“Park”ed at the top
Sung Hyun Park is getting comfortable at the top.
Park, who was part of the victorious South Korean team at the UL International Crown last week, remained on top of the Rolex Rankings once again this week – her ninth straight.
Park captured last year’s Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year and was the co-Player of the Year. She has already won three times in 2018 including the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship.
Fellow three-time winner in 2018 Ariya Jutanugarn remains in the second spot, while So Yeon Ryu – another member of the winning South Korean squad – rounds out the top three.
This week’s LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship marks the beginning of the Asian Swing on the LPGA Tour. After this week in South Korea there are four more tournaments left before the CME Group Tour Championship.
Park leads the Rolex Rankings by 0.26 points over Jutanugarn.
Hall makes a quick move
Georgia Hall, a rookie on the LPGA Tour who wowed her hometown fans after winning the RICOH Women’s British Open, moved up one spot to No. 6 on the Rolex Rankings this week – her highest position ever.
Hall jumped into the top-10 for the first time after her major triumph. Just two tournaments later she finished runner-up, at the Cambia Portland Classic.
The 22-year-old has had a solid rookie season on the LPGA Tour, with seven top-25 finishes including her major win in August. She’s second on the Louise Suggs Rolex Rookie of the Year race to Jin Young Ko, who has 10 top-10’s on the year, including a victory.
Around the world
Seven countries are represented in the top-10 of the Rolex Rankings, and 11 in the top-25, once again establishing the LPGA Tour as the most global of tours.
South Korea leads the way with 10 golfers in the top-25 on the Rolex Rankings led by Sung Hyun Park. Park’s teammate at the UL International Crown, So Yeon Ryu, is No.3, while Inbee Park remains at No.4.
Americans have the next-most golfers in the top-25 with five, including all four from the UL International Crown team that finished second last week (Michelle Wie, Lexi Thompson, Cristie Kerr, and Jessica Korda).
The Jutanugarn sisters – who helped lead Thailand to a fourth-place finish at the International Crown last week – are the lone Thai representatives in the top-25, but it’s the only country with more than one golfer on that list.
Canada (Brooke Henderson), Australia (Minjee Lee), China (Shanshan Feng), Japan (Nasa Hataoka), New Zealand (Lydia Ko), Sweden (Anna Nordqvist), and Spain (Carlota Ciganda), round out the countries represented.
Epson Tour hands out LPGA Tour cards
The Epson Tour’s season wrapped up last week with 10 golfers earning their LPGA Tour cards.
At the top spot was Ruixin Liu of China. She won her third event of the year at the Epson Tour Championship and earned Player of the Year honors. She earned $124,839 in 2018, and captured the No.1 spot on the money list by $27,017.
The rest of the top-10 finishers on the Epson Tour money list were –
2. Dottie Ardina - $97,822
3. Pavarisa Yoktuan - $80,313
4. Elizabeth Szokol - $76,612
5. Linnea Strom - $70,685
6. Stephanie Meadow - $70,617
7. Kendall Dye - $63,579
8. Charlotte Thomas - $60,952
9. Isi Gabsa - $60,386
10. Dana Finkelstein - $60,168
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