World No.1 Sung Hyun Park has won three LPGA tournaments this year including a Major: the KPMG Women’s Championship.
A strong finish is required in the Evian Championship if she is to keep the world No.1 spot as a win at Evian could see Ariya Jutanugarn, So Yeon Ryu, Inbee Park or Lexi Thompson leapfrog her to the summit of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.
Scenarios
A win at Evian projects Ariya to return to World No. 1 regardless of the finishes of any other player.
If Ariya finishes in second place, she would need Sung Hyun Park to finish fourth or worse, and So Yeon Ryu and Inbee Park to not win the final major.
If So Yeon Ryu wins, then Sung Hyun Park needs to finish third or worse.
If Ryu finishes in second place, she would need Sung Hyun Park to finish 22nd or worse, Ariya Jutanugarn to finish 5th or worse, Inbee Park to finish 3rd or worse, and Lexi Thompson to not win the final major.
A win at Evian projects Inbee Park to return to World No. 1 regardless of the finishes of any other player.
If Inbee finishes in second place, she would need Sung Hyun Park to finish 6th or worse, Ariya Jutanugarn to finish 3rd or worse, and So Yeon Ryu to not win the final major.
Lexi Thompson must win and have Sung Hyun Park finish 13th or worse, Ariya Jutanugarn finish 4th or worse, and Inbee Park finish 3rd or worse to become world No.1 for the first time.
Sung Hyun Park
Speaking to the media at the Evian Championship on Wednesday, Park said: “Of course I have been having a lot of pressure as No. 1. It’s also more difficult to keep No. 1, and because of that, this tournament is very important, that I’m very well aware of. Even though there are many pressures, whenever I see my caddie, wearing that Rolex caddie bib, that makes me more confident.”
Park is aiming for a third major title at the Evian Championship which would also see her win the Rolex ANNIKA Major Award, for the best performance across all five majors.
“When So Yeon won last year I was really jealous. I always see it on the TV, when one of my role models, Annika, is giving the honour, so yeah, I’m very excited to try and win the award this year.”
