South Korean LPGA star Park In-bee has officially reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the women's world rankings.
Park jumped two spots to No. 1 in the latest rankings announced Monday (US Eastern Standard Time). Park previously spent 92 weeks as world No. 1 during three different stretches between 2013 and 2015, and last held that spot Oct. 19, 2015. She was ranked 13th on Jan. 1 this year.
Park's climb back to the top had been projected by the LPGA Tour immediately after her runner-up finish at the Hugel-JTBC LA Open at Wilshire Country Club in Los Angeles on Sunday. Park was sitting behind Feng Shanshan and Lexi Thompson in the world rankings and needed to finish sixth or higher to rise past them.
Park now has 7.49 ranking points, and Feng, who had been No. 1 since last November, has 7.04. Thompson is at 6.78.
Park In-bee (Yonhap)
The world rankings evaluate a player's performance over a rolling two-year period weighted in favor of the current year, and an extra emphasis is placed on the most recent 13 weeks.
At 29, Park is enjoying a nice bounce-back season after an injury-plagued 2017. The LPGA Hall of Famer now has one win and three other top-three finishes in her previous five tournaments, dating back to mid-March. She is leading the tour in money with $707,089 and in the Player of the Year points with 75.
Park previously won the Player of the Year award in 2013, and led the tour in money in 2012 and 2013.
Park is one of five South Koreans inside the top 10, joined by Ryu So-yeon (No. 4), Park Sung-hyun (No. 5), Kim In-kyung (No. 7) and Choi Hye-jin (No. 10).
Among other notables, LPGA rookie Ko Jin-young, who tied Park In-bee for second at the LA Open, rose three spots to No. 15. (Yonhap)