Our top 5 female golfers

Sometimes golf can get so weighed down by the achievements of the most prolific players – think Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy – that we forget about the huge talent pool of female golfers. With the US Women’s Open at the end of this month, and the Women’s PGA Championship coming up at the end of June, it’s time to take a look at the top female golfers around the world.

Inbee Park
Currently at number one on the Women’s World Golf Rankings, South Korean golfer Inbee Park has actually held the title for four separate runs – from April 2013 to June 2014, October 2014 to February 2015, June 2015 to October 2015, and since April this year.

She holds the record for being the youngest player to win the US Women’s Open, and won the Women’s PGA Championship three years in a row – only the second player to do so after Annika Sorenstam. 2013 was a great season for Park, as she won three consecutive major championships.

Shanshan Feng
After enjoying a position at the top in the world rankings, Shanshan Feng has slipped down to number two – but the Chinese golfer is still enjoying plenty of achievements. She was the first player from China to join the LPGA Tour, and went on to win nine titles, including the 2012 LPGA Championship.

Lexi Thompson
American golfer Lexi Thompson smashed her way to golfing fame aged 12 when she became the youngest golfer ever to qualify for the US Women’s Open. She turned professional aged 15 and went on to win the Navistar LOGA Classic, a Ladies European Tour event and the 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship.

Park Sung-hyun
2017 was a great year for South Korea-born Sung Hyun Park, who won the US Women’s Open and went on win the LPGA’s Rookie of the Year Award in November 2017 – the same month she became the world number one for a week. That year, she also shared Player of the Year honours with Ryu So-yeon, becoming the first person since the 1970s to win both honours in the same season.

Ryu So-yeon
South Korean So Yeon Ryu shared Player of the Year honours with Park, but she’s a champion in her own right with a spell at number one in the Rolex Rankings after winning her fifth LPGA Tour title at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship.

Playing on the US-based LPGA Tour, as well as the LPGA of Korea Tour, she’s won two major championships – the 2011 US Women’s Open and the 2017 ANA Inspiration – and ranked top of the Women’s World Golf Rankings between June and November 2017.