Ko Jin-young back as No. 1 in women's golf rankings

Published : May 23, 2023 - 09:26 Updated : May 23, 2023 - 09:26

Jin Young Ko, of South Korea, poses for a photo with the trophy after winning the LPGA Cognizant Founders Cup golf tournament in a playoff last Sunday, in Clifton, NJ (AP-Yonhap)

On the strength of her recent LPGA victory, South Korean star Ko Jin-young has returned to the top of the women's golf rankings.

Ko climbed a spot to No. 1 in the latest rankings announced Monday, reclaiming the place she had last occupied on Oct. 24, 2022.

Ko fell to as low as No. 5 in February this year but has since won twice on the LPGA Tour to claw her way back to the top spot.

The women's world rankings evaluate players' performance over a rolling two-year period weighted in favor of the current year, with an emphasis placed on the most recent 13 weeks.

Though the LPGA Tour didn't have a tournament last week, Ko improved to 8.26 average ranking points, nudging past Nelly Korda of the United States (8.25 points) for the top spot.

Ko first grabbed the No. 1 ranking in April 2019.

She struggled through a wrist injury in the second half of 2022, which led to the drop in the rankings. She has successfully bounced back in 2023 by winning the HSBC Women's World Championship in March and the Cognizant Founders Cup earlier this month.

Ko leads the LPGA Tour in scoring average, and ranks second behind Lilia Vu of the US in both money and Player of the Year points.

Kim Hyo-joo is the one other South Korean inside the top 10 in the rankings, as she stayed at No. 10 for the third consecutive week. (Yonhap)