Top of the world: Ko reclaims No 1 after five years
Lydia Ko has risen to No 1 in the women’s world golf rankings for the first time since 2017 in the wake of her CME Group Tour Championship title.
Ko moved up one place in the rankings to No 1 for the third time in her LPGA Tour career, passing Nelly Korda.
Ko first reached the top spot in 2015, holding it for 19 weeks from February 2 to June 14, and last held it for 85 weeks from October 2015 to June 2017. The span of five years, five months and 17 days is the longest period between No 1 rankings.
The previous longest stretch came in 2018, when Inbee Park reclaimed the top spot for the first time since 2015, a span of two years, five months and 29 days.
Ko slipped to 55th in the world in August 2020.
“I’m very grateful to be world No 1 again. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be back here again,” said Ko.
“This wouldn’t have been possible without my family and team, thank you for your belief and love.”
This is Ko’s 105th week in the top position and she is fifth in most weeks spent at world No 1, one week behind Inbee Park and four behind Yani Tseng.
Lorena Ochoa’s 158 weeks at No 1 is the most, followed by Jin Young Ko’s 152 weeks.
Ko recorded three victories in 2022: The Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, the BMW Ladies Championship and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship, where she won US$2 million, the largest first-place prize in the history of women’s golf.
In addition to being named the Race to the CME Globe champion, Ko earned Player of the Year honours for the second time and captured the Vare Trophy, the award given to the player with the season’s lowest scoring average, for the second consecutive year. Ko finished 2022 with 25 points towards the LPGA Hall of Fame, two points away from the 27 needed for induction.
Along with her three wins, Ko recorded nine other top-five finishes in 2022, including fifth at the US Women’s Open and a tie for third at the Evian Championship.
She finished the season leading the LPGA Tour in strokes gained total (2.500) and top-10 finish percentage (64 per cent), and also took home the 2022 official money title with US$4,364,403.
Ko joined the LPGA Tour in 2014 and has amassed 19 victories, tied for 29th most of all time. She is a twotime major champion with wins at the 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 Chevron Championship, and is a twotime Olympic medallist, taking silver at Rio in 2016 and bronze at Tokyo in 2021.