Golf: Lydia Ko back on top of the world

Lydia Ko with a selfie after winning the BMW Ladies Championship in Korea. Photo / Getty

Lydia Ko has ascended 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 spot in the Rolex Rankings to World No. 1 for the third time in her LPGA Tour career, passing Nelly Korda.

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 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 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 US$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 percent). Ko 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 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.