Does Lydia Ko need major win to validate her No. 1 ranking?

Lydia Ko has held the top ranking in women’s golf since February 2, owns seven LPGA Tour wins, shattered almost every age-related record in the books, made the cut in all 53 tour competitions she’s started, and even shares an impressive rounds-under-par record with the incomparable Annika Sorenstam.

Ko, though, has yet to cement her stature as the best young player on the women’s side because she lacks the credentials that a major title confers on golfers. Added to the external pressure that’s building on No. 1 to cadge that first major are the footsteps she’s sure to be hearing this week in the second major of the year from second-ranked and two-time defending KPMG Women’s PGA champion Inbee Park.

Park, with five major Ws on her resume, trails Ko in the Rolex rankings race, 10.67-10.77. So as premature as it may seem, the golf world is already asking if Ko -- who would become the youngest winner of a women’s grand slam event with a victory this week -- will ever lift one of the LPGA’s five major trophies.

“[Lydia] has the game and she’s capable of winning majors, there’s no doubt,” Sorenstam, noting that Ko has four more chances in 2015 to prove her major mettle, said during a recent teleconference.

“The pressure will build up a little bit as far as being No. 1 for a long time,” Sorenstam added. “You won so many tournaments but not a major, and so it’s always going to be a storyline until she wins. It’s almost like on the men’s tour, they talk about who is the best player that’s never won a major. Well, there’s no doubt she’s the one on the LPGA.”

Ko enters the week at Westchester Country Club on the strength of two victories, two second-place finishes, and three additional top-10s in 10 tour events in 2015. But she also shared 51st place at the ANA Inspiration, the first major of the season in April.

Park, for her part, also brings two wins, a runner-up, and four top-10s in 11 tournaments this year. She holds a distinct edge over her rival in the majors department, with her T11 close at Rancho Mirage.

And if she’s feeling the pressure to regain the top ranking she relinquished to Ko earlier this year, she’s not showing it.

“I don’t really worry about No. 1 or No. 2 anymore that much. I’ve been there before and I know how that feels,” she told reporters on Tuesday. “I want to be No. 1 when I’m ready.”

Which isn’t to say she’s not aware of the whisker of a difference between her and Ko on the scoreboard.

“Let’s say if I finish like in the 10th and Lydia finishes a little bit worse, I become No. 1 by .001,” Park said. “I like to be there when I’m ready and my game is good. There’s no rush to it. We play every week and we play with each other every week. There’s opportunities every week. Yeah, there’s no rush for it.”

Ko, who believes she tried too hard to “force some good scores” at the ANA Inspiration, claimed on Wednesday that she would be happy to earn a single major title before she retires at age 30.

“I would just love to win a major sometime from now and 12 years, just sometime then,” Ko said. “It doesn’t need to be the U.S. Open. I’m just hoping it’s just one time in my career.”

Park was scheduled to start early on the first hole on Thursday, sharing an 8:30 a.m. ET tee time with last week’s Manulife LPGA Classic winner Suzann Pettersen and former teen phenom Lexi Thompson. Ko, Christina Kim, and So Yeon Ryu will have a front-row seat to the goings-on in Park’s group since they were set to follow immediately at 8:40.