Key stretch in Park-Pettersen battle for women's golf No. 1

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Nov. 4 (UPI) -- There are three more chances for Suzann Pettersen to catch Inbee Park and take over the women's world golf No. 1 ranking.

Pettersen, who is second in the rankings, has won two of her last four tournaments including the LPGA's most recent event in Taiwan. That has pulled her within 1 point in the rankings points average that determines the women's golf rankings.

Park has been No. 1 since April 15, a run of 29 weeks that is the fourth-longest in the history over the rankings. Pettersen has been No. 2 behind Annika Sorenstam, Lorena Ochoa and Yani Tseng, who happen to be the three players to have held the No. 1 spot longer than Park.

Pettersen is entered in two of the three remaining LPGA 2013 tournaments. Park and Pettersen are both sitting out Mizuno Classic in Japan, which begins Friday. Both are expected in the field for the Lorena Ochoa Invitational and CME Group Titleholders.

Pettersen would seem to have a good chance to claiming the No. 1 ranking. She had Top 10 finishes in 10 of her last 11 events (she missed the cut at the U.S. Women's Open). Park won the U.S. Women's Open but has one Top 10 finish and ended up lower than 30th in her seven tournaments since the Open.

The world women's golf rankings listing player's name, home country and rankings points average:

1. Inbee Park, South Korea, 11.97

2. Suzann Pettersen, Norway, 11.26

3. Stacy Lewis, United States, 9.84

4. Ryu So-yeon, South Korea, 7.09

5. Lydia Ko, New Zealand, 6.99

6. Choi Na-yeon, South Korea, 6.82

7. Feng Shanshan, China, 6.34

8. Karrie Webb, Australia, 5.94

9. I.K. Kim, South Korea, 5.29

10. Catriona Matthew, Scotland, 5.22