In 2010, the year she turned 15, she joined the national reserve team, where she served for three years. In 2012, she won the KB Financial Group Cup women’s amateur golf championship, which earned her KLPGA associate membership.
She became a pro in July 2013, and on Aug. 22 she won the first event she entered, Jump Tour Event 9. In December she signed a sponsorship deal with Nefs. In 2014, the year she turned 19, she made her KLPGA Tour debut and won her first title at the Nefs Masterpiece in August. She finished second to Baek Kyu-jung in the Rookie of the Year race by 90 points.
The breakthrough yearThe year she turned 20, she won three times in the first half of the KLPGA Tour season. In her first LPGA major, the Women’s British Open, she led after three rounds, was overtaken in the final round and finished second. The Korea Economic Daily says she rose to stardom with three wins that year.
In 2016, she took the KLPGA Player of the Year award. In 2017, she won the KEB Hana Bank Championship, her first LPGA win, and earned one-year LPGA exempt status. In 2018, she won the Women’s Australian Open in her LPGA Tour debut, and was confirmed as Rookie of the Year in October.
The year she turned 24, she won the Founders Cup and the ANA Inspiration, and became world No. 1 on Apr. 9. With the Evian Championship in July and the CP Women’s Open in August she reached four wins for the season, and took the money list, the Vare Trophy and Player of the Year.
In 2020, she won her first title of the season at the CME Group Tour Championship. In 2021, she repeated at the same event and won Player of the Year for the second time. In 2022, she won the HSBC Women’s World Championship for her 13th career win, setting a record with 15 straight rounds in the 60s. In May 2023, she won the Founders Cup in a playoff for her 15th career win.
In 2024, she lost to Ryu Hae-ran in a playoff at the FM Championship and finished second. In February 2025, she was runner-up at the Founders Cup and rose to No. 7 in the world ranking. On Mar. 7, 2026, she held her wedding at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.
Ko Jin-young (born Jul 7, 1995) debuted as a pro on Aug 22, 2013, the year she turned 18, winning her first event on the KLPGA Jump Tour, and became known in 2015, the year she turned 20, with three KLPGA Tour wins and a second-place finish at the Women’s British Open. Her first LPGA major win came at the ANA Inspiration in 2019, the year she turned 24.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.
Served on the national reserve team for three years from 2010.
Source 02 · Sports World (Korean) · Two straight Jump Tour wins · opens in a new tabSource 32 · Newsway (Korean) · Nefs sponsorship profile · opens in a new tab The selection date could not be confirmed.The report says the win earned her KLPGA associate membership.
Source 01 · Edaily (Korean) · Pro debut win · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Sports World (Korean) · Two straight Jump Tour wins · opens in a new tab The articles give no date for the tournament, so only the year is shown.Became a pro (associate member) in July, and this was her first event. She shot 13 under, 131, at Grand Country Club in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong, five strokes ahead of second place.
Source 01 · Edaily (Korean) · Pro debut win · opens in a new tabSource 02 · Sports World (Korean) · Two straight Jump Tour wins · opens in a new tabSigned a three-year sponsorship deal with the furniture company Nefs, together with Park Sung-hyun.
Source 03 · OSEN (Korean) · Nefs sponsorship deal · opens in a new tabSource 32 · Newsway (Korean) · Nefs sponsorship profile · opens in a new tabShe raced Baek Kyu-jung and Kim Min-sun, both born the same year as she was, for Rookie of the Year until the last event of the season, and finished second, 90 points behind Baek.
Source 04 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Ko Jin-young sheds the rookie label · opens in a new tabSource 07 · Newsis (Korean) · 2014 domestic women’s golf review · opens in a new tab The date of her first KLPGA Tour start could not be confirmed.Won her first career title at Hillodrosa Golf Club in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, at 7 under, 281. Edaily called the surge of 1995-born rookies the biggest talking point of that year’s KLPGA Tour.
Source 05 · Edaily (Korean) · Rookie storm · opens in a new tabSource 06 · Maniatimes (Korean) · First win since debut · opens in a new tab The date comes from Maniatimes, which has her winning on the 17th, and Edaily’s Aug. 19 article.In her first LPGA major, she led after three rounds but was overtaken by Inbee Park in the final round, and her world ranking rose from 28th to 17th. She already had three wins on the KLPGA Tour in the first half of the year, and The Korea Economic Daily says she rose to stardom with three wins that year.
Won three times on the KLPGA Tour that year and took the Player of the Year award.
Source 11 · News1 (Korean) · 2016 KLPGA awards ceremony · opens in a new tabSource 12 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · KEB Hana Bank Championship · opens in a new tabWon the event at Sky72 Golf Club on Yeongjong Island, Incheon, for her 10th win as a pro, her first on the LPGA. The win earned her one-year LPGA exempt status.
