Six-time winner is the first player from Thailand to reach World No. 1

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., June 12, 2017 - Thailand’s Ariya Jutanugarn has taken over the No. 1 spot in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings following her win at the 2017 Manulife LPGA Classic.

Jutanugarn took the top spot from New Zealand’s Lydia Ko, who had held the position for the past 85 weeks. At 21 years, 6 months and 20 days old, Jutanugarn becomes the second-youngest player in LPGA history and the third-youngest player, male or female, to reach No. 1 in the history of professional golf. She is the first golfer from Thailand, male or female, to earn the title of World No. 1.

“It means the world to me,” Jutanugarn said. “We get to show the world that Thai people can do it. It’s been a long road getting to this spot, but it will be even more challenging from this point on. The ranking can change after any week, and I will just keep working very hard every single day. I don’t see this as a mission complete, but it’s just the beginning. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone. My family, my coaches, my team, my sponsors and all the Thai fans. Thank you.”

Jutanugarn made 95 career LPGA starts before ascending to No. 1 in the Rolex Rankings, earning six wins and 30 additional top-10 finishes. Prior to this week, Jutanugarn spent 38 career weeks as the No. 2 player in the world. She is the 10th different golfer to be No. 1 in her career since the Rolex Rankings started in 2006.

Jutanugarn had a breakthrough year in 2016. She began the year ranked No. 62 in the world before leading the LPGA with five wins, including her first major championship, en route to becoming the second player to win the Rolex Player of the Year award, Race to the CME Globe and the LPGA Official Money Title in the same season, joining Ko (2015).

Jutanugarn, who goes by the nickname “May,” started her victory run in May 2016. With her win at the Yokohama Tire LPGA Classic, she became the first player from Thailand to win on the LPGA Tour. She then won the next two events and became the first player in Tour history to have the first three wins of her career come in consecutive tournaments. Jutanugarn went back-to-back again later in the season including winning the Ricoh Women’s British Open, where she became the first major champion (male or female) from Thailand. She also set a new record for most birdies in a single season with 469, passing Stacy Lewis’ mark in 2014 by nine. For her achievements, Jutanugarn was named the 2016 Golf Writers Association of America Female Player of the Year.

The newly crowned top-ranked player in women’s golf has nine top-10 finishes in 13 starts this season, including three runner-ups and her win on Sunday. Thanks to her victory, she now ranks first on the 2017 Official Money List with $954,279 and she has $3,987,753 in career earnings.

Jutanugarn will make her first appearance as World No. 1 at this week’s Meijer LPGA Classic for Simply Give.

History of Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings Number One Position

#	Player	Age (Y/M/D)	From:	To:	No. of Weeks
20	Ariya Jutanugarn	21/6/20	June 12, 2017	Present	1
19	Lydia Ko (2)	18/6/2	October 26, 2015	June 11, 2017	85
18	Inbee Park (3)	26/11/3	June 15, 2015	October 25, 2015	19
17	Lydia Ko (1)	17/9/9	February 2, 2015	June 14, 2015	19
16	Inbee Park (2)	26/3/15	October 27, 2014	February 1, 2015	14
15	Stacy Lewis (2)	29/3/17	June 2, 2014	October 26, 2014	21
14	Inbee Park (1)	24/9/3	April 15, 2013	June 1, 2014	59
13	Stacy Lewis (1)	28/1/2	March 18, 2013	April 14, 2013	4
12	Yani Tseng	22/0/22	February 14, 2011	March 17, 2013	109
11	Jiyai Shin (3)	22/6/4	November 1, 2010	February 13, 2011	15
10	Cristie Kerr (3)	33/0/13	October 25, 2010	October 31, 2010	1
9	Ai Miyazato (3)	25/2/4	August 23, 2010	October 24, 2010	9
8	Cristie Kerr (2)	32/10/4	August 16, 2010	August 22, 2010	1
7	Jiyai Shin (2)	22/2/28	July 26, 2010	August 15, 2010	3
6	Ai Miyazato (2)	25/1/0	July 19, 2010	July 25, 2010	1
5	Cristie Kerr (1)	32/8/16	June 28, 2010	July 18, 2010	3
4	Ai Miyazato (1)	25/0/2	June 21, 2010	June 27, 2010	1
3	Jiyai Shin (1)	22/0/5	May 3, 2010	June 20, 2010	7
2	Lorena Ochoa	25/5/8	April 23, 2007	May 2, 2010	158
1	Annika Sorenstam	35/4/11	February 20, 2006	April 22, 2007	61

Career Weeks At Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings Number One Position

Lorena Ochoa	158 weeks
Yani Tseng	109 weeks
Lydia Ko	104 weeks
Inbee Park	92 weeks
Annika Sorenstam	61 weeks
Stacy Lewis	25 weeks
Jiyai Shin	25 weeks
Ai Miyazato	11 weeks
Cristie Kerr	5 weeks
Ariya Jutanugarn	1 week

Ariya Jutanugarn Becomes No. 1 Player In Rolex Rankings

Related Articles