As Rory McIlroy was winning the British Open on Sunday and banking $1.66 million for his efforts as well as a chunk of change for his dad, Lydia Ko was quietly becoming the youngest LPGA Tour player to reach $1 million in prize money after she captured last week’s Marathon Classic in dramatic fashion.
Lydia Ko becomes youngest million-dollar woman on LPGA Tour
Lydia Ko becomes the youngest player on the LPGA Tour to top $1 million in earnings.
Gregory Shamus
“I’ll probably see that going in to my mom’s account,” Ko, 17, said on Sunday with a laugh about the $210,000 she earned by draining a four-foot putt for birdie on the 72nd hole in Sylvania, Ohio, to avoid a playoff with runner-up So Yeon Ryu.
The paycheck put Ko in the million-dollar club at a younger age than what Lexi Thompson was when she pocketed the cash. Thompson, who keeps losing her “youngest ever” status to the New Zealander by way of South Korea, was about 17 months older than Ko when she became a millionaire.
With two wins, six top-10 finishes, and no missed cuts in 16 events in her sure-fire rookie-of-the-year season, Ko began Sunday’s final round three shots behind co-leaders Laura Diaz and Lee-Anne Pace. As the frontrunners struggled, Ko’s flag-hunting led to nothing but pars and birdies and a flawless 6-under-par 65 in the finale — good enough for a one-stroke, 15-under victory over Ryu, who failed to make a 6-footer for birdie to force overtime.
As for that four-time tour winner’s newfound wealth, Ko will have to continue to get along on the $150 allowance she gets from her parents, an amount that increases based on each shot under par she finishes.
There’ll be no shiny new car in the garage since Ko does not have a driver’s license and she said she was not about to “spend $1 million and buy something like a diamond ring.”
Instead, the youngster was likely to splurge on something more age-appropriate.
“I might get something electronic [like] what teenagers do,” she said.
