour last year.

33. Megan Khang (30) – She makes almost all of her cuts (20 of 24), but has never won on the LPGA Tour. Her six top tens last year shows us she is capable, but until she hits the winner’s circle I can’t rate her higher than this.

32. Nanna Koerstz Madsen (24) – The 28 year old broke through with her first LPGA victory in 2022. On the negative side though, she managed just two other top tens. The fact that she managed to make just twelve cuts in 23 starts is disturbing.

31. Yuko Saso (37) – Winner of the 2021 U.S. Women’s Open, she failed to live up to the expectations that came with that victory. She only had four top ten finishes in 2022 in 26 starts. At just 21 years old, I believe the best is yet to come. Look for her to have a bounce-back season.

30. Madelene Sagstrom (28) – Madelene’s only LPGA victory came in 2020, but did have five top ten finishes this past year. Keeping the ball in the fairway has been a long time problem for her as she finished 136^th in that category in 2021 and 151^st last year. She is one of the tour’s best putters, finishing 5^th in putts per G.I.R. last year.

29. Marina Alex (23) – Recorded her second LPGA victory last year and added four more top tens. A solid player who seems to always finish in this area.

28. Hinako Shibuno (21) – Hinako won a major championship as a non LPGA player in 2019, but has not won again in 40 starts. Missed way too many cuts last year as she only saw the weekend 13 times in 23 starts.

27. Sei Young Kim (37) – Based on her standards, last year was a year to forget. A twelve time winner on the LPGA Tour, she hasn’t won since 2020. Look for that to change this year and she will move up at least ten spots.

26. Xi Yu Lin (21) – Had her best year on the LPGA Tour last year with six top tens, but has yet to win on the LPGA Tour. Can’t rate her higher until she wins.

25. Linn Grant (41) – Played most of the last year on the Ladies European Tour where she won four times. She only played in 6 LPGA events but made five cuts and had two top ten finishes. We will be seeing much more of her this year.

24. Lucy Li (rookie) – The second of two rookies on this list, I look for big things from her in 2023. She qualified for the U.S. Women’s Open when she was eleven years old. She won twice last year on the Epson Tour. Played six times on the LPGA Tour last year with three top 12 finishes. No American player has won top rookie honors since Paula Creamer in 2005. That should change this year.

23. Gaby Lopez (25) – One of the most consistent players on tour, Gaby was a winner for the third time in her career last year. I look for her to have a very similar season this year.

22. Charley Hull (18) – The 26 year old will be entering her 9^th year on the LPGA Tour. Her next top ten will be the 30^th of her career, but has only found the winner’s circle twice. Needs to turn some of those top tens into wins to finish higher.

21. Jessica Korda (31) – When she is healthy she is still one of the top players on tour. Unfortunately, nagging injuries held her to only 14 starts last year. She did have six top ten finishes, but is still looking for career victory number seven.

20. Lilia Vu (32) – I bet there are many who are not familiar with this name. In her first full season on tour last year she was one of the biggest surprises. She amassed eight top tens and fourteen top twenty finishes. Look for her to continue to rise this season.

19. Ayaka Furue (20) – Struggled the first half of her rookie season last year, but turned it around late in the year. Her maiden victory and all four of her top tens came in the second half of the year.

18. Maja Stark (23) – A big star on the LET where she won five times in 11 months, she won on the LPGA Tour last year as a non-LPGA member. She then accepted membership on the LPGA Tour and had three top ten finishes. A rising star, she could finish much higher than this.

17. Andrea Lee (17) – She started the year on the Epson Tour but when she got her chance at the big show she didn’t disappoint. She not only won her first LPGA tournament, but also had five other top ten finishes.

16. Hyo Joo Kim (7) – She only played in seventeen tournaments last year but had a huge year. She picked up victory number five, and had eight top ten finishes. She needs to play more for me to think she will finish higher than this.

15. Jennifer Kupcho (6) – She was one of only two players to win three times last year including one major championship. Why am I dropping her this year? Other than her wins, she had only one other top ten, and had a miserable second half. She needs to be more consistent to replicate what she did last year.