Source 12 · Sports Kyunghyang (Korean) · KEB Hana Bank Championship · opens in a new tabWon the first event of her first year on the LPGA Tour. Edaily wrote that it had not been done in 67 years.
Source 13 · Edaily (Korean) · LPGA debut win · opens in a new tabThe LPGA Tour announced her as Rookie of the Year. Her 1,137 Rookie of the Year points were 383 ahead of runner-up Georgia Hall (754).
Source 14 · Kyeonggi Ilbo (Korean) · 2018 Rookie of the Year confirmed · opens in a new tabHer first win of the season and third on the LPGA Tour. She won by one stroke at 22 under, 266.
Source 15 · Newspim (Korean) · Founders Cup win · opens in a new tab The date is the 25th, Korea time, as reported.Finished at 10 under, 278, for her second win of the season and fourth overall. It was her first major title.
Source 16 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · ANA Inspiration win · opens in a new tabSource 17 · SBS (Korean) · World No. 1 · opens in a new tab The date is the 8th, Korea time, as reported.Passed Park Sung-hyun, 6.84 points, with 7.20 ranking points to take No. 1. She became the fifth Korean player to reach No. 1.
Source 17 · SBS (Korean) · World No. 1 · opens in a new tabWon at 15 under, 269, two strokes ahead of the players tied for second, for her fifth career win. It was her second major of the year, after the ANA Inspiration in April.
Source 18 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Evian Championship win · opens in a new tab The date is the 28th, local time, as reported.Won by five strokes for her fourth win of the season and sixth overall. No LPGA Tour player had won four times in a season since Lydia Ko in 2016.
Source 19 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · CP Women’s Open win · opens in a new tab The date is the 26th, Korea time, as reported.Led the tour in earnings at $2.77 million and in scoring average at 69.062. She became the first Korean player to win Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy and the Annika Award together.
Source 20 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Money list and Vare Trophy · opens in a new tabSource 21 · Newsis (Korean) · Inbee Park Invitational · opens in a new tab The date is the 25th, Korea time, when the CME Group Tour Championship ended.Her first win of the season and seventh overall. She played only four events and still led the 2020 money list.
Source 22 · Financial News (Korean) · CME Group Tour Championship · opens in a new tab The date is the 21st, Korea time, as reported.Won the event again with a 265 total, and Yonhap wrote that she was the first Korean to win Player of the Year twice. It was her third straight money list title.
Source 23 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · CME Group Tour Championship repeat · opens in a new tab The date is the 22nd, Korea time, as reported.Her first win of the season. She set a record with 15 straight rounds in the 60s, starting from the second round of the BMW Ladies Championship in October 2021.
Source 24 · Financial News (Korean) · HSBC Women’s World Championship · opens in a new tab The date is the 6th, Korea time, as reported.Tied Minjee Lee at 13 under, 275, then won on the first playoff hole. She was the first three-time winner of the event, and it was her second win of the season.
Source 25 · Yonhap News Agency (Korean) · Cognizant Founders Cup · opens in a new tab The date is the 15th, Korea time, as reported.It was her second donation, after one in 2014. STN News described her as holding, at the time, the LPGA Tour record for the longest reign at No. 1 in the world ranking.
Source 26 · STN News (Korean) · Korea Golf Association development fund · opens in a new tabShe led the day before, tied Ryu Hae-ran at 15 under, 273, and lost in the playoff.
Source 27 · Newsis (Korean) · FM Championship runner-up · opens in a new tab The date is the 1st, local time, as reported.Finished at 17 under, 267, four strokes behind Yealimi Noh at 21 under. The world ranking released the next day had her at No. 7, back in the top 10 after about three months.
Source 28 · Ajunews (Korean) · Founders Cup runner-up · opens in a new tabSource 29 · Star News (Korean) · World No. 7 · opens in a new tab The date is the 10th, Korea time, as reported.According to her agency, she married a non-celebrity at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul.
Source 30 · Channel A (Korean) · Ko Jin-young’s wedding · opens in a new tabSource 31 · Tennis Korea (Korean) · A March bride · opens in a new tabEND OF SELECTED RECORDSSelected records, 2010–2026 · not a complete list of work. “Key moment” is an editorial label, not a measure of success.
What did they do, and at what age?
AgeTrail lines up the key moments of a life by age.
Debut and breakthrough are marked separately, and every record has a source.
Sports · South Korea
Jul 7, 1995 —
Ages are counted from the birth year 1995: the year of the event minus 1995, birthdays aside. “Key moment” labels and the connecting story are AgeTrail's editorial reading.
Fact-checked: 2026.10.02 · An independent archive, not affiliated with the person or their agency.