Women's World Golf Rankings
World number ones -- Weeks at No . 1 by country
Table:
Rank

Country

No. of
players

No. of
weeks

Players

1
South Korea
5
209
Jiyai Shin, Inbee Park, Ryu So-yeon, Park Sung-hyun, Ko Jin-young

2
Mexico
1
158
Lorena Ochoa

3
Taiwan
1
109
Yani Tseng

4
New Zealand
1
104
Lydia Ko

5
Sweden
1
60
Annika Sörenstam

6
United States
2
30
Cristie Kerr, Stacy Lewis

7
China
1
23
Shanshan Feng

7
Thailand
1
23
Ariya Jutanugarn

9
Japan
1
11
Ai Miyazato

Considering the given table and the supplementary paragraphs listed below.

State the answer to the question: Which of the South Korean competitors is the oldest ? Provide just your answer in a JSON object {"answer": "YOUR ANSWER"}. Do not introduce information beyond the provided sources.

South Korea ( Korean : 한국/韓國 ; RR : Hanguk or literally 남한/南韓 ; RR : Namhan ) , officially the Republic of Korea ( Korean : 대한민국/大韓民國 ; RR : Daehan Minguk ) is a country in East Asia , constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea . The name Korea is derived from Goguryeo , which was one of the great powers in East Asia during its time , ruling most of the Korean Peninsula , Manchuria , parts of the Russian Far East and Inner Mongolia under Gwanggaeto the Great . Its capital , Seoul , is a major global city and half of South Korea 's over 51 million people live in the Seoul Capital Area , the fourth largest metropolitan economy in the world . The Korean Peninsula was inhabited as early as the Lower Paleolithic period . Its first kingdom was noted in Chinese records in the early 7th century BC . Following the unification of the Three Kingdoms of Korea into Silla and Balhae in the late 7th century , Korea was ruled by the Goryeo dynasty ( 918-1392 ) and the Joseon dynasty ( 1392-1897 ) . The succeeding Korean Empire was annexed into the Empire of Japan in 1910 . After World War II , Korea was divided into Soviet and U.S.-administered zones , with the latter becoming the Republic of Korea in August 1948 . In 1950 , a North Korean invasion began the Korean War and after its end in 1953 , the country 's economy began to soar , recording the fastest rise in average GDP per capita in the world between 1980 and 1990 . Authoritarian rule ended in 1987 and the country is now the most advanced democracy with the highest level of press freedom in Asia . South Korea is a member of the OECD 's Development Assistance Committee , the G20 and the Paris Club . South Korea is a highly developed country and the world 's 12th-largest economy by nominal GDP .
Jiyai Shin ( Korean : 신지애 Shin Ji-ae , [ ɕin dʑi.ɛː ] ; born 28 April 1988 ) is a former world No . 1 ranked South Korean professional golfer who primarily plays on the LPGA of Japan Tour as of the 2019 golf season . Shin previously played primarily on the LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Korea Tour ( KLPGA ) . She has broken existing KLPGA records , winning 10 events in 19 starts on the KLPGA Tour in 2007 . In 2008 , playing only 10 tournaments on the LPGA Tour as a non-member , she won three events , including the Women 's British Open and the ADT Championship . She has been ranked No . 1 in the Women 's World Golf Rankings for 25 weeks and was the first Asian to be ranked No . 1 .
Inbee Park ( Korean : 박인비 ; Hanja : 朴仁妃 , pronounced [ pɐɡinbi ] or [ pɐk̚ ] [ inbi ] ; born 12 July 1988 ) is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Japan Tour . She has been the number one ranked player in the Women 's World Golf Rankings for four separate runs : April 2013 to June 2014 , October 2014 to February 2015 , June 2015 to October 2015 , and from April to July 2018 . Park has won seven major championships in her career , including three consecutive major wins during the 2013 season , becoming only the fourth LPGA Tour player to win three majors in a calendar year . She is the youngest player to win the U.S. Women 's Open and the second player , after Annika Sorenstam , to win the Women 's PGA Championship three years in a row . Park is only the seventh player to win four different majors during her career and capture a career Grand Slam . In 2016 , she won the first Olympic gold medal since 1900 in the women 's individual tournament . Park has endorsement deals with KB Financial Group , Srixon , Panasonic , Lynx , Jeju Samdasoo & Mercedes-Benz .
