World No.1? Computer says ‘no’
LPGA apologises for error, Ariya still second
Ariya Jutanugarn remains No.2 in the world rankings after a technical error made by the LPGA Tour was revealed Monday.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko is the highestranked player for at least another week after faulty projections issued last week led the LPGA to believe Thailand’s Ariya had taken over at the top.
The LPGA Tour said last week that projections showed Ariya going to become No.1 after No.3 Ryu So-Yeon missed the cut at the ShopRite Classic which ended on Sunday.
Neither Ariya nor Ko played in the tournament where South Korea’s Ryu needed at least a third-place finish to stand a chance of overtaking Ko.
But the tour said on Monday that the projections were based on the day they were calculated, instead of the day when the rankings were to be released.
A tournament from two years ago was inadvertently included, which gave Ko an additional event.
In the two-year formula, Ko has played 50 tournaments. The projection showed her at 51 tournaments.
The difference means Ko stays at No.1 by a margin of 0.01 points.
The LPGA Tour telephoned Ko and Ariya on Monday to explain the confusion and set the record straight, a tour spokesman said.
“Last week, we issued some projections which showed Ariya Jutanugarn taking over the No.1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings based on player finishes at the LPGA’s 2017 ShopRite LPGA Classic which concluded yesterday [Sunday],” the technical provider of the Women’s World Golf Rankings (WWGR) Inc said in a statement published on the LPGA Tour’s official website.
“However, when official rankings were run this morning [Monday], we discovered a bug in the projection tool.”
It added: “We are working to correct the problem within the projection tool and we apologise for the error in last week’s projections.”
The reign at the top by Ko thus continues for at least an 85th successive week.
Ariya, 21, has another chance to claim to top spot at this week’s Manulife LPGA Classic in Canada which begins tomorrow.
With Ko’s absence, Ariya is the highestranked player in the field.
Ariya has played her way to No.2 with her consistency week after week on the tour and won five tournaments last year including the Women’s British Open.
While she has yet to follow that up with a win in 2017, Ariya has eight top-10s and posted just one finish outside the top-21 this season.
This week, she makes her third start at the Manulife LPGA Classic where she missed the cut in 2015 but rebounded with a tie for fifth last season.
World No.4 Lexi Thompson, No.5 Chun In-Gee and No.6 Feng Shanshan will also play in Ontario.
THAWORN EYES QUEEN’S CUP
Thai veteran Thaworn will be trying to win his third Queen’s Cup title next week.
“I’m feeling confident that I will go to Samui to aim for my third win. It is always my dream to win the Queen’s trophy,” said the 50-year-old who has won the tournament in 2012 and 2014.
With the Queen’s Cup celebrating its ninth edition, Thaworn has grown to enjoy being in Samui for the Asian Tour event.
“I always like to play at Santiburi Samui. The layout suits my game. I will try to create my best performance there again,” he said.
A top-10 finish at the Thailand Open last month, his first of the season, was a boost for Thaworn, who has an unorthodox swing and is renowned for his short game prowess.
He holds the most number of victories on the Asian Tour with 18 titles and despite turning 50 last December, he still believes he can compete against the new generation of golfers.
“My driving distance is not what I currently expect. Age may be a factor but I have worked hard to maintain my short game,” said Thaworn.