Park is first rookie No. 1
Print Edition
South Korean sensation Park Sung-hyun became the first LPGA Tour rookie to be crowned world No. 1 yesterday after a season in which she also won her first major.
The 24-year-old, who knocked countrywoman Ryu So-yeon off the top spot, is the fourth South Korean world No. 1 since the rankings were introduced in 2006, joining Shin Ji-yai, Park In-bee and Ryu.
“I was very surprised and amazed by what I’ve achieved,” Park told LPGA.com on south China’s Hainan Island, where she will play in this week’s Blue Bay LPGA tournament.
“This is all too sudden for me, and it hasn’t hit me yet,” Park added. “I think this is an honor for my whole family.”
Park reaches No. 1 exactly a year after she held a press conference in Korea to announce she would take up membership on the LPGA Tour, after a season in which she won seven times on the Korean LPGA Tour, contended in three major championships and had risen to world No. 10.
Her incredible form carried through to the LPGA Tour this year with two wins to date, including a first major at the US Women’s Open, nine top-10 finishes and top-20 finishes at three other majors. Not only that, the super-consistent Park has never missed a cut in her 29 career LPGA Tour starts.
She had ran away with the LPGA’s Rookie of the Year honors long before this season ended and with two tournaments to go, she is ranked second in the Player of the Year standings.
Only Ryu, who is sitting out this week, is ahead of Park who is seeking to become just the second player in history after American Nancy Lopez in 1978 to earn both rookie and player of the season honors in the same year.
Park had originally declared she wanted to become No. 1 within three years of moving full-time to the LPGA Tour. “I’ve accomplished my goal a lot faster than I’d planned, and it does put some pressure on my shoulders. But I am also determined to keep trying harder and harder.”
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