[PHOTO: Morgan Harlow/R&A]
Nelly Korda’s dominant run as the No.1 golfer in the world is about to come to an end, according to an LPGA spokesperson, and Thailand’s Jeeno Thitikul will move into the top spot for the second time in her career.
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Korda is projected to lose the ranking after finishing tied for 36th in the AIG Women’s Open at Royal Porthcawl in Wales. She had an incredible run at the top – 71 consecutive weeks – in her second stint holding that ranking.
Going into the final major of the year, Korda had a slim lead over Thitikul at 0.1861. It was her smallest margin over a No.2-ranked golfer since she became No.1 in March 2024. Korda’s largest lead at the top was the week of May 20, 2024, when she had a 6.8022 advantage over Lilia Vu after winning her sixth title of the year the previous week.
Korda shot a three-over 75 on Sunday, her worst round of the Women’s Open, and Thitikul shot two-over 74, also her worst round of the week, but tied for 30th place, six spots ahead of Korda.
Thitikul, 22, will snare the No.1 spot with a strong, typically solid season once again. The five-time LPGA winner added her latest victory in May’s Mizuho Americas Open. She has eight top-10s this season, including a playoff runner-up at the Amundi Evian Championship three weeks ago in France. She will take over the No.1 ranking again (she held it for consecutive weeks from October 31 to November 13 in 2022) after she finished 12 shots behind Women’s Open champion Miyu Yamashita.
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Korda, who made the cut in all five majors this year and has five top-10 finishes, became the top golfer in the world for the first time in June 2021 and has held the top ranking for 108 weeks of her career. She lost it but regained top spot in March last year then went on a historic run of winning five consecutive LPGA tournaments and seven overall last year. This year, she is yet to win a tournament but has made a career-best 13 cuts in all 13 events she’s played.
It’s a distinction that has accompanied her name through nearly a year-and-a-half, and one she had during that historic run last year.
There are plenty of opportunities during the next five months for Korda to win her first event of the year and regain the top spot. There have been different winners at every start on tour this year across 20 events, the most to start a season in the 75-year history of the LPGA.
