The Loop
When is Lydia Ko going to win a major?
It seems a bit ridiculous to be impatiently waiting for an 18-year-old to win her first major. But Lydia Ko doesn't play like a normal 18-year-old. She's No. 1 in the world and has won seven times on the LPGA Tour. If she's not the definition of an overachiever, we don't know what is.
And yet none of those victories has come at a major.
Ko has her next opportunity to "finally" win one during next week's KPMG Women's PGA Championship at Westchester Country Club outside New York City, a revamped version of the LPGA Championship with the PGA of America taking over the operation of the tournament. A lot of people are asking, as they will every time Ko tees it up at a major before she wins one, if this will be the weekend she breaks through.
In a conference call last Tuesday previewing the championship, LPGA Hall of Famers Judy Rankin and Annika Sorenstam addressed the matter. Rankin isn't worried about Ko's lack of a major win at all. "I don't think it's an emergency right now," Rankin said. "She just had her 18th birthday. I personally don't think there's much doubt that that's going to happen sooner rather than later."
Considering Ko's age, that answer makes sense. But still, it's a missing accomplishment for Ko.
Sorenstam, who knows more about winning majors than just about anyone having won 10 of her own, was frank about the fact that the longer Ko goes without winning one, the greater the pressure becomes. "I remember being a player and you want to prove that you can do it, and I'm sure she feels the same way," she said.
Sorenstam considers this hurdle as an intriguing test for how Ko can handle herself.
"I look forward to seeing how she's going to do here at Westchester and certainly the next three [majors in 2015] after that to see how she steps up to the pressure."
Of course, there's no way of knowing when (or even truly if) a major win will happen for Ko. Sorenstam, like most though, isn't too concerned that ability will be what holds Ko back.
"She has the game and she's capable of winning majors, there's no doubt."
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