Lydia: Would you (please) stay for the 2028 Olympics?

Last month would have to be one of the greatest in New Zealand golf history — and it was all down to Lydia Ko.

There were two momentous occasions with Ko winning the gold medal at the Olympics in France and a fortnight later taking out the Women’s Open in Scotland.

The latter win was was made all the more notable because it was held at St Andrews which is considered the home of golf and even Ko herself described it as a fairytale-like result.

Ko has been such a dominant force on the world golfing stage that probably all of us wondered what was going wrong when a year would go by without a win.

There was a time when Ko changed coaches and caddies at what seemed like as often as changes of the weather but there is now no doubt she has clearly achieved golfing greatness.

Her win at the Olympics saw her gain entry to the Ladies’ Professional Golf Association (LPGA) hall of fame at the age of 27 which set a new benchmark.

There are now 35 members of the hall of fame and Ko is the youngest to be inducted under the current criteria after gaining the necessary 27 points.

Prior to March, 2022, induction criteria included the requirement that a player be active on the LPGA Tour for 10 years. Karrie Webb of Australia reached the 27-point threshold at age 25 with her victory at the 2000 US Women’s Open but did not reach the 10-year requirement until age 30 in 2005.

Ko has been setting records all her golf career.

She is the youngest to attain the No 1 world ranking of either gender in professional golf. She did that in 2015 when aged 17 years and nine months.

In 2012 she became the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour when she won the Canadian Open at the age of 15 years and four months. That record has since been beaten.

The Canadian Open is one of Ko’s favourites. She won the tournament again in 2013, while still an amateur, and racked up a third win in 2015.

Ko probably gained world attention when winning the New South Wales Open in 2012. She was aged 14 and at the time was the youngest person to win a professional golf tournament.

Ko’s win at St Andrews was her third in a major championship. Her previous major win was eight years earlier in the 2016 Chevron Championship (then known as the ANA Inspiration) in California while her first came at the Evian Championship in France in 2015.

The list of Ko’s achievements just goes on and on. She has previously said she cannot imagine herself playing professionally beyond the age of 30 and it’s hard to argue with that even though we would like to see her continuing playing and winning beyond that mark.

Is there anything left for Ko to achieve? Probably not but one or two more majors would be nice.

The only thing I think of is that the 2028 Olympics are to be held at the Riviera Country Club in Los Angeles. That would be a year after she has turned 30 but if she was still in form it would be a great venue to say goodbye.