Lydia Ko

She was born in the Republic of Korea and moved to New Zealand with her family when she was five years old. Began playing golf in Korea, hitting balls as a 5-year-old when her mother took her to a driving range. When they moved to New Zealand, she took up the game in earnest at the Pupuke Golf Club on Auckland's North Shore, owned by professional Guy Wilson, who continued as her coach until December 2013.
In January 2012, she became the youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event at the Bing Lee/Samsung Women's NSW Open. She was 14 at the time and had placed 2nd in the event the year before. Her record as the youngest winner of a professional event was broken later in 2012 by 14-year-old Canadian Brooke Mackenzie Henderson, who won the second event on that year's Canadian Women's Tour.
Winner of the 2012 Australian Women's Amateur Golf Championship. Winner of the 2011 Mark H. McCormack Medal, which is awarded to the top male and female amateurs in the World Amateur Golf Ranking. Winner of the 2011 Australian Women's Amateur Stroke-Play Championship, New Zealand Women's Amateur Stroke-Play Championship, and New Zealand Women's Amateur Match-Play Championship. Became the first woman to ever hold both the Australian and New Zealand Stroke Play titles in the same year. Won the Muriwai Ladies Open. She was co-medalist at the 2011 U.S. Women's Amateur, where she fell in the Round of 32. Helped lead New Zealand to a 2nd-place finish at the Sirikit Cup in 2010. Runner-up at the 2009 New Zealand National Amateur Golf Championship.
In the summer of 2012, she came to America and played in the U.S. Women's Open. She earned low-amateur honors (by just a shot over Emma Talley) at Blackwolf Run, and finished T-39th. Next, she played in the U.S. Girls' Junior Championship and made it to the semifinals, where she lost to American Alison Lee. She went to the U.S. Women's Amateur and worked her way through the field. In the semifinals, she beat the then second-ranked amateur in the world, Ariya Jutanugarn, and then beat American Jaye Marie Green in the final, 2 and 1. Ko became the second-youngest champion in history, behind Kimberly Kim.
Two weeks later on Aug. 26, 2012, Ko became the youngest-ever winner of an LPGA Tour event at the CN Canadian Women's Open with a score of 275 (-13). She was 15 years and 4 months old at the time. The youngest previous winner on the LPGA Tour was Lexi Thompson at 16 years and 7 months in September 2011. Ko's win also made her only the fifth amateur to have won an LPGA Tour event and the first in over 43 years, when JoAnne Carner, age 29, won the Burdine's Invitational in Florida with an even-par 216 in January 1969. The 2012 CN Canadian Women's Open was a 72-hole event and had a purse of $2 million, the winner's share of $300,000 went to the runner-up, Inbee Park, three shots back.
In 2012, played a total of four events, along with her CN Canadian Women's Open win, finished T-17th at the Ricoh Women's British Open, T-19th in ISPS Handa Australian Open, and T-39th in the U.S. Women's Open.
2013 Notes: Started the year playing as an amateur and turned pro in October. Was granted membership for the 2014 season by LPGA Commissioner Mike Whan. Early in the year, she won the New Zealand Women's Open for her third professional win. On the LPGA Tour, she played 11 events as an amateur and, after turning pro in October, finished T-21th at the CME Group Titleholders, making her first check of $16,063.
She made quite an impact in the 11 events as an amateur, first by defending her CN Canadian Women's title. Also was runner-up at the Evian Championship, 3rd at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open, and T-4th at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. For the year, she had six top-10 finishes. Two months after turning professional, she won her first event as a pro at the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters on the Korean Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour. Paired with Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu in the final group on the final day, she outplayed them both to take the trophy, with Ryu second and Park third.
