If you’re ever trying to find out who the youngest player ever to do anything was in women’s golf, just guess Lydia Ko. You’ll almost definitely be right.  

The reigning Women’s Open and Olympic champion was the youngest world no.1 across the entire sport at 17 and became the youngest ever female major winner at 18.

Ko is already a living legend as she defends her Women’s Open title this weekCredit: Getty

Now 28, she is already in the LPGA Hall of Fame and a Dame in her native New Zealand. Again, making her the youngest person to do both of those things.

Ko is just on a different life timeline to everyone else. So perhaps it should not be a surprise that she is still thinking about retiring soon – even if she is the current world no.3.

“I honestly don’t know when my last event is going to be,” she told talkSPORT ahead of the Women’s Open starting on Thursday.

“I do have more of the freedom of what tournaments I want to play versus when I was a rookie 12 years ago.

“But I think even if I wasn’t a Hall of Famer, over time, you just realise and understand your body a little bit more. I think it just comes with time outside of just my career as a whole.

“I’ve always wanted to leave the game while I still love it or still enjoy it. Because I don’t want to stop playing because I just purely don’t like it anymore.

“Golf has given me a lot in my life and made me experience so many different things that I probably wouldn’t have if I wasn’t a golfer. So I don’t want to step away because I don’t even want to see my golf clubs anymore.

“So I think the ambition is that I want to retire when I’m still playing well, and I still have the passion for the game. And I’m not really sure exactly when that time is going to be, but it’s closer than the start.”

Her fellow Open champion on the men’s side – Scottie Scheffler – attracted much attention for questioning whether being really good at golf actually fulfils him.

Ko has been banging that drum for years – and she knew exactly what Scheffler meant.

Ko doesn’t define herself by her golf game anymoreCredit: Getty

“Scottie is an unbelievable athlete and incredible golfer, but it just seems like he’s a great person and he’s really down to earth and has a great perspective,” Ko said.

“Yes, as a competitor, he wants to be the best golfer he can be. And I mean, he’s showing that right now, but he would rather be a good father or good husband. And I think that just shows what kind of person he is.

“For me, meeting my husband was a switch for me where I realised there was more to life than just golf.

“My family has always been really invested in golf as well. So I think golf has been the centre of everything in our lives.

“But now meeting my husband, he’s given me a new perspective to know that there is a lot more out there.

“As difficult as it may seem, the score I shoot on the golf course doesn’t reflect who I am as a person. So I think he has made me realise that.

Ko’s husband has been a huge influence on how she lives her lifeCredit: Getty

“And still, to this day, I’m still learning that and trying to embrace that more. But I think he was really the big key for me.”

Ko’s husband happens to be from one of the most powerful business families in South Korea.

Jun Chung, who met Ko in 2020 and married her in 2022, is the son of Hyundai Card vice-chairman and CEO Ted Chung.

With a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the Claremont McKenna College in California, this is a man who knows how to juggle work with other interests.

When asked what retirement would look like for her, Ko said: “Being a little bit more settled at one place and spending time with family and spending more time with my husband as well, because I feel like we’re still dating, with me playing and him having a full-time job.

“This week is the first time he’s come out and watched me play this year. So I would like to experience what it’s like just being at home. He might tell me to go out a little bit if he sees me too much.

“But I think sometimes if you don’t experience what’s normal to you, you want to experience something else.”

What is left for Lydia Ko?

Ko won two major titles pretty quickly but had to wait eight years for the third at St Andrews in 2024.

All three wins came at different majors – leaving just the US Open and the PGA Championship between her and the career grand slam.

Between her Women’s Open win and her defence at Royal Porthcawl in Wales, Rory McIlroy became the sixth player to win the men’s career grand slam at the Masters.

And Ko reacted like a woman who knew what McIlroy was feeling as he sunk to his knees on the 18th green.

“Watching Rory do the grand slam at the Masters and seeing the emotions and trying to understand what he may have felt for the past few years… It’s pretty crazy. And it honestly brought tears to my eyes,” Ko said.

Ko was in tears watching McIlroy celebrate sinking the winning puttCredit: Getty

“And that was an inspiration. So that is one of my goals. But, if I win, defend this championship this week, that’s four majors, but I’m not doing the grand slam.

“So winning each and every major, like every different major is hard, you know, winning five majors is hard.

“So it’s like whether that happens or not, that’s not going to be the dictator on like, whether I retire or not.

“But that is definitely the goal.”