Daniel Richardson: Ko continues to defy

Short of winning a major or rising to No 1 in the official world rankings, Ko jumped over every hurdle that was placed in front of her in 2014. Photo / Getty Images

Opinion

One of the minor concerns around Lydia Ko as she entered her first full season on the LPGA Tour was how she would adjust to the grind of playing more than 20 tournaments a year.

It was probably only an exercise in caution given there were very few red flags about what this young lady could do on the golf course but it had some merit.

In the past couple of years, the North Shore product was able to pick and choose her events in between balancing school and her practice schedule.

$1.9m payday for Lydia Ko

This meant she would arrive at an event - while still an amateur - fresher than the professionals who could have been in the middle of a tough four-week stretch of golf.

But like she has done throughout her time in the public eye, Ko has continued to defy expectations.

Make no mistake; her rookie season on the LPGA Tour, capped off by victory in today's CME Group Tour Championship, was a monumental achievement.

Short of winning a major or rising to No 1 in the official world rankings, Ko jumped over every hurdle that was placed in front of her. Those other markers will be ticked off sooner than later too.

What she did do was claim three titles, top the order of merit and earn more money than most 17-year-olds have ever seen, while, unsurprisingly, being named rookie of the year.

The metronomic Ko, who is consistent beyond belief, has never missed a cut in a professional event, even when playing such tournaments as an amateur.

People will run out of superlatives by the time her career is over because the platform has been built for her to become the greatest player the women's game has ever seen.

Hyperbole? Maybe, considering she's only had one season as a professional but when you factor in her work ethic, drive to succeed and freakish abilities it just seems to fit.

She'd like to have a few more putts drop but there are nearly no flaws in her game.

Her popularity is soaring everywhere she goes and you only had to see the hordes of followers she had during the New Zealand Women's Open at Clearwater earlier this year to see what her success has done.

New Zealand doesn't ever look to the Olympics with a vast array of gold medal prospects but Ko is an early favourite to stand atop the dais in Rio in 2016.

The sad thing about that is she was ridiculed earlier this year for accepting funding from High Performance Sport New Zealand because of her high earnings.

Nearly every athlete from New Zealand receives cash at some point and she was only presented with money from a fund that was set up by HPSNZ in 2012 to help her towards Rio.

She quickly announced she would go it alone yet that noble decision to fund herself seemed to escape praise from many.

This is an athlete that should be celebrated rather than cut down because the best female golfer of 2014 plays under the New Zealand flag.

It's a good bet that she will continue to defy the lofty expectations people now have for her.