Ko Joins Rare Group, Momentum Heading into a Major

When Lydia Ko and Jason Day tee it up in the first major championships on their respective tours the next two weeks, they will have a lot in common.

Even though Day is 10 years older than Ko, both hail from Down Under. Day, 28, is from Beaudesert, Queensland, Australia and Ko, 18, from Auckland, New Zealand, an approximate three-hour flight over the Tasman Sea.

Both players are ranked No. 1 in the world – Ko in her current position since last October and Day moved back to the top spot this week after winning consecutive starts on the PGA Tour the previous two weeks. They were ranked No. 1 simultaneously for two weeks last fall.

They also have significant momentum on the eve of major championships. Ko won her first major title, the Evian Championship, last September and then captured the Kia Classic last week in Carlsbad, Calif., entering this week’s ANA Inspiration. Day won his first major, the PGA Championship, last August and took the Arnold Palmer Invitational and World Golf Championships-Dell Match Play in consecutive weeks in preparation for next week’s Masters Tournament.

Finally, they will also both be in Augusta, Ga., next week. Day will be playing in the Masters while Ko will be honored by the Golf Writers Association of America at its 2015 LPGA Player of the year on Wednesday, April 6 during its annual awards dinner.

The only question in Ko’s ascent to “youngest to …” on the LPGA was winning a major championship. She answered that in France last year to become the LPGA’s youngest major champion at age 18 years, 4 months and 20 days. Morgan Pressel held that mark before, but will continue to be the youngest ANA Inspiration champion (18 years, 10 months and 9 days in 2007) as Ko turns 19 on April 24.

“I think my goal is to have my personal best finish at ANA,” said Ko, whose best finish is a T25 in three starts. “That’s a good start. I didn't strike the ball very well last year there, so hopefully I’ll be able to hit a few more fairways and give myself a good chance, and obviously it helps to have played well here going into the first major of the year.”

Ko has yet to finish outside the top 15 in her six worldwide starts this season. She defended at the ISPS Handa New Zealand Women’s Open on the Ladies European Tour in February and then held off a late rally from No. 2 Inbee Park to win last week in Carlsbad, only two hours away from Mission Hills and this week’s first major. Her scoring average of 68.55 leads the LPGA and is the lowest in golf, bettering the actual scoring average of Adam Scott (68.75), who is tops on the PGA Tour.

With a win this week, Ko would join another rare group.

Only 13 players – and on 17 occasions – have won the event before and then a major championship, beginning with Marlene Bauer Hagge at the 1956 Triangle Round Robin and LPGA Championship. Annika Sorenstam (twice) and Lorena Ochoa are the only players to win the week prior to the ANA and then capture the first major of the season.

The last player to win consecutive major championships was Inbee Park, who won the ANA Inspiration (then Kraft Nabisco), KPMG Women’s Championship (then LPGA Championship) and U.S. Women’s Open consecutively in 2013.