| Lydia Ko MNZM | |||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Ko in 2024 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Bo-Gyung "Lydia" Ko | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Nickname | Lyds[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 24 April 1997 Seoul, South Korea | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Sporting nationality |  New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Residence | Orlando, Florida, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Career | |||||||||||||||||||||
| College | Korea University | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Turned professional | 2013 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Current tour(s) | LPGA Tour | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Professional wins | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Number of wins by tour | |||||||||||||||||||||
| LPGA Tour | 22 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Ladies European Tour | 8 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| LPGA of Korea Tour | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ALPG Tour | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Best results in LPGA major championships (wins: 3) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Chevron Championship | Won: 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Women's PGA C'ship | 2nd: 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| U.S. Women's Open | T3: 2016 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Women's British Open | Won: 2024 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Evian Championship | Won: 2015 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and awards | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| (For a full list of awards, see here) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Lydia Ko | |
| Hangul | 리디아 고 |
|---|---|
| Hanja | 리디아 高 |
| Revised Romanization | Ridia Go |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ridia Ko |
| Ko Bo-Gyung | |
| Hangul | 고보경 |
| Hanja | 高寶璟 |
| Revised Romanization | Go Bogyeong |
| McCune–Reischauer | Ko Pogyŏng |
Lydia Ko MNZM (born 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer and the reigning Olympic champion. She first reached number one in the Women's World Golf Rankings on 2 February 2015 at 17 years, 9 months and 9 days of age, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf.[2][3]
Ko had much success from an early age holding many youngest accolades on the LPGA Tour. Until 2017, she was the youngest ever (age 15) to win an LPGA Tour event.[4] In August 2013, she became the only amateur to win two LPGA Tour events.[5] Upon winning The Evian Championship in France on 13 September 2015, she became the youngest woman, at age 18 years, 4 months and 20 days, to win a major championship. Her closing round of 63 was a record lowest final round in the history of women's golf majors,[6] but she lowered that record with a 62 at the 2021 ANA Inspiration.[7] She had previously won the ANA Inspiration on 3 April 2016 for her second consecutive major championship, where she also became the youngest player to win two women's major championships.
In 2014, Ko was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people.[8] In both 2014[9] and 2015,[10] Ko was named in the EspnW Impact25 list of 25 athletes and influencers who have made the greatest impact for women in sports.
In 2016, Ko was named Young New Zealander of the Year,[11] and in the 2019 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to golf.[12]
In November 2022, Ko won the CME Group Tour Championship with its $2 million first-place prize, completing the LPGA Tour season with three wins, the LPGA Player of the Year award for the second time in her career, the Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average, the 2022 leading money winner,[13] and rose to number two in the Women's World Golf Rankings.
In August 2024, she won the gold medal in women's golf at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics, a victory that qualified her for the LPGA Hall of Fame, the 35th and youngest inductee at age 27.[14] Combined with her bronze medal from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and silver medal from the Rio 2016 Olympics, she attained the complete set of Olympic medals, becoming the first golfer in the modern era to achieve all three medals at three different Olympic Games.[14]
Ko is a player director on the LPGA Board.[15]
- ^ "Who's who in golf: Lydia Ko". Where2Golf. 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
- ^ "Ko youngest ever world No 1". Radio New Zealand. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 2 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
- ^ "Ko becomes youngest winner". The New Zealand Herald. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012.
- ^ "Lydia Ko wins 2nd straight Canadian Women's Open". CBC Sport. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013.
- ^ "Lowest rounds in women's major championship history". Golf News Net. 13 September 2015.
- ^ "Lydia Ko's record-breaking final round not enough to claim third major at ANA Inspiration". The New Zealand Herald. 6 April 2021. Retrieved 7 April 2021.
Her front-nine 29 set the ANA nine-hole scoring record, and ties the lowest nine-hole score at any major championship.
- ^ "100 Most Influential People - Lydia Ko". Time. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2004.
- ^ "2014 espnW Impact 25: Lydia Ko, 17, 2014 LPGA Rookie Of The Year". ESPN. Archived from the original on 16 December 2014. Retrieved 16 December 2014.
- ^ "2015 IMPACT25 Athlete: Lydia Ko". espnW. 29 November 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
- ^ Tapaleao, Moana; Garrick, Gia (17 February 2016). "Richie McCaw named New Zealander of the year". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 17 February 2016.
- ^ "New Year honours list 2019". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 31 December 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
- ^ "Lydia Ko wins LPGA finale for record $2 million payout". Associated Press. 20 November 2022. Retrieved 21 November 2022.
- ^ a b Marksbury, Jessica (10 August 2024). "Lydia Ko clinches gold medal, LPGA Hall of Fame in dramatic Olympic finish". Golf Magazine. Retrieved 10 August 2024.
- ^ Higuch, Kikue (19 November 2022). "LPGA Stars React To Groundbreaking 2023 Schedule". LPGA.