Lydia Ko

Lydia Ko (born Bo-Gyung Ko, April 24, 1997, in Seoul, South Korea) is a New Zealand professional golfer who competes primarily on the LPGA Tour. She moved to New Zealand as a child and gained citizenship at age 12, becoming one of the country's most celebrated sportspeople. As of May 2026, she is ranked 10th in the Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings and has accumulated 23 LPGA Tour victories across a career that began when she was still a teenager.

Ko's rise was historically rapid. Before turning professional she had already won as an amateur on the LPGA Tour, claiming consecutive Canadian Women's Opens in 2012 and 2013 -- a feat no other amateur had managed. She turned professional in 2013 at age 16 and became the youngest world number one in the history of either professional golf tour on February 2, 2015, at 17 years and nine months. She held that ranking for 85 consecutive weeks. Her major championship record spans nearly a decade: the 2015 Evian Championship (where she posted a closing 63, then the lowest final-round score in women's major history), the 2016 ANA Inspiration, and the 2024 AIG Women's Open at St Andrews. In 2024 she also completed a unique Olympic set -- silver at Rio 2016, bronze at Tokyo 2020, and gold at Paris 2024 -- making her the first golfer in the modern era to win medals of all three colours across three Games. That gold qualified her for the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame; she was inducted in 2024 as its youngest-ever member at 27.

Ko is known for precision and consistency rather than length. Her short game is regarded as among the best on Tour, with an ability to hole crucial putts on fast greens and convert tight approach plays into scoring opportunities. Her iron play is accurate and controlled, built around a compact, repeatable swing. That combination showed clearly at the 2025 HSBC Women's World Championship in Singapore, where she finished 13 under par, four strokes clear of the field, to claim her 23rd LPGA title. In March 2026 she posted a first-round 60 at the Ford Championship, a career-low single-round score, signalling that her form entering the 2026 season remains sharp.

Follow tee times in New Zealand time.