Success in golf is not dictated by height and that’s the beauty of the game, it can be played by people of all shapes and sizes.
On the LPGA Tour, the average height of players is 5’ 6” or 1.67m. People might expect that tall golfers have a distinct advantage over shorter players, if anything by their commanding presence, but this is not the case.
You only need to take a look at the world’s top 3 players and 2023 Major winners on the Rolex World Rankings. Topping the list is Lilia Vu, who stands at just 5’ 4”/1.64m. Ruoning Yin cuts an extremely petite figure at only 5' 2"/1.57m), and Celine Boutier is the same height as Lilia Vu.
It’s true that tall golfers can leverage their natural advantage of longer limbs to create a larger swing arc and if applied correctly, this can generate substantial force for booming drives.
The best example of such a player, and joint tallest currently competing on the LPGA Tour, is Lexi Thompson, who stands at 6ft/1.83m. Thompson’s driving distance is one of the biggest strengths of her game and for over 10 years Lexi has ranked inside the top 10 on the distance charts with each drive averaging around 275 yards.
Matching Thompson in height is Anna Nordqvist and while Nordqvist doesn’t match Thompson in driving distance, the nine-time winner on the LPGA Tour and stalwart of the European Solheim Cup team, has achieved incredible success since turning pro in 2009.
If Michelle Wie West was still competing, she would edge out Thompson and Nordqvist as the tallest, standing at a tad over 6ft/1.85m, but it’s hard to believe that any female professional golfer will ever stand as tall as the late Carol Mann. At 1.90 metres, the two-time Major winner towered over her competitors.
Tallest Players On The LPGA Tour
- Lexi Thompson - 6ft/1.83m
- Anna Nordqvist - 6ft/1.83m
- Jessica Korda - 5ft 9"/1.8m
- Nelly Korda - 5ft 8"/1.78m
- Angel Yin - 5ft 7"/1.75m
- Chun In-gee - 5ft 7"/1.75m
- Allisen Corpuz - 5ft 7"/1.75m
- Olivia Cowan - 5ft 7"/1.75m
- Hae Ran Ryu - 5ft 7"/1.75m
