Ko joins chase for top honours

World No 1 Lydia Ko finds herself in an unfamiliar place as the LPGA Tour reaches its conclusion – she is now part of the chasing pack.

Ko, who has dominated the tour over the past two seasons, slipped behind her rival Ariya Jutanugarn on the money list and in the Race to the CMB rankings after the Thai golfer’s third-placed finish at Blue Bay on Hainan Island last weekend.

Jutanugarn’s 14th top-10 finish also extended her lead for the Player of the Year.

Last year Ko claimed all three of those titles, along with the Vare Trophy for low scoring average which she still leads by a thin margin, but she has endured a horror stretch by her high standards on the Asian swing.

However, she has the chance to turn things around at the Sime Darby LPGA Malaysia, beginning today, where she is grouped with Jutanugarn and Canada’s Brooke Henderson for the first two rounds.

‘‘I know I’ve got a lot of work to do these last few events but for me to just be in this position and have the opportunity to go for Player of the Year again and all those other things that come at the end of the season, it’s been really cool,’’ Ko told reporters.

She would be the first player since Yani Tseng in 2010-11 to win consecutive Player of the Year awards.

However, Ko, who has just split with her caddie, knows she will have her work cut out with the way Jutanugarn has been playing.

‘‘Ariya has played such great golf throughout the year,’’ she said.

‘‘When she won for the first time in Alabama [in May] we kind of all knew it was coming and sooner than ever.

‘‘She’s just playing so consistently well, even last week, putting herself in contention. She’s just overall a very strong, confident player.’’

Jutanugarn has won five times this season while Ko has four wins to her name.

But the big-hitting Thai has finished in the top three of four of her past eight starts while Ko’s best finish in her last three tournaments is a tie for 20th.

‘‘At the end of the day, the most important thing is for me to play good golf out there, have fun and I think when I have fun that’s when I play the best,’’ Ko said.

‘‘Hopefully I’ll be able to have a lot of fun this week.’’

Ko’s place at the top of the world rankings is secure with even another win for Jutanugarn this week not enough to catch the New Zealander.

After the Malaysian tournament, there are three more events left in the season.