“I Feel Bad”: Lydia Ko Reveals Sacrifices Her Billionaire Husband Jun Chung Made for Her (2024)

At 27, Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko could not have asked for more. From being the youngest player to be ranked No. 1 in professional golf to becoming the only golfer to earn Olympic medals of all colors to being the youngest inductee to the LPGA Hall of Fame— Ko has it all. But having a supportive partner makes all these achievements sweeter to embrace. Lydia Ko is blessed to have that in her billionaire husband, Jun Chung. And who does not know that support comes with its fair share of sacrifice? As Ko says, Chung has always been steadfast in that.

At the AIG Women’s British Open, Ko finished her second round with a total of 3-under-par. Following her round, the 27-year-old was asked about her husband in the press conference. He is there at the Old Course in St.Andrews to support Ko. Ko shared that Chung is currently playing at Dumbarnie Links and also played at Kingsbarns on Monday in the rain. She was glad that her husband was getting to experience this and went on to talk about the sacrifices he had made for her.

“I feel bad because he’s having to wake up at 4:00 a.m. with me this morning. Even if I am the most supportive wife when it comes to his work, I’m probably never going to wake up at 4:00 a.m. for him for his job. I’m very thankful that he’s taking a step back and doing things on my time, and I know that’s not easy, so I’m glad that he’s actually getting to enjoy it,” Lydia Ko said in the press conference. The golfer also sounded quite excited as she talked about her husband’s performance.

“He made a birdie at Kingsbarns, so we’re hoping for more of that today. But he loves things and he hit the tour at the R&A museum yesterday and he was super excited about it,” she said. As Lydia puts it, Chung never lets monotony set in. “Does that enthusiasm from him, does that push you through a week like this?” she was asked. To this, she painted a picture of togetherness the two share.

“I don’t know how many British Opens are ahead of me, and I’m so glad that we’re able to do a few of these kind of things together and just enjoy it. We’ve had a lot of good food. It is like the little things that really count. But yeah, very thankful for his support. He’s out there covering me with the umbrella and was doing the stretches with me this morning. It’s so much fun,” Ko said.

Jun Chung is the son of the vice-chairman and CEO of the prominent Hyundai Card. The two tied the knot at the Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul, South Korea, on December 30, 2022, which was a perfect topping of her fabulous 2022 year with three LPGA Tour victories. Back then, in one more instance of support for Ko, Chung was with her when she clinched the LPGA’s grand finale, the CME Group Championship. That earned Ko a record $2 million — the richest prize in women’s golf. The strong bond was revealed by Ko’s then-coach Sean Foley as well.

Ko was ‘madly in love’, Foley had told in March 2022. “Her boyfriend is a lovely kid, he’s like a world-class guy, I couldn’t be happier for her,” Foley had gushed. Alongside, he had credited the relationship for Ko’s performance. “I think that some of her great play may come from the fact that there are two things now and her identity is not solely collected to her playing golf,” Foley had said. Ko had expressed the same emotion last year.

Ko had said that beyond just being a professional golfer, she enjoyed playing nine holes with Chung that has made golf more enjoyable to her. According to her, it stemmed from the fact that her life is not all about golf.“I think he changed my life and I’m very grateful for his support and for him understanding what I do. It makes a big difference and to know that there’s somebody at the end of my round no matter what I shoot, to support me and just think of me, not the golfer Lydia Ko but Bo-Gyung, my Korean name,” Ko had said.

Interestingly, their story had an unconventional beginning. Instead of Chung, it was Ko who proposed. And she did that golf way. “So I did it very golf-like. I wrote on golf balls, ‘Will you marry me?’” Ko had revealed. The last one had room for him to circle “yes”or“no”. ” Chung accepted the golfer’s proposal and Lydia Ko now describes a “good luck charm”. And that charm has once again brought her a fresh triumph.

Lydia Ko holds off world No. 1 Nelly Korda

Continuing her dream run from Paris, where she struck gold, Lydia Ko clinched the AIG Women’s Open, ending an 8-year-long major drought in a tense finish.

The New Zealander entered the final round in a share of fourth but made three birdies over a flawless first 14 holes to contend for the title. This came down to a nail-biting final between Ko, Nelly Korda and Lilia Vu tied at the top of the leaderboard on six under par.

Ko took the clubhouse lead with an excellent birdie on the 18th, but defending champion Vu was naggingly close to right to the end while Korda fell short. Vu needed a 15-foot birdie to take it to a playoff. But she failed to hole it and missed from 12-inches to let Ko take away a 2 shot victory.

Vu’s 73 made her finish second jointly with world number one Nelly Korda, who faded in the closing holes and posted a 72, overnight leader Jiyai Shin (74) and China’s Ruoning Yin (70). The final scoreboard reads -7 L Ko; -5 Korda, Yin, Vu, Jiyai Shin.

“It’s surreal. Winning the gold medal in Paris a few weeks ago was almost too good to be true. Heading into the weekend I thought ‘how is it possible for me to win The Open?’. It is the most Cinderella-like story, these past two weeks,” said 27-year-old Ko after securing the third major victory of her career. Meanwhile, the USA’s Nelly Korda lost track despite being strong initially.

Korda was having a run of three birdies in four holes around the turn, and she was leading by two on eight under on the 14th tee. But a couple of less-than-impressive wedge shots around the green led to her to take seven shots on the par-five hole. “It’s golf. Unfortunately, I messed up over the weekend twice coming down the stretch. That’s what cost me the tournament, but I played well,” Korda said about her performance.

The next tournament on the LPGA slate is scheduled for next week at TPC Boston. The FM Championship will take place Aug. 29-Sept. 1 and will have a purse of $3.8 million.