Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn is World's No.1 Women's Golfer, the First from Southeast Asia

Thailand's Ariya Jutanugarn has seized the world No. 1 ranking from New Zealand's Lydia Ko with neither lifting a club in the LPGA ShopRite Classic - where Ryu So Yeon missed the cut on Saturday to cement the shift.

Ryu, ranked third in the world, had a chance to leapfrog Ariya by finishing third or better in the tournament in Galloway, New Jersey.

But she fired back-to-back rounds of three-over 74 to miss the second-round cut in the 54-hole tournament, where South Korea's Kim In Kyung and American Paula Creamer shared the 36-hole lead after carding identical four-under 67s.

Ko will slip from the summit after 84 straight weeks at the top. She's been ranked No. 1 for 103 weeks overall.

Ariya becomes the 10th player to reach No. 1 since the women's rankings were introduced in 2006 and the first from South-east Asia.

Swede Annika Sorenstam was the first player to have the honour and was subsequently followed by Lorena Ochoa, Shin Ji-yai, Ai Miyazato, Cristie Kerr, Yani Tseng, Stacy Lewis, Park In-bee and Ko.

Mexican Ochoa holds the record for the longest stint as world number one at 158 weeks.

Source : SkySport | The Straits Times | Bangkok Post