Before 2023, Ruoning Yin, Lilia Vu and Allisen Corpuz had a combined zero LPGA victories to their name.
Now, they rank fourth, fifth and sixth in the world, respectively, after splitting the first three majors of the women’s golf season.
Corpuz rocketed from No. 29 to No. 6 in the Rolex Rankings on Monday, one day after winning the U.S. Women’s Open at Pebble Beach for her first LPGA win of any kind.
Corpuz, a 25-year-old from Hawaii, is part of a larger youth movement happening around the sport.
Vu, also 25, struck first when she picked up her first win in February at the Honda LPGA Thailand, followed by a playoff victory in April at the Chevron Championship, the first major of the season.
Yin, who’s only 20, won the DIO Implant LA Open in April to become the second Chinese player to win on the LPGA Tour, joining Shanshan Feng. She emerged from the pack in the final round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship last month with a final-round 67 to win that major by one stroke.
Yin jumped Vu in the world rankings Monday after finishing T20 at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Then there’s Rose Zhang, a 20-year-old who starred at Stanford and won everything there was to win in the amateur game. She turned professional in June and won her debut, the inaugural Mizuho Americas Open, in a playoff over Jennifer Kupcho.
Zhang, who was ranked as low as No. 482 in the world earlier this year, has now leapt to No. 37 in the rankings following top-10 finishes at the past two majors. She tied for eighth at the Women’s PGA and tied for ninth at the U.S. Women’s Open.
Jin Young Ko of South Korea still held a healthy lead over Nelly Korda for the World No. 1 spot despite missing the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open.
This story originally appeared on ESPN
