Background and career
Dame Lydia Bo-Gyung Ko (born 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer, member of the LPGA Hall of Fame, 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. 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. In August 2013, she became the only amateur to win two LPGA Tour events. 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, but she lowered that record with a 62 at the 2021 ANA Inspiration. 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. In both 2014 and 2015, 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, and in the 2019 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to golf. 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, 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. 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. Ko is a player director on the LPGA Board. Ko was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2025 New Year Honours, for services to golf. She is believed to be the youngest dame or knight of the modern era.
Ko was born on 24 April 1997 in Seoul, South Korea, and emigrated with her family to New Zealand when she was four, gaining New Zealand citizenship at age 12. She 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. She 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. She 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."
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.
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 (−13) 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 (−15) for a five-stroke victory over Karine Icher at the Royal Mayfair Club in Edmonton. The $300,000 winner's share went to Icher.
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, she 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 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 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.
Ko won three tournaments in 2014. On 27 April 2014, she 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, she 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" (4-27-14 in Roman numerals), on her right wrist.