Ryu So-yeon ( Korean 유소연 , RR Ryu So-yeon , MR Ryu Soyŏn , pronounced [ ɾju sojʌn ] ; born 29 June 1990 ) , also known as So Yeon Ryu , is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour and on the LPGA of Korea Tour . She is a two-time major winner having won the 2011 U.S. Women 's Open and the 2017 ANA Inspiration . On 26 June 2017 , she became just the 11th No . 1-ranked golfer in the Rolex Rankings by virtue of winning her 5th LPGA Tour title at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship .
Park Sung-hyun ( born 21 September 1993 ) , also known as Sung Hyun Park , is a South Korean professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour . She has won two LPGA majors championships , the 2017 U.S. Women 's Open Golf Championship and the 2018 Women 's PGA Championship . She was the number one ranked golfer in the Women 's World Golf Rankings for a single week in 2017 and has returned to the number one spot in 2018 and 2019 .
Ko Jin-young ( Korean : 고진영 ; Hanja : 高眞榮 ; , born 7 July 1995 ) , also known as Jin Young Ko , is a South Korean professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour . By age 22 years , she had won 10 times on the LPGA of Korea Tour , was second at the 2015 Ricoh Womens British Open , and had won the 2017 LPGA KEB Hana Bank Championship . Having become a member of the LPGA Tour for the 2018 season , she won her opening tournament in February - the ISPS Handa Women 's Australian Open - as only the second player in LPGA history to win in her first tournament as a Tour member . With 13 top-10 finishes out of 25 tournaments played in 2018 , she was named the LPGA Rookie of the Year , and completed the 2018 season as the 10th-ranked female player in the world . In 2019 , she won her first two LPGA major championships at the ANA Inspiration and the Evian Championship . Ko completed the 2019 season with the official money title ( $ 2,773,894 ) and the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average ( 69.06 ) , and was named LPGA Player of the Year .
Mexico ( Spanish : México [ ˈmexiko ] ( listen ) ; Nahuatl languages : Mēxihco ) , officially the United Mexican States ( UMS ; Spanish : Estados Unidos Mexicanos , EUM [ esˈtaðos uˈniðoz mexiˈkanos ] ( listen ) , lit . Mexican United States ) , is a country in the southern portion of North America . It is bordered to the north by the United States ; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean ; to the southeast by Guatemala , Belize , and the Caribbean Sea ; and to the east by the Gulf of Mexico . Covering almost 2,000,000 square kilometers ( 770,000 sq mi ) , the nation is the fifth largest country in the Americas by total area and the 13th largest independent state in the world . With an estimated population of over 129 million people , Mexico is the tenth most populous country and the most populous Spanish-speaking country in the world , while being the second most populous nation in Latin America after Brazil . Mexico is a federation comprising 31 states plus Mexico City ( CDMX ) , which is the capital city and its most populous city . Other metropolises in the country include Guadalajara , Monterrey , Puebla , Toluca , Tijuana , and León . Pre-Columbian Mexico dates to about 8000 BC and is identified as one of six cradles of civilization and was home to many advanced Mesoamerican civilizations such as the Olmec , Toltec , Teotihuacan , Zapotec , Maya , and Aztec before first contact with Europeans . In 1521 , the Spanish Empire conquered and colonized the territory from its politically powerful base in Mexico-Tenochtitlan ( part of Mexico City ) , which was administered as the viceroyalty of New Spain . The Roman Catholic Church played a powerful role in governing the country as millions were converted to the faith , although King Charles III expelled the Jesuits in the 1770s . The territory became a nation state following its recognition in 1821 after the Mexican War of Independence . The post-independence period was tumultuous , characterized by economic inequality and many contrasting political changes .
Lorena Ochoa Reyes ( Spanish : [ loˈɾena oˈt͡ʃoa ] ( listen ) ; born 15 November 1981 ) is a former Mexican professional golfer who played on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour from 2003 to 2010 . She was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks ( both are LPGA Tour records ) , from 23 April 2007 to her retirement in 2 May 2010 , at the age of 28 years old . As the first Mexican golfer of either gender to be ranked number one in the world , she is considered the best Mexican golfer and the best Latin American female golfer of all time . Ochoa was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017 .
