Lydia Ko

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Lydia Ko
— Golfer —
2013 Women's British Open – Lydia Ko (1).jpg
Personal information
Full name Bo-Gyung "Lydia" Ko
Nickname Lyds[1]
Born (1997-04-24) 24 April 1997 (age 18)
Seoul, South Korea
Height 5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Nationality  New Zealand
Residence North Harbour, New Zealand
Career
College Korea University
Turned professional 2013
Current tour(s) LPGA Tour
Professional wins 13
Number of wins by tour
LPGA Tour 9
Ladies European Tour 4
LPGA of Korea Tour 1
ALPG Tour 4
Best results in LPGA major championships
(Wins: 1)
ANA Inspiration T25: 2013
Women's PGA C'ship 3rd: 2014
U.S. Women's Open T12: 2015
Women's British Open T3: 2015
Evian Championship Won: 2015
Achievements and awards
Mark H. McCormack Medal 2011, 2012, 2013
Halberg Supreme Award 2013
NZ Sportswoman of the Year 2013, 2014
LPGA Rookie of the Year 2014
Best Female Golfer
ESPY Award
2015

Lydia Ko (Korean: 고보경, Hanja: 高寶璟, born Bo-kyung Ko, 24 April 1997) is a New Zealand professional golfer who became the No. 1 ranked woman professional golfer on 2 February 2015 at 17 years 9 months 8 days of age, making her the youngest player of either sex to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf.[2][3] On 13 September 2015, she became the youngest woman, at age 18 years, 4 months and 20 days, to win a major championship when she won The Evian Championship in France. Her closing round of 63 was a record lowest final round in the history of women's golf majors.[4]

She had been the top-ranked woman amateur golfer in the world for 130 weeks[5] when she announced she was turning professional on 23 October 2013. She became the youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event[6] and youngest person ever to win an LPGA Tour event.[7] In August 2013, she became the only amateur to win two LPGA Tour events.[8] As an amateur she never missed a cut in 25 professional tournaments,[9] and by September 2013 had risen to fifth in the Women's World Golf Rankings in only 23 professional tournaments.[9] Ko played her first LPGA Tour event on 9 February 2012 (14 years, 9 months, 16 days) and made the cut in her first 53 LPGA Tour events through 4 June 2015 (18 years, 1 month, 11 days).

In April 2014, Ko was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people.[10] The same month she advanced to No 2 woman professional golfer in the world when she won the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.[11]

Early life and education[edit]

Born in Seoul, South Korea, she emigrated with her family to New Zealand as an infant and gained citizenship at age 12.[12] Ko was educated at Pinehurst School in Albany, New Zealand, and when she joined the tour she took correspondence classes with Pinehurst.[13][14] Starting in 2015 Ko said she would study psychology extramurally with Korea University, Seoul. The Yonhap news agency reported her 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."[15]

Early golf career[edit]

Ko began playing golf as a five-year-old when her mother took her into a pro shop at the Pupuke Golf Club[16] on Auckland's North Shore owned by professional Guy Wilson who coached her until 22 December 2013.[16][17] 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.[18]

2012 Women's NSW Open[edit]

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.[6] 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.[19][20] 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.[21][22]

2012 and 2013 CN Canadian Women's Open[edit]

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.[23] 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.[24]

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.

Turning pro[edit]

After finishing runner-up to Suzann Pettersen in The Evian Championship in France, Ko announced that she would turn pro in 2014.[9] 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.[25] 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 last fall.[26]

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.[27]

In 2014 she was named one of ESPNW's Impact 25.[28]

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.[29] 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.[30] 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.[31] 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.[32]

On 13 September 2015, Ko won the fifth and final major on the 2015 LPGA calendar, the 2015 Evian Championship.[33] 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, Jr., who he won the 1868 Open Championship.[34]

Amateur wins[edit]

Professional wins (13)[edit]

LPGA Tour (9)[edit]

