Jin Young Ko: Player Profile
Who is Jin Young Ko?
Jin Young Ko is a two-time major champion and the woman with the most weeks as the World No 1 in history.
Born in Seoul, South Korea in July 1995, Ko took up the game as a 7-year-old, thanks to her parents. She had a promising amateur career, and turned professional at the age of 18, before going on to win several times on the LPGA Tour of Korea, along with finishing runner-up at the Ricoh Women’s British Open in only her second major championship.
Ko’s 12 wins on the LPGA Tour of Korea, go alongside her 15 victories on the LPGA Tour. Two of those are major titles, with the South Korean having won the ANA Inspiration (now Chevron Championship) and Evian Championship (now Amundi Evian Championship due to sponsorship) in the space of four months in 2019.
She has spent more weeks at the summit of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings than any other female golfer, having held the World No 1 position for a total of more than three years. Two CME Group Tour Championship wins add to her incredible resume, one that has seen Ko win the LPGA Rookie of the Year and Player of the Year.
Jin Young Ko | An Overview
Personal Information
Name: Jin Young Ko
Born: July 7, 1995
Nationality: South Korea
Residence: Frisco, Texas, United States
Career
Turned Pro: 2013
Professional Wins: 26
Highest World Ranking: 1 – April 1, 2019
Best Results In Majors
Best Finishes:
– Chevron Championship – WON (2019)
– Women’s PGA Championship – T11 (2018)
– US Women’s Open – T2 (2020)
– Amundi Evian Championship – WON (2019)
– AIG Women’s Open – T2 (2015)
Professional Wins – 26
2014 (1) – Nefs Masterpiece
2015 (3) – Nexen-Saint Nine Masters, KyoChon Honey Ladies Open, Chojung Sparkling-Yongpyong Resort Open
2016 (4) – KG-Edaily Ladies Open, BMW Ladies Championship, Hite Jinro Championship, World Ladies Championship
2017 (3) – Jeju Samdasoo Masters, BMW Ladies Championship, LPGA KEB-HANA Bank Championship
2018 (1) – ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open
2019 (5) – Bank of Hope Founders Cup, ANA Inspiration, Amundi Evian Championship, CP Women’s Open, Hite Jinro Championship
2020 (1) – CME Group Tour Championship
2021 (5) – Volunteers of America Classic, Cambia Portland Classic, Cognizant Founders Cup, BMW Ladies Championship, CME Group Tour Championship
2022 (1) – HSBC Women’s World Championship
2023 (2) – HSBC Women’s World Championship, Cognizant Founders Cup
Achievements and Awards
LPGA Rookie of the Year – 2018
LPGA Player of the Year – 2019, 2021
LPGA Vare Trophy – 2019
LPGA Tour Money Leader – 2019, 2020, 2021
Race to CME Globe – 2020, 2021
Rolex Annika Major Award – 2019
Jin Young Ko | What’s In Her Bag?
The South Korean is a free agent when it comes to equipment, so her bag features a number of brands. A Titleist driver and hybrid are joined by a pair of Callaway Epic Flash fairway woods, along with Bridgestone irons and Ping wedges.
You can read our full article on the clubs Jin Young Ko uses here.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) about Jin Young Ko
When and where was Jin Young Ko born?
Jin Young Ko was born in Seoul, South Korea in July 1995. She began playing golf at the age of 7, thanks to her parents’ involvement in the sport.
When did Jin Young Ko turn professional?
Jin Young Ko turned professional in 2013 and immediately became a leading star on the LPGA Tour of Korea, claiming her first win less than a year later.
How many major championships has Jin Young Ko won?
As of March 2024, Jin Young Ko is a two-time major winner. She won the ANA Inspiration (now Chevron Championship) and Evian Championship in a four-month spell in 2019. In total, Ko has won 26 times as a professional, with 15 of those coming on the LPGA Tour.
Did you Know?
Longest at World No 1
Jin Young Ko holds the record for sitting at the top of the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings. She has spent 163 weeks, more than three years, at the summit, and overtook Lorena Ochoa’s previous record of 158 weeks in the summer of 2023.
Bogey-Free Record
Incredibly, the South Korean went 114 holes without making a bogey across a two-week stint in 2019. She went bogey-free during her victory at the Canadian Women’s Open, and then added another two rounds without dropping a shot at the Cambia Portland Classic.
Tour Member Debut Win
Although she had already secured a victory on the tour, thanks to a co-sanctioned event between the LPGA Tour and LPGA Tour of Korea, Ko then went on to win on her debut on the LPGA Tour as a tour member.
That victory came at the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open, and she became just the second player to ever do so, joining 1951 Eastern Open victor Beverly Hanson.
Other Jin Young Ko Articles
What do you make of Jin Young Ko’s career so far? Can the South Korean win more major championships? Let us know your thoughts with a post on X, formerly Twitter!
Matt Coles
Mention a European country, and Matt will tell you which resorts make the National Club Golfer Top 100s: European Resorts list. He might even throw in who designed the golf course and how many rooms the hotel has got at each one…
Matt got into the game of golf from a young age, following his old man to the local golf club. He fell for the sport, and now can’t seem to go a day without thinking about how to improve his game (Thanks Dad!). Matt has been a member of Howley Hall GC in Leeds since 2020, and is just about managing to maintain a single-figure handicap. He likes to remind people that he once broke 75, but won’t tell people that it was on a shortened course during the winter.
He moved to Leeds after graduating from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours degree in Sports Journalism. Matt joined NCG after almost five years travelling the world with the Professional Squash Association, working on events in all four corners of the globe.
Matt currently plays a Cobra King LTDx driver and RadSpeed 3-wood. TaylorMade monopolise the rest of his bag, with a SIM UDI, M5 irons and both Milled Grind and HI-TOE wedges, along with a Monza Redline putter. He uses a Vice Pro Plus golf ball, because he’s a bit different…
Away from golf, Matt is a Manchester United fan, and a keen runner, having ran the Rob Burrow Leeds Marathon (his first and possibly last), in May 2023.
