It’s appropriate that Lydia Ko will be in the United Kingdom this week, vying for a win at the RICOH Women’s British Open. After all, her closest competitor in the “youngest-to” category for major championships called Scotland home.
Tom Morris Jr., was a similar rising star 148 years ago when he won the Open Championship at Prestwick over a 12-hole course against a field of 12 players. Morris became the youngest winner of a major championship in 1868 at age 17 years, 5 months and 8 days. He repeated in 1869 and 1870 before completing his Open Championship reign with a win at age 21 in 1872 – all at Prestwick. (There was no Open Championship in 1871.)
Ko comes to Woburn Golf and Country Club in Milton Keynes, England, with a chance to become the youngest player in all of golf – no matter the era – to capture three major titles. She won the Evian Championship last September at age 18 years, 4 months and 20 days (youngest woman to win a major), approximately one year older than Morris in his first major title, and came back to win the ANA Inspiration last spring less than a month before her 19th birthday, about 8 months older than Morris in his second major. This week, with a win she would be a month and one-half younger than Morris was in his third win (Ko would be 19 years, 3 months, 7 days). She could also nip him by one day with a win at the Evian Championship in mid-September.
Digging back into the ancient history of golf competition is about the only place to unearth comparisons to Ko’s youthful run. Here’s a look at significant golfers who won majors in their youth and a comparison to Ko for third major titles:
|
Name |
1st Major (Age) |
2nd Major (Age) |
3rd Major (Age) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tom Morris Jr. |
1868 Open (17) |
1869 Open (18) |
1870 Open (19-4-26) |
|
Lydia Ko |
2015 Evian (18) |
2016 ANA (18) |
-- |
|
Patty Berg |
1937 Titleholders (19) |
1938 Titleholders (20) |
1939 Titleholders (21) |
|
Yani Tseng |
2008 LPGA (19) |
2010 Nabisco (21) |
2010 RICOH British (21) |
|
Johnny McDermott |
1911 U.S. Open (19) |
1912 U.S. Open (20) |
-- |
|
Inbee Park |
2008 U.S. Women’s Open (19) |
2013 Nabisco (24) |
2013 LPGA (24) |
|
Gene Sarazen |
1922 U.S. Open (20) |
1922 PGA (20) |
1923 PGA (21) |
|
Jordan Spieth |
2015 Masters (21) |
2015 U.S. Open (21) |
-- |
|
Tiger Woods |
1997 Masters (21) |
1999 PGA (23) |
2000 U.S. Open (24) |
|
Jack Nicklaus |
1962 U.S. Open (22) |
1963 Masters (23) |
1963 PGA (23) |
|
Rory McIlroy |
2011 U.S. Open (22) |
2012 PGA (23) |
2014 Open (25) |
|
Seve Ballesteros |
1979 Open (22) |
1980 Masters (23) |
1983 Masters (26) |
|
Mickey Wright |
1958 LPGA (23) |
1958 U.S. Open (23) |
1959 U.S. Open (24) |
The likelihood of Ko winning the RICOH this week is backed by her recent majors record. She has finished 1-2-T3 in the last three. She led going into final rounds of the KPMG (lost in a playoff to Henderson) and U.S. Women’s Open (shot a final-round 75). The last third-round leader to win the RICOH was Jiyai Shin in 2012. Ko hasn’t finished worse than fourth in her last five LPGA starts.
Ko has also spent 59 total weeks atop the Rolex Rankings in her career (39th consecutive week). She is two weeks away from tying Annika Sorenstam on the all-time career weeks list at No 1. Ko has not been ranked outside the top 3 players in the world since April 2014.
| Career Weeks at Rolex Women's World Golf Rankings No. 1 Position | |
|---|---|
| Lorena Ochoa | 158 |
| Yani Tseng | 109 |
| Inbee Park | 92 |
| Annika Sorenstam | 61 |
| Lydia Ko | 59 |
| Stacy Lewis | 25 |
| Jiyai Shin | 25 |
| Ai Miyazato | 12 |
| Cristie Kerr | 5 |
)
)
)
)
