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Lydia Ko's Golf Swing And Highlights
 Lydia Ko MNZM (born 24 April 1997) is a Korean-born New Zealand professional golfer. A former No. 1-ranked woman professional golfer, she achieved the top ranking on 2 February 2015 at 17 years, 9 months and 9 days of age, making her the youngest player of either gender to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf.
Ko has had much success from an early age holding many youngest accolades on the LPGA Tour. She was the youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event and youngest person ever to win an LPGA Tour event. In August 2013, she became the only amateur to win two LPGA Tour events. Upon winning The Evian Championship in France on 13 September 2015, she became the youngest woman, at age 18 years, 4 months and 20 days, to win a major championship. Her closing round of 63 was a record lowest final round in the history of women's golf majors, but she lowered that record to 62 at the ANA Inspiration in 2021. She had previously won the ANA Inspiration on 3 April 2016 for her second consecutive major championship, where she also became the youngest player to win two women's major championships. Since turning professional in 2014, Ko has won 15 tournaments. In 2014, Ko was named as one of Time magazine's 100 most influential people. In both 2014 and 2015, Ko has been named in the EspnW Impact25 list of 25 athletes and influencers who have made the greatest impact for women in sports. 
In 2016, Ko was named Young New Zealander of the Year,and in the 2019 New Year Honours, she was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to golf.Professional career After finishing runner-up to Suzann Pettersen in The Evian Championship in France, Ko announced that she would turn pro in 2014. However, on 23 October 2013, she stated in a YouTube video featuring New Zealand rugby player Israel Dagg that she was turning professional immediately and would play her first professional tournament in Florida in mid-November. She had been the top-ranked woman amateur golfer in the world for 130 weeks when she announced she was turning professional on 23 October 2013. She finished tied for 21st in her pro debut at the 2013 CME Group Titleholders. In October 2013, the LPGA Tour granted Ko's request to join the LPGA, waiving the Tour's requirement of members being at least 18 years old. "It is not often that the LPGA welcomes a rookie who is already a back-to-back LPGA Tour champion," tour commissioner Mike Whan said when he granted Ko's request. In November 2013, Ko began working with swing coach David Leadbetter. 2014 
Ko won three tournaments in 2014. On 27 April 2014, she earned her first LPGA Tour win as a professional and her first win on U.S. soil, by winning the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. She celebrated her 17th birthday during this tournament. In July, she won her second tournament of the year, the Marathon Classic. In November 2014, she won her third tournament of the season, the season ending CME Group Tour Championship. She won the LPGA Rookie of the Year. Ko commemorated the occasion with the inscription "IV-XXVII-XIV" (4-27-14 in Roman numerals), on her right wrist.2015 Ko won five times in 2015. On 2 February 2015, she became the No. 1 ranked woman professional golfer after a runner-up finish at the Coates Golf Championship, overtaking Inbee Park. On 22 February 2015, Ko won her first event of the 2015 LPGA Tour season at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open. The win was her sixth on the LPGA Tour, and her ninth victory overall. The following week, Ko returned home and won her tenth professional championship at the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open. The victory in this tournament was her second of the 2015 season, the win was also her third on the Ladies European Tour, and fourth with ALPG Tour. Highlighted in her victory at New Zealand was her LET low-round tying and course record 61 during the second round. 
At the first major of the 2015 season, the ANA Inspiration, Ko shot a 1-under-par 71 in the first round on 2 April, tying her with Annika Sörenstam for the all-time LPGA record for consecutive rounds under par, at 29. Three weeks later, Ko would win her second LPGA Tour event of the 2015 season, when she beat Morgan Pressel in a playoff to win the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic. She would defeat Pressel with birdie on the second playoff hole. The victory was her seventh overall on tour, and her second win at the event in as many years. Her win was also her third win worldwide in 2015. The victory would be the second time she has defended a championship on tour. The playoff win was also her second on tour, bringing her playoff record to 2–0. Ko would go on to miss the cut at the 2015 KPMG Women's PGA Championship. The missed cut would be her first in her fourteen major championship appearances. She would find solid success in her next two major championships with a T12 finish at the 2015 U.S. Women's Open, and a T3 finish at the 2015 Ricoh Women's British Open.