Legend
Major championships (1)
Other LPGA Tour (8)
No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin of
victory
Runner(s)-up
1 26 Aug 2012 CN Canadian Women's Open [1] 68-68-72-67=275 −13 3 strokes South Korea Inbee Park
2 25 Aug 2013 CN Canadian Women's Open [1] (2) 65-69-67-64=265 −15 5 strokes France Karine Icher
3 27 Apr 2014 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic 68-71-68-69=276 −12 1 stroke United States Stacy Lewis
4 20 Jul 2014 Marathon Classic 67-67-70-65=269 −15 1 stroke South Korea So Yeon Ryu
5 23 Nov 2014 CME Group Tour Championship 71-71-68-68=278 −10 Playoff Spain Carlota Ciganda
Paraguay Julieta Granada
6 22 Feb 2015 ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open [2] 70-70-72-71=283 −9 2 strokes South Korea Amy Yang
7 26 Apr 2015 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic (2) 67-72-71-70=280 −8 Playoff United States Morgan Pressel
8 23 Aug 2015 Canadian Pacific Women's Open (3) 67-68-69-72=276 −12 Playoff United States Stacy Lewis
9 13 Sep 2015 The Evian Championship 69-69-67-63=268 −16 6 strokes United States Lexi Thompson

1 Ko won the 2012 and 2013 CN Canadian Women's Opens as an amateur.
2 Co-sanctioned by the ALPG Tour and the Ladies European Tour

LPGA Tour playoff record (3–0)

No. Year Tournament Opponent(s) Result
1 2014 CME Group Tour Championship Spain Carlota Ciganda
Paraguay Julieta Granada
Won with par on fourth extra hole
Granada eliminated with par on second hole
2 2015 Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic United States Morgan Pressel Won with birdie on second extra hole
3 2015 Canadian Pacific Women's Open United States Stacy Lewis Won with par on first extra hole

Ladies European Tour (4)[edit]

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin
of victory
Runner-up
1 10 Feb 2013 ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open 70-68-68=206 −10 1 stroke United States Amelia Lewis
2 22 Feb 2015 ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open 70-70-72-71=283 −9 2 strokes South Korea Amy Yang
3 1 Mar 2015 ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open 70-61-71=202 −14 4 strokes Australia Hannah Green (a)
4 13 Sep 2015 The Evian Championship 69-69-67-63=268 −16 6 strokes United States Lexi Thompson

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

ALPG Tour (4)[edit]

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin
of victory
Runner-up
1 29 Jan 2012 Bing Lee Samsung Women's NSW Open [6] 69-64-69=202 −14 4 strokes Wales Becky Morgan
2 10 Feb 2013 ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open [6][7] 70-68-68=206 −10 1 stroke United States Amelia Lewis
3 22 Feb 2015 ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open [8] 70-70-72-71=283 −9 2 strokes South Korea Amy Yang
4 1 Mar 2015 ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open [7] (2) 70-61-71=202 −14 4 strokes Australia Hannah Green (a)

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

KLPGA Tour (1)[edit]

No. Date Tournament Winning score To par Margin
of victory
Runner-up
1 8 Dec 2013 Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters 68-68-69=205 −11 3 strokes South Korea So Yeon Ryu

Results in LPGA majors[edit]

Wins (1)[edit]

Year Championship Winning score Margin Runner-up Winner's
share ($)
2015 The Evian Championship −16 (69-69-67-63=268) 6 strokes United States Lexi Thompson 487,500

Results timeline[edit]

Results not in chronological order before 2015.

Tournament 2012 2013 2014 2015
ANA Inspiration DNP T25LA T29 T51
Women's PGA Championship DNP T17LA 3 CUT
U.S. Women's Open T39LA T36 T15 T12
Women's British Open T17LA T42TLA T29 T3
The Evian Championship ^ 2LA T8 1

^ The Evian Championship was added as a major in 2013.
LA = Low amateur
DNP = did not play
CUT = missed the half-way cut
T = tied
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10.

