Lydia KO world no.1 a just seventeen years old!

Post by Sports Writer Derek Clements

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WITH the spotlight on Rory's McIlroy's brilliant play in Dubai, his court case in Dublin and Tiger Woods' scarcely-believable impression of a 24-handicapper at Phoenix, it is understable that you might have missed the week's most remarkable golfing achievement.

When the women's world rankings were published on Monday morning, the player at the top of the pile was Lydia Ko, the South Korean-born New Zealander. The most remarkable thing about that is that Ko is just 17 years old. You read it right. SEVENTEEN! When Tiger Woods ascended the peak of the men's game he was 21, and we couldn't quite believe what we were seeing.

Bearing in mind the resurgence of the women's game in America, Ko's achievement is all the more remarkable - especially when you consider that they have an age rule that stipulates that nobody under the age of 18 is elligible to play on the LPGA Tour. They had no option but to waive that rule when Ko emerged on the scene. She did, after all, win her first professional title as a 15-year-old amateur.

The girl could easily dominate the women's game for 20 years. And it is anybody's guess as to how many majors she will win before she is through.

Ko secured the number one ranking by finishing in a tie for second at the LPGA Coates championship in Florida, despite losing a four-stroke overnight lead in the opening LPGA event of the season, which was won by Na-Yeon Choi, of South Korea. She nevertheless accrued enough ranking points to overtake South Korea's Inbee Park in the rankings.
"It's amazing," said Ko. "It's a huge honour to be in that ranking. All I was focused on was trying to play my best. I'm just going to just focus on my golf, not think about the rankings," she said. "The rankings always come after the results."

Ko eclipses South Korean Jiyai Shin, who was the youngest player to top the women's rankings, doing so aged 22 in 2010.

Ko became the youngest winner of an LPGA Tour event when she took the Canadian Women's Open in August 2012 at the age of 15. She turned professional in October 2013 and has already won five times on the LPGA Tour and once on the European Tour.

Image Credit - LPGA Facebook Page