Lydia Ko has 23 LPGA wins, three Olympic medals, and a Hall of Fame induction. However, life on tour comes with a cost no trophy can offset. The New Zealand golfer recently talked about what it’s like to be a touring pro and why that life would make it hard to be married.

Appearing on a We Need a Forth with Brian Baumgartner, Cooper Manning and Kenny Mayne, Ko did not hold back. “I don’t think I could marry somebody who was in my position. That’s, you know, in Las Vegas this week; I could be in France the week after and then Scotland the week after. So I am very thankful that I met a partner that’s super supportive of what I do,” she said.

Her 2026 schedule makes the point plainly. In February, Lydia Ko was in Thailand, followed by Singapore in March, Arizona in late March, and the Aramco Championship in April, all before the major season even begins.

And when it matters most, her husband, Jun Chung, shows up. Chung flew to Naples, Florida, for the 2024 CME Group Tour Championship even though there was a dangerous weather alert. He was exhausted when he got there because he had been working late into the night because of the time difference.

Ko recalled, “There was a weather alert yesterday saying there were high winds and I was like, hey, if it’s dangerous, just don’t come. He was like, I got to come.”

That kind of commitment has been a constant since the two married on December 30, 2022, at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul. Ko has spoken openly about how Chung motivates and inspires her and how his presence helps her maintain balance on and off the course.

Beyond the travel and the tournaments, the two have also built a genuinely competitive bond on the golf course. Ko revealed on the podcast that she gives Chung eight to nine shots when they play, though the number shifts depending on the course.

“Sometimes I’ll be like, oh, this is too hard or this is too long,’ and then I’ll give you fewer shots. So I try and play my way in,” she said. She also took a dig at the US handicap system, questioning Chung’s single-digit rating directly: “You’re a one. Are you sure?” Chung, who averages around 73, has not beaten Ko at scratch yet, and she was clear about what happens if he does. “I said the day he does while I’m still competitively playing, I’m going to stop playing; maybe like that’s the benchmark for me,” Ko said.

It’s clear that that competitive spirit runs deep. During their honeymoon in NZ, the couple played eight rounds of golf in ten days. They have since played Augusta National together, and Ko has even caddied for Chung at a U.S. Am Tour event. Ko called Chung a “COVID golfer” whose love for the game grew during the pandemic. He said that through her, he learned about tour life and the real differences between the LPGA and PGA.

Lydia Ko is not alone in this. Across the LPGA, the tension between tour life and personal commitments has shaped careers, marriages, and even retirement decisions.

When Tour life forces a choice

Back in 2021, Inbee Park found her answer to the same problem. At the HSBC Women’s World Championship in Singapore, her husband Ki-hyeop Nam was on her bag as caddie, traveling with her through grueling heat and long weeks on the road.

Park was clear about what his presence meant to her: “I don’t need an exact number. I don’t need anything. I just need him next to me, that’s all, just carrying the bag.”

But that level of integration is not common. For most golfers, the tour doesn’t wait for their personal lives to catch up. Stacy Lewis did it for years, traveling with her daughter Chesnee after she was born in 2018. She relied on on-site daycare and sponsor support from KPMG to stay competitive while being a mother.

But even that balancing act has its limits. Lewis retired from the LPGA Tour in 2025 because it was getting harder to travel and she wanted to be there for her daughter when she started school. Part of the reason why a career that lasted 20 years came to an end was that the schedule just wouldn’t work with family life.

That is exactly what Lydia Ko was talking about. The tour doesn’t slow down; every week a new city is added. The partner either adapts completely, like Chung flying in when there is a weather alert, or the personal cost builds up quietly.