Jin Young Ko Record World No. 1
06/30/2023 by Golf Post Editors
Jin Young Ko is ranked 1 for 159th weeks of her career, breaking Lorena Ochoa’s record.
Jin Young Ko has been ranked No. 1 in the world for 159 weeks of her career (Photo: getty)
Following her tie for 20th at the 2023 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Jin Young Ko remains at No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings for the 159th week in her career. Ko has now outlasted Lorena Ochoa’s record of 158 weeks at Rolex Rankings No. 1, which Ochoa held consecutively from April 2007 to May 2010.
Ko has held the No. 1 position five different times since April 2019. With her sixth consecutive week since May 2023, she now sits on top of the record list ahead of notable names including Lydia Ko (125 weeks), Yani Tseng (109 weeks), Inbee Park (106 weeks) and Annika Sorenstam (61 weeks).
| Player | Weeks at No. 1 |
|---|---|
| Jin Young Ko | 159 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 |
Jin Young Ko only one of five Koreans at the top of the world rankings
At 27 years old, Ko has the most career weeks at Rolex Rankings No. 1 by a player from the Republic of Korea. She is one of five Korean players to hold the No. 1 position, alongside Inbee Park (106 weeks), Jiyai Shin (25 weeks), Sung Hyun Park (20 weeks) and So Yeon Ryu (19 weeks).
“It’s an honor people saying with Lorena and me in the same sentence. It makes me happy, but also it makes me humble,” said Ko, who has had Ochoa’s long-time caddie Dave Brooker on her bag for most of her time at Rolex Rankings No. 1. “It’s great to honor, to stand with Lorena.”
In 2023, Ko has claimed victories at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and the Cognizant Founders Cup. In addition, she has four top-15 finishes this year, most recently at the inaugural Mizuho Americas Open, and represented the Republic of Korea in this year’s Hanwha LIFEPLUS International Crown.
She currently ranks third in greens in regulation (75%), fifth in scoring average (69.34) and sixth in birdies (140) on the LPGA Tour for the 2023 season. In addition to being the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings No. 1, she also sits on top of the leaderboard in the Race to the CME Globe, an honor she previously won in 2020 and 2021.
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Jin Young Ko’s achievements
A 15-time champion on the LPGA Tour, Ko has captured major titles at The Chevron Championship and Amundi Evian Championship in 2019. Just a year prior, she became a Rolex First-Time Winner at the 2018 ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in her first event as an LPGA Tour member. Before her career on the LPGA Tour, she won 10 times on the KLPGA Tour and won the LPGA Tour’s 2017 LPGA KEB-Hana Bank Championship as a non-member.
Ko won Rolex Player of the Year in honors in 2019 and 2021 and was the 2018 Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year. In 2019, she won the Vare Trophy, which is given to the player with the season’s lowest scoring average. That same year, she also won the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award, which is given to the player with the season’s best overall performance in major championships.
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