How special is Lydia Ko?
In the history of the LPGA, only three players have gone from Rookie of the Year, to Player of the Year the following season– Beth Daniel, Nancy Lopez and Annika Sorenstam. All of them Hall of Famers.
You can now add Lydia Ko to that short list.
Ko, who won the Race to the CME Globe last year, took it all again last Sunday in Naples. Once again, she won the $1 million bonus that went with it.
Did we mention she’s 18-years-old?
She’s golf’s Million Dollar Baby, twice over and her net worth is pushing quickly toward the $10 million neighborhood when you add her tour winnings and endorsement income.
The cool part is that she didn’t know she had the Player of the Year wrapped up until after she finished her round Sunday. “If I could chose one,” she said of LPGA honors, “I’d pick Player of the Year. It’s a real special moment to have my team here with me,” she said afterward.
The demands on her life have increased with her victories. She’s the youngest in women’s history to reach 10 LPGA wins, she’s also got another four on the Ladies European Tour. She won a new Kia automobile for her Player of the Year honor and the funny part is, she doesn’t know how to drive.
Can you imagine an 18-year-old so busy she hasn’t had time to get a driver’s license?
Welcome to the hectic world of Lydia Ko.
Unlike the rest of the teenage world, she makes money faster than she can spend it and certainly doesn’t have extravagant habits.
Is there a huge spending spree on tap?
“I might get a ping-pong table,” she said.
Wow.