Summary[edit]

Tournament Wins 2nd 3rd Top-5 Top-10 Top-25 Events Cuts made
ANA Inspiration 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 3
Women's PGA Championship 0 0 1 1 1 2 3 2
U.S. Women's Open 0 0 0 0 0 2 4 4
Women's British Open 0 0 1 1 1 2 4 4
The Evian Championship 1 1 0 2 3 3 3 3
Totals 1 1 2 4 5 10 17 16
  • Most consecutive cuts made – 13 (2012 U.S. Open – 2015 ANA)
  • Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2014 LPGA - 2014 Evian)

LPGA Tour career summary[edit]

Year Tournaments
played
Cuts
made*
Wins 2nd 3rd Top 10s Best
finish
Earnings
($)
Money
list rank
Scoring
average
Scoring
rank
2012 4 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 n/a 72.94 n/a
2013 12 12 1 1 1 6 1 16,063 n/a 70.41 n/a
2014 26 26 3 2 3 15 1 2,089,033 3 70.08 5
2015 21 20 4 3 3 14 1 2,416,753 1 69.39 1
Totals 63 62 9 6 7 36 1 4,505,786 57
  • official through 19 October 2015[41]

* 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.

World ranking[edit]

Position in Women's World Golf Rankings at the end of each calendar year.

Year World
ranking
Avg.
pts.
No. of
events
Source
2010 549 0.04 1 [42]
2011 295 0.37 4 [43]
2012 43 2.43 12 [44]
2013 4 7.48 25 [45]
2014 2 9.80 43 [46]

Golf records[edit]

