Lydia Ko


Lydia Ko is a Korean-born New Zealand professional golfer who became the No. 1-ranked woman professional golfer on 2 February 2015 at of age, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf. Upon winning The Evian Championship in France on 13 September 2015, she became the youngest woman, at age, to win a major championship. Her closing round of 63 was a record lowest final round in the history of women's golf majors. On 3 April 2016, she won the ANA Inspiration, for her second consecutive major championship, where she also became the youngest player to win two women's major championships. Since turning professional in 2014, Ko has career winnings of $10,031,335 as of 21 September 2019. Additionally, she is the first LPGA Tour player to win at least $2,000,000 in each of her first three full seasons on Tour.
She had been the top-ranked woman amateur golfer in the world for 130 weeks when she announced she was turning professional on 23 October 2013. She became the youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event and youngest person ever to win an LPGA Tour event. In August 2013, she became the only amateur to win two LPGA Tour events. As an amateur she never missed a cut in 25 professional tournaments, and by September 2013 had risen to fifth in the Women's World Golf Rankings in only 23 professional tournaments. Ko played her first LPGA Tour event on 9 February 2012 and made the cut in her first 53 consecutive LPGA Tour events through 4 June 2015 until she missed the cut at the 2015 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Since that lone missed cut, Ko has made the last 36 consecutive Tour events and counting.
On 23 April 2014, one day before her 17th birthday, Ko was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people. The same month she advanced to world No. 2 in the Rolex Rankings when she won the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. Ko won the 2015 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic as well, marking the second time she defended a title but her first as a professional.
On 22 November 2015, Ko won the LPGA Rolex Player of the Year Award by two points over Inbee Park, making her the youngest winner in the 49 years of the award.
In both 2014 and 2015, Ko has been named in the EspnW Impact25 list of twenty-five athletes and influencers who have made the greatest impact for women in sports.
In 2016, Ko was named Young New Zealander of the Year in the annual New Zealander of the Year Awards.
At the Rio Olympics, in August 2016, Ko won the silver medal in women's golf.
As of 19 June 2017, Ko has won 14 LPGA Tour titles in her young career. That tally means only 38 LPGA Tour players have ever won more Tour titles than Ko, at the age of. Ko had been ranked in the world top-10 for the last 231 consecutive weeks, ever since she first moved from No. 19 to No. 7 on 27 August 2013 after winning her second LPGA Tour title.
As of December 23, 2019, Ko is ranked Number 39.
In the 2019 New Year Honours, Ko was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to golf.

Early life and education

Born in Seoul, South Korea, she immigrated with her family to New Zealand as an infant and gained citizenship at age 12. Ko was educated at Mairangi Bay Primary and Pinehurst School in Albany, New Zealand, and when she joined the professional golf tour she took correspondence classes with Pinehurst. Starting in 2015 Ko said she would study psychology extramurally with Korea University, Seoul. The Yonhap news agency reported her as saying "I'll have to listen to what the university says to decide how I will do my studies. I'll have to make sure I submit the required papers and projects as the majority of my classes will be done online."

Early golf career

Ko began playing golf as a five-year-old when her mother took her into a pro shop at the Pupuke Golf Club on Auckland's North Shore owned by professional Guy Wilson who coached her until 22 December 2013. Ko was a seven-year-old in March 2005 when she first came to the attention of the media, for competing in the New Zealand national amateur championships.

2012 Women's NSW Open

On 29 January 2012, Ko became the youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event by winning the Bing Lee/Samsung Women's NSW Open on the ALPG Tour. She was 14 at the time, and had placed second in the event the year before. The previous youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event was Japan's Ryo Ishikawa at age 15 years and 8 months. Her record as the youngest winner of a professional event was broken later in 2012 by 14-year-old Canadian Brooke Henderson, who won the second event on that year's Canadian Women's Tour on 13 June.

