It seems remarkable that an elite sport star is even considering retiring at the age of 26 - save for all those gymnasts out there - especially with a couple of Major championships in the trophy cabinet and 27 wins on either the LPGA or Ladies European Tour. Yet, Lydia Ko is a pretty remarkable person.
Not long after turning pro as a 16-year-old in 2013, Ko became the youngest golfer - male or female - ever to become World No.1, aged 17 years, nine months, and nine days. As a result, she is destined to be known as one of the best ever to do it whenever she does choose to put her clubs in the garage for good.
At the time of her meteoric rise to the summit of women's golf, Ko mentioned she had designs on retiring at 30. However, with her 27th birthday less than two months away, she could be reconsidering. Mind you, she may also opt to call time even earlier.
Speaking to Golf.com's 'SubPar' podcast from her home this week, Ko was discussing the subject of retirement and whether her mind had changed at all from that point nine years ago.
Asked by 'SubPar' co-host Drew Stoltz if she had ambitions to play for 20 more years, Ko replied: “To be honest, no. I think when I was younger, I said I want to retire when I’m 30, and now that I’m inching closer to 30, I’m like, four years is still a long time from now.
"I’m honestly taking it by the day and taking it by the week. When that happens, you’re almost, like, in the middle of the year and then you’re done with the majors and all that. So I don’t really have a certain, I think, date when I want to retire."
Off the back of her first win of 2024 at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions and a near miss at the recent Drive On Championship, the New Zealander is opting to take this week off while her rivals battle it out at the Honda LPGA Thailand.
As for the remainder of the year, Ko - who also won the inaugural Grant Thornton Invitational with Jason Day just before Christmas - is looking forward to having a crack at the three Majors she has come so close to lifting but is yet to manage.
Beyond that, the South Korean-born player is simply going to take it one tournament at a time.
Continuing to chat about retirement, Ko said: “For every single player, I think that until that moment comes, you really don’t know. Like, I could say 30, or, like, 28, but who knows, I could play until like 35.
"That’s the beauty of golf, is that as long as we’re healthy and fit, we can really do this for a long time and age is maybe not as relevant as in sports like swimming or other sports.
"I don’t really know when [I'll retire], but I do feel like I’m definitely past the halfway point in my career.”
