Congrats to Lydia Ko - Major Win #2

[nevets88]

That's 12 LPGA tour wins, 2 majors and she's all of 18 years old. Great for New Zealand golf and great for the not so long hitters.

Quote

“The only person I can really compare her to is Annika in that she’s so strategic,” said Stupples. Ko isn’t as long as Sorenstam, Stupples said, but she’s a better putter.

Stupples then pointed out all the bombers on the leaderboard Sunday – Lexi Thompson, Michelle Wie, Charley Hull and Jutanugarn.

“Lydia’s style of golf beat them all at the end of the day,” she said. 

http://golfweek.com/2016/04/03/lydia-ko-wins-ana-inspiration-second-consecutive-major-title/

 

First selfie w/trophy in a bathrobe

 

 

[boogielicious]

I felt bad for Jutanugarn. She had a two stroke lead with three to play and bogeyed two in a row. At 18, she played a 3W off the tee instead of driver and hooked it into the water. She basically gave the tournament to Ko. Hopefully she will recover. Ko was a grinder though and stayed close even though she wasn't hitting the ball her best.

[Scotsclaff]

And she hammers the shit out of Tiger,her record is incredible.

Come ahead and play with the boys,Lydia!

[Mr. Desmond]

22 minutes ago, Scotsclaff said:

And she hammers the shit out of Tiger,her record is incredible.

Come ahead and play with the boys,Lydia!

That will ruin her. She has no length to play with the big boys.

[RandallT]

1 hour ago, boogielicious said:

I felt bad for Jutanugarn. She had a two stroke lead with three to play and bogeyed two in a row. At 18, she played a 3W off the tee instead of driver and hooked it into the water. She basically gave the tournament to Ko. Hopefully she will recover. Ko was a grinder though and stayed close even though she wasn't hitting the ball her best.

I believe Jutanurarn blew another major lead a few years ago. A 2 stroke lead on 18, and she triple-bogeyed or something like that? 

Just googled it: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/park-wins-disaster-strikes-jutanugarn-thailand/

Quote

On the verge of becoming the first Thai to win an LPGA event, Jutanugarn stepped to the 72^ndhole with a two-shot lead on Inbee Park, who was already in the clubhouse.

Emboldened by a hole-in-one at the 12^th, which catapulted her back over the hard-charging Park, Jutanugarn made triple bogey at the last hole and lost to Park by one shot.

Jutanugarn missed a 3-footer for double bogey that would have pushed her into a playoff.

“I’m so sad,” Jutanugarn told reporters afterward.

Jutanugarn was trying to become the third youngest winner of an LPGA event. She thrilled her homeland on Saturday chasing down reigning LPGA player of the year Stacy Lewis to take a three-shot lead into the final round. She thrilled them again Sunday making an ace at the 145-yard 12^th.

That's gotta be tough to have control of two majors and self destruct for both. Ouch. She (and her sister) seem like they take it all in stride though from interviews I've seen.

[Pendragon]

2 hours ago, Mr. Desmond said:

That will ruin her. She has no length to play with the big boys.

I agree. She's a great player, but playing against the man would be a huge mistake. It's not going to happen, anyway. Ko is too smart to make the same mistakes that Michelle Wie did. 

[colin007]

I watched a bit on Friday and Saturday....Lexi Thompson's legs....oh my word.

I like Lydia. She seems like a well rounded and grounded kid.

[nevets88]

6 minutes ago, colin007 said:

I watched a bit on Friday and Saturday....Lexi Thompson's legs....oh my word.

I like Lydia. She seems like a well rounded and grounded kid.

 

Spoiler

I feel like a dirty old man posting this, this, is a pair of legs, I'll just leave it at that. LA, land of attractive people

 

 

[colin007]

11 minutes ago, nevets88 said:

 

  Hide contents

I feel like a dirty old man posting this, this, is a pair of legs, I'll just leave it at that. LA, land of attractive people

 

 

Steve-o, you are a wise man....

[iacas]

5 hours ago, Scotsclaff said:

And she hammers the shit out of Tiger,her record is incredible.

Come ahead and play with the boys, Lydia!

What kind of comment is that?

[Dave2512]

Watched a bit had to remind myself it was a major, didn't look like it with the sparse attendance.

[Ric]

Lydia is getting very famous. Will fame spoil her head?

