17 Years, 9 Months, 8 Days

Under normal circumstances I should be writing "Remember Saturday, 31 January 2015. That's the day Na Yeon Choi won the inaugural Coates Golf Championship." And because of that -- it's been something like 2 years since NYC last won -- I'm going to start with that and post this picture of her with the trophy because she deserves the recognition. This victory was hard-won, and you can read some of NYC's comments at the LPGA's tournament page. Well done, Na Yeon!



But ultimately the headline has to be "Remember Saturday, 31 January 2015. That's the day Lydia Ko made history... again."

At the very young age of 17 years, 9 months and 8 days old, Lydia Ko became the youngest golfer ever to become World #1 -- even younger than Tiger, by nearly 4 years. (Okay, the LPGA.com post lists her at 17 years, 9 months and 9 days but GC listed her at 17/9/8 so that's what I'm posting.)

The Kobra finished in a 3-way tie for second at the Coates, just one shot off NYC's winning score, but that was enough to take the top spot in the Rolex Women's World Rankings. And according to that page at LPGA.com I mentioned earlier, only 3 players in ANY sport have become #1 at a younger age than Lydia -- Martina Hingis, Monica Seles and Tracy Austin, all three tennis players.

Pretty heady company, no matter how you slice it.

Of course the debates have already started. Can the Kobra keep it up like Tiger did and dominate for a long time? Or will she burn brightly for a short time like Yani Tseng, then find herself struggling to recover? Will it change Lydia's charmingly naive persona or will she somehow manage to stay the same?

I'll leave the debates for another day. What I will say is that we'll all remember Saturday, 31 January 2015 as the day we got to see history being made by the youngest member of the LPGA Tour...

And that, however briefly, Na Yeon Choi forced her to share the spotlight, which is something few other players manage to do. Remember that too.