2014 Notes: Won Rookie of the Year (the youngest in Tour history), she won three times and had two runner-up finishes with 15 top-10s. She was 3rd on the money list with $2,089,033 and won the inaugural Race to the CME Globe points championship. She made the cut in all 26 starts. She won the Swinging Skirts Championship in San Francisco in April, shooting 12-under 276 with a birdie on the last hole to beat Stacy Lewis by one stroke. The win came three days after her 17th birthday. She won for the second time in 2014 at the Marathon Classic in Toledo with a final-round 65, including a birdie on the 18th hole, to come from behind and beat So Yeon Ryu by one shot. Her third win came at the CME Group Tour Championship when she beat Carlota Ciganda and Julieta Granada in a playoff. Ko had clinched the $1,000,000 Race to the CME Globe points bonus before the playoff began, as she only needed to finish 4th to secure the bonus. The tournament win was worth an additional $500,000, giving her the largest payday in women's golf. She was 2nd in the Ladies European Tour Handa New Zealand Women's Open, losing by one shot to Mi Hyang Lee, who shot a final-round course record 63 at Clearwater CC in Christchurch. She was the 54-hole leader at the Founders Cup, then shot 70 Sunday to finish T-2nd, one shot back of Karrie Webb, who passed her after shooting 63. She was T-2nd at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship, one shot back of Lewis.
2015 Notes: Ko won five LPGA events in 2015 and six tournaments overall, becoming the youngest No. 1 player in the history of the Rolex Rankings and the youngest to win a major championship. She is the youngest to reach 10 wins on the LPGA Tour (at 18 years, 6 months, and 1 day), breaking Nancy Lopez's record (22y/2m/5d) by nearly three and a half years. She won the LPGA money title and the CME points title and was the Rolex LPGA Player of the Year. Ko was T-2nd at the season-opening COATES Golf Championship. She finished one shot back of Na Yeon Choi. She led until the 71st hole, when she made double bogey to fall out of the lead. Despite finishing T-2nd, Ko moved to No. 1 on the Rolex Rankings after the tournament, becoming, at age 17, the youngest golfer to move to No. 1 in the world (men or women). She won the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open by two shots over Amy Yang. Earlier in the week, she said that she planned to retire from golf by the time she was 30 and become a psychologist. One week after winning the Australian Open, she won the Ladies European Tour New Zealand Women's Open, shooting a second-round 61 for a 14-under 202 in the 54-hole event. Her two-week winning streak was snapped by Inbee Park at the HBSC Women's Champions. Park shot 15-under to beat Ko by two strokes in Singapore. It was Ko's second runner-up finish of 2015. She was 3rd at the Kia Classic, three back of winner Cristie Kerr. She tied Annika Sorenstam's LPGA record of 29 consecutive subpar rounds with an opening 71 at the ANA Inspiration. Ko shot 73 in Round 2 to end her streak (she was T-51st in the tournament). Sorenstam set the mark in 2004. She made a birdie on the second playoff hole to win the Swinging Skirts title over Morgan Pressel after they tied at eight-under 280. It was Ko's second LPGA title of the year and the seventh of her career and it came two days after her 18th birthday. She won the Canadian Pacific Women's Open for the third time and the first as a professional, beating Stacy Lewis on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff after they tied at 12-under 276 at Vancouver GC. It was her third LPGA win of 2015. She won her fourth LPGA title (and second LET title) and her first major at the Evian Championship, shooting 16- under 268 to beat Lexi Thompson by six. Ko shot 63 in the final round to become the youngest major winner in LPGA history at 18 years, 142 days, breaking Morgan Pressel's record by nearly six months. Her fifth LPGA victory (and 10th on Tour) came at the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship when she shot 20-under 268 to beat Eun-Hee Ji and Se Yeon Ryu by nine strokes. She became the No.1 player on the Rolex Rankings for the first time on Feb. 2 after finishing T-2nd at the LPGA's season-opening Coates Golf Champions. At age 17, she became the youngest No. 1 golfer in history (men or women). She fell out of the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Rankings after missing the KPMG Women's PGA Championship cut in June, the first time she ever missed the cut in an LPGA event. She had made the cut in the first 53 LPGA starts of her career as a pro or an amateur. She returned to the No. 1 spot on the Rolex Rankings after winning the Fubon Taiwan Championship in October. She was T-3rd at the Ricoh Women's Open Championship, four back of winner Inbee Park. During the year, she tied Annika Sorenstam's LPGA record of 29 consecutive subpar rounds with an opening 71 at the ANA Inspiration. Ko shot 73 in round two to end her streak (she was T-51st in the tournament). Sorenstam originally set the mark in 2004. Ko had her third runner-up finish on the LPGA and fourth of the year at the LPGA Malaysia, finishing T-2nd, four behind Jessica Korda.
