Just as the LPGA is embarking next week on the Asian Swing to begin the eight-tournament conclusion to the 2016 season, there has never more evidence that the top women’s tour in the world is also the most global in all of golf. And the youngest.
Following is some evidence to prove that point:
World Diversity
This week, the top five players in the Rolex Women’s World Rankings hail from five different countries – No. 1 Lydia Ko from New Zealand, No. 2 Ariya Jutanugarn from Thailand, No. 3 In Gee Chun from South Korea, No. 4 Brooke Henderson from Canada and No. 5 Lexi Thompson from the United States. It’s the first time five countries have held the top five spots since March 16, 2015.
The men’s Official World Golf Ranking has four countries represented among the top five players (No. 1 Jason Day, Australia; No. 2 Dustin Johnson, U.S., No. 3 Rory McIlroy, Northern Ireland, No. 4 Jordan Spieth, U.S., and No. 5 Henrik Stenson, Sweden).
World Youth
Even a rarer feat is the youth movement among those five top players. In Gee Chun, the winner of the Evian Championship last week in France, was touted as another young face on the world stage. The South Korean turned 22 just over one month ago, but is the oldest among the top five players. Henderson is the youngest among the five, having turned 19 two weeks ago.
So much has been made of the PGA Tour’s youth movement, but the youngest player (Spieth, 23) is older than the oldest top-five LPGA player.
Top Five Age Comparison
Women
Rank, Player - Age
1, Lydio Ko - 19
2, Ariya Jutanugarn - 20
3, In Gee Chun - 22
4, Brooke Henderson - 19
5, Lexi Thompson - 21
Men
1, Jason Day - 28
2, Dustin Johnson - 32
3, Rory McIlroy - 27
4, Jordan Spieth - 23
5, Henrik Stenson - 40
Major Fives
Piggybacking on the five theme, the winners of the five majors this season were five different players from five different countries. They included Ko (ANA Inspiration), Henderson (KPMG Women’s PGA), Brittany Lang (U.S. Women’s Open from the United States), Jutanugarn (RICOH Women’s British Open) and Chun (Evian).
It’s the first time since 2009 that the major winners and countries have all been different. That season, when there were four majors, the winners included Brittany Lincicome (U.S., ANA Inspiration), Eun-Hee Ji (South Korea, U.S. Women’s Open), Ana Nordqvist (Sweden, KPMG Women’s PGA) and Catriona Matthew (Scotland, RICOH Women’s British Open).
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