Jin Young Ko Ties Record For Most Weeks As World No.1

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published 20 June 2023

Two-time Major champion Jin Young Ko has tied the record for the most amount of weeks spent at the top of the Rolex Rankings.

It means the 27-year-old has now spent 158 weeks as World No 1, tying the record set by Lorena Ochoa who achieved the feat in between 2007 and 2010.

After ceding her position as World No 1 at the end of last October, the South Korean golfer, who has been in impressive form this season, re-claimed her spot at the top of the rankings in May, following a win at the Cognizant Founders Cup.

Ko had notably held the top spot for a whopping 100 weeks between July 2019 and June 2021.

Since then she has had to battle against Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko and Atthaya Thitikul to retain her status at the top of the rankings.

After suffering a wrist injury last season she struggled to maintain her good form, dropping to fifth in the rankings before ending a year-long wait for a trophy in March, where she claimed the HSBC Women's World Championship.

She has now won 15 times on the LPGA Tour and should she stay at the top of the leaderboard after the KPMG Women's PGA Championship this weekend, she will set a new record for having spent the most amount of weeks at the top of the Rolex Rankings.

Ko stands a good chance of winning too and is one of the favorites coming into the event, which is being played at the Baltusrol Golf Club in New Jersey.

Having previously won both the Chevron Championship and the Evian Championship in 2019, a win on Sunday could see her clinch her first Women's PGA Championship title and her third Major.

Her highest finish at the tournament came in 2018 where she placed T11, but will be up against some tough competition, with both Korda and Thitikul set to tee it up at the event in hopes of winning more Rolex Ranking points.

Most Weeks Spent As World No 1

Jin Young Ko -158 weeks
Lorena Ochoa - 158 weeks
Lydia Ko - 125 weeks
Yani Tseng - 109 weeks
Inbee Park - 106 weeks
Annika Sorenstam - 61 weeks
Nelly Korda - 35 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
Ai Miyazato - 11 weeks
Cristie Kerr - 5 weeks
Atthaya Thitikul - 2 weeks

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Ed has been playing golf for as long as he can remember and is obsessive about the sport. He is regularly sought after by family members and friends for advice on what equipment to buy and uses his background, having written extensively on golf in the past, to produce equipment orientated content for Golf Monthly.

Having obtained a Masters in Law with Medicine from the University of Liverpool, Ed has recently changed paths into journalism and just last year achieved his NCTJ Sports Journalism Diploma with the Press Association.

He has written for a variety of media outlets over the years and has interviewed some big names in sport, including Premier League managers, All Blacks Coaches and Grand Slam tennis superstars. He has also worked on some huge sporting events, including the 2021 Australian Open and the 2022 FIFA World Cup. And when he's not writing for Golf Monthly, you'll find him producing news and feature articles for the MailOnline's sports desk, where he covers everything from football to rugby union.

During his weekends off, you'll likely find Ed heading out for a round at one of his local golf clubs with his friends, and was, up until recently, a member at the Leatherhead Golf Club in Surrey. Ed also plays the saxophone, can tell you some pretty terrible dad jokes and can knock up a very tasty carbonara!

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