Taiwan ( Chinese : 臺灣 ; pinyin : Táiwān ) , [ II ] officially the Republic of China ( ROC ) , [ I ] is a state in East Asia . Neighbouring states include the People 's Republic of China ( PRC ) to the north-west , Japan to the north-east , and the Philippines to the south . The island of Taiwan has an area of 35,808 square kilometres ( 13,826 sq mi ) , with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third , where its highly urbanised population is concentrated . Taipei is the capital and largest metropolitan area . Other major cities include Kaohsiung , Taichung , Tainan and Taoyuan . With 23.7 million inhabitants , Taiwan is among the most densely populated states , and is the most populous state and largest economy that is not a member of the United Nations ( UN ) . Taiwanese indigenous peoples settled the island of Taiwan around 6,000 years ago . In the 17th century , Dutch rule opened the island to mass Han immigration . After the brief Kingdom of Tungning in parts of the southern and western areas of the island , the island was annexed in 1683 by the Qing dynasty of China , and ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895 . Following the surrender of Japan in 1945 , the Republic of China , which had overthrown and succeeded the Qing in 1911 , took control of Taiwan on behalf of the World War II Allies . The resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the loss of the mainland to the Communist Party of China and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949 . Although the ROC government continued to claim to be the legitimate representative of China , since 1950 its effective jurisdiction has been limited to Taiwan and numerous smaller islands .
Yani Tseng ( Chinese : 曾雅妮 Zēng Yǎní ; born 23 January 1989 ) is a Taiwanese professional golfer playing on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour . She is the youngest player ever , male or female , to win five major championships and was ranked number 1 in the Women 's World Golf Rankings for 109 consecutive weeks from 2011 to 2013 .
New Zealand ( Māori : Aotearoa [ aɔˈtɛaɾɔa ] ) is a sovereign island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean . The country has two main landmasses - the North Island ( Te Ika-a-Māui ) , and the South Island ( Te Waipounamu ) - and around 600 smaller islands . It has a total land area of 268,000 square kilometres ( 103,500 sq mi ) . New Zealand is about 2,000 kilometres ( 1,200 mi ) east of Australia across the Tasman Sea and 1,000 kilometres ( 600 mi ) south of the Pacific island areas of New Caledonia , Fiji , and Tonga . Because of its remoteness , it was one of the last lands to be settled by humans . During its long period of isolation , New Zealand developed a distinct biodiversity of animal , fungal , and plant life . The country 's varied topography and its sharp mountain peaks , such as the Southern Alps , owe much to the tectonic uplift of land and volcanic eruptions . New Zealand 's capital city is Wellington , and its most populous city is Auckland . Sometime between 1250 and 1300 , Polynesians settled in the islands and developed a distinctive Māori culture . In 1642 , Dutch explorer Abel Tasman became the first European to sight New Zealand . In 1840 , representatives of the United Kingdom and Māori chiefs signed the Treaty of Waitangi , which declared British sovereignty over the islands . In 1841 , New Zealand became a colony within the British Empire and in 1907 it became a dominion ; it gained full statutory independence in 1947 and the British monarch remained the head of state .
Lydia Ko MNZM ( born 24 April 1997 ) is a Korean-born New Zealand professional golfer who became the No . 1-ranked woman professional golfer on 2 February 2015 at 17 years , 9 months and 9 days of age , making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked No . 1 in professional golf . Upon winning The Evian Championship in France on 13 September 2015 , she became the youngest woman , at age 18 years , 4 months and 20 days , to win a major championship . Her closing round of 63 was a record lowest final round in the history of women 's golf majors . On 3 April 2016 , she won the ANA Inspiration , for her second consecutive major championship , where she also became the youngest player to win two women 's major championships . Since turning professional in 2014 , Ko has career winnings of $ 10,031,335 as of 21 September 2019 . Additionally , she is the first LPGA Tour player to win at least $ 2,000,000 in each of her first three full seasons on Tour . She had been the top-ranked woman amateur golfer in the world for 130 weeks when she announced she was turning professional on 23 October 2013 . She became the youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event and youngest person ever to win an LPGA Tour event . In August 2013 , she became the only amateur to win two LPGA Tour events . As an amateur she never missed a cut in 25 professional tournaments , and by September 2013 had risen to fifth in the Women 's World Golf Rankings in only 23 professional tournaments .
