She has been named Golfer of the Year on the US LPGA Tour, and it is quite possible she could become the golfer of the decade. Lydia Ko, who gave an indication of her enormous potential when, still only 12 years old, she was the youngest amateur to win a professional event, is now (at 18) showing just what a golfing phenomenon she has become. To compare her feat with other galactic sports stars… Tiger Woods was Player of the Year at 21, and the youngest stars of American football, basketball, baseball and hockey in the US leagues achieved this honour when they were aged between 19 and 22 years.

Lydia has enjoyed an extraordinary season, setting new records and being crowned world number one – the youngest player to reach this global peak. She is not only the youngest Player of the Year in the 49 years this honour has existed but also the youngest golfer in the history of the LPGA Tour to win 10 titles.

During her second season on the world’s premier women’s tour (she was Rookie of the Year in 2014), she won five times, including her fist major (The Evian Championship), and finished in the top-10 in eight other tournaments of a total of 24 she competed in – that is, 17 top-10s in all.

She secured the Player of the Year award after a tough battle against South Korean Inbee Park, the world number two, and eventually finished just two points ahead of her rival: 280 to 278. Her spectacular season was crowned with victory in the Race to the CME Globe, which earned her a $1 million bonus. Her prizemoney in the two years she has been on the LPGA Tour now totals nearly $5 million, of which $2.8 million was won in 2015. Her earnings for endorsements and sponsorships are not known, but no doubt also total several million dollars.

Born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, where she holds her current nationality, Ko turned pro at 16 after having led the amateur rankings for 130 weeks and won no fewer than four professional tournaments while still in the unpaid ranks. In April 2012, aged 15 years and four months, she became the youngest winner on the US LPGA Tour and in August 2013 she set another record as the only amateur to have won twice on that same tour (CN Canadian Women’s Open). She did not miss a cut in 25 professional events when playing as an amateur. She also was victorious as an amateur on the Ladies European Tour, winning the New Zealand Women’s Open in February 2013.

After her second place in the Evian Championship (a Grand Slam event) in October 2013, she decided the moment had arrived to turn pro.

 

Professional at 16

In October 2013, having been accepted as an LPGA Tour member in spite of still being under-age (16), she competed in her first event on that tour as a pro – and finished 21st. “It’s not often the LPGA welcomes a rookie who is already a dual champion on this tour,” said the commissioner, Mike Whan, accepting Ko’s application to become a member of the world’s leading women’s golf circuit.

In April 2014, Lydia won her first LPGA event as a pro and her first on US soil (Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic). She turned 17 on the same day she triumphantly raised the trophy. She would win a second title in April (Marathon Classic) and in November cap an exceptional year with victory in the final tournament of the season (CME Group Tour Championship), defeating Spain’s Carlota Ciganda on the fourth extra hole of sudden-death and collecting a half-million-dollar prize.

With those credentials there was no doubt whom would be named Rookie of the Year: Ko.

In the 26 tournaments she competed in last year on the LPGA Tour Ko collected three wins, two runner-up finishes and three third-places. She totalled 15 top-10 finishes and did not miss any cut. She was third on the money list, with over two million dollars in winnings, and her average round was 70.08 strokes, fifth best for the season. She is currently number three in the world, after leader Stacy Lewis and Inbee Park.

In Grand Slam appearances, apart from her win this year at The Evian Championship, her best results had been her extraordinary second place while still an amateur in the 2013 Evian, and third in 2014 LPGA Championship.

Lydia started playing golf at five when her mother took her to a club in Auckland owned by the professional Guy Wilson, who would become her coach until a year ago, when she replaced him with David Leadbetter – also coach of Michelle Wie.

Extremely disappointed with his student’s decision, Wilson recalled that when he first knew Ko her golf clubs were too big for her and she didn’t know what a driver or putter was, “but now she has one of the best swings on the LPGA Tour”.

 

Globally influential

Ont April 2014 Ko, who has signed a contract with the powerful IMG management agency, was named by Times magazine as one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Annika Sorenstam, the finest women’s golfer over the past few decades (eight times Player of the Year on the LPGA Tour), has observed that Lydia has an exceptional talent and is extremely mature for her age, as well as being very well liked by both her rivals and her fans. “She is responsible for the growing interest in our sport, not only in her homeland South Korea and adoptive New Zealand but also among youngsters throughout the world.”

Lydia’s main passion, apart from golf, is cooking and – if not a golfer – she would have liked to work in the media, especially TV. Her only self-confessed superstition is to use the same ball marker if things work out well on the green. Her hobbies include going to the cinema, reading and playing tennis. A very normal girl… away from the golf course. On the course it’s a different matter!

 

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