Lydia Ko reportedly got tattoos of the Jesus statue, Mount Fuji, and the Eiffel Tower...

Olympic Medal Tattoos from Three Countries Revealed
Pavon's Right Hand Tattoo, a Winning Mantra
Fowler, Danielle Kang, and Watson Also Have Tattoos

This is a story about tattoos of professional golfers.

Recently, Lydia Ko (New Zealand) gained attention. She revealed a special tattoo on her body. On the LPGA Tour website, she introduced a tattoo commemorating her Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medals on her right arm. The tattoo features the Christ the Redeemer statue, a landmark of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Mount Fuji, a symbol of Tokyo, Japan; and the Eiffel Tower, a representative building of Paris, France, connected by thin black lines.

Lydia Ko revealed a tattoo commemorating her Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medals. Photo by LPGA Tour

Lydia Ko said, "I wanted to get a tattoo to commemorate my Olympic medals," and added, "After contacting a Korean tattoo artist who had done a tattoo I liked in the past, I was offered a design representing the three cities." She explained, "The size varies according to the medal color. Although Mount Fuji is actually the tallest, in my tattoo, the Eiffel Tower (where I won the gold medal in Paris) is the largest, and the Christ the Redeemer statue (where I won the silver medal in Rio) is the second largest." Lydia Ko won the silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

In 2014, Lydia Ko also got a tattoo on her right wrist that reads ‘IV-XXVII-XIV’. In Arabic numerals, it is ‘4-27-14’. April 27, 2014, is the date Lydia Ko achieved her first professional victory at the LPGA Tour Swinging Skirts Classic. She explained, "My parents were there when I won, so it was a really memorable moment," and added, "I got the tattoo to remember it forever." Lydia Ko was 16 years old at the time and got the tattoo with her parents' consent.

Mathieu Pavon won the Insurance Open after engraving a phrase emphasizing effort on the back of his right hand. Photo by Mathieu Pavon, X (formerly Twitter)

Last year, Matthieu Pavon (France) attracted attention with his tattoo. He had a phrase tattooed on the back of his right hand: ‘The saliva that flows now will become the tears of joy tomorrow.’ During the PGA Tour Insurance Open last year, he looked at this phrase in moments of crisis to calm himself and ultimately reached the top. He smiled and said, "This sentence means a lot to me," and added, "I worked hard every day for the moment to lift the trophy."

Many players also get tattoos to find peace of mind. Rickie Fowler (USA) tattooed the name of his grandfather, who was a life mentor and taught him golf as a child. Daniel Kang (USA) tattooed his father, who passed away from cancer in 2013, on his right palm. An Shin-ae, who played on the Korean and Japanese tours, drew a star on her left ankle with the hope of becoming a star. Bubba Watson (USA), who won the Masters in 2012 and 2014, tattooed his wife Angie’s name on his left ring finger, showing his special love for his family.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.