Jin Young Ko has surpassed Lorena Ochoa’s 13-year record for total weeks at the top of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
The South Korean moved to the top of the rankings for the fifth time in her career at the end of last month, and her tie for 20th at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship was enough to hand her the 159th week at the summit, surpassing the Mexican, who won 27 times on the LPGA Tour between 2004 and 2009.
World No. 1 for 159 weeks! 👏Jin Young Ko breaks Lorena Ochoa’s record of most weeks spent as @ROLEX Rankings No. 1.Ko has held the No. 1 position five different times since April 2019. pic.twitter.com/psXnb8MUDPJune 26, 2023
Ko has achieved the feat despite being plagued by a wrist injury in 2022. However, after being ranked fifth in the world on her return to action for the Honda LPGA Thailand in February, she soon made up for lost time.
Ko tied for sixth in that tournament and followed that up with a win in the HSBC Women’s World Championship. Another victory in the Cognizant Founders Cup in May returned her to the top spot, and she’s not looked back since.
Her current five-week stint at the top follows a 12-week period between April and June 2019, a 100-week run from July that year to June 2021, a two week spell later that year and a 39-week stretch in 2022.
Following the achievement, Ochoa was one of the first to congratulate the two-time Major winner. In a video message released via the LPGA Tour, she said: “I know that today is a very special day and I wanted to be the first one to say ‘congratulations’ to you, to Dave [Brooker, Ko’s caddie], to your family and your team. It’s great – so many weeks as the number one player in the world. I just wish you the best, continue in that direction and really, really, congratulations.”
Message from @LorenaOchoaR to Jin Young Ko on a very special day ❤️ pic.twitter.com/v1REArvpxtJune 26, 2023
While Ko has now surpassed Ochoa’s record for total number of weeks at the top, she has some way to go to beat another her records – Ochoa achieved the feat in an unbroken stint between April 2007 and May 2010.
Compared to Ochoa, Ko also has relatively few LPGA Tour wins, at 15. However, she has achieved those in less than six years. Still aged only 27, there is every chance she will enjoy many more wins – and weeks at the top – in the coming years.
Ko will now have her sights on cementing her position, starting in two weeks at the third Major of the year, the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach.
