19-time LPGA Tour winner ascends to No. 1 for the first time since 2017

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Nov. 28, 2022 – For the third time in her LPGA Tour career, Lydia Ko has ascended to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. Ko moved up one spot in the Rolex Rankings to World No. 1, passing Nelly Korda, who regained the top spot on Nov. 14, 2022, following her one-shot victory at the Pelican Women’s Championship.

Ko first reached No. 1 in 2015, holding the top spot from February 2 to June 14 for a total of 19 weeks, and last held the No. 1 ranking for 85 weeks from October 2015 to June 2017. The span of 5 years, 5 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 2 years, 5 months and 29 days.

"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 currently fifth in most weeks spent at World No. 1, one shy of Inbee Park’s 106 weeks and four short of Yani Tseng’s 109 weeks. Lorena Ochoa’s 158 weeks at World No. 1 is the most in the history of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings, followed by Jin Young Ko’s 152 weeks.

Ko recorded three victories in 2022 at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, the BMW Ladies Championship and the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship where she took home a $2 million winner’s check, 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 Rolex Player of the Year honors for the second time in her career 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 toward the LPGA Hall of Fame, two points away from the 27 necessary for induction.

Along with her three wins, Ko recorded nine other top-five finishes in 2022, including fifth at the U.S. Women’s Open presented by ProMedica and a tie for third at the Amundi Evian Championship. She finished the season leading the LPGA Tour in strokes gained total (2.500) as well as top-10 finish percentage (64%). Ko also took home the 2022 Official Money Title with $4,364,403.

Ko joined the LPGA Tour in 2014 and has amassed 19 victories in her Tour tenure, tied for 29th most of all time. She is a two-time major champion with wins at the 2015 Amundi Evian Championship and 2016 Chevron Championship, and is a two-time Olympic medalist, taking home the silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

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

#	Player	Age (Y/M/D)	From:	To:	No. of Weeks
38	Lydia Ko (3)	25/6/21	November 28, 2022	Present	1
37	Nelly Korda (3)	24/3/7	November 14, 2022	November 28, 2022	2
36	Atthaya Thitikul	19/8/3	October 31, 2022	November 14, 2022	2
35	Jin Young Ko (4)	26/6/24	January 31, 2022	October 30, 2022	38
34	Nelly Korda (2)	23/3/11	November 8, 2021	January 30, 2022	12
33	Jin Young Ko (3)	26/3/18	October 25, 2021	November 7, 2021	2
32	Nelly Korda	22/11/0	June 28, 2021	October 24, 2021	17
31	Jin Young Ko (2)	24/0/22	July 29, 2019	June 27, 2021	100
30	Sung Hyun Park (4)	25/9/10	July 1, 2019	July 28, 2019	4
29	Jin Young Ko (1)	23/9/1	April 8, 2019	June 30, 2019	12
28	Sung Hyun Park (3)	25/5/13	March 4, 2019	April 7, 2019	5
27	Ariya Jutanugarn (3)	22/11/6	October 29, 2018	March 3, 2019	18
26	Sung Hyun Park (2)	24/10/29	August 20, 2018	October 28, 2018	10
25	Ariya Jutanugarn (2)	22/8/7	July 30, 2018	August 19, 2018	3
24	Inbee Park (4)	29/9/11	April 23, 2018	July 29, 2018	14
23	Shanshan Feng	28/3/8	November 13, 2017	April 22, 2018	23
22	Sung Hyun Park (1)	24/1/16	November 6, 2017	November 12, 2017	1
21	So Yeon Ryu	26/11/28	June 26, 2017	November 5, 2017	19
20	Ariya Jutanugarn (1)	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

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

Lorena Ochoa	158 weeks
Jin Young Ko	152 weeks
Yani Tseng	109 weeks
Inbee Park	106 weeks
Lydia Ko	105 weeks
Annika Sorenstam	61 weeks
Nelly Korda	31 weeks
Stacy Lewis	25 weeks
Jiyai Shin	25 weeks
Shanshan Feng	23 weeks
Ariya Jutanugarn	23 weeks
Sung Hyun Park	20 weeks
So Yeon Ryu	19 weeks
Atthaya Thitikul	2 weeks

Lydia Ko Becomes No. 1 in Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings

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