Lydia Ko, the prodigy from New Zealand, has done it again, this time clinching her spot in the LPGA Hall of Fame!
At the sprightly age of 27, Ko turned heads, dropped jaws, and set hearts racing by bagging a gold medal at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, ticking off the final point needed to join the golfing greats in the hall of fame.
With her gold medal at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Lydia Ko has reached the 27 points necessary for induction into the LPGA Hall of Fame.
With a career as dazzling as the medals and trophies she’s racked up, Ko’s story reads like a script from a sports fairy tale.
The 27-year-old New Zealand native achieved this milestone through a stellar career that includes LPGA Hall of Fame points earned for 20 LPGA Tour victories, highlighted by two major championship titles, two Rolex LPGA Player of the Year awards, twice earning the Glenna Collett Vare Trophy for the season’s lowest scoring average and now the Olympic gold medal.
Ko becomes the 35th individual enshrined in the LPGA Hall of Fame, joining the ranks of the most accomplished and influential athletes in the history of women’s golf.
Ko is now a three-time Olympic medalist, taking silver at the 2016 Summer Games in Brazil and bronze at the 2020 Summer Games in Japan.
On the LPGA Tour, Ko has amassed 20 LPGA Tour victories since 2012, including major titles at the 2015 Amundi Evian Championship and the 2016 Chevron Championship.
Since bursting onto the scene, Lydia has been rewriting the record books. Remember the 2012 CPKC Women’s Open?
At just 15, she wasn’t just playing with the big guns—she was outshooting them, becoming the youngest ever to win an LPGA Tour event.
And as if that wasn’t enough to make us feel like underachievers, she sauntered to the top of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings in 2015 at a mere 17 years old. Talk about making the rest of us look like we’re moving in slow motion!
Ko has seven wins on the Ladies European Tour, five wins on the WPGA Tour of Australasia and one win on the Korean LPGA Tour.
She also partnered with Jason Day to win the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational, a mixed-team unofficial event featuring PGA Tour and LPGA Tour stars, in December 2023.
Now, at 27 years, 3 months, and 17 days, Ko has become the youngest player to be inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame, according to its current criteria.
Prior to March 2022, induction criteria included the requirement that a player be active on Tour for 10 years.
Karrie Webb reached the 27-point threshold at age 25 with her victory at the 2000 U.S. Women’s Open but did not reach the 10-year requirement until age 30 in 2005.
“Lydia’s qualification into the LPGA Hall of Fame isn’t just a milestone in her extraordinary career; it’s a testament to her generational talent, having built an unmatched resume of success at such a young age,” said LPGA Commissioner Mollie Marcoux Samaan.
“Beyond her unprecedented achievements on the golf course, Lydia has inspired so many through her perseverance, kindness, generosity, and commitment to leaving the game better than she found it.
She is a role model to us all and particularly to young girls, to whom she has shown what a true champion is, in sport and in life.
Cementing her place in the Hall of Fame by winning the gold medal here in Paris is iconic, and it is something we will all remember for a long time.
We are immensely proud of Lydia’s achievements and the impact she’s made on the world of golf and in global sports.”
| Lydia Ko’s Road to the LPGA Hall of Fame | ||
| Year | Tournament Name | Points |
| 2012 | CPKC Women’s Open | 1 |
| 2013 | CPKC Women’s Open | 1 (2) |
| 2014 | Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic | 1 (3) |
| 2014 | Dana Open | 1 (4) |
| 2014 | CME Group Tour Championship | 1 (5) |
| 2015 | ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open | 1 (6) |
| 2015 | Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic | 1 (7) |
| 2015 | CPKC Women’s Open | 1 (8) |
| 2015 | Amundi Evian Championship | 2 (10) |
| 2015 | Taiwan Swinging Skirts LPGA | 1 (11) |
| 2015 | Rolex Player of the Year | 1 (12) |
| 2016 | Kia Classic | 1 (13) |
| 2016 | The Chevron Championship | 2 (15) |
| 2016 | Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G | 1 (16) |
| 2016 | Dana Open | 1 (17) |
| 2018 | LPGA MEDIHEAL Championship | 1 (18) |
| 2021 | LOTTE Championship | 1 (19) |
| 2021 | Glenna Collett Vare Trophy | 1 (20) |
| 2022 | Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio | 1 (21) |
| 2022 | BMW Ladies Championship | 1 (22) |
| 2022 | CME Group Tour Championship | 1 (23) |
| 2022 | Rolex Player of the Year | 1 (24) |
| 2022 | Glenna Collett Vare Trophy | 1 (25) |
| 2024 | Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions | 1 (26) |
| 2024 | Gold Medalist at the Paris Olympic | 1 (27) |
The most recent inductees of the LPGA Hall of Fame were Lorena Ochoa and eight of the LPGA Tour’s original Founding Members.
Ochoa had earned enough points to qualify when she retired in 2010 after eight seasons but did not receive enshrinement until the 10-year requirement was lifted in 2022.
These nine women were honoured in March 2022 for their years with the LPGA Tour.
Prior to that, Inbee Park was the last player enshrined in the LPGA Hall of Fame when she earned the honour in 2016.
To qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame, members of the LPGA Tour must meet a minimum point threshold of 27 points, earned by the following criteria:
- Must have won/been awarded at least one of the following titles/honours
- An LPGA Tour major championship
- Glenna Collett Vare Trophy
- Rolex Player of the Year
- Must have accumulated a total of 27 points
- One point for each LPGA Tour official tournament win
- Two points for each LPGA Tour major tournament win
- One point for each Glenna Collett Vare Trophy honour earned
- One point for each Rolex Player of the Year honor earned
- One point for an Olympic gold medal
