Singapore: Korean teenager Oh Soo-min has soared into the top-20 in the World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) for the first time.
In the wake of her outstanding performance at last week’s 44th Queen Sirikit Cup in New Zealand, Oh has progressed five spots to 18th in the WAGR.
The 15-year-old is now the fourth highest rated Asian female, behind compatriot Kim Min-sol (third), Japan’s Yuna Araki (eighth) and Malaysian Mirabel Ting (16th).
It was last year that Oh sprung to prominence, winning the Song Am Cup in Korea, recording runner-up finishes in two WAGR events and finishing third in the World Junior Girls Championship in Canada.
She also tied-ninth in the Korean Women’s Amateur, recorded three top-20 finishes in professional events in Korea and competed in the LPGA Tour’s BMW Ladies Championship.
Her star has continued to rise this year. At the start of February she was equal 26th on her debut in the Women’s Amateur Asia-Pacific (WAAP) in Thailand and this month she placed third against the professionals in the Korean LPGA Tour’s Hana Financial Group Singapore Women’s Open.
At Christchurch’s Clearwater Golf Club last week, Oh led her country to their 23rd success in the Amateur Ladies Asia-Pacific Invitational Golf Team Championship.
She also had the distinction of winning the prize as the low individual, carding a closing bogey-free seven-under-par 65 for a 283 aggregate.
Oh’s Queen Sirikit Cup team-mates Lee Hyo-song and Kim Shi-hyun also moved up the standings. Lee, runner-up at last month’s WAAP, is now 29th (up four), while Kim is 77th (up 12).
Australian Sarah Hammett, runner-up individually to Oh, has progressed 10 places to 89th, while New Zealand’s Eunseo Choi (up eight to 114th), Vivian Lu (up 24 to 125th) and Amy Im (up six to 411th) are all trending upwards.
It was also a good week in South Carolina for Rianne Malixi of the Philippines and Thailand’s Eila Galitsky, who finished second and joint third respectively in the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley, ahead of their appearances in next week’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
Malixi has risen 11 places in the WAGR to 26th, while 2023 WAAP champion Galitsky improved her standing by four spots to 27th.
Indian Avani Prashanth, also on her way to Augusta, tied for 11th at Sage Valley and is 52nd in the WAGR.
