What REALLY Happened To Lydia Ko's Career?

Turning pro at 16 and ranking #1 in  women's golf at just 17 years old,   what happened to Lydia Ko’s golfing career? In today’s video we'll get to know the intriguing   career of Lydia Ko – from her meteoric rise to  the challenges she faced in recent years. She   was the teen sensation who took the golfing world  by storm. But before we continue, what happened to   Lydia Ko’s 7 stroke penalty? And the frustration  she displayed during the game! Be sure to finish   this video, because we’re spilling some facts. Who is Lydia Ko?   At the age of four, Lydia Ko and her  family moved from Seoul, South Korea,   and settled in New Zealand. When she was five  years old, her aunt from Australia introduced   her to golf for the first time. She began competing in golf events   in the under-19 group when she was just  eight years old because she was so good.   She achieved a major career milestone in 2009,  when she was eleven years old, by winning the   North Island Women's U19 Championship. Over the years that followed, her fame grew,   and in 2011, she became the undisputed champion  of the amateur circuit. She broke records as   the youngest player to win a professional  golf tournament at the age of fourteen.   Throughout her early career, Ko won a slew of  more tours. After announcing her intention to   turn professional, Ko joined the tour in  2014. In 2013, she made her professional   golfing debut at the LPGA CME Titleholders. She  went on to win the Evian Championship in 2015,   which was two years later. Her Early Golfing Career   Lydia Ko became the youngest player to ever win  a professional golf tour event—female or male—at   the age of fourteen when she won the NSW Open in  Sydney by a margin of four strokes. Unprecedented   for an amateur, she added two more victories  a year later. Until Tiger Woods became number   one at the age of 21, Lydia had already broken  records as the youngest player to ever reach the   top spot in the Women's World Golf Rankings at the  age of seventeen. That year, she made history as   the youngest female golfer to ever win a major  championship when she won the Evian Championship   in France. The lowest final-round score ever was  her 63 in the fourth round. (With a final-round   score of 62 at the ANA Inspiration in  2021, she shattered that record.)   After 130 weeks as the top-ranked female  amateur golfer, Lydia won so quickly that   the LPGA relaxed its standard requirement  that athletes must be 18 years old to turn   professional. Lydia turned pro on October 13,  2013, at the age of 16 years and 172 days. She   was a competitor at the Olympic Games in  both Rio and Tokyo, where she took home   silver and bronze medals. Almost one hundred  top-ten finishes have been hers. Additionally,   she ranks among the top female golfers of all  time in terms of prize money earned, with over   $16 million. Keeping in mind that Lydia is just  26 years old can be challenging at times.   Lydia Ko never wanted to be referred to  as a sporting prodigy, even when she was   a record-breaking adolescent. She won a major  championship when she was just fifteen years old,   making her the youngest female golfer in course  history. She won the Women's World Golf Rankings   title when she was just seventeen years old.  Moreover, in 2016, during the Olympics in Rio   de Janeiro, she achieved her maiden hole-in-one.  Lydia has had to confront the challenges of being   an elite athlete head-on, including the difficulty  of maintaining winning streaks. She has reclaimed   the top rank and is now 26 years old, planning to  retire. But first, in the year 2024, she will be   traveling to Paris in the hopes of winning big. We know we promised you a reveal later on,   but what did you think happened in the game  that leads her to receiving 7 penalties? Share   your thoughts in the comments below! Lydia Ko’s Net Worth and Earnings   Ko has a total of $17,438,722 in earnings  during her career, putting her $561,278   behind LPGA Hall of Famer Inbee Park, according  to the official website of the LPGA. To add to   her accomplishment, she became the fifth  player to reach the $17 million mark.   In 2015 and 2022, Ko also won money on the LPGA  Tour. Lydia Ko is the youngest person to ever   attain the level of success she has in golf—and  yet, her financial details are less publicized   than those of male golfers, even though she  is just as accomplished as any of them.   Lydia Ko has one win, three top ten finishes,  and $496,030 in earnings so far this year,   according to her official LPGA profile. She  started her season with a $95,907 prize from   the Blue Bay LPGA, where she tied for fourth  place. Afterwards, she competed in the HSBC   Women's World Championship, where she tied for  34th place and took home $11,414. But she lost   the LPGA Drive On Championship solo to Nelly Korda  and took home $163,689. After much competition,   she became victorious at the $225,000 Hilton  Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions.   