Nelly Korda Returns To World No.1 Spot As Boutier Climbs To Career High

Korda takes over from Jin Young Ko at the top of the world rankings, while Boutier is up to fourth

Nelly Korda takes a shot at the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club
Nelly Korda has reclaimed her place at the top of the world rankings ahead of Jin Young Ko
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Nelly Korda’s T9 at the Amundi Evian Championship has been enough to return her to the top of the world rankings at the expense of Jin Young Ko, who could only manage a T20 at Evian Resort Golf Club.

Korda’s return to the summit is the fifth time she has reached the position, and this marks her 36th week at the top.

Ko had enjoyed a 10-week run at the top after taking over from Korda following her victory in the Cognizant Founders Cup. Throughout that time, though, Korda had held on to second place in the rankings, helped by a win in the Aramco Team Series London event earlier in July.

That's in spite of some indifferent performances in the weeks before that win. After missing the cut at the Cognizant Founders Cup, she suffered the same fate at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at Baltusrol Golf Club before heading into the London event on the back of a T64 in the US Women’s Open.

As well as returning to the top spot, Korda will also be relieved that she has now secured her second top 10 Major finish of the season after initially achieving third at April’s Chevron Championship. With one of the showpiece tournaments left in the year, August's AIG Women’s Open at Walton Heath, Korda will surely be confident of claiming her second Major win, particularly if she starts that tournament at the summit.

An image of Nelly Korda with a graphic showing the top 10 in the women's world rankings

Nelly Korda is back on top of the women's world rankings

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Korda isn’t the only player with a world ranking achievement to celebrate following the Amundi Evian Championship. After claiming her maiden Major title in the event, Celine Boutier has risen to a career high of World No.4, a climb of 11 places from the previous week.

Boutier’s win is the latest impressive performance in a solid season. She also claimed victory in the LPGA Drive On Championship in March and finished T4 in the Honda LPGA Thailand and T5 in the Bank Of Hope LPGA Match-Play.

Boutier will play in this week’s Freed Group Women’s Scottish Open, although Korda is not in the field.

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Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 

He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 

Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 

Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.