Napier: Teenage world number one Lydia Ko revealed on Wednesday she plans to retire at 30 and is about to start a psychology degree to prepare for life after golf.

The 17-year-old New Zealander, who smashed Tiger Woods’s record of reaching the top ranking when he was 21, said she wanted a second career later in life.

“I say my plan is to retire when I’m 30 so I’m not just going to go to the beach and hang out for the rest of my life,” Ko told reporters ahead of the Australian Open at Royal Melbourne starting on Thursday.

“There’s always a second career that comes along with it and I’m trying to build up towards it and, because I’m playing a sport, psychology links well with it.

“You just never know what’s going to happen.”

South Korean-born Ko will begin an online psychology degree via a university in Seoul next month.

She credited her mother Tina, who travels with her, for insisting she had a good education off the golf course.

“My mum will get me off my iPad and phone and tell me to work hard and look at the text books,” she said, adding that having fun was her main focus, not money.

“When you have fun, everything kind of goes by fast, and going fast is not a bad thing when you’re playing 25 or 26 tournaments,” she said.

Agence France-Presse