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Lydia Ko Returns to World No. 1 Ranking

The 19-time LPGA Tour winner has reached the top of the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings for the third time in her career.

Gabrielle Herzig

Lydia Ko Returns to World No. 1 Ranking
Lydia Ko Returns to World No. 1 Ranking /

Lydia Ko is dominating women’s professional golf once again. 

The New Zealand native reached the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s Golf Rankings for the third time in her 10-year LPGA career, passing Nelly Korda. 

Ko’s latest ascendance in the ranking follows her win at the CME Group Tour Championship, where she received the largest winner’s check in women’s golf history. The victory also helped Ko secure both the Rolex Player of the Year Award and the Vare Trophy for low season-long scoring average. The 25-year-old already is just steps away from an induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame. 

Ko climbed to the world No. 1 spot for the first time in 2015, when she held the position for 19 weeks, until mid-June of that year. In October of the same year, she regained the top spot and held it until June 2017. Five years, five months and 17 days have passed between Ko’s No. 1 ranking periods—the longest stretch on the LPGA Tour. 

Previously, Inbee Park held the record, with two years, five months and 29 days separating her stints as world No. 1. 

“I’m very grateful to be World No. 1 again,” Ko said. “To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be back here again.” 

The 19-time tour winner recorded three victories in the 2022 season—including the Gainbridge LPGA and the BMW Ladies Championship—and nine top-five finishes. 

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Gabrielle Herzig
GABRIELLE HERZIG

Gabrielle Herzig is a Breaking and Trending News writer for Sports Illustrated Golf. Previously, she worked as a Golf Digest Contributing Editor, an NBC Sports Digital Editorial Intern, and a Production Runner for FOX Sports at the site of the 2018 U.S. Open. Gabrielle graduated as a Politics Major from Pomona College in Claremont, California, where she was a four-year member and senior-year captain of the Pomona-Pitzer women’s golf team. In her junior year, Gabrielle studied abroad in Scotland for three months, where she explored the Home of Golf by joining the Edinburgh University Golf Club.

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