Turning pro at 16 and ranking #1 in
women's golf at just 17 years old, what happened to Lydia Ko’s golfing career?
In today’s video we'll get to know the intriguing career of Lydia Ko – from her meteoric rise to
the challenges she faced in recent years. She was the teen sensation who took the golfing world
by storm. But before we continue, what happened to Lydia Ko’s 7 stroke penalty? And the frustration
she displayed during the game! Be sure to finish this video, because we’re spilling some facts.
Who is Lydia Ko?
At the age of four, Lydia Ko and her
family moved from Seoul, South Korea, and settled in New Zealand. When she was five
years old, her aunt from Australia introduced her to golf for the first time.
She began competing in golf events in the under-19 group when she was just
eight years old because she was so good. She achieved a major career milestone in 2009,
when she was eleven years old, by winning the North Island Women's U19 Championship.
Over the years that followed, her fame grew, and in 2011, she became the undisputed champion
of the amateur circuit. She broke records as the youngest player to win a professional
golf tournament at the age of fourteen.
Throughout her early career, Ko won a slew of
more tours. After announcing her intention to turn professional, Ko joined the tour in
2014. In 2013, she made her professional golfing debut at the LPGA CME Titleholders. She
went on to win the Evian Championship in 2015, which was two years later.
Her Early Golfing Career
Lydia Ko became the youngest player to ever win
a professional golf tour event—female or male—at the age of fourteen when she won the NSW Open in
Sydney by a margin of four strokes. Unprecedented for an amateur, she added two more victories
a year later. Until Tiger Woods became number one at the age of 21, Lydia had already broken
records as the youngest player to ever reach the top spot in the Women's World Golf Rankings at the
age of seventeen. That year, she made history as the youngest female golfer to ever win a major
championship when she won the Evian Championship in France. The lowest final-round score ever was
her 63 in the fourth round. (With a final-round score of 62 at the ANA Inspiration in
2021, she shattered that record.)
After 130 weeks as the top-ranked female
amateur golfer, Lydia won so quickly that the LPGA relaxed its standard requirement
that athletes must be 18 years old to turn professional. Lydia turned pro on October 13,
2013, at the age of 16 years and 172 days. She was a competitor at the Olympic Games in
both Rio and Tokyo, where she took home silver and bronze medals. Almost one hundred
top-ten finishes have been hers. Additionally, she ranks among the top female golfers of all
time in terms of prize money earned, with over $16 million. Keeping in mind that Lydia is just
26 years old can be challenging at times.
Lydia Ko never wanted to be referred to
as a sporting prodigy, even when she was a record-breaking adolescent. She won a major
championship when she was just fifteen years old, making her the youngest female golfer in course
history. She won the Women's World Golf Rankings title when she was just seventeen years old.
Moreover, in 2016, during the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, she achieved her maiden hole-in-one.
Lydia has had to confront the challenges of being an elite athlete head-on, including the difficulty
of maintaining winning streaks. She has reclaimed the top rank and is now 26 years old, planning to
retire. But first, in the year 2024, she will be traveling to Paris in the hopes of winning big.
We know we promised you a reveal later on, but what did you think happened in the game
that leads her to receiving 7 penalties? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Lydia Ko’s Net Worth and Earnings
Ko has a total of $17,438,722 in earnings
during her career, putting her $561,278 behind LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park, according
to the official website of the LPGA. To add to her accomplishment, she became the fifth
player to reach the $17 million mark.
In 2015 and 2022, Ko also won money on the LPGA
Tour. Lydia Ko is the youngest person to ever attain the level of success she has in golf—and
yet, her financial details are less publicized than those of male golfers, even though she
is just as accomplished as any of them.
Lydia Ko has one win, three top ten finishes,
and $496,030 in earnings so far this year, according to her official LPGA profile. She
started her season with a $95,907 prize from the Blue Bay LPGA, where she tied for fourth
place. Afterwards, she competed in the HSBC Women's World Championship, where she tied for
34th place and took home $11,414. But she lost the LPGA Drive On Championship solo to Nelly Korda
and took home $163,689. After much competition, she became victorious at the $225,000 Hilton
Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.
