'Golf Empress' Park In-bee Falls Outside Top 30 in World Rankings for the First Time in 10 Years

Rolex World Ranking 39th... Son's Hand Pain Causes Him to Miss Tournament Participation

Inbee Park. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seohee Lee] 'Golf Empress' Park In-bee has fallen outside the top 30 in the women's golf world rankings for the first time in 10 years.

On the 6th (local time), Park In-bee was ranked 31st in the women's golf world rankings announced, recording 2.55 ranking points, dropping four places from the previous week.

This is the first time Park In-bee has fallen outside the top 30 in the world rankings since April 2012, 10 years and 7 months ago. At that time, Park In-bee was ranked 39th. After that, she jumped to 29th by finishing tied for 2nd at the Salonpas Cup on the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA) Tour in the first week of May, and has not fallen outside the top 30 for over 10 years.

Park In-bee has been active as the best player in women's golf. Having entered her prime in earnest since 2012, she has won a total of 21 times on the LPGA Tour and has claimed four of the five major championships on the LPGA Tour. She reached the peak of her career by winning the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

She has proven her ability by ranking number one in the world rankings four times. Park In-bee's cumulative period at number one is 106 weeks, ranking fourth after Lorena Ochoa (Mexico, 158 weeks), Ko Jin-young (152 weeks), and Cheng Shao-chieh (Taiwan, 109 weeks). The most recent time she held the number one spot was the last week of July 2018.

However, her ranking dropped sharply as it became difficult to participate in tournaments due to hand pain that started in August. The problem was in the area connecting the right middle finger and the palm. Eventually, Park In-bee ended her season after participating in the August major tournament, the AIG Women's Open. She finished tied for 22nd in that tournament.

She is currently resting and preparing for next season.