15-year-old wins LPGA tournament
COQUITLAM, British Columbia — Lydia Ko showed playing partner Stacy Lewis a lot more than a great golf swing in the 15-year-old’s historic Canadian Women’s Open victory.
“I was most impressed with just her demeanor,” Lewis said. “I mean you would have never known that it was the final round of an LPGA event. She played like she had been there before.”
Ko became the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and the circuit’s fifth amateur champion Sunday, closing with a 5-under 67 for a three-stroke victory over Inbee Park.
“To break another record, or being in the history, it’s amazing, and it’s always awesome to be able to play with the pros,” Ko said. “The last few holes, it got a bit nerve-racking, but Stacy Lewis, after my birdie on 15, she said, `You know you can do it.’ It was really great to have another player that I look up to giving me that much support. It was really awesome.”
The South Korean-born New Zealander broke the age record of 16 set by Lexi Thompson last September in the Navistar LPGA Classic in Alabama, and is the first amateur winner since JoAnne Carner in the 1969 Burdine’s Invitational.
The glove Ko wore in the final round will be displayed in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
“To have something that’s mine to be up there, it’s amazing, and it doesn’t come down or anything,” Ko said. “So it will always remain there, and it’ll be a good memory.”
In January, Ko won the New South Wales Open in Australia at 14 to become the youngest player to win a professional tour event, a mark broken by 14-year-old Brooke Henderson in June in a 36-hole Canadian Women’s Tour event in Quebec.
Ko said she didn’t cry after her victory Sunday, but did two weeks ago after winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur.
“To me, the U.S. Amateur is a big event, and obviously this is a huge event as well,” Ko said. “But still, as an amateur, winning one of the biggest amateur events, I feel like it was a better win — even though this one was awesome.”
