Lydia Ko has qualified for the LPGA Hall of Fame in epic fashion. While many sports Halls of Fame are decided in boardrooms and by ballot, LPGA players literally play their way in. No room for opinions.
Needing a win in France to advance to the final round of the Paris Olympics to score the final point needed to meet the 27-point target, Ko finished the round in style, winning by two points to claim her third Olympic medal after winning silver in 2016 and bronze in 2021.
What did it take for the once-stellar New Zealander to engrave her name into one of the toughest halls in all of sport? Nothing less than a whole lot of history.
Point distribution
How have Ko’s accolades impacted her career in the LPGA Hall of Fame?
LPGA regular season tournament titles are worth one point each. Ko has won 18 of these titles. Majors are worth two points each. Ko won the 2015 Evian Championship and the 2016 ANA Inspiration, giving her a total of four points in this category.
Starting in 2022, an Olympic gold medal is worth one point. The remaining five points come from her awards during the season: 2015 Rolex Player of the Year, 2021 Vare Trophy, 2022 Rolex Player of the Year and 2022 Vare Trophy.
The beginning
Ko won her first LPGA title 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 a week after She won the US Women’s Amateur. Earlier this year, at the age of 14, she won a Ladies European Tour event.
Ko, of course, also won the CN Canadian Women’s Open the following year, even though she was still an amateur. She won four professional titles as an amateur and finally turned professional in October 2013. She was No. 1 in the Women’s World Amateur Golf Rankings for 130 weeks.
Youngest since Young Tom Morris
Ko continued to receive “youngest player” accolades as a professional. In 2015, in her second full season on the LPGA, she won five times, including the Evian Championship. Her final-round 63 was the lowest final-round score at an LPGA major. Even more notable, she became the youngest player to win an LPGA major at 18 years, 4 months and 20 days. In fact, she is the second-youngest player to win a major in all of golf, surpassed only by Young Tom Morris at the 1868 British Open Championship at age 17.
The following year, she became the youngest woman to win two majors when she won the ANA Inspiration at 18 years, 11 months and 9 days, again behind only Young Tom Morris.
Those early years on the LPGA were spectacular. When she won the Fubon LPGA Taiwan Championship in 2015 at 18 years, 6 months and 1 day, she became the youngest player to reach 10 LPGA victories in her career.
Youngest No. 1
Ko has been ranked No. 1 in the world three times. When she first rose to No. 1 on February 2, 2015, she did not yet have a driver’s license. At 17 years, 9 months and 9 days old, she was the youngest player – male or female – to rise to No. 1. Tiger Woods previously held the record of 21, which he set in 1997.
Her longest time at the top of the world rankings lasted from autumn 2015 to June 2017, when she spent 104 consecutive weeks at number 1.
After a long break, she returned in November 2022 and had a comeback season for the ages. During a three-year dry spell, Ko fell to No. 59 in the rankings. No player in history has lasted longer between appearances at No. 1 than Ko – a testament to her resilience.
Where it falls in the hall
Ko was only the 35th player to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame and only the 25th player to earn 27 HOF points. Nine women have been inducted as honorary members (eight LPGA founders and popular entertainer Dinah Shore).
And it wouldn’t be a knockout show without the distinction of being the youngest contestant. At 27 years, 3 months and 17 days old, she is the youngest contestant to be inducted into the Hall under current criteria.
It’s worth noting, however, that before March 2022, players had to be active on tour for 10 years before being eligible for the LPGA Hall of Fame. Karrie Webb actually reached 27 points at age 25, but had to wait until 2005 (at age 30) before meeting the 10-year requirement.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: 5 things you should know about Lydia Ko’s record-breaking path to the LPGA Hall of Fame
