AMATEUR LYDIA KO (15) WINS LPGA CANADA WOMEN'S OPEN

  LYDIA KO ... due to play in the Ricoh Women's British Open at Hoylake from September 13 to 16 (Image by Cal Carson Golf Agency).

FROM THE PGA TOUR OF AUSTRALASIA WEBSITE
Fifteen-year-old Lydia Ko from New Zealand has made golfing history, and stolen headlines around the world by winning one of the LPGA's most prestigious tournaments.
Ko, the No 1 ranked female amateur in the world and reigning US Amateur champion, beat a field including 19 of the top 20 ranked Professionals in the world at the Canadian Women's Open in what can only be described as one of golf, and sport's, greatest performances.
Ko's win, at the age of 15 years, four months and two days, beat the record held by Lexi Thompson who was 16 years, eight months and eight days when she won the Navistar Classic last year.

Ko is also the first amateur to win on the LPGA since the legendary JoAnne Carner in 1969.

The victory by the Auckland-based teenager generated news around the world with the World Golf Hall of Fame even calling to ask for a memento of the occasion.
Ko first made history when she won the NSW Open earlier this year as a 14-year-old, becoming the youngest ever winner of a Professional golf tournament, male or female, in history.
This win, however, eclipsed that performance by some margin given the Canadian Open is considered almost the equal of the four majors and carries the third biggest purse in women's golf behind the US Women's Open and the Evian Masters.
For those who missed it there is an excellent Golf Channel re-cap of the event here.
+Lydia Ko is among the exempt entries for the Ricoh Women's British Open Championship at Royal Liverpool Golf Club, Hoylake from September 13-16.

Lydia Ko's Light-hearted Approach

By Roger Schiffman 
 Managing Editor
 Golf Digest

 What is most striking about Lydia Ko's victory - she's the youngest champion on the LPGA Tour (sorry, Lexi Thompson) and the first amateur to win since JoAnn Carner in 1969--is the way in which she did it. 

By laughing and smiling, even at her bad shots, and joking with her local caddie, almost 50 years her senior, Ko birdied five of six holes in the final round to head off such major stars as Jiyai Shin, Stacy Lewis and Suzann Pettersen.
But it's this same attitude and approach to the game that has produced a string of positive experiences - and victories - in the short career of this obvious child prodigy. 

Kudos to her New Zealand coach, says Kevin Hinton, who usually writes the Instruction Blog on Mondays.  Ko's young coach is someone you've probably never heard of, Guy Wilson. But you might be hearing a lot about him in the coming weeks, months and years. Hinton notes that it seems like he's done just about everything right in helping Lydia shape her flawless swing, short game and putting stroke, but more importantly her light-hearted approach to practice and play. 

This is difficult when building a teen phenom, Hinton says.

And she seems to have her priorities in order: She's remaining an amateur for the foreseeable future, she says, but suggested that if she could have accepted the $300,000 first-place check, she would have bought a dog and given most of the money to the poor.
There's a lesson here for all of us, and especially anyone responsible for bringing a young player into golf. 

We need to remind ourselves what's truly important and what this game is all about. So far, Lydia and her coach are on the right path. 

Video reports show how perfectly on plane Lydia's swing is, and how perfectly paced her putting stroke is, and how perfectly in perspective they've been able to keep the game in her life. Let's hope it continues.

LEADING FINAL TOTALS IN CANADIAN WOMEN'S OPEN

Par 288
275 Lydia Ko (NZ) (amateur) 68 68 72 67
278 Inbee Park (S Korea) 68 71 70 69 ($300,000)
280 Na Yeon Choi (S Korea) 67 7273 68, Jiyai Shin (S Korea) 0 70 68 71, Chella Choi (S Korea) 72 64 73 71 ($140,103 each)
281 Anna Nordqvist (Sweden) 74 70 68 69, Stacey Lewis (US) 72 71 66 72 ($75,478 each).

SELECTED TOTALS

284 Catriona Matthew (Scotland) 74 72 67 71 (T13) ($36,682)
293 Janice Moodie (Scotland) 71 76 73 73 (T55) ($5,837).
294 Jodi Ewart (England) 73 73 71 76(T60) ($4,793)
298 Becky Morgan (Wales) 71 73 77 77 (T70) ($4,076)

MISSED THE CUT (147 and better qualified)

149 Laura Davies (England) 75 74, Karen Stupples (England) 71 78.
150 Michelle Wie (US) 74 76