The youngest person ever to win a professional golf tour event. The youngest person ever to win an LPGA Tour event. The youngest player to be ranked number one. And now, the youngest woman to win a major championship, after -yes, another record - a record lowest final round in a women's golf major.
We all know her story. A young phenom, with superb dedication to her craft - honed for hours on end on the driving range and practice green. Everyone is also well aware of her dominance and consistency on the LPGA Tour.
However, what is worth noting is how Ko is stamping her mark on the world stage. What parts of her golfing game put her well above the rest, and where has the hours of training paid off the most?
Putting aside the obvious (consistency), and the unmeasurable (mentality), here are Ko's strongest elements of her all-round golfing game.
Iron Play
Quite simply, Ko's unerring accuracy with her irons is stunning.
Ko reaches the green in regulation 77.2% of the time - the best on the LPGA Tour. It's a skill she had improved from last season, where her 74.1% accuracy marked her seventh.
With a steady, near mechanically-perfect backswing, Ko's long and short irons stop on a dime, and is a core component of her consistency as she rarely has to escape from murky positions.
Not the longest or most accurate driver (more on that later), Ko's ability to reach the green from tougher situations than her competitors is impressive, and creates herself a large dose of make-able birdie putts.
Lydia Ko's accuracy with her irons is superb. Photo / Getty
Putting
Tied into Ko's accurate iron play are the putts which result from it. Her on-point approach shots put her closer to the pin than most, which sees her rank fourth in putts per green in regulation, with an average of 1.75. Her overall putting average of 29.56 per round isn't as strong as her iron play, but still ranks a very solid 20th on the tour.
Getting out of trouble
If Ko does happen to get into trouble (not a regular occurrence), she can often blast her way out. The newly crowned major champion ranks third in sand save percentage, managing to get up and down from the bunker 57.33% of the time.
As a result of the accuracy from the bunker and strong putting, many pars are saved when a blot on the scorecard is a serious proposition.
Performance on par threes and fours
Ko's work on the shortest holes is top-notch, ranking third on tour with a 2.94 scoring average. She also ranks third on par fours, with a 3.96 average. Since her aforementioned short game is so superb, she must slip back into the pack with the mere mortals on par fives.
Performance on par fives
Ooooor... not. Ko destroys par fives - averaging a remarkable 4.57 on the longest holes on tour, despite being a short hitter off the tee. That's the best mark on the LPGA Tour, and showcasing her remarkably consistency - ranking in the top three on each type of hole.
Where she can improve
Believe it or not, there is a part of Ko's game which can still improve significantly.
Ko ranks 67th in driving distance, averaging 250 yards per drive. Being 18 years old and of slight build (standing at 5'5"), it's unreasonable to believe Ko should be (or ever will be) one of the longest hitters on the tour.
Additionally, driving distance matters far less on the LPGA Tour than on the PGA Tour. The only golfer ahead of Ko in the world rankings - South Korea's Inbee Park - is an even shorter hitter of the tee, ranking 82nd.
Although that stat is unsurprising, one which does surprise is Ko's driving accuracy. She ranks 50th in finding the fairway of the tee, managing to do so 74% of the time.
It's startling. The best young golfer in the game has something significant to work on. The 18-year old phenom with 13 professional titles already her belt has more improvement to come.