  • On 29 January 2012, became the youngest person to ever win a professional golf tour event at age 14 years, 9 months and 5 days.
  • On 26 August 2012, became the youngest winner of an LPGA Tour event (Canadian Women's Open) at age 15 years, 4 months and 2 days
  • The only amateur to win two LPGA Tour events – age 15 and 16 (2012 and 2013 Canadian Women's Open)
  • On 2 February 2015, became the youngest player of either gender to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf at age 17 years, 9 months and 9 days.
  • On 22 February 2015, became the youngest winner of the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open title at age 17 years, 9 months and 29 days.
  • On 2 April 2015, tied Annika Sörenstam for the most consecutive rounds under-par in LPGA Tour events, at 29.
  • On 13 September 2015, became the youngest woman to win a major championship at The Evian Championship in France, at age 18 years, 4 months and 20 days.[47]
  • On 13 September 2015, her closing round of 63 in the Evian was the record lowest final round in the history of women's golf majors.[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Our Lyds the Youngest Player in Worlds Field". NZ Institute Of Golf. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 18 September 2012. 
  2. ^ "Ko youngest ever world No 1". Radio New Zealand. 1 February 2015. Retrieved 31 January 2015. 
  3. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 2 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015. 
  4. ^ a b "Lowest rounds in women's major championship history". Golf News Net. 13 September 2015. 
  5. ^ "Women's World Amateur Golf Rankings". The R&A. Retrieved 26 August 2012. 
  6. ^ a b "Lydia Ko, 14, wins tour event in Australia". ESPN. Associated Press. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012. 
  7. ^ "Ko becomes youngest winner". The New Zealand Herald. 27 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  8. ^ "Lydia Ko wins 2nd straight Canadian Women's Open". CBC Sport. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 26 August 2013. 
  9. ^ a b c "Golf: Ko to go pro next year". The New Zealand Herald. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 16 September 2013. 
  10. ^ "100 Most Influential People - Lydia Ko". Time. 23 April 2014. Retrieved 28 April 2004. 
  11. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 April 2014. Retrieved 29 April 2014. 
  12. ^ Fields, Bill (13 September 2015). "With Historic Win, Lydia Ko Proves Far Beyond Her 18 Years Once Again". ESPN. 
  13. ^ Wade, Amelia; Pearl, Harry (28 August 2012). "Golf: Lydia makes her biggest splash". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 28 August 2012. 
  14. ^ "ANZ gets behind Lydia Ko as she takes on the world" (PDF). ANZ Bank New Zealand Ltd. 19 December 2013. Retrieved 23 December 2013. 
  15. ^ Holmes, John (1 December 2014). "Lydia Ko will take college courses while playing on LPGA Tour". PGA of America. Retrieved 1 March 2015. 
  16. ^ a b Robson, Toby (1 September 2012). "Practice certainly makes Lydia perfect". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 31 December 2012. 
  17. ^ "Teen Golfer Lydia Ko Splits With Coach of 11 Years". The New York Times. Associated Press. 22 December 2013. 
  18. ^ Leggat, David (24 November 2014). "The Vault: First mention – Lydia Ko". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 25 November 2014. 
  19. ^ "Ko plays her way into golfing history". Stuff.co.nz. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  20. ^ "Lydia Ko becomes golf's youngest tour winner, aged 14". BBC Sport. 29 January 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  21. ^ "Brooke Henderson wins second stop on CN Canadian Women's Tour" (Press release). CN Canadian Women's Tour. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012. 
  22. ^ "Lydia Ko, 15, wins in Canada". ESPN. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 26 August 2012. 
  23. ^ "Lydia Ko, 15, wins Canadian Women's Open, becomes youngest ever LPGA winner". The Vancouver Sun. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  24. ^ "Final results: CN Canadian Women's Open". LPGA. 26 August 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012. 
  25. ^ "Lydia Ko goes professional - finally". The New Zealand Herald. 23 October 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2013. 
  26. ^ "Lydia Ko, 16, gets OK to join LPGA". ESPN. Associated Press. 28 October 2013. Retrieved 28 October 2013. 
  27. ^ "Lydia Ko is LPGA's top rookie". ESPN. Associated Press. 12 November 2014. 
  28. ^ "2014 espnW Impact 25: Lydia Ko, 17, 2014 LPGA Rookie Of The Year". ESPN. Retrieved 16 December 2014. 
  29. ^ "2015 Recap: Lydia Ko wins New Zealand Women's Open". Stuff. Retrieved 1 March 2015. 
  30. ^ "Lydia Ko ties Annika Sorenstam". ESPN. Associated Press. 2 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015. 
  31. ^ "Lydia Ko defends her Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic title". sbnation.com/golf. SBNation. 27 April 2015. Retrieved 27 April 2015. 
  32. ^ "Lydia Ko Wins Canadian Pacific Women's Open Over Stacy Lewis". golf.com. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2015. 
  33. ^ "In The Winners Circle With Lydia Ko at the 2015 Evian Championship". LPGA. 13 September 2015. Retrieved 13 September 2015. 
  34. ^ "Lydia Ko wins Evian Championship to become youngest major champion". ESPN. Associated Press. 13 September 2015. 
  35. ^ "Golf: Ko becomes youngest Australian strokeplay winner". The New Zealand Herald. 19 March 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  36. ^ "Ko easily wins New Zealand Strokeplay". iseekgolf.com. 23 April 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  37. ^ "Golf: Ko wins 33-hole battle with Cho". The New Zealand Herald. 27 April 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  38. ^ "Lydia Ko wins Australian amateur championship". Stuff.co.nz. 23 January 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  39. ^ "Lydia Ko first NZ woman to win US Amateur". Stuff.co.nz. 13 August 2012. Retrieved 27 August 2012. 
  40. ^ "Ko wins individual title as NZ finish fifth". The New Zealand Herald. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 1 October 2012. 
  41. ^ "Lydia Ko results". LPGA. Retrieved 14 September 2015. 
  42. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 28 December 2010. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  43. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 27 December 2011. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  44. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 31 December 2012. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  45. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 30 December 2013. Retrieved 2 January 2014. 
  46. ^ "Women's World Golf Rankings". 29 December 2014. Retrieved 5 January 2015. 
  47. ^ "Lydia Ko Becomes the Youngest Major Winner Ever at the 2015 Evian Championship". LPGA. 13 September 2015. 

External links[edit]

Awards
Preceded by
Inbee Park
World No. 1 Ranked Golfer
2 February 2015 – 14 June 2015
Succeeded by
Inbee Park
Preceded by
Valerie Adams
New Zealand's Sportswoman of the Year
2013, 2014
Incumbent
Preceded by
Hamish Bond and Eric Murray
Halberg awards – Supreme Award
2013
Succeeded by
Hamish Bond and Eric Murray