NEWS

Lydia Ko, at 17, becomes face of LPGA Tour that is global and robust

By Dan O'Neill
Published on
 
She's just 17, you know what I mean.
 
Actually, no, you probably don't know what I mean. Truth is, 17-year-old Lydia Ko is doing amazing things on the LPGA Tour in relative obscurity. There was a time when the women's tour was on our St. Louis radar, when the GHP Heartland Classic was in full swing at Forest Hills Country Club and, to an extent, when the State Farm Classic was cranking up each year in Springfield.
 
That has changed for the worse where our golf landscape is concerned, but not necessarily where the LPGA is concerned. This week's ANA Inspiration is a makeover version of the Kraft Nabisco and one of 33 events on a full 2015 schedule – not counting the Solheim Cup. This year's schedule features a total purse of $61.6 million. That's 10 more events and $20.5 million more than the LPGA schedule of 2011.
 
This is not your mother's LPGA. The brand is different from when Annika Sorenstam was dominating Forest Hills, and perhaps more robust. The tour is still based in the U.S. but only loosely tethered to it. Sixteen dates on this season's schedule are outside the continental 48, or almost half. The ladies will bring golf to the people of 15 different countries.
 
As an example of the global blending, this week's first major, long sponsored by Kraft Nabisco, is now tagged to ANA, the first installment of a five-year sponsorship deal with Japanese carrier All Nippon Air. That's All Nippon, not former Red Sox pitcher and St Louis product Al Nipper.
 
While it has a new backers, the prestigious championship still is played at Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, Calif., its home since 1972.
 
Truth is, there's a couple of things you don't want to be doing these days, if you can possibly avoid them. One is betting the mortgage on Jaime Garcia. The other is making out travel itineraries for the average LPGA player.
 
The stars might cherry pick, take time off here and there, manage things according to convenience. But if you're, say, Jennifer Johnson, who finished second to Jennifer Song at the U.S. Women's Amateur here in 2009, you're 71st on the money list. You have to make hay where the ball goes in the air.
 
So you're booking travel and paying expenses to play in Belmont, Mich. in late July, Turnberry, Scotland the week after and Portland, Ore. eight days later. And you don't want to miss the France-to-Germany-to-China-to-Malaysia-to-Korea swing later in the year.
 
But imagine being 17 years old and enjoying that globetrotting experience, wow! Imagine being 17 and ranked No. 1 in your professional sport. Imagine being 17 and having more than $3 million in earnings.
 
Now you know what I mean.
 
Ko has been Ko-lobbering it since she arrived on the golf scene. In 2013, commissioner Michael Whan waived the LPGA requirement that members be 18 years old and allowed the 15-year-old star to come aboard. And, as hockey commentator Darren Pang might say, "Why wouldn't he?" At the time, Ko already had two LPGA wins. As an amateur, she never missed a cut in 25 professional tournaments.
 
That's like a college baseball player competing in some big league games and putting together a 25-game hitting streak.
 
Born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, Ko has 14 wins world-wide and six on the LPGA circuit. She finished third at the Kia Classic last weekend with a final-round 67. It was her 28th consecutive round under par, one round shy of the LPGA record streak of 29 set by the legendary Sorenstam.
 
It also was Ko's 10th consecutive top-10 finish on a competitive stage that is the best her sport has to offer. It's not like no one else out there is trying. Inbee Park, the second-ranked LPGA player, has 18 top-10 finishes and had three victories last year. American Stacy Lewis, currently No. 3, was 15th last week after finishing second or third in her previous three starts.
 
Imagine the preposterous notion of being 17 and having people suggest you have underachieved in the majors. Because of Ko's phenomenal resume, it is noteworthy and surprising that she is winless in 12 major championship starts. That "disappointing" record includes the collar in six majors since she turned professional.
 
Certainly, the first major championship of the season this week will not make the needle move like it will for the first men's major of the season, the gathering at Augusta National next week. Safe to say, many of us aren't paying as much attention to the LPGA as perhaps we once did.
 
But with Ko, Park and Lewis involved, the women have a "Big Three" rivalry that doesn't exist right now on the PGA Tour. With Lexi Thompson the reigning champ, Michelle Wie restored and Christie Kerr turning back the clock, there are personalities among the women who bear watching.
 
Mostly, you can't help but wonder if Ko can break Sorenstam's record this week, or if she can become the youngest to ever win a major championship. Morgan Pressel was 18 years and 10 months when she won the Kraft Nabisco in 2007.
 
Ko is just 17, you know what I mean.
 
This article was written by Dan O'Neill from St. Louis Post-Dispatch and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.