Golf: Ko shares LPGA lead

Ko won the New South Wales Open in Australia to become the youngest player to win a professional tour event.

VANCOUVER: New Zealand golf prodigy Lydia Ko fired a second-straight four-under par 68 to seize a share of the second-round lead with Chella Choi at the LPGA's Canadian Women's Open. Ko, a 15-year-old South Korean-born New Zealander who won the US Women's Amateur crown a fortnight ago, shared the lead with Choi on eight-under 136, three shots in front of their nearest rivals. She played without a bogey on the Vancouver Golf Club course and birdied three holes in a row starting at the par-three 12th, then added a fourth birdie at 17 to gain her share of the lead. In January Ko won the New South Wales Open in Australia at the age of 14 to become the youngest player to win a professional tour event. “I'm just here for the experience,” said Ko. “But for the professionals it's about how much money they're going to get by each placing.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2012.