Casual Brilliance Shines Brightest of All in Canada
“Amateur Lydia Ko is a humble sports prodigy, a [Year 12] student and 16 years old, all of which means that rarely have the absolute best pros in women’s golf had their collective butts kicked with such respectful, unassuming grace as happened this week at the [LPGA Canadian Women’s Open],” John Mackinnon writes for The Vancouver Sun.
“The Korean-born resident of New Zealand fired a finalround, six-under-par 64 [on 25 August] to defend the CN Canadian Women’s Open title she won in 2012 in Vancouver. The field here in Edmonton, remember, included 96 of the top 100 women pros in the world, but none came close matching Ko, who strung together rounds of 65, 69 and 67 before pulling away.
“For a flourish, with a massive gallery surrounding the 18th green, Ko calmly curled in a slippery, downhill, 16-footer for a birdie for a 72-hole total of 265, five better than runnerup Karine Icher of France. Not that the Frenchwoman was complaining. Since Ko is an amateur, Icher collected the $300,000 winner’s cheque.
“Still, at the end of a week in which there was much hopeful discussion about the wave of youth washing over the LPGA, Ko’s almost casual brilliance shone brightest of all.
“She is an elite athlete, head to toe, and as down-to-earth and genuine as they come.”
With this latest result, Ko has risen to 7th in the Women’s World Golf Rankings after only 22 professional tournaments as an amateur.
