Annika Sorenstam cheers for Lydia Ko to break her sub-par rounds record

When Lydia Ko matched Annika Sorenstam’s record of 29 consecutive rounds under par on Thursday at the ANA Inspiration, she accomplished the feat with the World Golf Hall of Famer watching and cheering her on.

Indeed, Sorenstam, who provided color for Golf Channel’s opening-round coverage of the season’s first major, was in awe of the magic the 17-year-old phenom was conjuring on a day when the world No. 1 did not have her best stuff.

With strong winds causing uncharacteristic wildness off the tee and an almost unprecedented four bogeys on her front-nine, Ko two-putted for par on her 18th hole of the opening round at Mission Hills. She came in at one-under 71, which was just good enough to tie the modern LPGA Tour record and put her in prime position to break it on Friday.

“Today I was so busy trying to make up-and-downs, or trying to make a good two-putt or make some birdies, because I really wasn’t hitting my driver well,” Ko said. “When you’re in that position a record was the last thing I was thinking about.”

The wind will be down when Ko starts her second round on No. 1 at 4:05 p.m. ET, which should provide perfect scoring conditions on the Dinah Shore Tournament Course. While LPGA fans will be glued to every shot from the kid who has a chance to shatter yet another mark (she would become the youngest LPGA player to win a major if she finishes first on Sunday), Ko continues to take it one shot at a time.

“The record really wasn’t in my head,” Ko said. “I guess, post-round, now that you guys are asking, here it is. But, no, not when I was playing. I think because I was spraying it a little bit, it made me think less about the records and the after results.”

As for the youngster in the spotlight, the six-time LPGA winner was psyched to be in the same conversation as one of golf’s royalty.

“Yeah, I mean, she’s legendary, and everybody pretty much looked up to her,” Ko said about Sorenstam, one of the few professionals to own a sub-60 score. “Annika has 59, so hopefully I’ll be near that 59 once. ... She says so many nice things about me. When I got picked for the Time’s 100 Most Influential People she’s the one that wrote a little bio about me.

“So, yeah,” the teenager summed up, “it’s really awesome that somebody like her is speaking about me, good or bad.”