New Zealand's 16-year-old golf prodigy Lydia Ko has decided to turn professional and has asked the LPGA Tour to waive its age limit for her to become a member, the tour said on Thursday.

Ko, who was born in South Korea and moved to New Zealand when she was six, became the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour when she captured last year's Canadian Open at the age of 15.

"The LPGA has received Lydia Ko's petition and the commissioner plans to review it upon his return from Asia," said a statement issued by the LPGA Tour. "The decision on the petition will be solely up to the commissioner's discretion."