Lydia Ko and How the LPGA Came Back from the Brink

When the Ladies Professional Golf Association's top players come together this week at Mission Hills for the first major of the year, the ANA Inspiration, all eyes will be on Lydia Ko, the diminutive, laid-back prodigy who is turning the women's tour into must-see TV one laugh at a time.

With all due respect to the University of Kentucky's quest for men's college basketball perfection at this weekend's Final Four, the most impressive—and most underappreciated—streak in sports right now is Ko's 28 straight rounds of professional golf under par.

No PGA player in history has ever achieved that—Tim Petrovic holds the men's record with 26. Only one woman, Hall-of-Famer Annika Sorenstam, is in front of Ko; she shot 29 consecutive rounds under par when she was 34 years old.

Ko won't turn 18 until later this month and already has six LPGA titles. The South Korean-born, New Zealand-raised golfer will play for her seventh—and her first major—at the ANA Inspiration, which also will be Ko's first major tournament as the No. 1-ranked player in the world.

Of course, it's the rest of the golf word that's caught up in the consecutive rounds under par streak, not Ko. In fact, she wasn't even aware she was closing in on Sorenstam's mark until she saw it on Twitter when she reached 26 rounds under par after two days at the Kia Invitational last week.

"I want to see how much sushi I can eat in five minutes," Ko told her coach David Leadbetter on the phone when he brought up the streak. "That'll be my record."

If history doesn't faze Ko, perhaps it's because she's already used to making it.

At 14, Ko became the youngest player of either gender to win a pro tournament when she won the Women's NSW Open on the ALPG Tour. At 15, she became the youngest-ever winner on the LPGA Tour when she won the CN Canadian Women's Open. At 16, she defended her title at the same tournament—and both times, Ko's amateur status meant her $300,000 winner's check went to the runner-up. The month after her second CN Open victory, she finished as the runner-up in the final major of 2013, the inaugural Evian Championship.

Since turning pro at the end of that year, Ko has two top-10 finishes in majors, four LPGA wins and, of course, the No. 1 ranking. She also became the youngest LPGA Rookie of the Year and took home the biggest single-day payday in LPGA history when she won the CME Group Tour Championship and a $1.5 million check last fall.

Unbelievable. So happy for @Lko424. Now put that bottle of champagne in the cellar for another four years! https://t.co/cIp4qK4KRE
— Chad Coleman (@HashtagChad) November 23, 2014

That much success in such a short period of time would drastically change most well-adjusted adults, let alone easily-influenced teenagers. But so far, not Ko.

"She's still just Lydia," 22-year-old Daniel Kang, Ko's best friend on the LPGA Tour, said. "She's still normal, there's nothing really extravagant. She's not any different than she was when she was 13."

Ko's ascendancy comes at a time when there have been many successful and popular LPGA players over the past decade. The tour hasn't really had a stabilizing force at the top of the sport since Sorenstam retired, nor a star that could generate mainstream headlines on a regular basis since Michelle Wie's initial breakthrough.

But considering Ko's consistency at such a young age and the rising popularity of the LPGA, the teenager has the potential to be for LPGA in 2015 what Tiger Woods was to the PGA in 2005. After all, the Tour is already enjoying more television coverage and financial support than ever before—now, casual fans just need a superstar that they can recognize and follow.

Talented, friendly, and level-headed, Ko could be the face of a LPGA Tour that is experiencing an impressive revival under the leadership of commissioner Michael Whan.

It was just a few years ago that the LPGA was struggling. The tour's schedule had decreased to just 22 events. Players, fans, and sponsors were disgruntled.

Whan took over as commissioner in 2010 after a disappointing four-year reign by Carolyn Bivens. He was a bit of a surprise selection, given that he didn't have any experience running a pro sport, but Whan used his background working with companies such as TaylorMade Golf and Mission Hockey to completely change the LPGA's approach to business. He immediately focused on making the LPGA the most fan-friendly and sponsor-centric sport around.

"I know what it feels like to write a big check, and then get to the event and wonder if that's what you thought you were getting," he said. "I know what it's like to stand in front of a board and explain why spending three million dollars is good for the business."

Before Whan arrived, tour management meetings were focused on pin placement and television camera angles. Now, the first half of every meeting is dedicated solely to the LPGA's sponsors and how the Tour can better serve them, so they in turn are happy supporting the sport. The degree to which Whan has formalized that relationship is unprecedented.

