Lydia Ko turned 17 last Thursday. Today she got the best birthday present possible; CBC Sports reports:
With the 18th pin and a championship in sight, Lydia Ko found herself in the rough again in a day filled with off-target drives. The teen told herself she just needed one more important chip with the tournament on the line.
Poised and unflappable, Ko made the perfect pitch up to the green and birdied the final hole for her first LPGA Tour victory as a professional and third in all, holding off Stacy Lewis and Jenny Shin on Sunday in the inaugural Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic.
In one memorable week, Ko turned 17, earned a spot as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine and captured her first LPGA Tour win as a pro — all while playing with a fill-in caddie from the local club.
"Normally they would say sweet 16, but I would say it's sweet 17," Ko said. "I don't think I could have any better birthday week."
It went down to the final shots, and the teen made a 6-foot birdie putt moments before Lewis knocked in a 4-footer of her own to finish one stroke back.
After beginning the day a stroke behind Lewis, Ko birdied three of her final four holes on the front nine on the way to a 3-under 69 and 12-under 276 total at Lake Merced.
And this win was all the more special for personal reasons; read on:
Ko earned $270,000, celebrating on the 18th green three days after celebrating her birthday at the first tee box with the gallery singing "Happy Birthday."
Ko, born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, will move up two spots to No. 2 in the next world ranking.
Her father, G.H., got to see her win Sunday.
"Tears nearly ran down my face. You may lose friends but you're always going to have your parents," Ko said. "I try to make myself not cry of happiness but it was coming to that point."
To have her father present for her first LPGA Tour victory as a professional made this an extra special win the New Zealand prodigy. She has now won on women's golf's biggest tour in three consecutive years, and it is hardly likely that the winning habit will be broken as Ko becomes more and more familiar with the itinerant lifestyle of a professional sportswoman.
The world of women's golf is Lydia Ko's oyster. It's only a matter of time now before she wins a major, confirming her standing as one of the best ever sportswomen to come out of New Zealand. Superstardom beckons for Lydia Ko.