Sweden ( Swedish : Sverige [ ˈsvæ̌rjɛ ] ( listen ) ) , officially the Kingdom of Sweden ( Swedish : Konungariket Sverige [ ˈkôːnɵŋaˌriːkɛt ˈsvæ̌rjɛ ] ( listen ) ) , is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe . It borders Norway to the west and north and Finland to the east , and is connected to Denmark in the southwest by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund Strait . At 450,295 square kilometres ( 173,860 sq mi ) , Sweden is the largest country in Northern Europe , the third-largest country in the European Union and the fifth largest country in Europe by area . The capital city is Stockholm . Sweden has a total population of 10.3 million of which 2.5 million have a foreign background . Persons who have foreign backgrounds are defined as persons who are foreign born , or born in Sweden with foreign born parents . It has a low population density of 22 inhabitants per square kilometre ( 57/sq mi ) and the highest urban concentration is in the central and southern half of the country . Sweden is part of the geographical area of Fennoscandia . The climate is in general mild for its northerly latitude due to significant maritime influence . In spite of the high latitude , Sweden often has warm continental summers , being located in between the North Atlantic , the Baltic Sea and the vast Eurasian Russian landmass . The general climate and environment varies significantly from the south and north due to the vast latitudal difference and much of Sweden has reliably cold and snowy winters . Southern Sweden is predominantly agricultural , while the north is heavily forested and includes a portion of the Scandinavian Mountains .
Annika Sörenstam ( pronounced [ ˈǎnːɪka ˈsœ̂ːrɛnˌstam ] ( listen ) ; born 9 October 1970 ) is a retired Swedish professional golfer . She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history . Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season , she had won 90 international tournaments as a professional , making her the female golfer with the most wins to her name . She has won 72 official LPGA tournaments including ten majors and 18 other tournaments internationally , and she tops the LPGA 's career money list with earnings of over $ 22 million - over $ 2 million ahead of her nearest rival while playing 149 fewer events . Since 2006 , Sörenstam has held dual American and Swedish citizenship . The winner of a record eight Player of the Year awards , and six Vare Trophies given to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average , she is the only female golfer to shoot a 59 in competition . She holds various all-time scoring records including the lowest season scoring average : 68.6969 in 2004 . Representing Europe in the Solheim Cup on eight occasions between 1994 and 2007 , Sörenstam was the event 's all-time leading points earner until her record was surpassed by England 's Laura Davies during the 2011 Solheim Cup . In 2003 , Sörenstam played in the Bank of America Colonial tournament to become the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945 .
The United States of America ( USA ) , commonly known as the United States ( U.S. or US ) or America , is a country consisting of 50 states , a federal district , five major self-governing territories , and various possessions . [ g ] At 3.8 million square miles ( 9.8 million km2 ) , it is the world 's third or fourth-largest country by total area [ b ] and is slightly smaller than the entire continent of Europe . Most of the country is located in central North America between Canada and Mexico . With an estimated population of over 328 million , the U.S. is the third most populous country in the world . The capital is Washington , D.C. , and the most populous city is New York City . Paleo-Indians migrated from Siberia to the North American mainland at least 12,000 years ago . European colonization began in the 16th century . The United States emerged from the thirteen British colonies established along the East Coast . Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the colonies led to the American Revolutionary War lasting between 1775 and 1783 , leading to independence . The United States embarked on a vigorous expansion across North America throughout the 19th century - gradually acquiring new territories , displacing Native Americans , and admitting new states - until by 1848 it spanned the continent . During the second half of the 19th century , the American Civil War led to the abolition of slavery in the United States . The Spanish-American War and World War I confirmed the country 's status as a global military power .
Cristie Kerr ( born October 12 , 1977 ) is an American professional golfer who plays on the LPGA Tour . She has 20 wins on the LPGA Tour , including two major championships , and over $ 19 million in career earnings . Kerr was the number one-ranked golfer in the Women 's World Golf Rankings for three time periods in 2010 . She is naturally left handed but plays golf right handed .
Stacy Lewis ( born February 16 , 1985 ) is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour . She has won two major championships : the Kraft Nabisco Championship in 2011 and the Women 's British Open in 2013 . She was ranked number one in the Women 's World Golf Rankings for four weeks in 2013 , and reclaimed the position in June 2014 with a victory at the ShopRite LPGA Classic for another 21 weeks .
China ( Chinese : 中国 ; pinyin : Zhōngguó ) , officially the People 's Republic of China ( PRC ) , is a country in East Asia and is the world 's most populous country , with a population of around 1.428 billion in 2017 . Covering approximately 9,600,000 square kilometers ( 3,700,000 sq mi ) , it is the third largest country by area . [ j ] Governed by the Communist Party of China , the state exercises jurisdiction over 22 provinces , [ k ] five autonomous regions , four direct-controlled municipalities ( Beijing , Tianjin , Shanghai , and Chongqing ) , and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau . China emerged as one of the world 's first civilizations , in the fertile basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain . For millennia , China 's political system was based on hereditary monarchies , or dynasties , beginning with the semi-mythical Xia dynasty in 21st century BCE . Since then , China has expanded , fractured , and re-unified numerous times . In the 3rd century BCE , the Qin reunited core China and established the first Chinese empire . The succeeding Han dynasty , which ruled from 206 BCE until 220 CE , saw some of the most advanced technology at that time , including papermaking and the compass , along with agricultural and medical improvements . The invention of gunpowder and movable type in the Tang dynasty ( 618-907 ) and Northern Song ( 960-1127 ) completed the Four Great Inventions . Tang culture spread widely in Asia , as the new Silk Route brought traders to as far as Mesopotamia and the Horn of Africa . Dynastic rule ended in 1912 with the Xinhai Revolution , when the Republic of China ( ROC ) replaced the Qing dynasty . China , as a whole , was ravaged by feudal warlordism and Japan during World War II .
Shanshan Feng ( Chinese : 冯珊珊 ; pinyin : Féng Shān Shān , Mandarin pronunciation : [ fə̌ŋ ʂə́ŋ ʂə́ŋ ] ; born 5 August 1989 ) is a Chinese professional golfer who plays on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour . She is the first player from China to become a member of the LPGA Tour , which she joined in 2008 . Feng has 10 victories on the tour , including the 2012 LPGA Championship , a major title , in which she shot a bogey-free 67 in the final round to win by two strokes . She is the first player from China to win an LPGA major championship , as well as the first player from mainland China ( male or female ) to win a major championship . Her best finish in 16 previous majors was a tie for 22nd at the 2012 Kraft Nabisco Championship . With the victory , she moved from tenth to fifth in the Women 's World Golf Rankings . On 20 August 2016 , Feng won the Olympic bronze medal in women 's golf at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro . From November 2017 to April 2018 , she was first in the Women 's World Golf Rankings .
