Ryu Ready To Return to No.1?
Nearly one year to the day after So Yeon Ryu ascended to No.1 in the Rolex Rankings, she began her climb back to the top. Ryu won on Sunday at the Meijer LPGA Classic to return to No. 5 in the world. The Korean is one of the most consistent players week in and week out on the LPGA Tour. Since 2012, Ryu hasn’t been ranked outside the top 15 in the world and in 2017 she spent 19 weeks as world No.1 between June 26 and October 30. Ryu replaced Sung Hyun Park in the No. 5 spot in the rankings. It’s the first time Park has dropped out of the top 5 since she won the U.S. Women’s Open in July 2017.
Current world No.1 Inbee Park remains at the top of the rankings for the ninth consecutive week.
Masson and Pace Make Big Moves
Caroline Masson’s runner-up finish last week moved her up 10 spots in the Rolex Rankings, which puts her at No.36 in the world, the highest ranking of her career. Her second-place showing is the fifth top 10 finish of the year for the German, whose game is trending towards a win in 2018. South Africa’s Lee-Anne Pace also made a major move in the Rolex Rankings with her T4 finish last week, which sent her soaring 33 spots to No.141 in the world. Pace’s top-5 finish is her best on Tour since October 2016.
Final Stretch to Make UL International Crown
The final push for players to lock up their place on their respective UL International Crown teams is moving into the final stretch, with just two weeks remaining until teams are finalized. New world No. 5 Ryu jumped a spot to No. 2 in the team standings for The Republic of Korea when she traded spots with Sung Hyun Park following her win in Michigan. In Gee Chun needed to make significant upwards moves in the final stretch to have a chance of making the team. But last week Chun dropped 2 spots to No. 15 in the world rankings to remain further back at No. 6 in the team standings.
Americans Michelle Wie, ranked No.16 in the world, and Danielle Kang, ranked No.21, remain in a tight race for the fourth and final spot on Team USA. Wie currently holds the No. 4 spot, just six spots ahead of Kang. Both can make a move in the standings as they’re both in the field this week in Arkansas and next week in Chicago.
Australia’s Su Oh continued her upward march in the standings by picking up her sixth top 25 finish in her last seven starts last week in Michigan. Oh flip-flopped spots with Sarah Jane Smith, moving from No. 4 to No. 3 on Team Australia. But No.77 Oh and No.79 Smith remain separated by just two spots in the Rolex Rankings. Hannah Green, ranked No.91 in the world, will need a strong finish this week in Arkansas to have a shot at passing Smith and earn her way onto the team.
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