Lydia Ko didn’t compete in last week’s BMW Championship in South Korea but still dominated the region's headlines
On Monday, Ko issued a statement on Instagram denying claims that she had given the first lady of South Korea a golf lesson on the same day a fire in Seoul injured more than a dozen people.
The Korea JoongAng Daily reported that in a Facebook post on Monday, Joo Jin-woo of the People Power Party named Ko as the professional golfer who gave an on-course lesson to Kim Hea Kyung last Thursday. Kim is the wife of president Lee Jae Myung.
“The contents of the article reported today are not true and have absolutely no relation to me,” Ko wrote in Korean Instagram. “In particular, on the date mentioned in the article, I was attending an official event for a sponsor, and I have no connection whatsoever to the reported claims.
“Going forward, if false information that has not been verified is circulated, or if articles, posts, or comments damage my reputation, I intend to take legal action as appropriate depending on the circumstances.”
The Korea Times reported that the “ruling Democratic Party of Korea announced that it would soon file a criminal complaint against [Joo] for ‘repeatedly spreading false information about the president's family.’ "
Ko, 29, was born in Seoul but moved to New Zealand at a young age and has competed as a Kiwi throughout her career. The LPGA Hall of Famer and reigning Olympic champion is scheduled to play in this week’s Maybank Championship in Malaysia as the LPGA continues its four-tournament Asia swing.
Beth Ann Nichols is a senior writer for Golfweek covering the LPGA and all things women's golf. Follow her on X/Twitter (@GolfweekNichols).
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Lydia Ko denies giving controversial golf lesson to South Korea's first lady