"This match was emasculating": Lydia Ko impresses Creator Classic champion by her golf swing amid LPGA Tour break

Lydia Ko may be on a break from the LPGA Tour, but she’s still turning heads with her golf swings on the course. The World No. 3 recently played a casual round with golf content creator and 2024 Creator Classic champion Luke Kwon at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. Ko’s impressive play left Kwon joking on Instagram that the match was “emasculating.”

Luke Kwon, a former professional golfer, has built a name as a creator by featuring casual matches with notable players, including LIV Golf stars. Though he isn’t active on the main tours, he remains popular in golf’s digital community. With over 365,000 YouTube subscribers, Kwon shared a video of Lydia Ko’s tee shot on Instagram and wrote:

“Didn’t realize the last story had the answer lol so here she is @lydsko. Ranked 3rd in the world… I’ll just say this match was emasculating.”

Lydia Ko later reposted the story on her account, adding:

“Today was fun!”

Lydia Ko reshared Luke Kwon’s Instagram story from their round at The Olympic Club (Image via @lydsko)

Earlier, Kwon had teased his 272K Instagram followers with a “Guess who” caption while showing a Paris 2024 Olympic gold medal. The story appeared to hint at Ko, who claimed her third Olympic medal last year, adding gold in Paris to her silver (Rio 2016) and bronze (Tokyo 2020).

Luke Kwon teased fans with a Paris 2024 Olympic gold medal on his Instagram story (Image via @luke.kwon)

The Olympic Club is currently a hub for young golfers preparing for the 125th U.S. Amateur Championship, set for August 11–17, 2025. Ko, meanwhile, last appeared at the Dow Championship alongside Danielle Kang, where they missed the cut at 1-under par. She is expected to return for the Amundi Evian Championship from July 10–13 at the Evian Resort Golf Club.

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How has Lydia Ko performed so far this season?

Lydia Ko has played 10 events on the LPGA Tour this season. She has one win at the HSBC Women’s World Championship and three top-10 finishes. Ko missed the cut once and is currently World No. 3 in the Rolex Rankings, but she has dropped to 17th in the CME Globe standings.

Here’s a look at her 2025 results so far:

• Dow Championship – CUT (-1)
• KPMG Women’s PGA Championship – T12 (+5)
• U.S. Women’s Open presented by Ally – T26 (+3)
• Mizuho Americas Open – T11 (-8)
• The Chevron Championship – T52 (+5)
• T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM Rewards – T35 (-38)
• Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass – T6 (-18)
• HSBC Women’s World Championship – 1 (-13)
• Founders Cup presented by U.S. Virgin Islands – T48 (-1)
• Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions – 6 (-13)

Ko has also been impressive in strokes gained stats this year:

• SG Total: 1.83 (Rank 7)
• SG Tee to Green: 0.86 (Rank 27)
• SG Off the Tee: -0.24 (Rank 114)
• SG Approach: 0.49 (Rank 29)
• SG Around the Green: 0.61 (Rank 3)
• SG Putting: 0.89 (Rank 11)