Women's Winners of the McCormack Medal for Amateur Golfers

The women's McCormack Medal is awarded annually by the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews (the R&A) to the golfer ranked No. 1 in the women's World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR) following the last elite amateur tournament of the year.

The medal was first instituted in 2007 for male golfers, which was the year the WAGR debuted with men-only rankings. (View the list of men's McCormack Medal winners here.) In 2011, the WAGR added rankings for women golfers, too, and at that time the R&A also began awarding the McCormack Medal for women.

The women's medal is presented to the golfer who is No. 1 in the WAGR rankings that are released the week following the U.S. Women's Amateur Championship. The U.S. Women's Amateur is the last tournament of the season that carries the WAGR's "elite" designation.

McCormack Medal: Women's Winners

2023 — Ingrid Lindblad, Sweden
2022 — Rose Zhang, United States
2021 — Rose Zhang, United States
2020 — Rose Zhang, United States
2019 — Andrea Lee, United States
2018 — Jennifer Kupcho, United States
2017 — Leona Maguire, Ireland
2016 — Leona Maguire, Ireland
2015 — Leona Maguire, Ireland
2014 — Minjee Lee, Australia
2013 — Lydia Ko, New Zealand
2012 — Lydia Ko, New Zealand
2011 — Lydia Ko, New Zealand

The full name of the award is the Mark H. McCormack Medal. Mark McCormack, who died in the year 2003, was a famous player agent in golf who represented Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. He was also the founder of the IMG sports agency and media company. Why is his name on this medal awarded to amateur golfers? Aside from the fact that he was hugely influential in the golf world, McCormack also developed the first world ranking system for golfers in the 1960s.

Related articles:

• Golfers who won both the U.S. and British women's amateurs
• List of low amateurs in the U.S. Women's Open
• List of U.S. Women's Amateur winners