Who is the Greatest Teenage Golfer of All Time

Who is the Greatest Teenage Golfer of All Time – Male or Female?

Written by Mel Sole on September 23, 2015. Posted in LPGA, Womens Golf

Who is the Greatest Teenage Golfer of All Time – Male or Female?

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If you answered Lydia Ko, congratulations.

But I’m afraid many people would quickly name Tiger Woods or maybe Jack Nicklaus. Because the media gives much more coverage to the men’s golf, a phenomenal, history-making golfer is “falling through the cracks in this conversation” as Shane Bacon says for Fox Sports.

Lydia Ko became the youngest winner of a major championship on the same weekend in September where the men were playing the next-to-last FedEx Cup event, the women’s Solheim cup was being played out in Europe, and it was the start of the NFL season. So, yes, there was a lot of activity vying for the golfer’s attention. However, you’d think that Ko’s accomplishment would have been discussed on TV shows the next day and that she would be at the top of Golf Internet news, etc.

Besides winning the Evian Championship with a final round of 63(!) to become the youngest Major winner ever, Ko ranked No. 1 woman golfer in the world at 17 years of age. At that point, she had racked up numerous wins as a professional and also as an Amateur, since age 14.

Shane Bacon of Fox Sports has an interesting take on the lack of attention to Lydia Ko and lets us know why this is a big mistake.

The story is everything you would think the mainstream media would want.

A teenage superstar winning a major in record-setting fashion, the face of women’s golf emerging as not only a threat to win each week but now adding a major to her trophy case. So why don’t people seem to care?

Not many people noticed when Lydia Ko won her first major last weekend — and that’s a shame. Jean-Pierre Clatot / Getty Images

We are in the closing stretches of the 2015 PGA Tour season, one for the ages when you think about the majors and the names who broke out, and one we will look back on as the year when things in men’s golf changed. Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson were far from the headlines, as Jordan Spieth,Jason Day and Rickie Fowler had breakout years and were part of a group of 20-somethings who are taking over golf.

But one name who will fall through the cracks in this conversation, as it always seems to happen in sports, is the one who was the most impressive. Lydia Ko, who is still just 18, won her first major championship on Sunday, becoming the youngest to do so in the modern era of golf and finishing it off with a jaw-dropping 63.

So why don’t people seem to care? Why isn’t it a talking point on sports shows?

Who is the Greatest Teenage Golfer of All Time – Male or Female?

Why are people ignoring this incredible accomplishment in an era where youth is everything in our world?

I asked people on Twitter this question Monday. They mentioned the start of the NFL season (OK, fine), the fact that the event was played overseas (still not totally buying that, but I get the time difference), and even gave predictably disappointing answers like she’s not American or the fact that it’s “women’s golf.”

To me, none of these answers is acceptable. Who cares if Ko isn’t American?! Rory McIlroy isn’t American, and when he wins we put him on the cover of our sports magazines and compare his stats to those of Tiger and Jack. When Jason Day won at Whistling Straits, we anointed him one of the new Big Three and discussed whether he might sneak off with Player of the Year honors ahead of Spieth, especially if he closes things out well in the playoffs.

To me, not being an American shouldn’t be an issue in 2015. We love athletes who can do amazing things. Usain Bolt catches our attention. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic capture the national media in a U.S. Open final, and Ko is winning major championships at age 18.

She’s already the greatest teenage golfer, male or female, in the history of golf.

And now she’s winning the biggest of the big with final rounds that match what Johnny Miller did at Oakmont back in 1973.

We as golf fans, and sports fans, need to do better on this front. Ko is making history. It’s our responsibility to start paying attention.

With that, mailbag time. Here we go.

To see the comments in Shane Bacon’s mailbag, go here!

Source: Shane Bacon Fox Sports

Pictures: Jean-Pierre Clatot / Getty Images Singapore Sports Council

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Who is the Greatest Teenage Golfer of All Time – Male or Female?

If you answered Lydia Ko, congratulations.

The story is everything you would think the mainstream media would want.

So why don’t people seem to care? Why isn’t it a talking point on sports shows?

She’s already the greatest teenage golfer, male or female, in the history of golf.

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