This may be getting old for Lydia Ko’s LPGA opponents, but the top-ranked player in the world smashed yet another record Sunday at Royal Melbourne when the 17-year-old became the youngest golfer to win the Women’s Australian Open.
Lydia Ko wins down under, sets another ‘youngest ever’ record
Another LPGA event, another record set by Lydia Ko, whose latest accomplishment before turning 18 is a two-stroke win at the Women’s Australian Open.
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With a week-long tally of 9-under, The South Korean-born New Zealander captured her ninth worldwide career win before the age of 18, so it was just another day in the life of the youngest golfer of either gender to attain the No. 1 ranking.
Setting records is becoming as second-nature to Ko as making game-winning eagles. A holed-out deuce on the par-4 15th helped her gain a share of the 36-hole lead Friday. A pitch shot that found the bottom of the cup on the par-4 third in the finale Sunday launched her on her way to her sixth tour victory.
“The first two holes I three-putted and you really don’t want to start on that kind of a note, especially on the final day when you know you need to play really well. That third hole really kicked off well,” Ko said after carding a final-round 2-under 71. “It was great and it really helped my round.”
To recap, the youngest-ever world No. 1 made history with that achievement and now holds a poker hand full of such marks:
- Youngest, at 14, to win a professional event (2012 New South Wales Open)
- Youngest, at 15, to win an LPGA event (2012 Canadian Women’s Open)
- Youngest Rookie of the Year (2014)
- Youngest (and first player) to hit the jackpot and win the $1 million bonus that came with winning the inaugural Race to the CME Globe (2014)
Unbelievable. So happy for @Lko424. Now put that bottle of champagne in the cellar for another four years! https://t.co/cIp4qK4KRE
— Chad Coleman (@HashtagChad) November 23, 2014 Ko, whose CME Globe earnings also made her the youngest tour player to become a millionaire, strengthened her three-week hold on the top spot in the Rolex Rankings with her first win as No. 1.
“I didn’t really know how I would play and how I would react to becoming world number one,” said Ko, who leapfrogged Inbee Park for the pole position. “Sometimes I got close and I was still world number two, three or four and then after Ocala [season-opening Coates Golf Championship], I couldn’t pull off the win but then I became world number one.
“I played average in the first two days in the [Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic], but then I fired back,” Ko add. “It’s good to know that just from my confidence that I can still play good and not really think about the world rankings.”
Before heading to Singapore for the HSBC Women’s Champions, Ko will tee it up at home in next week’s New Zealand Women’s Open, which she won as an amateur in 2013.
“My sister’s here, my mum’s here, my agent’s here. We’ll have hopefully good food. Just being able to go home is a big thing,” Ko said. “I won in Naples last year and I got to go home and here I get to win and then go home too, that’s the biggest prize.”
