‘Major Queen’ Yang Hee-young, World Ranking 5th... Joins Paris Trip

KPMG Women's PGA Championship Victory Excitement
Jumped 20 Spots from 25th Last Week to Secure Olympic Ticket
Korda and Bu Maintain 1st and 2nd, Ko Jin-young Rises to 3rd

‘Major Queen’ Yang Hee-young will compete in the Paris Olympics ranked 5th in the world.

Yang Hee-young is being showered with champagne in celebration immediately after winning the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. [Sammamish, USA = AFP·Yonhap News]

In the women's golf weekly world rankings announced on the 24th (local time), she earned 5.57 points, jumping 20 spots from 25th place last week. She accumulated points by winning the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship (total prize money of $10.4 million), the third major tournament of the LPGA Tour this year, held at Sahalee Country Club (par 72, 6,754 yards) in Sammamish, Washington, USA, finishing 3 strokes ahead with a 7-under-par 281.

Yang Hee-young secured her 6th career victory and her first in 7 months since winning the CME Group Tour Championship final last November, receiving a winner’s prize of $1.56 million (approximately 2.2 billion KRW). Her previous best major tournament results were runner-up finishes at the US Women’s Open in 2012 and 2015. After Jeon In-ji won this tournament in June 2022, Yang collected a major championship trophy again after two years. Although it was difficult for Yang to qualify for the Paris Olympics scheduled for August, she dramatically secured her spot by dominating the major tournament. In the women’s division, if a player ranks within the top 15 in the world rankings released immediately after this tournament, up to four players from one country can participate.

Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu (both from the USA) maintained their 1st and 2nd positions. Ko Jin-young, who tied for 2nd place at the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, rose 4 spots to 3rd. Korea’s Kim Hyo-joo ranked 13th, joining Ko Jin-young and Yang Hee-young to compete in the Paris Olympics. Shin Ji-ae, who was aiming for Paris, fell to 27th place, ending her dream. Yoo Hae-ran is 28th, Lee Ye-won 29th, and Lim Jin-hee 38th. Park Hyun-kyung, champion of the BC Card·Hankyung Ladies Cup, jumped 7 spots to 45th place.