2012 and 2013 CN Canadian Women's Open

On 26 August 2012, at the age of 15 years and four months, Ko became the youngest-ever winner of an LPGA Tour event, winning with a score of 275 at the CN Canadian Women's Open. She surpassed the record set by Lexi Thompson at 16 years and seven months in September 2011. Her win also made her only the fifth amateur to have won an LPGA Tour event, and the first in over 43 years. The 2012 CN Canadian Women's Open was a 72-hole event with a purse of $2 million; the winner's share of $300,000 went to runner-up Inbee Park who was three strokes back.
Ko successfully defended her win at the 2013 CN Canadian Open, shooting 265 for a five-stroke victory over Karine Icher at the Royal Mayfair Club in Edmonton. The $300,000 winner's share went to Icher.

Professional career

After finishing runner-up to Suzann Pettersen in The Evian Championship in France, Ko announced that she would turn pro in 2014. However, on 23 October 2013, Ko stated in a YouTube video featuring New Zealand rugby player Israel Dagg that she was turning professional immediately and would play her first professional tournament in Florida in mid-November. She finished tied for 21st in her pro debut at the 2013 CME Group Titleholders.
In October 2013, the LPGA Tour granted Ko's request to join the LPGA, waiving the Tour's requirement of members being at least 18 years old. "It is not often that the LPGA welcomes a rookie who is already a back-to-back LPGA Tour champion," tour commissioner Mike Whan said when he granted Ko's request.
In November 2013, Ko began working with swing coach David Leadbetter.

2014

Ko won 3 tournaments in 2014. On 27 April 2014, Ko earned her first LPGA Tour win as a professional and her first win on U.S. soil, by winning the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. She celebrated her 17th birthday during this tournament. In July, she won her second tournament of the year, the Marathon Classic. In November 2014, Ko won her third tournament of the season, the season ending CME Group Tour Championship. She won the LPGA Rookie of the Year. Ko commemorated the occasion with the inscription "IV-XXVII-XIV,", on her right wrist.

2015

Ko won 5 times in 2015. On 2 February 2015, Ko became the No. 1 ranked woman professional golfer after a runner-up finish at the Coates Golf Championship, overtaking Inbee Park. On 22 February 2015, Ko won her first event of the 2015 LPGA Tour season at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open. The win was her sixth on the LPGA Tour, and her ninth victory overall. The following week, Ko returned home and won her tenth professional championship at the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open. The victory in this tournament was her second of the 2015 season, the win was also her third on the Ladies European Tour, and fourth with ALPG Tour. Highlighted in her victory at New Zealand was her LET low-round tying and course record 61 during the second round.
At the first major of the 2015 season, the ANA Inspiration, she shot a 1-under-par 71 in the first round on 2 April, tying her with Annika Sörenstam for the all-time LPGA record for consecutive rounds under par, at 29. Three weeks later, Ko would win her second LPGA Tour event of the 2015 season, when she beat Morgan Pressel in a playoff to win the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. She would defeat Pressel with birdie on the second playoff hole. The victory was her seventh overall on tour, and her second win at the event in as many years. Her win was also her third win worldwide in 2015. The victory would be the second time she has defended a championship on tour. The playoff win was also her second on tour, bringing her playoff record to 2-0. Ko would go on to miss the cut at the 2015 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. The missed cut would be her first in her fourteen major championship appearances. She would find solid success in her next two major championships with a T12 finish at the 2015 U.S. Women's Open, and a T3 finish at the 2015 Ricoh Women's British Open.
On 23 August 2015, Ko won her third Canadian Pacific Women's Open in a playoff against Stacy Lewis. Ko defeated Lewis, with par on the first hole of the playoff. The victory was the eighth for Ko on the LPGA Tour, and the third of the 2015 season, and fourth win worldwide for Ko in 2015. The playoff victory was also her third win in such circumstances, and would bring her career LPGA playoff record to 3–0.
On 13 September 2015, Ko won the fifth and final major on the 2015 LPGA calendar, the 2015 Evian Championship. She dominated the final round with eight birdies, winning by six shots over second-place finisher Lexi Thompson. Her 63 was the lowest-ever closing round score in a women's major championship. It was Ko's fourth win on the LPGA Tour in 2015, ninth on the LPGA Tour overall and fourth on the Ladies European Tour. Ko's victory also made her the youngest major champion in the history of the LPGA Tour and the youngest major champion in golf since Young Tom Morris, when he won the 1868 Open Championship.
On 26 October 2015, Ko became the youngest player to win 10 events on a major tour at age surpassing Horton Smith who set the PGA Tour mark of 21 years, 7 months in 1929, and Nancy Lopez who set the previous LPGA Tour record in 1979 at 22 years, 2 months, 5 days.

