Exclusive: ‘Best Player’ Lydia Ko Gets PGA Tour Pro’s Approval but a 5-Word Twist Shadows Over the World No.3

South Korean golfers are making it to the headlines in the golf community. Take Lydia Ko for example. After three appearances in the Olympics, she finally managed to grab a gold medal this year. That’s not all, she now has all three medals, which means she never dropped down from the top 3 in the National game. And on the PGA Tour, there are players like Byeong An Hun. He became the first Asian winner of the prestigious BMW PGA Championship in 2015 after a stunning final round earned him the lowest winning score in history.

However, he started creating ripples a lot later than Lydia Ko. Thus when the PGA Tour Pro appeared in an Exclusive interview with Essentially Sports, he was asked a very important question. “Why do you think the ladies, kind of, were there first at the very top of the game, and now the men are kind of also, uh the best in the world?”, he was asked. To this An replied with the fact that it was a lot about physicality. Byeong Hun An has a driving distance of 307.7 on average. On the same side, take Tom Kim, who is among the most popular South Korean names on the Tour. He has a driving distance of 290.06 on average.

this exclusively in ES, “I hit it pretty far, but most of the Korean guys don’t hit as far as our American friends, but you know, especially young guys who right now they’re hitting it. Because I just had my junior guys come over from Korea and they spend a week with me, and some of the guys who had a faster ball speed than me, like what was like 185 it could go up to 189, it was, I’ve never seen any of the young guys do that. I think, back then like 10-15 years ago, nobody was doing that”. In this exclusive by ES, he even spoke of Lydia Ko from the LPGA Tour. While he agreed that she was one of the greatest golfers, he mentioned her driving distance, which is an average of only 255.09 yards. Taking to this he said, “I always see Lydia play over here, and like no one you know she’s a great player, but she doesn’t hit the farthest, but she’s the best player in the world. So maybe that gives you, that gives a Korean woman, a bit of an, I guess more advantage than Korean men, and there a lot of them that plays golf in Korea. There are so many kids who play golf when I was young uh mostly girls too”.

Despite the distance, there is no doubt in the fact that Lydia Ko is indeed one of the shining stars of Korea. But the question is for how long will she remain the flag bearer?

Lydia Ko might retire soon
Lydia Ko has been married to Jun Chung since 2022, after dating him for two years. He is her No. 1 supporter and is always there accompanying her in every event, which makes her success only sweeter. She has time and again appreciated it as well. However, at the AIG Women’s Open in August, she felt guilty. He was at the Old Course at St. Andrews supporting her. During the post-round presser of the second round, she said, “I feel bad because he’s having to wake up at 4:00 a.m. with me this morning. Even if I am the most supportive wife when it comes to his work, I’m probably never going to wake up at 4:00 a.m. for him for his job. I’m very thankful that he’s taking a step back and doing things on my time, and I know that’s not easy, so I’m glad that he’s getting to enjoy it.”

With Chung by her side, The World No. 3 has found balance, making golf more enjoyable while cherishing their time together. She is grateful for the love and support that brings her fulfillment beyond just her golfing accomplishments. As she reflects on her storied career, Ko is mindful that her time in the game is limited, having already expressed her intention to retire before turning 30. In one of her interviews, she indicated, “I don’t know when you know my end is going to be but I know that I’m closer to that than when I was 15 or when I first came on Tour and you know I’m excited but you know I’m excited to give it my best and my everything until my very end. And you know it’s a love-hate relationship but you know looking back I think there’s more to love for sure.” However, there has been no official news from the 27 YO for her retirement. Do you think Ko will only play professional golf for just a few more years?