China’s Yin Ruoning, 20, earns No. 1 spot in women’s world golf ranking
By Bryan Ke
September 12, 2023
Chinese athlete Yin Ruoning has made history by becoming only the second Chinese golfer to be ranked the No. 1 female golf player in the world.
Making history: Yin, 20, is now first in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She placed third at Sunday’s LPGA Queen City Championship at Kenwood Country Club in Cincinnati.
Yin pushed American golfer Lilia Vu down to the No. 2 spot. Vu, 25, was previously ranked No. 1 after winning her second major trophy at the AIG Women’s Open in August.
Notable accomplishments: Only two Chinese female golfers have been ranked No. 1 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings since 2006: Yin and Shanshan Feng, the latter of whom held the position for 23 weeks between Nov. 13, 2017, and April 22, 2018.
Yin is also the third athlete to ever be ranked first in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings at the age of 20 and younger. The other two are Thai golfer Atthaya Thitikul, who reached the top at the age of 19, and New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko, who ranked first at the age of 17.
Background: Yin earned her LPGA Tour status in 2022, two years after going professional. She won her first major title in June at the Women’s PGA Championship held in Springfield, New Jersey.
Yin reportedly started playing golf at the age of 10, and as a junior golfer, she competed in several amateur competitions in China before going professional.
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