14. Hannah Green (19) – She has shown she can win on the LPGA Tour as she has not only won twice, but one of those was a major championship. She had eight top ten finishes last year. She seems to be in the mix on Sundays, but hasn’t been able to win in three years. I think that will change this year.

13. In Gee Chun (5) – She has only won four times in her career, but three of those were major championships, including one in 2022. Would like to see more consistency from her as she only had three top tens in nineteen starts.

12. Leona Maguire (9) – It gets really hard rating the remaining players as any of these players could finish on or near the top. Leona won for the first time and had eight top ten finishes in 2022. Doesn’t drive the ball very far (121^st), but is one of the best putters in the game (9^th).

11. Celine Boutier (12) – She failed to get her 3^rd LPGA victory last year but was third on tour with twelve top ten finishes.

My Top 10 Predictions for 2023 LPGA Player of the Year

10. Jin Young Ko (13) – She won early in the 2022 season picking up win number thirteen. As we are not sure of the state of her injury or even the state of her game, she could finish higher than this or not in the top forty at all.

 9. Nasa Hataoka (16) – She picked up win number six in 2022 and had six other top ten finishes. She sometimes looks like she could be the best player in the game, but also disappears for long stretches.

 8. Lexi Thompson (8) – It seems impossible, but Lexi has not won in four years. Always among the leaders in top tens, she will finish this high even if she doesn’t win. She has so many close calls where she can’t seem to sink a putt when it counts. I believe one of those winning putts should drop this year.

 7. Minjee Lee (2) – She won twice in 2022 including the U.S. Women’s Open, giving her 8 wins in her career. Incredibly, she did all of that last year even though she finished 103^rd in putting.

6. Danielle Kang (13) – She won for the sixth time last year. A very serious illness forced her to miss three months of the season. In just 18 starts she had ten top tens and finished the year very strong.

 5. Hye-Jin Choi (11) – Finished second for the rookie of the year award, but had the stats to win it in most years. She did everything but win last year as she had three third place finishes and one second place finish among her ten top tens.

4. Lydia Ko (1) – She won three times last year giving her nineteen wins for her career. She was player of the year and also won the Vare trophy. She is just 2 points away from being the first LPGA player to earn her way into the Hall of Fame with the required 27 points, since Inbee Park.

3. Atthaya Thitikul (4) – The 2022 Rookie of the Year had an amazing season. Not only was she a two time winner, but led the tour with a shocking sixteen top ten finishes. She is only 19 years old, so the best is yet to come.

2. Nelly Korda (10) – Various illnesses and injuries limited her season to just 15 events. She is an eight time winner, and she won the next to last tournament of the season proving that she is finally healthy. She is still just 24 years old and I look for her to have a big year in 2023.

1. Brooke Henderson (3) – Brooke has never had a bad year on tour. In fact she has won every single season except the Covid shortened 2020. She is just 25 years old and has already amassed thirteen victories. She won twice in 2022, and I look for her to win multiple times this year and bring the player of the Year trophy home.

Players most likely to make me look foolish for leaving them off this list: Patty Tavatanakit, Mina Harigae, Jeongeun Lee6.

There were four veteran players that won for the first time in 2022 after many years on tour.

Those players are Ashleigh Buhai, Paula Reto, Jodi-Ewart Shadoff, and Gemma Dryburgh. Although this was an outstanding achievement, I would like to see a follow-up victory before I can say that they are top forty players.

Edited February 28, 2023 by iacas
Cleaned up formatting

[klineka]

28 minutes ago, Tontj5 said:

With 34 tournaments on the schedule (including the Solheim Cup & International Crown), this season promises to be one of the most exciting ever.

 

Wait I thought that was 2022!!?? 🤣🤣

 

 

 

[iacas]

@Tontj5, please don't copy/paste formatting from the other places you post the same thing. At least clean it up before you post it here, so we don't have to.

Thank you.

[Tontj5]

Ok. Sorry, thought I did it right.