Both 2015 Players of the Year got to swing at Augusta National last week.
Well, for one it was one shot. In the par-3 contest. While wearing caddies overalls.
But, hey, it’s progress.
Just a few years ago there weren’t any woman members at the home of the Masters. Now, one has played in it.
Well, sort of.
The idea Paula Creamer put her name behind last year, that of a version of the Masters for the best women’s players on the planet, may or may not come about. It’s hard to imagine, but it’s out there.
And the concept got some more backing Tuesday, as the world’s No. 1 women’s player, Lydia Ko, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser she’d be on board.
Of course she would.
When Ko turns 19 later this month she will still be too young to rent a car or buy a drink.
Last week she enjoyed what seemed like a fantasy camp experience in Georgia. She met Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson. She hit a tee shot to within 3 feet of the hole at No. 9 while taking a break from caddie duties for Kevin Na.
It wasn’t planned, Ko said. A club appeared in her hands, and she obliged. With no time for nerves, she nailed it.
“I’m just glad it didn’t go in the water,” she said.
This wasn’t some fan contest where Ko was a lucky winner.
This was part of Ko’s accolades for being a skillful winner.
She was on the premises to receive her Golf Writers Association of America award for 2015 Player of the Year. Jordan Spieth, the Masters champion last year, was the men’s awardee.
Now she’s here in Hawaii to play in the Lotte Championship at Ko Olina Golf Club.
Even for the greatest of raw talents, golf is humbling. The time between what seems unlimited potential and landing in the winner’s circle can be years. Ko only has to ask her friend, Michelle Wie, about that.
Sometimes it never comes.
But Ko’s transition from prodigy to dominance (at least for now) has been so smooth it’s nearly as surreal as the miracle 154-yard 8-iron Sei Young Kim holed out to win the Lotte last year in a playoff against Inbee Park.
Ko wasn’t here last year. She rolls in now with two wins in a row. That latest is her second major, the ANA Inspiration.
She’s the youngest to do this, youngest to do that. She’s mentioned in the same stories with Young Tom Morris, who won the British Open when he was 17.
She’s so good they waived the rule about having to be 18 to join the LPGA Tour for her.
“I can’t believe this is already my third year on tour. Things have gone by so fast. Experience is such a big thing. I think every moment, good or bad, there is always something I can learn from,” Ko said. “A lot of things that I’ve always dreamt of have come really fast. Sometimes I hear people say, ‘Oh, if it comes fast, aren’t you worried?’ To me, I’m just trying to embrace the moment. Just trying to have fun. I just feel fortunate with the things that have happened so far. So even if the things I really wish in the future don’t happen, I feel so fortunate for what has already happened. I’m just going to try and embrace it and enjoy it out there.”
Whether there’s ever a Masters for the women or not, Ko will always have had her day, her swing at Augusta. And she earned it, as a teenager.
No one can ever take that away.
Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 His blog is at Hawaiiwarriorworld.com/quick-reads.
