Korean star becomes the first LPGA rookie to reach World No. 1

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Nov. 6, 2017 – Sung Hyun Park, of the Republic of Korea, has risen to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and becomes the first LPGA Tour rookie in the history of the rankings to reach the top position.

Park, 24, moved past So Yeon Ryu, who held the position for the past 19 weeks. She becomes the fourth Korean to sit atop the rankings, joining Ryu, Inbee Park (92 weeks) and Jiyai Shin (25 weeks).

“It is a great honor to me and my family,” said Park from Hainan Island in the People’s Republic of China, where she is competing in this week’s Blue Bay LPGA. “There won't be any changes because of the ranking. I believe my future play is more important than the fact that I moved up in the ranking.”

This honor is yet another highlight in a season where Park clinched the Rookie of the Year award with five events remaining on the schedule. In July, Park became a Rolex First-Time Winner and first-time major champion by capturing the U.S. Women’s Open Championship. She followed that in August with a victory at the CP Women’s Open.

Park has never missed the cut in her 29 career LPGA Tour starts. Since becoming a full-time LPGA member at the start of the 2017 season, she has nine top-10 finishes, including her two victories. She also finished in the top 20 at four of the season’s five majors.

Through Nov. 6, Park leads the LPGA in Official Money with $2,161,005. She is also in the top 10 in Scoring Average (second), Rolex Player of the Year (second), Race to the CME Globe (third), Birdies (fifth), Greens in Regulation (seventh) and Driving Distance Average (ninth). She became the fastest player in LPGA history to reach $2 million in career earnings at 7 months, 13 days (19 starts; 2017 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship) and the fastest to reach $1 million following her U.S. Women’s Open victory at 4 months, 14 days (14 events).

Prior to joining the LPGA Tour, Park was a superstar on the KLPGA. She has 10 career victories on her home country’s tour, including a major win at the 2015 Kia Motors Korea Women's Open. Park is one of Korea’s most popular players, and is known by the nickname “Shut Up and Attack” for her relentless focus and determination on the golf course.

Park will enter the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship on Nov. 16-19 with an opportunity to win Player of the Year honors and could join LPGA legend Nancy Lopez as the only players in LPGA history to win Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Park is also in the running for the Vare Trophy, which is awarded to the player with the season’s low scoring average, as well as the Race to the CME Globe, which awards $1 million in unofficial money to the winner of the season-long points race.

History of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings Number One Position

#	Player	Age (Y/M/D)	From:	To:	No. Weeks
22	Sung Hyun Park	24/1/15	Nov. 6, 2017	Present	1
21	So Yeon Ryu	26/11/28	June 26, 2017	Nov. 5, 2017	19
20	Ariya Jutanugarn	21/6/20	June 12, 2017	June 25, 2017	2
19	Lydia Ko (2)	18/6/2	October 26, 2015	June 11, 2017	85
18	Inbee Park (3)	26/11/3	June 15, 2015	October 25, 2015	19
17	Lydia Ko (1)	17/9/9	February 2, 2015	June 14, 2015	19
16	Inbee Park (2)	26/3/15	October 27, 2014	February 1, 2015	14
15	Stacy Lewis (2)	29/3/17	June 2, 2014	October 26, 2014	21
14	Inbee Park (1)	24/9/3	April 15, 2013	June 1, 2014	59
13	Stacy Lewis (1)	28/1/2	March 18, 2013	April 14, 2013	4
12	Yani Tseng	22/0/22	February 14, 2011	March 17, 2013	109
11	Jiyai Shin (3)	22/6/4	November 1, 2010	February 13, 2011	15
10	Cristie Kerr (3)	33/0/13	October 25, 2010	October 31, 2010	1
9	Ai Miyazato (3)	25/2/4	August 23, 2010	October 24, 2010	9
8	Cristie Kerr (2)	32/10/4	August 16, 2010	August 22, 2010	1
7	Jiyai Shin (2)	22/2/28	July 26, 2010	August 15, 2010	3
6	Ai Miyazato (2)	25/1/0	July 19, 2010	July 25, 2010	1
5	Cristie Kerr (1)	32/8/16	June 28, 2010	July 18, 2010	3
4	Ai Miyazato (1)	25/0/2	June 21, 2010	June 27, 2010	1
3	Jiyai Shin (1)	22/0/5	May 3, 2010	June 20, 2010	7
2	Lorena Ochoa	25/5/8	April 23, 2007	May 2, 2010	158
1	Annika Sorenstam	35/4/11	February 20, 2006	April 22, 2007	61

Career weeks at Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings Number One Position

Lorena Ochoa	158 weeks
Yani Tseng	109 weeks
Lydia Ko	104 weeks
Inbee Park	92 weeks
Annika Sorenstam	61 weeks
Stacy Lewis	25 weeks
Jiyai Shin	25 weeks
So Yeon Ryu	19 weeks
Ai Miyazato	11 weeks
Cristie Kerr	5 weeks
Ariya Jutanugarn	2 weeks
Sung Hyun Park	1 week

Sung Hyun Park Becomes Top Player in Rolex Rankings

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