Lydia Ko, 15, is youngest ever LPGA winner

LYDIA Ko made history by winning the Canadian Women’s Open aged 15 years, four months and two days to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and only the fifth amateur champion.

The South Korean-born New Zealander closed with a five-under 67 for a three-stroke victory. She 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.

“To break another record, or be in the history, it’s amazing, and it’s always awesome to be able to play with the pros,” Ko said.

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.

In-form Ko also won the US Women’s Amateur two weeks ago in Cleveland. “I didn’t cry after this one, but (after) that one I did cry,” Ko said, referencing the US Women’s Amateur.

“Yeah, to me, US Amateur is a big event. This is a huge event as well, but as an amateur winning one of the biggest amateur events, I feel like it was a better win.”

Ko finished at 13-under 275 at The Vancouver Golf Club, pulling away with birdies on five of the first six holes on the back nine. She opened with consecutive 68s and shot a 72 on Saturday to take a one-stroke lead into the final round. Inbee Park shot a 69 to finish second.

Ko plans to remain an amateur and go to college in the United States, possibly at Stanford.

Ko’s parents moved to New Zealand when she was five, following a number of South Korean families who sought to take advantage of the freer access in New Zealand to golf courses and coaching.

Among the South Korean arrivals was Seoul-born Danny Lee, who moved to New Zealand aged eight and won the U men’s amateur title when he was 18. At 19, he won the Johnny Walker Classic in Perth, Australia, to become the youngest-ever winner and only the second amateur to win on the European Tour. Jae An, now playing in Canada, moved to New Zealand aged 10 and become – at age 13, when he played in the 2002 New Zealand Open – the youngest male to start in a professional tournament.

Lee and An both play under the New Zealand flag while retaining a strong fan base in South Korea. Ko, while born in Seoul, has been more unequivocally Kiwi, winning the New Zealand women’s strokeplay title and representing New Zealand in team events throughout her amateur career.

She speaks with a noticeable Kiwi inflection and occupies a place of distinction among New Zealand sportswomen. Within hours of Ko’s win, the chief executive of New Zealand Golf, Dean Murphy, hailed her achievement as the greatest ever by a New Zealand female golfer and possibly the greatest in any sport by a New Zealand woman.

“She’s playing the very, very best players in the world and at 15 she becomes the youngest ever winner of a tournament on that tour, so it’s enormously significant,” said Murphy. “Every time she plays she seems to rewrite history but this is right up there. This will be her most stunning achievement to date by a long, long way.”

Murphy said Ko was now a leading contender for the Halberg Award, which recognizes New Zealand’s sportsperson of the year.

New Zealand won six gold medals at the London Olympics - in rowing, sailing, canoeing and women’s shot put – and three of those golds were won by women, but Murphy said Ko’s success had additional merit.

“I’m slightly biased working with golf but this is right up there with the most stunning achievements of the year, and certainly (in) the Young Emerging Talent award at the Halbergs Lydia will be very hard to beat,” he said.

“I think she should be well at home with all the Olympic gold medalists with her achievement and what she’s done. Considering the amount of people that play golf in the world, the quality of the tournament she’s won, that achievement is just quite stunning.”

As an amateur, Ko had to forego $300,000 in prize money but Murphy doubted the young golfer would bring forward a decision to turn pro.

“She would have made that decision to switch a while ago if she was going to,” Murphy said. “She’s pretty set in what she wants to do and I don’t expect any change there.

“She has got a solid plan. She wants to keep developing. Keep being a 15-year old and in a couple of years’ time the pathway will wend its way to professionalism.”