Well, that did not take very long at all. 16-year-old golf phenom, Lydia Ko, won the Swinging Skirts World Ladies Masters in just her second start as a professional. Welcome to the LPGA Tour, kid.
The youngster from New Zealand shot a final round 68 to come from 3 shots back to win by 3 shots over South Korea’s So Yeon Ryu. The field also included world No.1 Inbee Park and three more golfers in the top 10 in the world. Ryu is ranked 5th. So as you can see, Ko did not get her first win against an easy field. This girl is the real thing and an amazing talent.
Talk about the “next generation” athlete. Ko announced that she was turning pro via YouTube for crying out loud. YouTube!!! Not a prepared statement by her agent. Not a press conference with hand picked questions from hand picked media members. Nope, this young star in the making made a YouTube video with good friend All Blacks star Israel Dagg.
For several years now the LPGA has struggled to find a “face” that they could use to draw fans back to the tour. Unfortunately most of the best players on the LPGA Tour in the last decade have been from South Korea. That is hard to promote in the United States because they have not spoken much English. Once Annika Sorenstam retired the LPGA lost its big name. Now it looks like the tour can turn to Lydia Ko.
Ko is a tremendous talent. But maybe more importantly for the LPGA she is very personable. She gives a great interview. She is friendly and open. Everytime I see her on TV she is smiling and looking like she is enjoying herself. That is the personality that the LPGA needs to bring fans back. I know that sounds like lot of pressure to put on a 16-year-old kid, but it seems that she has a great support team around her.
What will we see from Lydia Ko in 2014? Her first season on the LPGA Tour. How will she handle playing on tour from week to week? How will she handle the media? Will she win? Will she win a major?
We will just have to wait, watch and see.
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