At this point in 18-year-old Lydia Ko's career, she basically owns every age-related winner's record in LPGA Tour history: youngest winner, youngest to become No. 1 in the world, and youngest to reach one, two and $3-million in career earnings.
Yet there is one record that has eluded Ko: youngest major champion, currently owned by Morgan Pressel.
If Thursday's first round is any indication, Ko might hold that record too after Sunday at the RICOH Women's British Open. Ko has frequently mentioned that her nerves reach a whole different level at majors and she's yet to find a method for calming them as well as the seven-time LPGA champion would like.
She was not in contention at the season's first three majors and admitted she probably put too much self-induced pressure on herself at the majors. But whatever she did differently Thursday worked beautifully because Ko dominated Turnberry from the start Thursday, opening with four straight birdies to fire her lowest round in a major with a 6-under par, 66.
"Hit it pretty solid. If I did miss it, I missed it in the right spots where it wasn't that difficult to get up and down," Ko said. "I holed a lot of solid putts for par and a couple solid putts for birdie."
When Ko entered the scorer's tent following her round as the second group in, it looked like she would hold the clubhouse lead for much of the day, but 20-year-old Hyo Joo Kim had different plans. The world No. 4 and holder of the lowest round in major championship history with a 61 at the 2014 Evian Championship, stole the clubhouse lead from Ko with an eagle on the 14th and a birdie at the 17th to post a 7-under par 65.
"Last couple of weeks I couldn't hit it very well," Kim said. "But today I kept it in the fairway very well, and the second shots hit the greens very well."
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