Lydia Ko Carries Kiwi Hopes into British Women's Open

Teen Spirit: A 15-year-old immigrant from Korea will represent New Zealand at one of golf's majors.

At age 15 Korean New Zealander Lydia Ko — generally considered the top prodigy in golf history — will play the British Women’s Open with the hopes of her adopted nation on her shoulders.

Even Tiger Woods has called Ko a better golfer than he was at age 15. Her wins so far have been even more impressive than those of Korean American Michelle Wie, 22, when she was 15. Both golfers are fans and supporters of the modest, cheerful and bespectacled high-school junior determined to hang onto her amateur status for as long as she can manage.

In August Ko won the United States Women’s Amateur championship and followed up by winning the Canadian Women’s Open over a field containing 48 of the world’s top 50 golfers. That win broke the record of American Lexi Thompson for the youngest winner of an LPGA tour event. At 15 years, 4 months and 2 days, Ko was over a year younger than Thompson was when she won the Navistar LPGA Classic last September.

Thompson had been a pro for 15 months when she set the age record for an LPGA tour win at 16 years, 7 months and 8 days. Ko remains an amateur and the $300,000 winner’s check for her Canadian Open win defaulted to Inbee Park who had finished three strokes back.

Ko’s youthful record shines even when compared with that of Michelle Wie, one of her heroes and sources of inspiration. Ko was only seven when she was deemed good enough to compete in the New Zealand Women’s Amateur though she didn’t win it until just before her 14th birthday. At 12 Lydia tied for seventh in a Ladies European Tour event won by Laura Davies. In January, while still 14, she became the youngest champion on the Australian LPGA Tour with a four-stroke victory at the New South Wales Open.

Michelle Wie qualified for the US Women’s Amateur Public Links championship at 10, played in her first LPGA major at 13, and nearly made the cut at a PGA event at 14. But the similarity of their career paths may end there. Wie renounced her amateur status a week before her 16th birthday. That decision was followed by seven disappointing years as a pro, albeit mostly one who was playing only part time in order to get a degree from Stanford. Wie, now 22, has won only two tour events. In 2012 she missed nine cuts in 16 events, with just one top-10 finish.

Neither Ko nor the support team subsidized by New Zealand’s golf organizing body is anxious to have Ko turn pro. Instead they are focused on trying to keep the sport as fun and pressure-free for her for as long as possible by protecting her from those seeking to profit from her talents.

Guy Wilson, Ko’s first and only coach, has been turning down many invitations for Ko to play in men’s pro events in New Zealand.

“We’ve got to be very careful what environment we put her in,” he told the New York Times. He wants to make sure his protégé doesn’t fall victim to the same forces that may have stymied Wie’s progress.

“The one thing that I think I can see from Michelle, there are a lot of times she doesn’t enjoy what she’s doing,” Wilson said.

Wie herself seems to recognize the need for Ko to be shielded from the pressures that had beset her, perhaps too early.

“I would say have fun and try your hardest,” Wie offered by way of advice to Ko. “It’s really a game, after all.

“And I would just say, just play for yourself. Don’t play for anyone else. It’s your game, your life and it’s your desire.”

So far Ko is playing for the pure pleasure of the sport.

“For a few tournaments I’ve been the youngest competitor and I’ve coped,” said Ko. “I don’t really think about my age or what I’ve done really. I’m just one of the 156 players that are here.”

But for the many New Zealanders who will be watching Ko this weekend, she embodies their hope of showing the world the outsize talents being nurtured in their small and remote island nation. An indication of the national pride in Ko is the fact that radio reporter Guy Heveldt chose to fly 26 hours to follow Ko instead of covering this weekend’s sold-out rugby match between New Zealand and South Africa. The decision was an easy one, said Heveldt.

“Now that she is really making a name for herself on the LPGA Tour at 15, Lydia has become a really big story,” he said.

In the first round Thursday Ko will play in a group that includes Lexi Thompson. She will have more than the competition from the world’s best golfers which includes last year’s champion Yani Tseng. Winds are forecast to reach up to 50 miles an hour at the Hoylake course at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club. The course is also considered to have a fantastically difficult links layout.

“On the first hole I went in the right rough and second shot in the right rough and then third shot in the right rough again, so it’s tough,” Ko said after playing her first practice round on the course. She laughed, then added, “And I consider myself, you know, consistent, quite straight off the tee.”