'Major Queen' Shin Jiae Jumps 10 Spots to 27th in World Rankings

JLPGA Tour Salonpas Cup Victory Leads to Ranking Surge
Korda, Thitikul, and Lydia Ko Secure Top Three Spots
Yoo Haeran in Fifth, Kim Hyojoo Seventh, Ko Jin-young Ninth

'Major Queen' Shin Ji-ae has climbed to 27th in the world rankings.

Jin Young Shin won the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup, rising to 27th in the world rankings. Photo by AP Yonhap News

On May 12 (local time), the weekly women's golf world rankings were released, and Shin Ji-ae received 2.61 points, jumping 10 spots from 37th place last week. She accumulated these points by winning in a playoff at the World Ladies Championship Salonpas Cup, a major tournament on the Japan Ladies Professional Golf Association (JLPGA) Tour, held the previous day at Ibaraki Golf Club East Course (par 72) in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. This marked her 29th career JLPGA Tour victory and her first since the Earth Mondahmin Cup in June 2023, earning her a winner's prize of 24 million yen (approximately 230 million won) after nearly two years.

If her two victories prior to joining the JLPGA Tour in 2008 are included, Shin Ji-ae has a total of 31 wins. She is now just one win away from meeting the JLPGA Tour's lifetime exemption requirement of 30 wins. Out of her 31 victories in Japan, this is her fifth major title, with her previous major win being at the Ricoh Cup in November 2018. Excluding co-sanctioned events, this is her 66th professional victory. In addition to her 31 wins in Japan, she has recorded 21 victories on the Korea Ladies Professional Golf Association (KLPGA) Tour, 11 on the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Tour, 6 on the Ladies European Tour (LET), 5 on the Australian Tour, and 1 on the Ladies Asian Tour.

Nelly Korda (USA), Atthaya Thitikul (Thailand), Lydia Ko (New Zealand), Yin Ruoning (China), and Yoo Hae-ran maintained their positions in the top five. Kim Hyo-joo, the LET Aramco Championship winner, moved up one spot to seventh. Among Korean players, Ko Jin-young is ranked ninth, Yang Hee-young is 19th, Yoon Ina is 24th, Kim A-lim is 29th, and Lim Jin-hee is 30th. Lee Ye-won, who achieved back-to-back victories at the KLPGA Tour NH Investment & Securities Ladies Championship, jumped 10 places to 36th.