On 23 August 2015, Ko won her third Canadian Pacific Women's Open in a playoff against Stacy Lewis. She defeated Lewis, with par on the first hole of the playoff. The victory was the eighth for Ko on the LPGA Tour, and the third of the 2015 season, and fourth win worldwide for her in 2015. The playoff victory was also her third win in such circumstances, and would bring her career LPGA playoff record to 3–0.On 13 September 2015, Ko won the fifth and final major on the 2015 LPGA calendar, the 2015 Evian Championship. She dominated the final round with eight birdies, winning by six shots over second-place finisher Lexi Thompson. Her 63 was the lowest-ever closing round score in a women's major championship. It was Ko's fourth win on the LPGA Tour in 2015, ninth on the LPGA Tour overall and fourth on the Ladies European Tour. Ko's victory also made her the youngest major champion in the history of the LPGA Tour and the youngest major champion in golf since Young Tom Morris, when he won the 1868 Open Championship. On 26 October 2015, Ko became the youngest player to win 10 events on a major tour at age 18 years, 6 months and 2 days surpassing Horton Smith who set the PGA Tour mark of 21 years, 7 months in 1929, and Nancy Lopez who set the previous LPGA Tour record in 1979 at 22 years, 2 months, 5 days. On 22 November 2015, Ko won the LPGA Rolex Player of the Year Award by two points over Inbee Park, making her the youngest winner in the 49 years of the award. 2016 
Ko at the 2016 Kingsmill Championship
Ko won four times in 2016. Ko's 2016 started where she left off from 2015, winning the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women's Open for a third time in four years by two shots from Choi Hye-jin, Felicity Johnson, and Nanna Koerstz Madsen. Just 11 minutes before she was due to tee off for her final round, an earthquake struck, with Ko vowing to donate her prize money to charity to help those affected.On the LPGA Tour, Ko won the Kia Classic in March with a four-shot margin over Inbee Park, and the following week, on 3 April, she made it consecutive major titles with a one-shot victory at the ANA Inspiration. The win strengthened her position as No. 1 in the world as she became the youngest double major winner in the history of the game since Young Tom Morris at the 1869 Open Championship.[43] Later, she added two more victories on the LPGA Tour at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship and Marathon Classic. In August, she represented New Zealand at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where she won the silver medal. Ko was runner-up for the Vare Trophy (lowest scoring average) for a second consecutive year; however, last year's difference of 0.026 was, literally, twice as much as this year's 0.013 which separated her from winner Chun In-gee. Following the 2016 season, Ko announced that she had signed an equipment sponsorship contract with Parson's Xtreme Golf (PXG), ending her use of Callaway equipment. Ko also announced in December that she had parted ways with both her caddie and swing coach David Leadbetter, who had been coaching Ko since November 2013. 2017 
Ko entered 26 events, did not win a tournament, finished in the top-10 ten times, and her year-end world ranking dropped to ninth. She started her 2017 LPGA Tour season at the ISPS Handa Women's Australian Open where she finished tied for 46th. She then had three consecutive top-10 finishes at the Honda LPGA Thailand, HSBC Women's Champions, and the Bank of Hope Founders Cup. In her fifth event of the season, Ko missed just her second LPGA Tour cut at the Kia Classic with rounds of 74 and 72. She then defended her ANA Inspiration title at the 2017 ANA Inspiration event. She opened with two rounds of 70, followed by a third-round 71, and rounded out the year's first major with a third round of 70 to finish in a tie for 11th place. In her seventh start of 2017, she closed with rounds of 65 and 64 to finish tied for second place at the Lotte Championship, her best finish of the season. She had back-to-back top-10 finishes at the Citibanamex Lorena Ochoa Match Play and Kingsmill Championship where she ended T-9 and T-10, respectively.Ko ended the 2017 season with a scoring average of 68.86 which ranked her No. 9 and a total season earnings of $1,177,450 which put her at No. 13 on the season's money list. This was the fourth consecutive season in which she won at least $1,000,000 and it brought her career earnings to $8,560,344 which ranks her No. 22 on the career money list. The season ending CME Group Tour Championship was Ko's 100th tournament on the LPGA Tour as a professional. In all, she has played 116 tournaments on the LPGA Tour, 100 as a pro and 16 as an amateur. In those 116 tournaments, she won 14 titles, had 12 runner-up finishes, and another 10 third-place finishes, meaning that she had a top-3 finish in roughly one third of the events she has played. Additionally, she accumulated 64 top-10 finishes and amassed career earnings of $8,560,344 which ranks her No. 22 on the LPGA Tour career money list. After just 14 LPGA tournaments (22 worldwide tournaments), Ko broke into the Rolex Rankings top-10 at No. 7 by winning her second Tour title on 25 August 2013. She has remained in the Rolex Rankings top-10 for the last 231 consecutive weeks (or 4 years, 4 months and 27 days), as of 22 January 2018. Then after her first 44 LPGA tournaments, Ko ascended to the world No. 1 ranking for the first time on 2 February 2015. She was the world No. 1 for 85 weeks until June 2017. 2018 
Ko entered 26 tournaments, won once, at the LPGA Mediheal Championship, and finished in the top-10 ten times, and did not win a major championship tournament.2019 Ko entered 24 events, did not win a tournament, and finished in the top-10 four times. 2020 Ko entered 13 tournaments, won no events, and finished in the top-10 four times. 2021 Ko entered 20 LPGA events, winning once. She won no major championships. In April, Ko won her first LPGA Tour event since 2018 at the 2021 Lotte Championship, Hawaii. In August, Ko represented New Zealand at the 2021 Summer Olympics, where she won a bronze medal.[50] Ko won the 2021 Vare Trophy for the lowest scoring average on the LPGA Tour. She closed the trophy out in November by finishing second in a playoff at the Pelican Women's Championship and shooting a final round 64 to finish in the top 10 at the CME Group Tour Championship. Nelly Korda and Ko Jin-young both finished the year with lower scoring averages than Ko but neither completed the required 70 rounds over the season to be eligible for the trophy. 2022 Ko secured her 17th LPGA win on 30 January at the Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, beating longtime friend Danielle Kang by one stroke, 274 (14 under par) to Kang's 275 in a back-and-forth lead in the fourth round that had Ko take the lead with a birdie on the 15th, each birdied the 16th, then pars on both the 17th and 18th. The 17th win ranked her tied for 32nd on the career wins list. With the $300,000 earned, she jumped from 10th to 9th in the all-time LPGA winnings with $12,668,796. She earned $37,842 in a tie for 10th place in the first tournament of the year the previous week. Amateur wins (6) 2011 Australian Womens' Amateur Stroke Play Championship, New Zealand Women's Amateur Strokeplay Championship, New Zealand Women's Amateur Matchplay Championship 2012 Australian Women's Amateur, U.S. Women's Amateur, Espirito Santo Trophy (top individual) Professional wins (23) 
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