Lydia Ko talks retirement and her final bid at completing the full set of Olympic medals

The 27-year-old Kiwi has long said she wouldn’t play beyond 30, and in January said this year’s Paris Olympics would almost certainly be her last opportunity to add the silver and bronze medals she already owns. However, in an interview with the Golf Channel ahead of the LPGA Women’s PGA Championship in Seattle, which Ko started with a rough 3-over 75 to trail leader Lexi Thompson by seven shots on Friday (NZT), she said it was far from concrete.

So, could it be this year, next year, or even after she turns 30?
“It’s obviously not as close as Lexi [Thompson],” Ko said of the 29-year-old American, who will call time on her career at the end of the year, and who leads the Women’s PGA Championship after carding a 4-under 68.
“It honestly changes day by day. I shot 80 at the US Women’s Open [last month]. I was like, ‘OK, I’m out of here soon,’”

But Ko, a 20-times winner on the LPGA Tour, did point to former Mexican pro Lorena Ochoa, who was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive weeks from April 2007 to May 2010, when she retired aged 28. “I don’t think there is an exact date or age I want to stop playing. But Lorena Ochoa has been a big role model of mine and how she finisher her career, she was still playing at a high level, she obviously still loves the game.

“And what she is doing to give back to the game in Mexico. It’s something that I would like to do in my future.” Ochoa is growing the game in Mexico through Ochoa Golf Academies, and in 2022 said she had no regrets after walking away from the game at the peak of her powers, even if it initially cost her a spot in the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame (HOF) because she hadn’t played for 10 years on tour.

The LPGA Tour scrapped the rule in 2022 and Ochoa, who won 10 tournaments the two years before she retired, was inducted into the HOF.
Speaking of the HOF, Ko is just one point shy of joining Ochoa and achieving a long held goal, one she almost achieved in January, only for American Nelly Korda to mow her down and beat her in a playoff at the LPGA Drive on Championship in Florida.

“As much as I’ve had my share of tears and frustration through golf, it’s given me so much love and joy and some of the friendships I have on tour,” said Ko, who is tied for 70th heading into the second round of the Women’s PGA Championship. “So I want to leave golf while I still love it and enjoy it…I would hate to be in a position where I hate the game and I don’t even want to look at my clubs any more.

“I know that I’m definitely past my halfway chapter, and I’m excited for what’s ahead, whether it’s competitive golf or after that.”
Regardless, Ko reiterated the Paris Olympics would “highly likely” be her last, given she doesn’t plan to still be playing when the LA Games roll around in 2028.

The women’s golf gets underway on August 7 in Paris, and the Tokyo bronze medallist and Rio silver medallist dared to to dream of completing the set, which would also make her HOF eligible. ”If I win gold at this Paris Olympics, someone should get me a glass slipper because I’m a Cinderella story.“