Park to regain world number one ranking

LOS ANGELES, California: South Korea’s Park In-bee will return to the top of the women’s world golf rankings for the first time in 2 1/2 years after finishing tied for second at the LPGA’s HUGEL-JTBC LA Open on Sunday.

The seven-times major champion will jump from third place to overtake China’s Shanshan Feng as number one.Feng’s reign lasted 23 weeks.“It’s good to be back, obviously, in No 1 spot,” said Park, who has had to overcome hand and back injuries over the last couple of seasons.

“That really wasn’t my goal playing this year; just came as (a) present. So it’s great.“All the rankings are so close together. It can change every week. It’s hard to keep track.”Olympic champion Park needed to finish sixth or better to have a shot at recapturing top spot.

She shot a three-under-par 68 in the final round at Wilshire Country Club to finish tied with compatriot Ko Jin-young in second, two shots behind winner Moriya Jutanugarn of Thailand.Park, who entered the final round seeking her second win of the season, uncharacteristically missed a few fairways and a number of birdie putts on Sunday.