Lydia Ko is without a doubt, the best Kiwi to ever tee it up.
The 25-year-old already has 24 professional wins – most recently at the 2022 BMW Ladies Championship – with two major championships to boot.
A child prodigy, Ko began playing golf at the age of five and gained national attention at 14 when she became the then youngest winner of any professional golf tour event. That title now belongs to her colleague, Brooke Henderson, who broke Ko’s record that same year.
Later in 2012, Ko became the youngest LPGA winner at just 15-years-old at the CN Canadian Open. Not looking back, Ko has continued to rack up wins and dominate in spurts on the LPGA.
Three wins in 2014 earned her LPGA Rookie of the Year honors. Winning five times in 2015, Ko climbed to No. 1 in the world which culminated in her first major title at the Evian Championship.
Winning is what Ko does.
All her wins came before being eligible to become a mid-amateur. Her dominance at such a young age is one of the things that make Ko so special. Luckily for us, it looks like she’ll be around for awhile longer.