Taking home an astonishing $2 million of the $7  million total in first place, Lydia Ko won the CME   Group Tour Championship in 2022, the year with the  highest prize money. She beat Leona Maguire by two   strokes with a total score of 271, which was less  than 17. She had previously won the event in 2014,   taking home half of the $2 million prize  pool. This was her second time around.   Her major Championships Throughout her time playing on   the LPGA Tour, Lydia Ko has claimed two major  titles. At the age of eighteen, Ko stunned the   world at the 2015 Evian Championship in France,  where she won her maiden major title. She overcame   a six-stroke deficit to defeat Lexi Thompson  with a final-round score of 63. With a final   round score of 63, she became the first player in  major championship history to achieve this feat,   and her 72-hole score of -16 was the lowest in  relation to par ever recorded in a major event.   In 2016, Ko achieved her second major title  at the ANA Inspiration in California. This   tournament was formerly called the Kraft Nabisco  Championship. Her thrilling victory came after   she forced a playoff with Ariya Jutanugarn with  a birdie on the 72nd hole. After that, Ko won the   championship with a birdie on the opening playoff  hole. After this triumph, Ko became the youngest   player since 1869's Young Tom Morris to win two  major championships, regardless of gender.   We’re almost at the end! Do you  have any ideas yet? Stay tuned!   What’s next in Lydia Ko's career? Lydia Ko will have another opportunity   to make history at the Blue Bay LPGA in China.  The 26-year-old is in a three-way tie for first   place at 12-under par at the Jian Lake Blue Bay  Golf Course, with American Sarah Schmelzel and   Bailey Tardy. In the last round, she has a  chance to win her 21st career tournament,   which would give her 27 points and automatically  qualify her for the LPGA Hall of Fame.   With 25 overall Hall of Fame points  going into the 2023 LPGA Tour season,   just two shy of automatically qualifying, Ko  had three points to her name after winning the   2022 CME Group Tour Championship, which also  earned her the Vare Trophy and Rolex Player of   the Year awards. Despite having a rough year on  the LPGA Tour without a victory, Ko still needed   two points to achieve the feat by season's  conclusion. She wasted little time getting   that taken care of as 2024 rolled around. As we come to an end, what happened to Lydia   Ko’s 7 penalty strokes? The former world number  one was humiliated by an unpleasant mistake and   received seven penalty strokes, which was a  strange turn of events. Ko has now resorted   to social media in an effort to clarify the  increasing speculation around the incident.   Lydia Ko was comfortably positioned in  the twenty-fourth slot on the leaderboard   before the start of the final round of  the 2023 Dana Open. With scores of 67,   68, and 72, she had a solid chance to jump up  the leaderboard in the last 18 holes. However,   Ko's optimism was quickly crushed when she learned  on the eleventh hole that she had used preferred   lies incorrectly multiple times throughout the  day! On the fourth day, preferred lies were in   fact in place, though only on holes 1 and 10.  Midway through the round, on holes 3, 4, and 9,   the 19-time LPGA champion ended up playing them!  She was penalized three times for two strokes   after being "played from a wrong place on each of  those holes," according to an LPGA representative   who talked with Golf Digest. Ko requested a rule  after the ball was snatched off her racket on No.   11. After that, it was put back where it had  been, and she ended up losing a stroke.   The golfer admitted her mistake on her  Instagram story. "I can honestly say that   last Sunday's events were far from my most  astute," she wrote. "However, I take full   responsibility for my mistake; and although  it's frustrating, the seven-stroke penalty   I got was fair because I played preferred  lies on holes where I shouldn't have."   Lydia Ko's career is a fascinating  story of early success, challenges,   and an ongoing comeback. Whether she reaches  the same heights as before or not, her impact on   the sport is undeniable. What do you think lies  ahead for Lydia Ko? Let us know in the comments   below. Thanks for watching! If you enjoyed this  video, give it a thumbs up and share it with   your friends. And don't forget to subscribe  for more stories from the world of sports.