A personal story to share: Lydia started at young age under the excellent coaching of Guy Wilson at the North Shore CC just north of Auckland and as the years progressed she kept winning amateur events. We didn't know anything about Lydia when we came to New Zealand in 2006 and settled here and joined the Gulf Harbour CC in Gulf Harbour NZ about 45 min from Auckland.

Lydia left North Shore CC and practiced every day at Gulf Harbour when we joined the club and we got to know her very well. The club had a reception for her when she started to play certain LPGA events as an amateur and all wished her well and I talked at length with Lydia and her original coach Guy Wilson. I told them the story on how Jack Grout (who coached the young Jack Nicklaus) shied away from people calling him the greatest coach in golf. Grout would respond to the effect, "Well I told Jack to do this, and he did it perfectly. I wasn't a coach I just shared what I knew and Jack just simply did it effortlessly." Guy Wilson laughed and said he could relate to that. Lydia impressed me as being very relaxed and kind of matter of fact. Yes, she knew she was a very good golfer but that's just the way she was and didn't think that was anything overly special.

I was still amazed at how respectful people in New Zealand are to each other no matter who they are. Frank Nobilo can attest to this and probably explain it better. The bathroom cleaners at Gulf Harbour CC get the same respect as the Prime Minister. In contrast, we had visited Arnold Palmer's Bay Hill Country Club in Orlando several years ago and saw Mark O'Meara and other well known PGA players practicing around the practice green and passersby and golf fans would stop and stare and watch them practice sand shots and I got the impression when you're a big star you have to live with it and it was a bit annoying to the golf stars. We were surprised to find the people in NZ  aren't celebrity seekers - they respect each other's privacy and it's sort of an every man society. For example, my wife and I were in Wellington at the Portofinos Restaurant on the water and two tables away were Peter Jackson and Tom Cruise (probably discussing movie work) but Kiwis respected their privacy and no one bothered them - no one sought autographs, took photos, etc. 

So I hope Lydia doesn't get too annoyed at the celebrity seekers in other parts of the world with her increasing success and fame. I don't think it will bother her too much since her personality is very cool and laid back. We're all glad she's got a great caddie now too (even though he's an Aussie, Ha ha!).  

Just wanted to share this and conclude with a wish for Adam Scott and Kiwi caddie Steve Williams do it again this week!

Edited April 4, 2016 by Ric
correct typos

[natureboy]

10 hours ago, RandallT said:

I believe Jutanurarn blew another major lead a few years ago. A 2 stroke lead on 18, and she triple-bogeyed or something like that? 

Just googled it: http://www.golfchannel.com/news/golftalkcentral/park-wins-disaster-strikes-jutanugarn-thailand/

That's gotta be tough to have control of two majors and self destruct for both. Ouch. She (and her sister) seem like they take it all in stride though from interviews I've seen.

See below.

12 hours ago, boogielicious said:

I felt bad for Jutanugarn. She had a two stroke lead with three to play and bogeyed two in a row. At 18, she played a 3W off the tee instead of driver and hooked it into the water. She basically gave the tournament to Ko. Hopefully she will recover. Ko was a grinder though and stayed close even though she wasn't hitting the ball her best.

It's tough to have a meltdown like her first one. I'd say this one was more letdown than melt so she's trending in the right direction. As a young golfer the thing to take away is that she has the game to put herself in contention at Majors repeatedly. Remember Rory's blowup at Augusta way back.

Personally, I would be annoyed at myself for getting tight / losing focus two times (just means it meant a lot to her), but massively stoked about the overall performances. Here is an example of a golfer who may benefit from some 'mental game' coaching.

The interesting contrast was that Lydia Ko's stated attitude toward the event was that it was 'just another four-day tournament'. She's practically the definition of imperturbable. Don't know if it's her religion, but she seems to have a lot of 'Buddha-nature'. That said, given her lack of length, I  think Ko may linger, but won't last on tour. 

Edited April 4, 2016 by natureboy

[GolfingInHawaiiSpoiledMe]

Congrats Lydia.   Is it me or watching Michelle Wie putt, makes you want to look away. Nothing seems comfortable in that stance.  

11 hours ago, Mr. Desmond said:

That will ruin her. She has no length to play with the big boys.

Michelle Wie did this and set her back a few years. 

