Ko Jin-young reclaims top spot on Rolex World Rankings

Ko Jin-young, right, and Nelly Korda of the United States on the 14th hole during the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on Nov. 21, 2021 in Naples, Florida. [AFP/YONHAP]

Ko Jin-young reclaimed her spot on top of the Rolex Women's World Rankings on Tuesday, passing Nelly Korda of the United States after 12 weeks at No. 2.

Despite not even playing last week's Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, Florida, Ko was able to reclaim the top position because Korda underperformed at the tournament, finishing at 20th. Any finish within the top 18 would have allowed her to hold on to the top spot.

Ko finished her last season just 0.0042 points behind Korda, and now has an average of 9.51 ranking points while Korda is 0.03 points behind at 9.48.

Ko started out the 2021 season as world No. 1, a position that she had been holding for a streak of 100 consecutive weeks from July 20, 2019, when she won the 2019 Evian Championship.

Despite narrowly missing out on multiple trophies toward the start of the 2021 season, Ko was able to keep her No. 1 position, finishing in the top 10 in four out of her first five tournaments. She finished in fourth at Gainbridge LPGA in February last year, fourth at the Kia Classic in March, tied for seventh at the ANA Inspiration and tied for third at the Hugel-Air Premia LA Open in April.

However, her form wavered slightly in June, giving Korda a chance to pass her and take the No. 1 title. Ko finished tied for 57th at the Meijer LPGA Classic then took 46th the following week at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, where Korda won her first LPGA major title and rose to No. 1 for the first time.

Ko reclaimed the top spot winning the BMW Championship, but as the Rolex World Ranking is adjusted with emphasis on the most recent three months, the top spot once again drifted out of her grasp, falling to Korda on Nov. 9, 2021.

However, Ko rounded off her phenomenal 2021 season winning the most important trophy of the LPGA Tour at the CME Group Tour Championship, becoming the most successful player on the LPGA Tour in the 2021 season and staying close behind Korda in her average ranking points.

Ko has not made an appearance at the first two events on the Tour this season yet. After No. 1 Ko Jin-young and No. 2 Korda, the winner of last week's Gainbridge LPGA, Lydia Ko of New Zealand, is No. 3, Park In-bee is No. 4 and Kim Sei-young is No. 5.

BY YUN SO-HYANG [yun.sohyang@joongang.co.kr]