2016

Ko won four times in 2016. Ko's 2016 started where she left off from 2015, winning the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open for a third time in four years by two shots from Choi Hye-jin, Felicity Johnson, and Nanna Koerstz Madsen. Just 11 minutes before she was due to tee off for her final round, an earthquake struck, with Ko vowing to donate her prize money to charity to help those affected.
On the LPGA Tour, Ko won the Kia Classic in March with a four-shot margin over Inbee Park, and the following week, on 3 April, she made it consecutive major titles with a one-shot victory at the ANA Inspiration. The win strengthened her position as No. 1 in the world as she became the youngest double major winner in the history of the game since Young Tom Morris at the 1869 Open Championship. Later, Ko added two more victories on the LPGA Tour at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and Marathon Classic. In August, she represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she won the silver medal. Ko was runner-up for the Vare Trophy for a second consecutive year; however, last year's difference of 0.026 was, literally, twice as much as this year's 0.013 which separated her from winner Chun In-gee.
Following the 2016 season, Ko announced that she had signed an equipment sponsorship contract with Parson's Xtreme Golf, ending her use of Callaway equipment. Ko also announced in December that she parted ways with both her caddie and swing coach David Leadbetter, who had been coaching Ko since November 2013.

2017

Ko entered 26 events, did not win a tournament, finished in the top-10 ten times, and her year-end world ranking was 9th. Ko started her 2017 LPGA Tour season at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open where she finished tied for 46th. She then had three consecutive top-10 finishes at the Honda LPGA Thailand, HSBC Women's Champions, and the Bank of Hope Founders Cup. In her fifth event of the season, Ko missed just her second LPGA Tour cut at the Kia Classic with rounds of 74 and 72. She then defended her ANA Inspiration title at the 2017 ANA Inspiration event. She opened with two rounds of 70, followed by a third-round 71, and rounded out the year's first major with a third round of 70 to finish in a tie for 11th place. In her seventh start of 2017, she closed with rounds of 65 and 64 to finish tied for 2nd place at the Lotte Championship, her best finish of the season. She had back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play and Kingsmill Championship where she ended T-9 and T-10, respectively.
Ko ended the 2017 season with a scoring average of 68.86 which ranked her No. 9 and a total season earnings of $1,177,450 which put her at No. 13 on the season's money list. This was the 4th consecutive season in which Ko won at least $1,000,000 and it brought her career earnings to $8,560,344 which ranks her No. 22 on the career money list.
The season ending CME Group Tour Championship was Ko's 100th tournament on the LPGA Tour as a professional. In all, she has played 116 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, 100 as a pro and 16 as an amateur. In those 116 tournaments, she won 14 titles, had 12 runner-up finishes, and another 10 third-place finishes, meaning that she had a top-3 finish in roughly one third of the events she's played. Additionally, Ko accumulated 64 top-10 finishes and amassed career earnings of $8,560,344 which ranks her No. 22 on the LPGA Tour career money list.
After just 14 LPGA tournaments, Ko broke into the Rolex Rankings top-10 at No. 7 by winning her second Tour title on 25 August 2013. She has remained in the Rolex Rankings top-10 for the last 231 consecutive weeks, as of 22 January 2018. Then after her first 44 LPGA tournaments, Ko ascended to the world No. 1 ranking for the first time on 2 February 2015. Ko was the world number one for 84 weeks until June 2017.

2018

Ko entered 26 tournaments, won once, finished in the top-10 ten times, and did not win a major championship tournament. Her only win in 2018, the LPGA Mediheal Championship in April, was her first win in almost two years. Her year-end world ranking dropped from 9th in 2017 to 14th in 2018.
Since ending her three-year relationship with swing coach David Leadbetter in December 2016, which led to 17 LPGA wins, 2 major golf championships, and a number 1 world ranking, Ko has won one golf tournament, no major golf championships, and her world ranking has dropped to 14th.

