Rolex Moves of the Week - Ariya Tops Tours Biggest Races, Crunch Time for Crown and More

Making Moves in Williamsburg 

The month of May continues to be good to Ariya Jutanugarn. 

Sunday, Jutanugarn, who goes by the nickname 'May,' won for the second time at the Kingsmill Championship presented by GEICO. The victory is her eighth career win on the LPGA Tour, and half of those wins came during the month of May. With her victory, Jutanugarn climbed one spot to No. 5 in the Rolex Rankings. She previously held the No. 1 ranking for two weeks in June 2017.

But this week’s biggest moves didn’t come from the winner. Instead, it was runner-up Nasa Hataoka and fifth place finisher Megan Khang, who made the largest jumps in this week’s Rolex Rankings. Hataoka, who lost in the playoff to Jutanugarn, picked up her career best finish on the LPGA Tour and second consecutive top 10 finish on Sunday. When Hataoka joined the Tour in 2017, she was ranked No. 135 in the world, and dropped as low as No. 170 in August 2017. While she wasn’t able to record a top 10 on Tour last year, she’s continued to climb in the world rankings thanks to back-to-back victories in her home country of Japan in 2017. In December, Hataoka won the LPGA Qualifying Tournament to secure her card and status for 2018 and has continued to improve over the last six months. Sunday’s runner-up finish for Hataoka lifted her 11 spots to No. 34 in the world, the highest ranking of her career.

Khang, who joined the Tour in 2016, finished fifth at Kingsmill for her second top 5 finish of the year. Like Hataoka, Khang has continued a steady climb in the Rolex Rankings since joining the Tour. With her solid finish on Sunday, Khang jumped 13 spots to No. 76 in the world. Her highest ranking came in March 2017 when she reached No. 66.

Other notable moves following the Kingsmill Championship belong to Sherman Santiwiwatthanaphong who leaped 49 spots to No. 186 with her T7 finish, Mariajo Uribe who jumped 25 spots to No. 155 with her T10 finish at Kingsmill, Catriona Matthew who climbed 18 spots to No. 174 with her T10 finish and Jaye Marie Green who climbed 12 spots to No. 164 with her T25 finish.

Crunch Time For Crown 

In two weeks, the eight teams competing at this year’s UL International Crown will be finalized. Teams are ranked in order of their players' position in the Rolex Rankings. The Republic of Korea remains ranked No. 1 in the team standings, with the United States at No. 2, Japan at No. 3, England at No. 4, Australia at No. 5, Thailand at No. 6, Sweden at No. 7 and Chinese Taipei at No. 8.

At No. 9 in the standings, Team Spain, winner of the inaugural UL International Crown in 2014, sits 168 spots behind Chinese Taipei. Spain’s Carlota Ciganda, Beatriz Recari and Luna Sobron Galmes are in the field this week in Michigan, but all will have to make significant moves over the next two weeks to have any chance of qualifying. Team China sits at No. 10 in the team standings. They trails Team Spain by 12 spots.

Click here for current standings.

Epson Tour’s Volvik Race For the Card

Pavarisa Yoktuan made the Volvik Race for the Card move of the week with her outstanding play at the Epson Classic, jumping 85 spots on the money list from No. 101 to No. 16. She finished tied for third in Davidson for her seventh career top-5 finish on the Epson Tour. 

Two years ago, Yoktuan finished just outside the top 10 in the Volvik Race for the Card standings at No. 15 and headed to the Final Stage of the LPGA Qualifying looking to earn LPGA membership. The Thai finished in the top 20 during the final stage to compete on the LPGA Tour in 2017, but made just eight cuts in 19 starts.   

Last week in Davidson, Jenny Haglund climbed nine spots to No. 1 in the Volvik Race for the Card standings with her victory at the Epson Classic. The rookie has posted three top 10s in four starts, including her most recent victory.  She sits $5,185 ahead of No. 2 Dottie Ardina, who finished runner up in her last two starts, to continue moving up the money list.

Rounding out the Volvik Race for the Card standings are No. 3 Elizabeth Szokol, No. 4 Vicky Hurst, No. 5 Pajaree Anannarukarn, No. 6 Stephanie Meadow, No. 7 Lauren Kim, No. 8 Linnea Strom, No. 9 Charlotte Thomas and No. 10 Daniela Iacobelli.

Click here for current standings.

Jutanugarn Sisters Continue Tour Dominance

This week, the battle for the title of ‘top-ranked Jutanugarn’ heated up with Ariya earning her first win of the year to match her sister, Moriya, in the wins column for 2018. With her victory, Ariya moved to the top of the Tour’s money list, Race to CME Globe Standings, Player of the Year Standings and she leads the Tour in birdies made in 2018. But Moriya is keeping pace with her sister, she sits third on the Tour’s money list and Race to CME Globe Standings, and is ranked second behind her sister in birdies made on Tour. Both sisters have moved into the top 10 in the Rolex Rankings with Ariya at No. 5 and Moriya at No. 10.