There are some big names in the hunt on Sunday at the 2013 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, but 15 year old Lydia Ko may have already preempted the headlines for the weekend in the golf world. Ko pulled out a one-shot victory in her native country of New Zealand, beating American Amelia Lewis to win the 2013 New Zealand Women’s Open. She’s now the youngest player ever to win an event on both the LPGA and Ladies European Tours.
Lydia Ko wins New Zealand Women’s Open, 3rd pro victory at age of 15
The next young phenom in golf resides in New Zealand, where Lydia Ko pulled out a one-shot win in her homeland on Sunday.
Joseph Johnson
Ko’s profile really skyrocketed last summer, when she became the second youngest to win the U.S. Women’s Amateur at The Country Club in Ohio and then backed that up a couple weeks later by winning on the LPGA Tour at the 2012 Canadian Open. Earlier in that year, she became the youngest player ever, male or female, to win a professional event at the New South Wales Open. She was 14 years old at the time, and Sunday she added her third professional victory in an event she called her “finest win ever.”
Ko took advantage of a three-putt on the 18th green by Lewis, which opened the door for a steady approach and two-putt to clinch it. The win will prompt questions about when Ko will turn pro. With three pro wins already to her name, she’s turned down around a half million dollars so far as an amateur. There are plenty of recent cautionary tales when it comes to teenagers bursting onto the scene, but Ko seems to be the steadiest and most impressive phenom that the women’s golf world has seen in some time.