2019

Ko entered 24 events, did not win a tournament, and finished in the top-10 four times.
Since ending her relationship with swing coach David Leadbetter in December 2016, Ko has won one golf tournament, no major golf championships, and her world ranking has dropped to 39th.

Amateur wins (6)

LPGA Tour wins (15)

No.DateTournamentWinning scoreTo parMargin
of victory		Runner-up
126 Aug 2012CN Canadian Women's Open68-68-72-67=275−133 strokes Inbee Park
225 Aug 2013CN Canadian Women's Open 65-69-67-64=265−155 strokes Karine Icher
327 Apr 2014Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic68-71-68-69=276−121 stroke Stacy Lewis
420 Jul 2014Marathon Classic67-67-70-65=269−151 stroke Ryu So-yeon
523 Nov 2014CME Group Tour Championship71-71-68-68=278−10Playoff Carlota Ciganda
Julieta Granada
622 Feb 2015ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open70-70-72-71=283−92 strokes Amy Yang
726 Apr 2015Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic 67-72-71-70=280−8Playoff Morgan Pressel
823 Aug 2015Canadian Pacific Women's Open 67-68-69-72=276−12Playoff Stacy Lewis
913 Sep 2015The Evian Championship69-69-67-63=268−166 strokes Lexi Thompson
1025 Oct 2015Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship69-67-67-65=268−209 strokes Ji Eun-hee
Ryu So-yeon
1127 Mar 2016Kia Classic68-67-67-67=269−194 strokes Inbee Park
123 Apr 2016ANA Inspiration70-68-69-69=276−121 stroke Chun In-gee
Charley Hull
1326 Jun 2016Walmart NW Arkansas Championship66-62-68=196−173 strokes Candie Kung
Morgan Pressel
1417 Jul 2016Marathon Classic 68-66-67-69=270−14Playoff Ariya Jutanugarn
Mirim Lee
1529 Apr 2018LPGA Mediheal Championship68-70-67-71=276−12Playoff Minjee Lee

Ko won the 2012 and 2013 CN Canadian Women's Opens as an amateur.
Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.
Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour.
LPGA Tour playoff record
No.YearTournamentOpponentResult
12014CME Group Tour Championship Carlota Ciganda
Julieta Granada		Won with par on fourth extra hole
Granada eliminated with par on second hole
22015Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic Morgan PresselWon with birdie on second extra hole
32015Canadian Pacific Women's Open Stacy LewisWon with par on first extra hole
42016KPMG Women's PGA Championship Brooke HendersonLost to birdie on first extra hole
52016Marathon Classic Ariya Jutanugarn
Mirim Lee		Won with birdie on fourth extra hole
62018LPGA Mediheal Championship Minjee LeeWon with eagle on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour wins (5)

Ko won the 2013 ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open as an amateur.
Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.
Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour.

ALPG Tour wins (5)

Ko won the Bing Lee Samsung Women's NSW Open and the 2013 ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open as an amateur.
Co-sanctioned by the LPGA Tour.
Co-sanctioned by the Ladies European Tour.

KLPGA Tour wins (1)

Major championships

Wins (2)

Results timeline

Results not in chronological order before 2019.
^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
LA = Low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied

Summary

Singles: 1 (1 silver medal)

LPGA Tour career summary

* Includes matchplay and other events without a cut.

* Ko turned professional on 23 October 2013 but was not a member of the LPGA Tour. Money earned in 2013 was not considered official by the LPGA Tour.

* Made the cut in her first 53 LPGA Tour events, with the first 16 being as an amateur. After missing the cut at the 2015 KPMG Women's PGA Championship held 11–14 June, Ko made the next 40 consecutive tour event cuts until she missed just her second LPGA cut at the 2017 Kia Classic held 23–26 March.

World ranking

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.
YearWorld
ranking		Avg.
pts.		Source
20105490.04
20112950.37
2012432.43
201347.48
201429.80
2015111.78
2016111.48
201795.57
2018144.30
2019402.35