KIWI LYDIA KO FIRST FEMALE WINNER OF MARK McCORMACK MEDAL

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE R AND A
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko has become the first female recipient of the Mark H McCormack Medal, awarded to the top-ranked golfer in the women’s World Amateur Golf Ranking (WAGR).
Today’s medal announcement marks the end of a successful first year for the women’s WAGR, launched in February following the success of the men’s ranking, now in its sixth year.
It is the first time the women’s game has been able to compare amateur player performance in elite competition and it currently includes a calendar of 1,750 counting events with around 3,500 ranked players representing 82 countries.
Ko arrived on the game’s international stage at the age of 12 when she finished leading amateur in the 2010 Pegasus New Zealand Women’s Open. She tied for seventh, and in the process became the youngest woman to make the cut in a Ladies European Tour event. She then narrowly missed becoming the youngest player to win a pro event after missing a putt to make it into a play-off at the 2011 New South Wales Open.
The 14-year-old has continued to break records, becoming the first player to win both the Australian and New Zealand Ladies’ Stroke Play Championships in the same year.
Ko was also co-Medallist at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship before being knocked out in the second round of match play.
A delighted Ko said: “My goal when I started playing golf was to become the best in the world, and this is a tick in the box for sure.
“It is great to follow fellow Kiwi Danny Lee's footsteps. This is a great reward for all the countless hours I and my team put in, and to become the first female, even better. It’s been a huge year for me, one of many firsts, and this is just the cherry on the top. Thank you so much to The R and A and USGA."
The medal, as with the men’s equivalent, won this year by USA’s Patrick Cantlay, is awarded to the female player ranked number one in the WAGR after the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, the last elite women’s WAGR event of the amateur season.
The women’s ranking is quickly catching up with the men’s which now encompasses more than 2,500 counting events and, almost 6,000 players representing 100 countries worldwide.
Today’s announcement follows the first meeting of the WAGR committee since the United States Golf Association (USGA) joined The R and A in overseeing the rankings. Representatives from the European Golf Association and the Ladies’ Golf Union also advise the committee.
During the meeting, a number of procedural and technical changes aimed at enhancing and improving the method of WAGR calculation were agreed. Some of the changes, which came into effect on 1 November, include more accurately reflecting a tournament’s strength of field, eliminating divisors for rounds not played, reducing stroke play bonus points for shorter events, and improving methodology for elite team match play events.
USGA Executive Director Mike Davis said: “The USGA was pleased to attend what was a successful inaugural joint meeting of the WAGR committee, working co-operatively with our partners at The R and A in making meaningful enhancements to the world’s most important amateur ranking system for men and women.
“As the first female recipient of the McCormack medal, Lydia Ko has achieved an historic honour in women’s amateur golf. With her boundless talent and dedication to the game, many more are sure to follow.”
R and A Director Mike Tate said: “Lydia Ko has consistently proved throughout the season that she is a golfer of incredible promise and is a worthy winner of the first Mark H McCormack medal.
“The women’s WAGR, like the men’s, has quickly established itself as a trusted weekly point of reference for players, championship organisers and golf fans alike.”

+Lydia Ko was born in South Korea but her family emigrated to New Zealand when she was six or seven years old.