Ko Jin-young ties record with 158th week as world No. 1

Ko Jin-young hits off the eleventh tee during the first round of the Mizuho Americas Open golf tournament at Liberty National Golf Course in Jersey City, New Jersey on June 1. [AP/YONHAP]

Ko Jin-young on Monday tied the record for the most weeks spent at No. 1 on the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings — 158 weeks — with former golfer Lorena Ochoa of Mexico.

Ko, a 15-time LPGA winner, maintained the No. 1 spot in this week’s World Golf Rankings with 8.28 points, sitting well above No. 2 Nelly Korda with 7.6 points.

The 27-year-old has now spent 158 weeks in total as the world No. 1, during which she has ceded the top spot only a handful of times.

Ko first briefly claimed the top spot in April 2019, reclaiming it in July 2019 and holding on to it for 100 consecutive weeks through June 2021. She continued to move in and out of the top spot until a wrist injury late last year hindered her performance and pushed her down to fifth on the rankings.

Atthaya Thitikul of Thailand, Lydia Ko of New Zealand and Korda all spent time at the top over the intervening eight months.

Ko Jin-young came back with a vengeance this season after recovering from the injury, winning two LPGA titles this season — first at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in March and second at the Cognizant Founders Cup on May 14.

The victory at the Founders Cup also allowed her to become the event’s first-ever three-time champion.

Ko then climbed up to the apogee of the rankings on May 23 and has retained it since. She also tops the Race to CME Globe rankings.

Ko joins Ochoa in the record books with just a little help from the Covid-19 pandemic, as the LPGA froze the rankings from March to May 2020, during which there were no tournaments played. The LPGA still counted that period toward Ko’s total weeks.

First introduced in 2006, the World Golf Rankings are announced weekly and Ochoa was the longest golfer to hold the No. 1 position from April 2007 to May 2010 without ever ceding the spot.

Only three other golfers have retained the coveted No. 1 position for over 100 weeks before: Lydia Ko, Zeng Yani of Taiwan and Park In-bee — the Korean Hall of Famer with 21 LPGA wins.

Lydia Ko remained in third place this week despite having yet to secure a title this season, while Yani is unranked as she has yet to make her return to the Tour since the Volunteers of America Classic in 2021.

Park has also yet to return to the field since the AIG Women’s Open in August 2022. She gave birth to her daughter in April and has not announced her return date.

Lilia Vu, the only major winner of the season at the Chevron Championship in April, is the No. 4, followed by No. 5 Minjee Lee of Australia.

No. 7 Kim Hyo-joo is the only other Korean in the top-10.

Those rankings may see some changes against next week after the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship — the second major of the season — set to tee off on Thursday at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey.

If Ko Jin-young wins that major, she will not only be the season’s first golfer with three titles, but will also set a new record for the longest period at No. 1.

The last major she won was the Evian Championship in July 2019.

She opted to skip the past two tournaments this month in order to improve her form and secure her third major trophy.

The PGA Championship, however, is also an opportunity for countrywoman No. 16 Chun In-gee to manage her first title at the event where she is the defending champion.

If Chun defends her title, she will become the second Korean golfer to win a trophy this season after Ko.

BY PAIK JI-HWAN [paik.jihwan@joongang.co.kr]