26 Nov 2014

Steady Ko stuns golf world

1:42 pm on 26 November 2014

A little over a year on from turning professional, the New Zealander, Lydia Ko, has stunned the golf world again with a record-breaking win on the LPGA Tour.

A little over a year on from turning professional, the New Zealander, Lydia Ko, has stunned the golf world again with a record-breaking win on the LPGA Tour.

Lydia Ko in Mexico City earlier this month.

Lydia Ko at the Lorena Ochoa Invitational tournament in Mexico City earlier this month. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Ko's win in a playoff in the season-ending Tour Championship in Florida earned her the largest payday in the history of women's golf, nearly $NZ1.9 million dollars, including a $1.26 million bonus for topping the Tour's Order of Merit.

It took four extra trips down the 18th hole for Ko to finally emerge as the champion with the world number three rock solid, making regulation pars on each of the playoff holes before Spain's Carlota Ciganda faltered to give Ko her third win of the season.

She admits she was relieved at not having to play the hole again.

"Yeah, I thought four times was enough, it's a tough one and obviously I like the hole now," she told reporters after her win.

Ko had some of the pressure lifted before the playoff began when she was told by her coach, David Leadbetter, she'd already secured the Race To The Globe title and the more than $1.2 million bonus that comes with it.

However Leadbetter, says the 17-year-old didn't let the news of her increased fortunes affect her focus heading into the deciding holes.

"She just said, 'really?' and that was it, she didn't do cartwheels or anything.

"She keeps her emotions in check does young Lydia and that's obviously going to hold her in good stead for the future, what a tremendous year she's had and to wrap it up like this is incredible really."

Ko's success is set to continue benefitting the sport New Zealand, with Leadbetter confirming Ko's intention to play the New Zealand Open in Christchurch next year.

New Zealand Golf's high performance manager, Gregg Thorpe, says she's brought the game back into the limelight.

"She's given us a profile, like something we haven't had for a while, it's quite some time since Michael Campbell's major success and we'd liken this year to that.

"She's driving interest across the board and that's in both men's and women's golf."

Michael Campbell

New Zealand Golf says Lydia Ko's success is boosting the sport's profile in a similar way Michael Campbell did after his 2005 US Open win. Photo: PHOTOSPORT

For Ko the challenge is now to back up from a debut season which exceeded all her initial expectations.

She's been named LPGA Rookie of the Year, won nearly 4 million dollars on the course and is up to number three on the world rankings.

Ko admits she's set the bar high for herself.

"It's going to be tough, I think I played pretty awesome this year and I've had like 14 top 10s and three wins and it's a year that I would have never thought I would have and it's a hard year to top.

"Just playing consistently is my goal for my whole career."

Ko now plans to return to New Zealand and put the golf clubs away for a few weeks before beginning her preparations for next season.