Ko Jin-young on June 25 hits a tee shot on the seventh hole of the final round of the KPMG Women's PGA Championship on the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour of the U.S. at Baltusrol Golf Club in Springfield, New Jersey. (Yonhap News)

By Jung Joo-ri

Ko Jin-young has set the world record for the longest period at No. 1 in the women's pro golf rankings. 

The U.S. Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) on June 27 released its latest global rankings with Ko at the top with 8.31 points, followed by Nelly Korda of the U.S. with 7.45. 

In her sixth consecutive week at the top, Ko has held the No. 1 ranking for a combined 159 weeks, breaking the mark previously held by the retired Lorena Ochoa of Mexico of 158 set in 2010. 

First ascending to the peak in April 2019, Ko held the top spot for 12 weeks until Park Sung-hyun briefly usurped her title that June. Unlike Ochoa, who spent 158 straight weeks at No. 1, Ko in July 2019 regained the lead and stayed there for 100 consecutive weeks through July 2021. 

Battling Korda for the top spot last year, Ko held it for an additional 41 weeks until a wrist injury forced her to miss the second half of last year. Ko regained the No. 1 ranking this year, winning the HSBC Women's World Championship in March and Cognizant Founders Cup in May.

Five LPGA players have spent a combined 100 or more weeks at No. 1: Ko, Ochoa, Lydia Ko of New Zealand with 125, Yani Tseng of Taiwan 109 and Park In-bee 106. The three other Koreans to make the list are Shin Ji-yai with 25, Park Sung-hyun 20 and Ryu So-yeon 19. 

In a pre-tournament interview on the LPGA site on June 21, Ko said it was an honor to be mentioned in the same sentence as Ochoa, adding, "It makes me happy but also it makes me humble."  

Since 2006, the LPGA has released its world rankings every week. 

etoilejr@korea.kr