[Pendragon]

On 4/4/2016 at 4:31 PM, GolfingInHawaiiSpoiledMe said:

Congrats Lydia.   Is it me or watching Michelle Wie putt, makes you want to look away. Nothing seems comfortable in that stance.  

Michelle Wie did this and set her back a few years. 

It's easy to make the argument that at age 13 or 14 Wie and Ko had very similar skill levels, and that both had the definite potential to be among the best few women to ever play the game. But Wie bought into her domineering father's crazy notion that playing with the men was the way to maximize her potential, and we all saw what a fiasco that turned out to be. Instead of learning what it takes to win on the LPGA, Wie learned what it takes to miss cut after cut, highlighted by her performance at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii where, on a course she'd played hundreds of times, she missed the cut by 14 strokes. Since then she has won 4 times on the LPGA tour, including the Women's U.S. Open in 2014, but most would agree that her career this far has been rather disappointing, given the potential she showed at an early age. So far in 2016, Wie's performance has been lackluster at best, with 2 missed cuts and no top tens in 7 events, and she's #72 on the LPGA money list.

Lydia Ko, on the other hand, hasn't been saddled with domineering parents who have wanted to control her every move. At the ripe old age of 18, she's the #1 women's player in the world, and there's no indication that she won't be there for a long time. So far in 2016, Ko's played 6 times, with 2 wins, 2 seconds, a T3, and a T15, and has made over $1 million. Compare that to Wie's winnings of $39,477, compiled during her mediocre play in the events noted above. 

You state that the Wie family's strategy of playing with the men has set her back a few years. I'd suggest that you're being way too kind. Numbers don't lie.............. 

 

[Gunther]

I guess that major win got Ko a front row seat to the Masters Par 3 contest today.  Saw her as the big 3 (less Arnie, plus Watson) were teeing off.  Don't think they knew who she was but she seemed to be having fun.

[boogielicious]

 

It's easy to make the argument that at age 13 or 14 Wie and Ko had very similar skill levels, and that both had the definite potential to be among the best few women to ever play the game. But Wie bought into her domineering father's crazy notion that playing with the men was the way to maximize her potential, and we all saw what a fiasco that turned out to be. Instead of learning what it takes to win on the LPGA, Wie learned what it takes to miss cut after cut, highlighted by her performance at the 2007 Sony Open in Hawaii where, on a course she'd played hundreds of times, she missed the cut by 14 strokes. Since then she has won 4 times on the LPGA tour, including the Women's U.S. Open in 2014, but most would agree that her career this far has been rather disappointing, given the potential she showed at an early age. So far in 2016, Wie's performance has been lackluster at best, with 2 missed cuts and no top tens in 7 events, and she's #72 on the LPGA money list.

Lydia Ko, on the other hand, hasn't been saddled with domineering parents who have wanted to control her every move. At the ripe old age of 18, she's the #1 women's player in the world, and there's no indication that she won't be there for a long time. So far in 2016, Ko's played 6 times, with 2 wins, 2 seconds, a T3, and a T15, and has made over $1 million. Compare that to Wie's winnings of $39,477, compiled during her mediocre play in the events noted above. 

You state that the Wie family's strategy of playing with the men has set her back a few years. I'd suggest that you're being way too kind. Numbers don't lie.............. 

 

Ko is incredible. That being said, Wie did go to Stanford with the intention of graduating. That also has set her back in golf terms, but not life terms. She may never reach the level of Ko, but she may have had a different personal goal too. You are making the assumption that Wie wanted the same things that Ko wanted. I think the path she took clearly shows otherwise.

[Pendragon]

12 hours ago, boogielicious said:

Ko is incredible. That being said, Wie did go to Stanford with the intention of graduating. That also has set her back in golf terms, but not life terms. She may never reach the level of Ko, but she may have had a different personal goal too. You are making the assumption that Wie wanted the same things that Ko wanted. I think the path she took clearly shows otherwise.

You make a fair point, but who's to say that Wie would have gone to Stanford and stayed to graduate if she'd stuck to playing with the women and had won 2 or 3 majors by the time she was 17? I think most would agree that what Lydia Ko has accomplished is pretty much what B.J. Wie had in mind for his daughter before he pushed her to compete against the men. Perhaps the dose of reality that provided made the idea of a college education look much more sensible. I guess we'll never know. Maybe she'll figure it out and put together some really good years on the LPGA, although 2016 isn't off to a very good start. She'll be an interesting story to follow this year and in the future.