2013 LPGA Golf: Lydia Ko Makes Pro Debut In Florida

As action gets underway on Thursday morning at the CME Group Titleholders LPGA golf tournament most fans are eager to see if red-hot Suzann Pettersen can overtake the number one Rolex Ranked Inbee Park, but equally as important, is the first start for Lydia Ko as a professional on the LPGA Tour. At the ripe old age of 16, she already has two LPGA wins on her resume, but now she will get a check for her efforts.

Lydia Ko will be looking to take her already superb golf game to the next level when she tees it up at the Tiburon Golf Club in Naples, Florida for the finale event on the 2013 LPGA schedule. The youngster who is from New Zealand, and was born in Seoul South Korea has been playing golf since age five, is a two-time winner at the CN Canadian Women’s Open.

The two wins in Canada were quality wins over the best the LPGA has to offer. Her win in 2012 was over the current number one Rolex player, Inbee Park, and the 2012 victory was at the expense of Karine Icher from France. She beat American Amelia Lewis on the Ladies European Tour(LET) at the ISPS Handa New Zealand Open back in February.

The LPGA Tour has enjoyed success in 2013 with the emergence of some very exciting young players. The phenomenal season included a run at history from Inbee Park, two late victories from Lexi Thompson, and 2013 rookie, Lizette Salas to go along with the excitement of the Solheim Cup. Now the addition of a young player like Lydia Ko to the mix has me eager for the 2014 season to get underway.

I’ll have to admit, I wasn’t a huge LPGA Tour fan prior to the 2013 season, but since the RR Donnelley Cup, I have been fully vested. The Solheim Cup was every bit as exciting as the Presidents Cup, and was far more compelling as they came down the stretch. It’s too bad we have to wait until 2015 for the next one, but with the all of the new exciting players I can’t wait.

If you haven’t gotten on-board with the LPGA yet, do so in 2014, It’s going to be good!

You can follow Les on Twitter @Spin_47 and in the Golf Community at Google +