KO IS ACCOMPLISHED WELL BEYOND HER YEARS
The two-time major winner and world No. 1 wastes no time
SAMMAMISH, WASH. Lydia Ko is an old 19. She has been the No. 1 ranked player in the world in women’s golf for 33 consecutive weeks; she has won the last two major championships; she has been a professional for close to three years; she was the youngest to do basically everything in women’s golf, and she already has settled on the age she will retire.
Someone mentioned something about her 30s.
“Not 30s,” said the 19-year-old. “30. I said I want to retire when I’m 30. I’ve still got 11 more years. It’s a long time. In the back of my mind, I think when I get to 27, 28, I’m going to go, wow, in two years I’ll reach my goal of retirement age. I don’t know why the number 30 came along, but I thought that was the magic number. But I’ve got more things to worry about and think about than worry about what’s going to happen in 11 years.”
Don’t we all? She was reminded that will be 55 more majors for her. “That’s too much math.” The year 2027 seemed a long way off Thursday during the first round of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, when Ko skipped down a hill among the tall, emerald pines of Sahalee Country Club to march toward her final green of the day, the par-3 ninth. When she parred the hole, she walked off with an evenpar 71, an opening round as steady as she is. Ko is four strokes behind and one year older than leader Brooke Henderson.
It used to be that you had to be older and more mature to win in golf, men’s or women’s. Twenty years ago this summer, experts scoffed at the notion that Tiger Woods could come right out on tour as a 20-year-old and win. He would see just how tough it was out there. We know how that went. So the floodgates opened and the kids came storming in: Michelle Wie, Paula Creamer, Lexi Thompson, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, etc. But there’s never been a kid quite like Ko, the New Zealander by way of Seoul.
When the LPGA waived the requirement that a tour member had to be at least 18 to open its doors to the then-16-year-old Ko, Commissioner Mike Whan uttered this memorable line, “It is not often that the LPGA welcomes a rookie who is already a back-to-back champion.”
She now has won a total of 12 times on tour, including the last two majors — the Evian Championship last September and the ANA Inspiration in April — becoming the youngest woman to win a major and the youngest person to do it since the 1860s, when Young Tom Morris won the British Open at 17.
Should Ko win here this week, she would join Mickey Wright, Babe Zaharias, Pat Bradley and Inbee Park as the only women to win three majors in a row.
Veteran Stacy Lewis, a twotime major winner and one of Ko’s playing partners here Thursday and Friday, says what’s going on isn’t hard to figure out.
“She’s kind of done it noncha- lantly,” Lewis said after their round. “That’s just the way she does things. It’s how she’s done it all along. It’s impressive. I played with her for her first win at 15. I’m not surprised by it. I’m not surprised by the success. Everything is just so solid in her game.”
There is a theory in sports that things come easier when you’re young, when you don’t think, you just perform.
“That could be true,” Ko said. “They say because you’re young, you’re fearless, but I still get nervous out there so that theory kind of doesn’t work with me. But the thing is, when we’re out there, we’re not judging anyone by their age. I’m not thinking, hey, she’s playing good because she’s 29. We just think, hey, she’s playing good.
“The age question, obviously I get asked that a lot, but there are new girls coming on tour playing really well at a young age and I’ve been thankful that I’ve had role models like Michelle, Paula or Lexi that have come on tour at a young age and walked the spotlight, too.”
None of them has been in quite the hurry that Ko has, though. Time is ticking. The year 2027 is out there, waiting.