Future is now for the LPGA Tour
Young stars Ko, Henderson, Jutanugarn tee up near Calgary
CALGARY There was always the feeling that fans would one day crack open Golf Canada’s history book, eyeball the results from 2012 and be amazed by the star power on the list of winners. Just not necessarily this soon. That summer, a 14-year-old from Smiths Falls, Ont., cruised to a wire-to-wire victory at the Canadian Junior Girls Championship at River Spirit just outside of Calgary.
Now 18, Brooke Henderson is already a three-time winner on the LPGA Tour, third in the women’s world rankings and the undisputed great golf hope for the Great White North. That summer, a 16-year-old from Thailand finished five shots clear of the field at the Canadian Women’s Amateur in Lethbridge. Now 20, Ariya Jutanugarn is No. 2 in the world and has racked up four wins already this season.
And that very same summer, a 15-year-old from New Zealand dropped jaws with a three-stroke triumph at the Canadian Women’s Open in Vancouver, becoming the youngest trophy collector in LPGA Tour history. Still only 19 and perched atop the world rankings since last fall, Lydia Ko has shredded the record books and just added an Olympic silver medal to her staggering hardware haul.
“That was my first LPGA Tour event and I was 14, so I thought I was doing pretty big things,” Henderson recalled of the 2012 Canadian Women’s Open. “And then I saw a 15-year-old kind of come in and sweep the field away ...
“Lydia is truly amazing. She’s an inspiration to me and I think everybody that knows her, even if they’re players or fans or whoever. She has done incredible things in her career thus far, and it’s just getting started. “I think the future is bright for the LPGA Tour.”
The future is now for the LPGA Tour. And this week, the future is digging divots just west of Calgary at Priddis Greens, where Ko, Henderson and Jutanugarn are among the marquee attractions at the 2016 Canadian Pacific Women’s Open. The four-round, US$2.25million shootout tees off Thursday morning.
“If you take our top three or four players and you add up their ages, you might get to the commissioner’s age,” joked LPGA Tour Commish Mike Whan. “Age is just a number. I always say that nobody thought you could run a four-minute mile, and then one person did, and it seemed like a lot of people did. Nobody thought you could be 18 years old and be the No. 1 player in the world, but Lydia has done it, and now 18 doesn’t seem to be that concerning anymore.”
“Even this morning, I teed off at 8 a.m. in a pro-am on Wednesday, and there were people following me right from the start,” Henderson beamed. “My gallery kind of grew throughout the day, and as I finished my round, that was probably the longest autograph session that I’ve ever had.
“It’s always really nice to have that support and know that the whole country is behind me.”
With three Canadian Pacific Women’s Open crowns — including two as an amateur — among her slate of 14 victories so far on the top circuit, Ko also enjoys plenty of fan support in this golf-crazed country.
After showing off her Olympic silver medal Wednesday in the media tent, the 19-year-old told reporters that she feels right at home in Canada. And right at home in LPGA Tour locker-rooms, where she’s not the only talented-beyondbelief youngster anymore.
“I mean, Ariya and I are old compared to Brooke now,” Ko said. “My first year on tour, I was always the young one, and there weren’t that many girls that were my age. But now to see Brooke, Minjee (Lee) and all these other girls that are in similar age, it’s really cool, and I enjoy it.”
Ko tees off at 8:27 a.m. in Thursday’s opening round, while Henderson can sleep in before a 1:31 p.m. launch in the afternoon wave.