Thailand , [ a ] officially the Kingdom of Thailand and formerly known as Siam , [ b ] is a country at the centre of the Southeast Asian Indochinese Peninsula composed of 76 provinces . At 513,120 km2 ( 198,120 sq mi ) and over 68 million people , Thailand is the world 's 50th-largest country by total area and the 21st-most-populous country . The capital and largest city is Bangkok , a special administrative area . Thailand is bordered to the north by Myanmar and Laos , to the east by Laos and Cambodia , to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia , and to the west by the Andaman Sea and the southern extremity of Myanmar . Its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast , and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest . It is a unitary state . Although nominally the country is a constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy , the most recent coup , in 2014 , established a de facto military dictatorship under a junta . Tai peoples migrated from southwestern China to mainland Southeast Asia from the 11th century ; the oldest known mention of their presence in the region by the exonym Siamese dates to the 12th century . Various Indianised kingdoms such as the Mon kingdoms , Khmer Empire and Malay states ruled the region , competing with Thai states such as the Kingdoms of Ngoenyang , Sukhothai , Lan Na and Ayutthaya , which rivaled each other . Documented European contact began in 1511 with a Portuguese diplomatic mission to Ayutthaya , now one of the great powers in the region . Ayutthaya reached its peak during cosmopolitan Narai 's reign ( 1656-1688 ) , gradually declining thereafter until being ultimately destroyed in the 1767 Burmese-Siamese War . Taksin ( r. 1767-1782 ) quickly reunified the fragmented territory and established the short-lived Thonburi Kingdom .
Ariya Jutanugarn ( Thai : เอรียา จุฑานุกาล , RTGS : Eriya Chuthanukan , pronounced [ ʔēː.rīː.jāː t͡ɕùʔ.tʰāː.núʔ.kāːn ] ; born 23 November 1995 ) is a Thai professional golfer who plays on the American-based LPGA Tour . She was born in Bangkok . She is the first golfer , male or female , from Thailand to win a major championship . She became the number one ranked golfer in the Women 's World Golf Rankings in June 2017 .
Japan ( Japanese : 日本 , Nippon [ ɲippoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) or Nihon [ ɲihoꜜɴ ] ( listen ) ) is an island country located in East Asia . It is bordered by the Sea of Japan to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east , and spans more than 3,000 kilometers ( 1,900 mi ) along the coast of the continent from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Philippine Sea in the south . Part of the Pacific Ring of Fire , Japan encompasses a stratovolcanic archipelago of about 6,852 islands , with five main islands ( Hokkaido , Honshu , Kyushu , Shikoku , and Okinawa ) comprising 97% of the country 's total area of 377,975 square kilometers ( 145,937 sq mi ) . Japan is officially divided into 47 prefectures and traditionally into eight regions . Approximately two-thirds of the country 's terrain is mountainous and heavily forested , and less than one-eighth of land is suitable for agriculture . Consequently , Japan is among the most densely populated and urbanized countries in the world , with over 90% of its population living in urban areas . The largest of these is the metropolitan area centered on the capital city of Tokyo , which is the most populous in the world and home to more than 38 million people . Japan itself is the world 's eleventh most populous country with a population of 126.2 million , of which 97.8% are ethnically Japanese . The kanji ( or Chinese characters ) that make up the name of Japan in the Japanese language mean sun origin ; in the Western world , the country is often known by the sobriquet Land of the Rising Sun . Periods of influence from other regions , primarily China , followed by periods of isolation , particularly from Western Europe , have characterized the history of Japan . While archaeological evidence indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period , the first written mention of the archipelago appears in Chinese texts from the first century AD . Between the fourth and ninth centuries , the kingdoms of Japan became gradually unified under an Emperor and imperial court based in Heian-kyō ( modern Kyoto ) .
Ai Miyazato ( 宮里 藍 , Miyazato Ai , born 19 June 1985 ) is a former Japanese professional golfer who competed on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour and the LPGA of Japan Tour ( JLPGA ) . She was the top-ranked golfer in the Women 's World Golf Rankings on three occasions in 2010 .