5 things to know about Lydia Ko’s record-breaking road to the LPGA Hall of Fame
Lydia Ko qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame in the most epic way. While many sports Halls of Fame are decided in boardrooms and over ballots, LPGA players literally play their way in. No room for opinions. Ko entered the final round of the Paris Olympics needing a victory in France to clinch the last point needed to reach the 27-point requirement. She finished it off in style, winning by two to collect her third different Olympic medal, having won silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021.
What did it take for the once-prodigious Kiwi to etch her name into one of the toughest Halls in all of sports? Nothing short of a whole lot of history.
Points breakdown
How did Ko’s accolades add up to an LPGA Hall of Fame career?
Regular season tournament titles on the LPGA are worth one point each. Ko has 18 of those wins. Majors count for two points each. Ko won the 2015 Evian Championship and 2016 ANA Inspiration, giving her a total of four points in that category.
Beginning in 2022, an Olympic gold is worth one point.
The remaining five points came from her season-long accolades: 2015 Rolex Player of the Year, 2021 Vare Trophy, 2022 Rolex Player of the Year and 2022 Vare Trophy.
The beginning
Ko’s first LPGA title came at the tender age of 15, when she became the youngest player to ever win on the LPGA at the 2012 CN Canadian Women’s Open. The victory came one week after she won the U.S. Women’s Amateur. Earlier that year, she won a Ladies European Tour event at age 14.
Ko, of course, went on to win the CN Canadian Women’s Open the following year, as well, while still an amateur. She won four professional titles as an amateur, ultimately turning pro in October 2013. She’d been the No. 1 player in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking for 130 weeks.
Youngest since Young Tom Morris
Ko’s “youngest to” accolades kept piling up as a professional. In 2015, her second full season on the LPGA, she won five times, including the Evian Championship. Her final-round 63 was the lowest final round in an LPGA major. Even more notably, she became the youngest player to win an LPGA major at 18 years, 4 months and 20 days. In fact, she’s the second-youngest player to win a major in all of golf, bested only by Young Tom Morris at the 1868 British Open Championship at age 17.
The following year, she became the youngest female to win two majors after she won the ANA Inspiration at 18 years, 11 months and 9 days. She trailed only Young Tom Morris there, too. Those early years on the LPGA were spectacular. She became the youngest player to reach 10 career LPGA victories when she won the 2015 Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship at 18 years, 6 months and 1 day.
Youngest No. 1
So far, Ko boasts three different stints at No. 1 in the world. The first time she rose to No. 1 on Feb. 2, 2015, she didn’t yet have a driver’s license. At 17 years, 9 months and 9 days, she was the youngest player – male or female – to rise to No. 1. Tiger Woods previously held the record of 21, set in 1997.
Her longest stint on top of the world came from the fall of 2015 to June 2017 when she spent 104 consecutive weeks at No. 1. After a long layoff, she made her way back there in November 2022, when she put together a comeback season for the ages. During a three-year victory drought, Ko dropped as low as 59th in the rankings. No player in history has gone longer than Ko between stints at No. 1 – a testament to her resiliency.
Where she falls in the Hall
Ko became only the 35th player to enter the LPGA Hall of Fame and only the 25th player to earn 27 HOF points. Nine women were inducted as honorary members (eight LPGA founders and beloved entertainer Dinah Shore).
And it wouldn’t be a Ko show without a “youngest to” accolade. At 27 years, 3 months and 17 days, she’s the youngest to get into the Hall under its current criteria. It’s worth noting, however, that before March 2022, players had to be active on tour for 10 years before they could qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame. Karrie Webb actually reached 27 points at age 25, but had to wait until 2005 (age 30) before she reached the 10-year requirement.
