In February, the Halberg awards in New Zealand will acknowledge the country’s best athletes. It seems inevitable in a rugby-mad nation the All Blacks will capture the premier prize. But should they?
Becoming the first team to defend the Rugby World Cup and winning 49 out of 54 Tests since 2012 is a remarkable achievement, but is it more noteworthy than that the feats of Lydia Ko, recently named in Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people.
Ko is one of the most dominant young sportswomen in the world. In 2015, the 18-year-old ended the year ranked world number one and topped the LPGA money list defeating 171 other players.
On November 22, 2015, Ko won the LPGA Player of the Year by two points over Inbee Park, making her the youngest winner in the award’s 49-year history.
Her consistency is remarkable. She played 24 events and made 23 cuts achieving 17 top ten finishes and five victories.
On September 13, 2015, Ko won the fifth and final major on the 2015 LPGA calendar, the 2015 Evian Championship. She dominated the final round with eight birdies, winning by six shots over second-placed Lexi Thompson. Her 63 was the lowest-ever closing round score in a women’s major championship.
Ko’s victory made her the youngest major champion in the history of the LPGA Tour and the youngest major champion in golf since Young Tom Morris, who won the 1868 Open Championship.
Ko became the first New Zealand woman to win a major and just the third golfer, behind Sir Bob Charles (1963 British Open) and Michael Campbell (2005 US Open).
On October 26, 2015, she became the youngest player to win ten events on a major tour at age 18 years, six months and two days, surpassing Horton Smith who set the PGA Tour mark of 21 years, seven months in 1929, and Nancy Lopez who set the previous LPGA Tour record in 1979 at 22 years, two months, five days.
The All Blacks are regularly the world’s best, Ko is a trailblazer who has rewritten the record books in New Zealand and world golf. Her example is an inspiration to many young women around the world, hence her nomination in Time Magazine.
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