Exclusive: Lydia Ko On Quitting Thoughts, Grand Slam Bid & Retirement Plans
From thoughts of quitting to contemplating a career Grand Slam, Lydia Ko had a stunning turnaround in 2024 that sets her up for what she hopes can be a glorious last few years of her career. The New Zealander is still only 27 but has been out on tour a long time since bursting onto the scene as a teenager – and after a tough first half of 2024 she wondered whether she should hang up her clubs. However, appearing in the latest edition of Golf Monthly, she details how she turned things around to win the Olympics and AIG Women’s Open while also becoming the youngest member of the LPGA Hall of Fame.
That’s quite a year for the former child prodigy given “my mum tells me I was a better golfer at 15 than I am now” she tells Golf Monthly. Ko says that her poor form in 2023 “made me question my place in the game a bit” and that a flat spot in 2024 had her again struggling for confidence. “It wasn’t exactly rock bottom, but I did start to wonder whether my ‘comeback’ year in 2022 – when I won three times and made it back to World No. 1 – was just a fluke,” Ko told Golf Monthly. “Those good performances at the start [of 2024] were exactly what I needed. But I really struggled between April and June, and began to question myself again.
“It is all down to confidence. That is such a massive thing. Not much is different with your game. But when you feel good about yourself you get into a really good rhythm and the game feels just a little easier. Not much, but enough to make a difference in terms of results.” Winning golf in Paris saw Ko become the first golfer to complete the Olympic set having also won silver and bronze in the two previous Games – with the added bonus this year of booking her Hall of Fame spot.
“Winning gold in the Olympics – I can’t think of a better way to get into the Hall of Fame, especially after I was on the podium in each of the two previous Games,” Ko added. “Any medal is great, but obviously gold is the one that shines brightest! And because it only comes around every four years it becomes even more special. “It was a memorable summer with the Major coming a couple of weeks later – at the home of golf in St Andrews, which just made it a notch better – and another victory soon after that.”
Ko dreaming of Grand Slam fairytale
Getting into the Hall of Fame left Ko feeling “like Cinderella walking with my glass slippers” and now she hopes to complete the fairytale by adding the two Majors missing to complete the Grand Slam. “This year my thoughts have turned to the possibility of completing the career Grand Slam. It’s good to have goals. The Grand Slam seems really far out there, but what has happened the past few years has been on a similar level of craziness, I guess.
“I would love a chance of winning all five different Majors. For me that would be the continuation of the fairytale. So why not try for another happy ending?
“It’s a small circle who have done the career Grand Slam, especially in this day and age, when the competition is so high. But that is my goal, something to aim at.
“If it doesn’t happen, it doesn’t define my career but that is the biggest thing I’m working on.”
Ko sets out retirement plan
Needing to win the US Women’s Open and Women’s PGA Championship, Ko hopes to get the Grand Slam done soon as she doesn’t see herself playing on beyond 30.
“Lorena Ochoa is somebody I really look up to. I always hoped that my career would be quite similar – and that I could do the same as her by retiring when I’m still playing well,” Ko explained.
“I don’t know when that moment is right now, although I’ve always said that I can’t see myself playing after I’m 30.
“I got to spend three weeks back home in New Zealand at the end of 2024 for the first time in a few years, and it felt great.
”I really enjoyed not having to live out of a suitcase, and I want more of that – so the Grand Slam had better happen soon!”