Taking home an astonishing $2 million of the $7
million total in first place, Lydia Ko won the CME Group Tour Championship in 2022, the year with the
highest prize money. She beat Leona Maguire by two strokes with a total score of 271, which was less
than 17. She had previously won the event in 2014, taking home half of the $2 million prize
pool. This was her second time around.
Her major Championships
Throughout her time playing on the LPGA Tour, Lydia Ko has claimed two major
titles. At the age of eighteen, Ko stunned the world at the 2015 Evian Championship in France,
where she won her maiden major title. She overcame a six-stroke deficit to defeat Lexi Thompson
with a final-round score of 63. With a final round score of 63, she became the first player in
major championship history to achieve this feat, and her 72-hole score of -16 was the lowest in
relation to par ever recorded in a major event.
In 2016, Ko achieved her second major title
at the ANA Inspiration in California. This tournament was formerly called the Kraft Nabisco
Championship. Her thrilling victory came after she forced a playoff with Ariya Jutanugarn with
a birdie on the 72nd hole. After that, Ko won the championship with a birdie on the opening playoff
hole. After this triumph, Ko became the youngest player since 1869's Young Tom Morris to win two
major championships, regardless of gender.
We’re almost at the end! Do you
have any ideas yet? Stay tuned!
What’s next in Lydia Ko's career?
Lydia Ko will have another opportunity to make history at the Blue Bay LPGA in China.
The 26-year-old is in a three-way tie for first place at 12-under par at the Jian Lake Blue Bay
Golf Course, with American Sarah Schmelzel and Bailey Tardy. In the last round, she has a
chance to win her 21st career tournament, which would give her 27 points and automatically
qualify her for the LPGA Hall of Fame.
With 25 overall Hall of Fame points
going into the 2023 LPGA Tour season, just two shy of automatically qualifying, Ko
had three points to her name after winning the 2022 CME Group Tour Championship, which also
earned her the Vare Trophy and Rolex Player of the Year awards. Despite having a rough year on
the LPGA Tour without a victory, Ko still needed two points to achieve the feat by season's
conclusion. She wasted little time getting that taken care of as 2024 rolled around.
As we come to an end, what happened to Lydia Ko’s 7 penalty strokes? The former world number
one was humiliated by an unpleasant mistake and received seven penalty strokes, which was a
strange turn of events. Ko has now resorted to social media in an effort to clarify the
increasing speculation around the incident.
Lydia Ko was comfortably positioned in
the twenty-fourth slot on the leaderboard before the start of the final round of
the 2023 Dana Open. With scores of 67, 68, and 72, she had a solid chance to jump up
the leaderboard in the last 18 holes. However, Ko's optimism was quickly crushed when she learned
on the eleventh hole that she had used preferred lies incorrectly multiple times throughout the
day! On the fourth day, preferred lies were in fact in place, though only on holes 1 and 10.
Midway through the round, on holes 3, 4, and 9, the 19-time LPGA champion ended up playing them!
She was penalized three times for two strokes after being "played from a wrong place on each of
those holes," according to an LPGA representative who talked with Golf Digest. Ko requested a rule
after the ball was snatched off her racket on No. 11. After that, it was put back where it had
been, and she ended up losing a stroke.
The golfer admitted her mistake on her
Instagram story. "I can honestly say that last Sunday's events were far from my most
astute," she wrote. "However, I take full responsibility for my mistake; and although
it's frustrating, the seven-stroke penalty I got was fair because I played preferred
lies on holes where I shouldn't have."
Lydia Ko's career is a fascinating
story of early success, challenges, and an ongoing comeback. Whether she reaches
the same heights as before or not, her impact on the sport is undeniable. What do you think lies
ahead for Lydia Ko? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this
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