Men and Women Golf World Rankings "Current Positions Maintained Without Changes for the Time Being"

World No. 1 in men's and women's golf, Rory McIlroy (left) and Ko Jin-young.

[Asia Economy Reporter No Woo-rae] The men's and women's golf world rankings will remain unchanged for the time being.

The Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR), which oversees the men's golf world rankings, and the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings (WWGR), which determine the women's golf rankings, announced on the 21st (Korean time) that "after closely monitoring the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the world rankings for the 11th week of 2020, the third week of March, will be maintained until further changes occur." This is due to the suspension of major tours worldwide because of COVID-19.

In men's golf, two of the four major championships, the Masters and the PGA Championship, have been postponed. The Open Championship, scheduled to open in July at Royal St George's Golf Club in Sandwich, England, is also uncertain. The LPGA Tour has also postponed tournaments until early May. Both the PGA Tour and the European Tour, the two major men's golf tours, will not hold tournaments until mid-May.

Although tournaments have been postponed, there is expected to be no change in qualification for the Tokyo Olympics. The International Golf Federation (IGF) stated, "The current standard of awarding Tokyo Olympic spots based on the rankings as of June 22 for men and June 29 for women will be maintained." The top 60 players in the world rankings can participate in the Olympics. However, each country can send up to two players per gender, except if a player is ranked within the top 15, in which case up to four players from that country can participate.

In the men's division, Rory McIlroy (Northern Ireland) is number 1. South Korea can send Im Sung-jae (22), ranked 23rd, and An Byeong-hun (29, both from CJ Logistics), ranked 50th, to the Tokyo Olympics. Kang Sung-hoon (33, CJ Logistics), ranked 52nd, is closely pursuing them. In the women's division, more than four players are ranked within the top 15, allowing Ko Jin-young (25), ranked 1st; Park Sung-hyun (27), ranked 3rd; Kim Sei-young (27, Mirae Asset), ranked 6th; and Lee Jeong-eun (24, Daebang Construction), ranked 10th, to participate in the Olympics. Defending champion Park In-bee (32, KB Financial Group) is ranked 11th.

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