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Lydia Ko was born in South Korea, and moved
to New Zealand with her family when she was 6 years old. She
had hit balls in Korea on practice ranges, but took up the
game in earnest upon arriving in her new home. Within a few
years, she became one of the top junior golfers in New Zealand.
In 2009, Lydia lost in the finals of the New
Zealand National Amateur Golf Championship, losing to fellow
Korean expatriate teenager Cecilia Cho in the final.
Ko continued to stun people everywhere with
her talent in 2010. As a 12 year old she finished tied for
7th at the New Zealand Women's Golf Championship, just five
shots behind winner Laura Davies. In April, she helped lead
New Zealand to a second place finish at the Sirikit Cup, an
important team event. She finished 4th in the individual standings.
Ko's star continued to rise in 2011. She came
agonizingly close to winning a professional event on the ALPG
in January. She was leading with one hole to go but missed
a three foot par putt on the final hole to lose by one shot.
Had she won, at age 13, she would have broken the record for
youngest girl to win a professional golf event by THREE YEARS.
At the LET's New Zealand Women's Golf Championship, she bettered
her 2010 performance by finishing fourth, and finished tied
for 12th at the Handa Australian Masters, another LET event.
By March she rose to the #3 women's world
amateur ranking. At this point, her rivalry with good friend
Cecilia Cho heated up. Ko claimed the Australian Stroke Play
title by beating Cho in a two hole playoff, but lost the Australian
Amateur Match Play in the quarterfinals.
Ko then won the New Zealand Stroke Play Championship,
beating Cho by 9 shots. This event set up the draw for the
New Zealand Match Play Championship, which once again ended
up being a final matchup between Cho and Ko. And once again,
Ko triumphed, beating her friend 4 and 3 in the final despite
the fact Cho had won the event the two previous years. This
allowed Ko to rise to #1 in the amateur rankings, knocking
Cho down to #2. Ko became the first woman to ever hold both
the Australian and New Zealand Stroke Play titles in the same
year.
In May, Ko also won the Muriwai Ladies Open,
beating a field of pros and amateurs. She then launched her
first effort to play in the big European and American amateur
events. She lost early in the British Women's Amateur, but
claimed the co-medalist honors at the US Women's Amateur before
falling in the second round of match play.
Expect to hear much more from this amazing
talent in years to come!
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