2016 Notes: Played in 24 LPGA events making the cut in all 24, she had 14 top-ten finishes. Had 4 victories, including her second major championship at the ANA Inspiration. Became the youngest female to win two major championships (18y/11m/9d) and the second youngest golfer (male or female) to two major wins behind Young Tom Morris after winning the 1869 Open Championship. Also had 3 runner-up finishes. She finished 2nd on the money list with $2,493,059 and was 2nd in CME Points. She was second in scoring average and led the Tour in putting average. Ko was runner-up to Ariya Jutanugarn for the LPGA Player of the Year Award and runner-up to In Gee Chun for the Vare Trophy, which she lost on the last day of the season by .013 strokes. She won the LET's New Zealand Women's Open for the third time in four years, the final round coming hours after a 5.8 magnitude earthquake struck near Clearwater CC. Ko donated her winner's check to help New Zealand. She was in Augusta to receive the 2015 GWAA Women's Player of the Year Award, before she picked up her award, she caddied for Kevin Na during the Par-3 Contest at the Masters. She was second at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, losing a playoff to Brooke Henderson after they tied at six-under 278 at Sahalee CC. Henderson won by making a three-foot birdie putt on the first extra hole. She won the Silver Medal at the Rio Olympics as a New Zealand women's golf team member, shooting 11-under 273, five shots back of winner Inbee Park.
2017 Notes: Going into the year, Ko split up with swing coaches David Leadbetter and Sean Hogan, then she hired Gary Gilchrist. She also entered the year with Gary Matthews as her new full-time caddie and changed equipment at the end of 2016. Played in 26 LPGA events making the cut in 23 of them. Had 11 top-10 finishes, including her first winless season on the LPGA. But she did have three runner-up finishes. She was T-2nd at the Lotte Championship, 3 shots back of winner Cristie Kerr. It was her last tournament with Matthews as her caddie. After the tournament, she announced that Pete Godfrey was taking over as her caddie. She was 2nd at the Indy Women in Tech Championship, 4 shots back of winner Lexi Thompson. Her last runner-up was at the Swinging Skirts Taiwan LPGA championship. Ko was T-3rd at the Evian Championship and was just a shot back of the playoff won by Anna Nordqvist. She finished 2nd on the money list with earnings of $2,493,059.
2018 Notes: Played in 26 LPGA Tour events making 24 cuts with ten top-ten finishes. She made some changes, first replacing Gary Gilchrist with instructor Ted Oh. She also changed caddies replacing Pete Godfrey with Jonny Scott. Things paid off as she won the LPGA Mediheal Championship. She won in a playoff against Minjee Kim as Ko made an eagle on the first extra hole. She was 3rd at the Meijer LPGA Classic, shooting 67-67 over the weekend. She was T-2nd at the Buick LPGA Shanghai, shot a final-round 66 to finish 3 shots back of winner Danielle Kang. Was T-5th in the last event of the year, the CME Group Tour Championship. She was 12th on the money list with $1,118,180 and 9th in the Race to CME.
