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Kangaroos delay LPGA Australian Open

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 16:45:00 GMT

Yesterday it was Black Widow spiders, today it's kangaroos. This photo courtesy of Stefan Postles shows Karrie Webb and her caddy waiting for a court of kangaroos (had to look that one up) to clear the ninth fairway before teeing off. No word of how long the delay lasted, but we're placing bets on what wildlife will impact the LPGA Australian Open next. Webb and the rest of the Tour may be hoping for something to attack Lydia Ko, because nothing else seems to slow her down.

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Podcast: Paul Azinger on Snedeker's win at AT&T

Mon, 11 Feb 2013 14:28:00 GMT

Listen to the podcast: Zinger's Corner

During his win this weekend at Pebble Beach, Brandt Snedeker showed not just prowess on the greens but improved ball-striking skills. In this week's Zinger's Corner, Paul theorizes that Snedeker may be one of a handful of players set to dominate the PGA Tour in 2013.

"I just believe that this may be one of those years where... these guys that know how to win [will] have a stranglehold on the tour," Azinger says. "Five or 10 guys may hog all the wins." Also mentioned: Rocco Mediate's debut win on the Champions Tour and amateur Lydia Ko's youthful march to victory in another pro start.

Download and subscribe to the Zinger's Corner series in iTunes

Photo by Getty Images

Think Young, Play Hard: Lydia Ko

GolfDigest.com — Tue, 22 Jan 2013 05:00:00 GMT

15-year-old Korean golfer Lydia Ko burst onto the international scene last year when, at 15, she became the youngest LPGA Tour winner after claiming the 2012 CN Canadian's Women's Open. We take you inside Ko's world, from turning pro to her dream foursome.

March 2013 Table of Contents

Tue, 22 Jan 2013 05:00:00 GMT

How She Did That: Lydia Ko's Light-hearted Approach

Roger Schiffman — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 20:39:00 GMT

By Roger SchiffmanManaging EditorGolf DigestTwitter @RogerSchiffmanWhat is most striking about Lydia Ko's victory Sunday--she's the youngest champion on the LPGA Tour (sorry, Lexi Thompson) and the first amateur to win since JoAnn Carner in 1969--is...

Playoff fever? The antidote was a 15-year-old girl

Sun, 26 Aug 2012 22:43:00 GMT

By John Strege

Playoff fever was not particularly gripping on Sunday, unable as it was to deliver -- even with a delivery company footing the bill -- the more compelling golf story.

This is not to suggest that television viewers of the FedEx Cup playoff opener moved en masse from CBS and the Barclays to the Golf Channel and the CN Canadian Women's Open, only that they should have.

A 15-year-old girl, an amateur from New Zealand, was making a historical pass through women's golf with a performance that is best summed up in the texting vernacular of her age group: OMG.

Lydia Ko, 15 years, four months and three days old, to be exact, won the LPGA's Canadian Women's Open by three strokes at the Vancouver Golf Club to become the youngest winner in the history of the tour. Ko also was the first amateur to win on the LPGA since JoAnne Carner in 1969, and Carner was 30 at the time.

Photo by Getty Images

"This is making me feel old," Jiyai Shin, one of those in pursuit at the outset of the final round, told the Golf Channel in the midst of Ko's back-nine assault that included four consecutive birdies and five in a six-hole stretch.

Shin, it should be noted, is 24.

Two days earlier, Suzann Pettersen, 31, took note and said, "It feels like you're being beaten by a kid."

She along with the rest of the field indeed were beaten by a kid, who already had conquered the amateur world, winning the U.S. Women's Amateur two weeks earlier.

Kids making headlines is not a novelty on the LPGA. Another precocious teen, Michelle Wie, was doing likewise when she was 15, but as good as she was -- and a case could be made that Wie was better then than she is now -- she was not winning an LPGA event. And in 2000, Aree Wongluekiet (now Aree Song) was 13 when she tied for 10th in the Kraft Nabisco Championship, a reflection of the lack of depth in women's golf at the time.

Ko's victory had nothing to do with a lack of depth. She was playing head to head with Stacy Lewis, the LPGA's leading money winner and the second-ranked player in women's golf, and outplayed her by five shots, closing with a five-under par 67 that was borderline flawless.

"I can't see anything she does not do well," Judy Rankin said on the Golf Channel.

Pettersen made the argument that Ko's age allowed her to play carefree, providing an advantage against those for whom this is a livelihood. "She's too young to understand where she's at," Pettersen had said. Moreover, Ko had nothing to lose, notably money. The $300,000 first-prize money went to runner-up Inbee Park. Ko received only a trophy for her effort.

The counter argument suggests that this was less a fluke than North America's introduction to the future of women's golf. Ko, in fact, has won on the professional level before -- in January, while still 14, she won the Women's NSW Open on the Australian Ladies Professional Golf tour.

Barton: Augusta National makes long overdue change

Ko, meanwhile, said that she wants to attend college, an admirable goal that is likely to be tested in the heady aftermath of her historical victory on Sunday that earned her the admiration of the women left in her wake.

A few of them ran onto the 18th green and showered her with water, cognizant of the fact that dumping champagne or beer on her would be inappropriate for one who is still six years away from reaching the legal drinking age.

Shin was right, as it were, and could have been speaking on behalf of all of us. Anyone watching Ko on Sunday should be feeling just a little bit older.

Follow @JohnStrege

Semifinal matches set at U.S. Women's Amateur

Derek Evers — Sat, 11 Aug 2012 02:04:00 GMT

By Brendan Mohler CLEVELAND, Ohio -- After a morning of thunderstorms and an afternoon of birdies, the semifinalists are set at the U.S. Women’s Amateur at The Country Club. Twenty-year-old Nicole Zhang, who took...

Close matches result in heartbreak at Women's Amateur

Derek Evers — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 18:50:00 GMT

By Brendan Mohler Follow @brendanmohlergw !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); CLEVELAND -- Golf is a cruel game. This morning’s second round of match play at the U.S. Women’s Amateur was full of constant reminders that the game...

Oh to be young at the Women's Amateur

Ryan Herrington — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:02:00 GMT

BARRINGTON, R.I.—Let me start with a voice from the past: "That a teenager would claim the most prestigious title in women’s amateur golf for a fourth straight year seemed fitting, what with enough high schoolers...