Lydia Ko was born on 24 April 1997 in Seoul, South Korea to parents Ko Gil-hong and Hyeon Bong-sook. However, she immigrated with her family to New Zealand when she was four, and gained New Zealand citizenship at age 12.
Ko began playing golf as a five-year-old when her mother took her into a pro shop at the Pupuke Golf Club on Auckland’s North Shore owned by professional Guy Wilson, who coached her until 22 December 2013.
Ko was a seven-year-old in March 2005 when she first came to the attention of the media, for competing in the New Zealand national amateur championships.
Ko was educated at Mairangi Bay Primary and Pinehurst School in Albany, New Zealand, and when she joined the professional golf tour she took correspondence classes with Pinehurst.
On 29 January 2012, Ko became the youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event by winning the Bing Lee/Samsung Women’s NSW Open on the ALPG Tour, having won the tournament whe she was just 14 years.
Ko’s record as the youngest winner of a professional event was broken later in 2012 by 14-year-old Canadian Brooke Henderson, who won the second event on that year’s Canadian Women’s Tour on 13 June.