Dame Lydia Ko

New Year Honours 2025 - Lydia Ko youngest ever dame, for services to golf.

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If you were to search Lydia Ko's Wikipedia page, the word “youngest” would appear 54 times.  That number has increased by one as the27-year old Kiwi golfer was made a dame for services to golf in the 2025 New Year Honours List – and became the youngest modern-era dame or knight – eclipsing British sailor Dame Ellen MacArthur, who was 28 when she was honoured.  Already recognised with a New Zealand Order of Merit, Ko said to be made a dame was very special not only for her but for everyone around her who had made her dream of being a professional golfer a reality.

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“Those opportunities don’t come to everyone and for me to have this amazing opportunity, it makes me very proud.  “I think it’s a moment that’s special for all of us, obviously it’s special for the person but it’s a recognition for everyone involved because I wouldn’t be here today without them.”

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Renowned for her humility, Ko said she had to think before accepting the honour, initially unsure whether she was deserving.  “I did think about it, because you don’t really grow up thinking, ‘Oh, I’m going to become a dame’. You might say, ‘I’m going to become a Hall of Famer,’ or, ‘I’m going to be the world No 1 in my sport,’ but it’s so above [those] and very different and above what we can control as well.  I thought about do I deserve it? Is this the right time? But I always feel like to have these kind of opportunities and for someone else to bring it up, it’s not my idea and I’m obviously very grateful that other people are giving me this opportunity ... not everybody gets that.”

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Sir Bob Charles is the only other Kiwi professional golfer to be made a dame or a knight and Ko said it was an honour to have her name alongside his and those of other New Zealand sporting greats.  “I think that’s why I had to think about whether I even deserve this. I think the only other golfer within New Zealand who has a damehood [or] knighthood is Sir Bob Charles, I’m guessing, so to be alongside that same kind of group as Sir Bob is very honourable for me too.”

Ko has achieved nearly everything there is to tick off in the world of golf, having said after her Olympic gold in Paris she would like to break her eight-year major title drought – and achieved that feat just two weeks later at the Women's British Open @ St Andrews! 

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Well done Dame Lydia Ko - I still remember being the tournament director at your first NZ Women's Golf Tournament at Titirangi - Denise Langdon (PaR nz Golfing Holidays).​