When players first arrive at a tournament, they are given cards that include sponsors' background information and company goals. They are told what to tweet and post on Facebook, what to say when a microphone is in their face, and they're even given photos of company executives and VIPs, so that when players see them they can give personal thanks.

"We educate our athletes on what is important to the sponsors. If you figure that out, you play more tournaments for more money for a lot longer," Whan said. "If you don't figure that out, you spend your whole life looking for your sponsors."

Then, to top everything off, players are given sponsors' addresses.

"It's not if you send a thank-you card, it's where you send a thank-you card," Whan said. "It's funny, but I don't think anyone's ever asked Lebron James or Derek Jeter after a game to go up the box and say thanks to the sponsor. We do that every day."

Players are also encouraged to constantly engage with the fans, be it in person during the tournament or on social media. And so far, this approach seems to be working. During Whan's time as commissioner—which will now last until at least 2020 after a contract extension was announced this week—he has shored up sponsorship for the four LPGA majors and even added a major to the schedule, the Evian Championship.

This week, one of Whan's biggest sponsorship coups will be on display as the ANA Inspiration kicks off. Kraft used to sponsor this major at Mission Hills, but its contract ran out in 2014 and up until last fall, the future of this iconic event was in question.

Enter All Nippon Airways, a top Japanese airline that IMG Japan brought to Whan's attention. Whan considers this partnership a win-win—it utilizes the LPGA's popularity in Asia and helps ANA grow its popularity in North American markets. It also helps that from the top level down that the people at ANA are passionate about the Tour, knowledgeable about the history of the event, and committed to its growth.

"They don't want to mess with tradition, they want to take it to the next level," Whan said.

The growth of the LPGA under Whan goes beyond title sponsors, though. In 2014, the Tour saw an 18 percent increase in viewership for North American events on Golf Channel and NBC. This year, Golf Channel and NBC have increased their hours of LPGA television coverage over 10 percent—there will be 390 hours of coverage on their channels alone, the most in the history of the tour.

There are now 33 events on the schedule, 13 of which have been added in the past four years. The total prize money for the LPGA is $61.6 million, a $4 million increase from 2014.

Still, even with all of those impressive numbers, the thing Whan is most proud of is how the LPGA's foundational work is growing the game, particularly through a partnership with the USGA called Girl's Golf. The program gets young girls playing golf in an all-girls environment. In 2010, only 5,000 girls per year were introduced to the sport through the program.

This year, Whan and the LPGA expect the program to reach 50,000 girls.

"Last year when the golf numbers came out there were 300,000 more women playing than the year before, and 180,000 of those 300,000 were under the ages of 16," Whan said.

"This current generation is not only growing tournaments and prizes and TV money, but they are paying it forward to the future of the game."

Nobody signifies the future of the game more than Lydia Ko.

While she's far from the only draw right now—a rivalry between Inbee Park and Stacy Lewis has done wonders for the LPGA, as has the arrival of Lexi Thompson and the revival of Michelle Wie, among others—Ko is the player that has shot 28 straight rounds under par, notched 10 straight top-10 finishes, and never missed a cut in an LPGA event. Ko is the player who has the once-in-a-generation talent that can truly carry the LPGA to new heights.

And though it might seem cruel to put such expectations on a 17-year-old after so many prodigies have been doomed by hype in the past, it not only seems that Ko has earned the praise, she actually seems equipped to handle it.

"If she has a weakness I haven't seen it yet, and I mean that both on and off the course," Whan said. "She's fun, she's loose, and she has a short-term memory which is phenomenal in golf. She's always smiling—she says if she had to write a book it would be called "Have Fun" because she realizes if she has fun her scores get better."

"She just goes with the flow, she's very calm," Kang said about her friend. "But when she needs to do something, she'll get it done. I've seen her watch a TV show for a couple of hours, but if it's 10:15 and that's her bedtime, then she'll turn it off at 10:15. Kids don't do that. No one does it.

"If that's her word that she's going to bed at 10:15, that's what she does."

Ko's dedication and self control are helping her succeed in the present and plan for success in the future—while she's only beginning her golf career, she's already planning on retiring at age 30 and becoming a psychologist. In fact, she's currently taking online university classes to work towards a psychology degree.

But for now, Ko's focus will be on this weekend. As tradition dictates, the winner of the ANA Inspiration will jump into the lake on the 18th hole, Poppie's Pond, to celebrate victory. It's only a matter of time before Ko finds herself making the leap. In fact, it might only be a matter of days.