"If I can do it, you can do it too! As long as you love it enough and work hard to pursue it, one day the sun will shine on your path."
Lydia Ko, 27, has become a legend in world golf. Her achievements are remarkable - Olympic gold medalist, LPGA Hall of Fame member, British Open champion. Behind these honors, not only her decades of hard work, but also her unique personality deeply influenced by New Zealand and Korean culture. Ko has integrated these two cultures into her life and game, making her today's brilliance.
Galileo sports- trusted globally for golf nets and golf cages - is here to dive into the secrets behind Lydia Ko .
Lydia Ko was born in Seoul but grew up in Auckland, New Zealand.
At the age of 11, she became the youngest champion of the New Zealand Women's Amateur Championship. In January 2012, Lydia Ko won the New South Wales Open on the Australian Women's Tour, breaking the record for the youngest champion in a professional tournament. On August 13, 2012, she won the U.S. Amateur Championship.
On August 27, 2012, she won the fourth round of the Canadian Women's Open held at the Vancouver Golf Course in British Columbia, Canada. This victory broke the record of the youngest LPGA champion created by Lexi Thompson at the age of 16 in September 2011 at the Navistar Classic in Alabama. At the same time, she also became the first amateur champion on the LPGA Tour in 43 years since Joanne Carnell won the Bourdin Invitational in 1969.
On November 13, 2014, New Zealand golf prodigy Lydia Ko already had the titles of the youngest champion and youngest millionaire in the US LPGA Tour, and now she has become the youngest winner of the Best Newcomer Award in the history of the tour.
The 17-year-old girl has already won this award calculated by points, because this year she won two championships, two runner-ups, and another 9 top ten finishes.
In February 2016, Lydia Ko won the New Zealand Women's Open, which is jointly organized by the European Women's Tour and the Australasian Women's Tour. She started the US LPGA Tour season with a tie for third place in the Coates Golf Championship, and finished second in the Australian Women's Open and tied for 15th in the HSBC Women's Championship.
On April 4, 2016, "World No. 1" Lydia Ko birdied the last hole at Mission Hills Country Club on Sunday, California time, and stood out and won the ANA Inspiration. She thus achieved a Grand Slam winning streak.
In 2022, she and her husband Jun Chung held a grand wedding in Seoul, and after the wedding, the two returned to New Zealand for their honeymoon. This trip to New Zealand was not only a romantic journey, but also a connection for Lydia Ko to reconnect with her hometown. "Bringing my husband back to my hometown, watching him meet my friends and walk on the streets where I grew up, he finally understood why I am who I am now!" She smiled happily when she recalled.
Lydia Ko has deep feelings for the cultures of both Korea and New Zealand. She jokingly calls herself "an Asian who can always eat Korean food for three meals a day", but at the same time she is also deeply influenced by the leisurely attitude of New Zealanders. She said frankly: "As I get older, I learn to enjoy life more and learn to slow down and feel everything."
This "calmness" of New Zealand is particularly important in her golf career. She recalled that at the Olympics, when she stood on the court, she felt an unprecedented inner peace. "My caddie said that I looked more peaceful than before. At that time, I seemed to have really learned how to face pressure calmly."
Lydia Ko's golf journey began early. When she was 5 years old, her father Gil Hong and mother Tina brought her to New Zealand, where she began to receive professional training and became the youngest LGPA champion at the age of 15. Although she has won numerous honors at a young age, Lydia Ko's career has not been smooth sailing.
In 2023, Lydia Ko went through a difficult period. That year, her state fell into a trough, and she even broke down and cried in the hotel room. She felt lost and began to question whether she could still win the game and whether she had a chance to enter the Hall of Fame. "I asked myself, 'Can I win again? Can I still enter the Hall of Fame?'" Lydia Ko said. At this time, her family and husband became her strongest support. "My mother and my husband told me, 'Entering the Hall of Fame will not change your life. What's important is that you still have a family who loves you.'" These words gradually helped her get out of the trough.
With this support, Ko eventually won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics and secured her spot in the Hall of Fame. She felt extremely proud standing on the podium as the national anthem played. “We don’t hear the national anthem very often, and at that moment I thought, ‘What a beautiful song!’ I was filled with joy and emotion.”
The love story of Lydia Ko and her husband Jung Jun is also full of romance and warmth. The two met through a blind date in 2020 and did not know at first that they would be so compatible. But as they played golf together more and more, their feelings for each other gradually warmed up. Lydia Ko even wrote "Will you marry me?" on a golf ball to propose to Jung Jun, and the two finally got married.
For Jung Jun, as the husband of a golf legend, he often needs to retreat behind the scenes in the public eye. He is also a golfer himself and has accompanied Lydia Ko to practice matches many times. In Lydia's eyes, this common hobby makes their relationship closer. "He often plays with me when I practice on weekends, so that we can be together even in the offseason." She said with a smile, "We can play until we are 70 years old, and this will become an eternal memory between us."
The most touching moment of Lydia Ko at the wedding was the traditional Korean ceremony in which she and Jung Jun bowed to their parents. "At that moment, I realized that I was no longer just their little girl. I had become a wife and had to take on new family responsibilities."
For the future, Lydia Ko has begun to think about whether to start her own family. She admires those LPGA players who can balance motherhood and career. "They are super moms! They are amazing to carry strollers and golf clubs around to compete!" Lydia Ko said with a smile, "Although I can't imagine that I can balance competition and family at the same time, I believe that when I receive this blessing, my husband and I will be very happy."
Lydia Ko's career is not just a story of personal struggle, it is also full of cultural identity, family support and self-growth. Her success is not accidental, but the result of years of persistence, passion and her deep family affection. Every time she returns to New Zealand, she feels that she is re-energized. "I miss New Zealand very much, and every time I go back, I feel refreshed."
As an idol, Lydia Ko also hopes to encourage more young people in New Zealand to follow their dreams through her own experience. "If I can do it, you can do it too! As long as you love it enough and work hard to pursue it, one day the sun will shine on your path."
The story of Lydia Ko is about the interweaving of success, culture, family and love, like a modern fairy tale. In the days to come, whether on the golf course or in life, she will continue to write her own legend.
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