Sung Hyun Park Becomes Top Player in Rolex Rankings

Korean star becomes the first LPGA rookie to reach World No. 1

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Nov. 6, 2017 – Sung Hyun Park, of the Republic of Korea, has risen to No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings and becomes the first LPGA Tour rookie in the history of the rankings to reach the top position.

Park, 24, moved past So Yeon Ryu, who held the position for the past 19 weeks. She becomes the fourth Korean to sit atop the rankings, joining Ryu, Inbee Park (92 weeks) and Jiyai Shin (25 weeks).

“It is a great honor to me and my family,” said Park from Hainan Island in the People’s Republic of China, where she is competing in this week’s Blue Bay LPGA. “There won't be any changes because of the ranking. I believe my future play is more important than the fact that I moved up in the ranking.”

This honor is yet another highlight in a season where Park clinched the Rookie of the Year award with five events remaining on the schedule. In July, Park became a Rolex First-Time Winner and first-time major champion by capturing the U.S. Women’s Open Championship. She followed that in August with a victory at the CP Women’s Open. 

Park has never missed the cut in her 29 career LPGA Tour starts. Since becoming a full-time LPGA member at the start of the 2017 season, she has nine top-10 finishes, including her two victories. She also finished in the top 20 at four of the season’s five majors.

Through Nov. 6, Park leads the LPGA in Official Money with $2,161,005. She is also in the top 10 in Scoring Average (second), Rolex Player of the Year (second), Race to the CME Globe (third), Birdies (fifth), Greens in Regulation (seventh) and Driving Distance Average (ninth). She became the fastest player in LPGA history to reach $2 million in career earnings at 7 months, 13 days (19 starts; 2017 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship) and the fastest to reach $1 million following her U.S. Women’s Open victory at 4 months, 14 days (14 events).

Prior to joining the LPGA Tour, Park was a superstar on the KLPGA. She has 10 career victories on her home country’s tour, including a major win at the 2015 Kia Motors Korea Women's Open. Park is one of Korea’s most popular players, and is known by the nickname “Shut Up and Attack” for her relentless focus and determination on the golf course.

Park will enter the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship on Nov. 16-19 with an opportunity to win Player of the Year honors and could join LPGA legend Nancy Lopez as the only players in LPGA history to win Player and Rookie of the Year in the same season. Park is also in the running for the Vare Trophy, which is awarded to the player with the season’s low scoring average, as well as the Race to the CME Globe, which awards $1 million in unofficial money to the winner of the season-long points race.

History of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings Number One Position

Career weeks at Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings Number One Position