Who Are The Youngest LPGA Major Winners?
Several young players have won LPGA Majors, including three 18-year-olds - but who holds the record as the youngest?
Golf’s Majors represent the pinnacle of achievement in the sport, and while many players spend years striving to claim one, some incredible young women have defied expectations, seizing victory at astonishingly early ages and etching their names into the history books.
Lydia Ko holds the distinction of being the youngest player to win any of the five LPGA Majors, clinching the 2015 Evian Championship at just 18 years, 4 months, and 20 days old. She is part of an elite group of 18-year-olds who have achieved Major victories, alongside Brooke Henderson, who won the 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship at 18 years, 9 months, and 2 days, and Morgan Pressel, who secured the 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship (now the Chevron Championship) at 18 years, 10 months, and 9 days. Lexi Thompson was also a teenager when she won the 2021 Kraft Nabisco Championship at 19 years, 1 month and 27 days.
Of women’s golf’s five Major championships, the AIG Women’s Open is the only one yet to see a teenage champion. Its youngest winner, Ji-yai Shin, was 20 years, 3 months, and 6 days old when she triumphed in 2008.
Yuka Saso etched her name in history at the 2021 US Women’s Open by sinking a birdie putt on the third playoff hole and tie with Inbee Park to become the tournament’s youngest champion. In an extraordinary coincidence, both players secured their victories at exactly 19 years, 11 months and 17 days old.
Before Park and Saso, Se Ri Pak held the record as the youngest US Women’s Open winner, claiming victory in 1998, at 20 years, 7 months, and 19 days. Just two months earlier, she had captured the first of her five Majors at the McDonald’s LPGA Championship.
Player | Age | Major |
Lydia Ko | 18 years, 4 months , 20 days | 2015 Evian Championship |
Brooke Henderson | 18 years, 9 months, 2 days | 2016 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship |
Morgan Pressel | 18 years, 10 months, 9 days. | 2007 Kraft Nabisco Championship |
Lexi Thompson | 19 years, 1 month, 27 days | 2014 Kraft Nabisco Championship |
Yani Tseng | 19 years, 4 months, 16 days | 2008 McDonald's LPGA Championship |
Inbee Park | 19 years, 11 months, 17 days | 2008 US Women's Open |
Yuka Saso | 19 years, 11 months, 17 days | 2021 US Women's Open |
Sandra Post | 20 years, 19 days | 1968 LPGA Championship |
Ji- yai Shin | 20 years, 3 months, 6 days | 2008 Ricoh Women's British Open |
Se Ri Pak | 20 years, 7 months, 19 days | 1998 McDonald's LPGA Championship |
Se Ri Pak | 20 years, 9 months, 7 days | 1998 US Women's Open |
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Alison Root has over 25 years experience working in media and events, predominantly dedicated to golf, in particular the women’s game. Until 2020, for over a decade Alison edited Women & Golf magazine and website, and is now the full-time Women's Editor for Golf Monthly. Alison is a respected and leading voice in the women's game, overseeing content that communicates to active golfers from grassroots through to the professional scene, and developing collaborative relationships to widen Golf Monthly's female audience across all platforms to elevate women's golf to a new level. She is a 16-handicap golfer (should be better) and despite having had the fantastic opportunity to play some of the best golf courses around the world, Kingsbarns in Scotland is her favourite.
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