Lydia Ko, after defeating Morgan Pressel in overtime on Sunday in San Francisco for her seventh LPGA Tour victory, is putting up numbers that nobody in golf has ever compiled.
Forget Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth, Lydia Ko is the best golfer on the planet
It’s time to laud Lydia Ko as the hottest golfer of any gender, on any tour, anywhere.
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And by nobody, we mean just that — not the PGA Tour man of the hour, 2015 Masters champ Jordan Spieth, who’s pretty good; the men’s world No. 1 and four-time major winner Rory McIlroy, no slouch; or the gold standard by which all phenoms are measured, Tiger Woods.
Take a glance at some updated eye-popping stats — but don’t commit them to memory since Ko blows them up every week or so:
18 — Age when Ko nabbed her 11th career professional win with the playoff victory over Pressel that was also a successful defense of her Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic title (Tiger, by comparison, earned his first pro W when he was 21; Rory was 20; Spieth, 19)
7 — Number of LPGA Tour wins
8 @LPGA events all-time have been won by players 18 years-3 days old & younger @Lko424 has 7 of those 8 wins
— Justin Ray (@JustinRayGC) April 27, 2015 15 — Age when Ko overtook Lexi Thompson to become the youngest golfer to win an LPGA event (2012 Canadian Women ’s Open)
17 — Age when the South Korean-born New Zealander became the youngest golfer of either gender to claim the top rung on the world rankings ladder (Tiger was 21), youngest player to win Rookie of the Year honors, and the youngest millionaire in LPGA history
18 -- Number of Q&As it took to prove that if this whole golf thing doesn’t work out, Ko has a future in front of the camera
29 — Number of consecutive sub-par rounds Ko tallied, matching Annika Sorenstam’s 2004 all-time mark
10 — Number of consecutive top-10 finishes Ko earned from October 2014-March 2015
$1.5 million — Biggest payout in LPGA history, which Ko cashed after winning the 2014 season-ending CME Group Tour Championship and inaugural Race to the CME Globe
$908,810/1 — Amount Ko has earned in eight tour events in 2015/Ranking in this year’s Race to the CME Globe
Maybe Mayweather shouldn't be the only one with the nickname "Money" cause Lydia Ko is straight CASH on 18! PLAYOFF!! @SwingingSkirts @LPGA
— Michael Collins (@ESPNCaddie) April 27, 2015 0 — Number of missed cuts in 50 career tour starts as an amateur and a pro
To put that last astounding stat another way, because one truly cannot emphasize it enough, Ko has played 50 LPGA events Without. Missing. One. Cut.
The only achievement missing from Ko’s resume is a major championship, but with her skills and nerves, we have to believe it’s only a matter of time before she accomplishes that feat. And, of course, Ko has yet to prove she can maintain such an incredible pace over the long haul as Woods has done in his remarkable career.
But if you’re still not convinced Lydia Ko deserves your acclaim, then you’re clearly not paying attention.
