Kim Hyo-joo, who claimed back-to-back victories at the LPGA Tour's Fortinet Founders Cup and Ford Championship, has climbed to No. 3 in the women's golf world rankings. She surged from eighth two weeks ago to fourth last week, and now to third — a career-best ranking.
At this point, golf fans might reasonably wonder: "Has Kim Hyo-joo's career-high ranking really been only fourth until now?" It's a fair question.
The last time Kim reached world No. 4 was back in 2015, more than a decade ago. At the time, Park In-bee, one of Korea's greatest golf stars, and New Zealand-based Korean Lydia Ko were locked in a fierce battle for the No. 1 spot. That year, the top ranking changed hands in a sequence of Park In-bee, Lydia Ko, Park In-bee, then Lydia Ko. Ko seized the No. 1 position in late October and held it until June 2017, when she handed it to Ariya Jutanugarn of Thailand. Despite being hailed as a "golf prodigy," Kim simply had no room to break through.