2019 Notes: Played in 24 LPGA Tour events making 21 cuts with four top-ten finishes. She was 48th on the money list with $444,256 in earnings, she was 36th on the CME points list. Ko was 8th at the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions and T-8th at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup. Also finished T-8th at the Bank of Hope Founders Cup and T-10th at the KPMG Women's PGA Championship. Her best finish of the year was T-6th at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational with partner Gee Chun. She earned enough to go over the $10 million in LPGA Tour earnings. Was made a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
2020 Notes: Played in 13 LPGA Tour events making 12 cuts with five top-ten finishes. She was 9th on the money list with $677,545 in earnings, she was 11th on the CME points list. She was T-2nd at the Marathon Classic, she was a shot back of winner Danielle Kang and was leading the event but made a double bogey on the last hole. Shot a final-round 66 to finish 6th at the ANA Inspiration, five shots back of the Mirim Lee/Brooke Henderson/Nelly Korda playoff. Ended the year with some good golf, was T-8th at the LPGA Drive On Championship Reynolds Lake Oconee, and then was T-4th at the Pelican Womens Championship. She was in contention at the U.S. Women's Open but shot a final round 76 to finish T-13th. Ended her season with a T-5th finish at the CME Group Tour Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 20 LPGA Tour events making 19 cuts with 11 top-ten finishes and one victory. She Was fifth on the money list with earnings of $1,530,629 and third on the CME points list. Started the season with a T-2nd finish, she was three shots back of winner Nelly Korda. Was runner-up again at the ANA Inspiration, Ko shot a final-round 62 to finish two shots back of winner Patty Tavatanakit. Ko won the LOTTE Championship for her first LPGA Tour win since 2018. She shot rounds of 67-63-65-65 to finish at 28-under 260, the third-lowest 72-hole total in LPGA history. Was T-7th at the HSBC Women's Champions and T-9th at the LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship. At the Amundi Evian Championship, finished T-5th. Was a member of the New Zealand team at the Tokyo Olympics, shot a final-round 65 to finish T-2nd, tied with Mone Inami. Both were a shot back of Nelly Korda, who won the gold medal. Inami and Ko went into a playoff for the silver medal, and Ko made a bogey on the first playoff hole to drop to 3rd and win the bronze medal to go along with her silver medal from the 2016 Rio Olympics. Finished the season with more good finishes, a T-2 at the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open three behind winner Ryann O'Toole, T-3 at the BMW Ladies Championship, T-2 at the Pelican Women's Championship, losing a four-way playoff to Nelly Korda, and T-9 at the CME Group Tour Championship.
2022 Notes: Played in 22 LPGA Tour events, making 22 cuts with 14 top-ten finishes. She was 1st on the money list with $4,364,403 in earnings and was 1st in CME points. She won the Rolex Player of the Year and the Vare Trophy as the tour?s scoring average leader (68.99). Won her second start, the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, where she shot a 63 in the first round. In a stretch that began in the spring, had five top-five finishes in seven starts. Was T-3rd at the Palos Verdes Championship, 5th at the U.S. Women's Open, T-4th at the ShopRite LPGA Classic, 4th at the Meijer LPGA Classic, and T-3rd at the Amundi Evian Championship two shots behind winner Brooke Henderson. This would be the start of a run to the end of the season in which she had seven top-five finishes in her last ten starts. At the Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open, had the 2nd round lead and was the 3rd round leader, but shot 71-71 over the weekend to finish T-5th, five shots back of winner Ayaka Furue. She was T-7th at the AIG Women's British Open, five shots back of the Ashleigh Buhai/In Gee Chun playoff. Shot a final round 63 to finish 4th at the CP Women's Open, two shots back of the winner Paula Reto. After that Ko parted ways with instructor Sean Foley, who she had been working with for about two years. She said she would remain friends with Foley and the parting was for "logistical reasons." At the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship she finished T-5th, four shots back of the Atthaya Thitiku/Danielle Kang playoff. Shot a final round 65 to finish 3rd at the Ascendant LPGA Volunteers of America, two shots back of the winnr Charley Hull. Shot two rounds of 68, 66 and 65 to win the BMW Ladies Championship by four shots over Andrea Lee. She won the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship beating Leona Maguire by two shots. A week later became #1 on the Rolex Rankings, the last time she led the rankings was 5 years, 5 months, 17 days before. In December she married Chung Jun in South Korea.
2023 Notes: Opened her season by winning the Saudi Ladies International on the LET by a shot over Aditi Ashok. She was T-6th at the Honda LPGA Thailand, six shots back of the winner Lilia Vu. Finished 3rd at the LET Aramco Team Series-Singapore, five shots back of the winner Pauline Roussin. Shot 71-76 to miss the cut at the Cheveron Championship and dost the #1 spot on the Rolext rankings after 21 weeks to Nelly Korda. Back on the LET was T-3rd at the Aramco Team Series - Florida, two shots back of the winner Carlota Ciganda.