The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is off to an interesting start. For starters, Baltusrol’s Lower Course, at a whopping 6,575 yards for Friday’s second round, is no easy task. Secondly, the weather has been rainy and chilly. The final piece: Many big names such as Nelly Korda, Lydia Ko, Lexi Thompson, Stacy Lewis, Sei Young Kim, Maja Stark and Georgia Hall are all expected to miss the cut.
With Korda and Lydia Ko, world Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, likely heading home early, a door has been opened for Jin Young Ko to break a longstanding record.
Lorena Ochoa holds the record for most weeks at world No. 1. From 2007 to 2010, Ochoa spent 158 weeks in the top spot of the Rolex Rankings. However, the 15-time LPGA Tour winner, Jin Young Ko, is set to pass Ochoa next Monday.
With an opening round of 72 and second-round 69, Ko sits at 1 under through 36 holes. With her steady play, Ko will likely move to 159 total weeks at No. 1, quite the accomplishment but also one that is up for some debate. While the LPGA has Ko sitting at 158 weeks after this past Monday’s update, another source says differently. Wikipedia has Ko at only 150 weeks. The confusion stems from the COVID-19 pandemic, as the LPGA counted the eight weeks the Rolex Rankings were frozen.
But as Golf Channel announcer Grant Boone points out, the rankings used to freeze during the offseason in Ochoa’s day.
Full-field scores from the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
Despite the inconsistency with the LPGA record book and Wikipedia, Ko could end up staying at No. 1 long enough to satisfy both.