Nelly Korda didn’t do quite enough to claim her second Major win in the Chevron Championship, and eventually had to settle for third behind Lilia Vu and Angel Yin at Carlton Woods. However, she does have something to celebrate - her return to the World No.1 position for the first time since November.
After relinquishing her place at the top to New Zealander Lydia Ko back then, the American has never seemed far away from a return and has only failed to finish in the top 10 in one of her six tournaments so far in 2023.
Following her latest impressive performance, Korda explained she was delighted to reclaim the top spot. She said: “Yeah, I mean, amazing. It would have been obviously very nice to win the Major, as well, but I think being World No.1 is very rewarding. All my hard work has paid off, and hopefully continue building, but the No. 1 ranking keeps bouncing back and forth, back and forth.
“That is something actually I don't really tend to focus on too much. I tend to focus on what's right in front of me, being present this week, this Major, but I think the rankings at the end of the day tell you the consistent play you're playing.”
Ko has endured a more inconsistent run since her victory in the CME Group Tour Championship that saw her knock Korda off the top spot. After beginning the year with victory in the LET’s Aramco Saudi Ladies International, she has had two top 10 finishes on the LPGA Tour.
However, she also failed to impress in either the HSBC Women’s World Championship or the DIO Implant LA Open, where she finished with ties for 31st and 34th, respectively. It got even worse for Ko in the first Major of the year, as she missed the cut. The fact Ko has now fallen behind Korda in the rankings will be doubly hard to take as confirmation came on her 26th birthday.
As for Korda, she moves to the summit for the fourth time in her career, and will be hoping to hold onto the position for longer than the previous spell, which lasted just two weeks after taking over from Atthaya Thitikul in mid-November following her win in the Pelican Women's Championship.
Vu will also be looking at the world ranking with some satisfaction following her maiden Major win. The American is now up to World No.4 from last week’s World No.8. That career high position is thanks to a string of strong performances since the turn of the year. After beginning 2023 as World No.43, Vu had three top 10 finishes leading up to the Chevron Championship, including victory in February’s Honda LPGA Thailand.
