Lydia Ko - We're out of superlatives for this star

NAPLES, FL - NOVEMBER 22: Lydia Ko of New Zealand poses with the Rolex Player of the Year trophy following the final round of the CME Group Tour Championship at Tiburon Golf Club on November 22, 2015

At only 18, Kiwi golfer clinches the world No 1 spot, player of the year and $1.5m.

The most awkward thing about Lydia Ko's latest success is not that she is running out of things to win, it is the fact she's still in her teens and people like me are running out of superlatives to describe her.

Seriously, she's putting a dent in our trade. Nobody in New Zealand sporting history - not Crowe, not Lomu, not Snell, not Adams - has come close to putting together such a glittering resume so young.

Sunday, she finished the golf season as the best female player on the planet. It almost goes without saying she is the youngest player to have achieved that.

After all, she was the youngest player to win a professional tournament (while she was still a 15-year-old amateur), the youngest player to win a major, and the youngest player of either sex to be ranked No 1 in the world.

She has won more than $7.5 million in prizemoney, and her endorsement leverage is increasing by the day. With a couple of wise investments, she would not need to work another day in her life should she choose to walk away from the sport tomorrow.

She's 18. She doesn't drive (not a car, anyway), hasn't yet had a chance to vote and it would not have been strictly legal for her to celebrate Sunday's achievement in Florida with an alcoholic beverage, though she looked like she needed one when the tears started flowing at the end.

"What triggered my emotion was how tough the day was," she said.

"It's been a long season of ups and downs as well, mainly ups, but I think every emotion went through me today."

I like that. So well-drilled does Ko appear, so controlled and even-tempered, that there is a touch of the automaton about how she goes about her on-course business.

Into the tee box, smooth swing, middle of the fairway. Out comes the iron, smooth swing, middle of the green. Out comes the putter, smooth stroke, on to the next hole.

Lydia Ko poses with a box of one million dollars in cash. Photo / Getty Images

So it's nice to hear she rides her emotions like the rest of us humans.

The difference is that true golfing geniuses can park those emotions during the swinging of the club.

In fairness, although Ko is just 18, she's swung more clubs than most club golfers will in a lifetime.

Obsessively coached by father Gil-hong, Ko first came to the national media's attention aged just 7 when she was entered in the national women's amateur championships at the venerable Titirangi Golf Club.

The Pupuke GC youngster was playing off a 14 handicap and broke 100 just once in four rounds.

Onlookers reported that she "skipped" down the fairways.

Not all were impressed. Newsreader and then Herald on Sunday golf columnist Peter Williams echoed the concerns of many when he wrote: "There's a time and a place for young children to play the game and a national amateur championship is neither ...

"On the 15th, which requires a tee shot over a gully to the fairway about 150m away, the poor girl had to hit a wedge short of the gully before playing her second shot over the gully just to get her ball into play."

Poor girl - that's not a phrase you'll hear associated with Ko again any time soon, unless it's in this context: "The poor girl is expected to win every time she tees it up."

Ko's big prize Sunday also came with a vivid illustration of how difficult golf is. She mentioned that at times the ball seemed bigger than the cup, but she still found a way to shoot even par.

A final-round 72 was "only" enough for a tie for seventh. That was good enough to capture the order of merit and player of the year titles - and a cool $1.5 million - but they don't hand out Olympic medals for seventh.

The reason I mention that? There's an almost unrealistic expectation Ko will waltz on to the Rio course and bring home a gold medal.

But golf doesn't work like that, and nor should we expect it to.

Besides, even if she wins, what are we going to say about her that hasn't already been said?

Lydia Ko at the NZ Woman's Golf Open. Photo / Simon Watts

No 1, but pay behind men

Lydia Ko's eye-watering earnings on the golf course are rocketing her up several rich lists - but the Kiwi wunderkind is still playing second fiddle in earnings to fellow New Zealand golfer Danny Lee and a gaggle of international women tennis stars led by Serena Williams.

The 18-year-old Aucklander's performance in the women's tour season-ending CME Group Tour Championship in Florida Sunday nabbed her a US$1 million ($1.5 million) cheque for finishing the season ranked No 1 in the world, and took her yearly earnings to US$2.8 million in prizemoney.

Her stellar achievements are likely to ensure she breaks into the elite ranks of women's sports stars in winnings from their sport.

The only golfer to make Forbes Magazine's annual rich list last year was Ko's American rival Stacy Lewis, who was the leading women's tour money-winner in 2014 with US$4 million. The prizemoney list is dominated by tennis players, with Williams topping this year's earnings with US$10.5 million already this year.

However, beyond several tennis players including Williams and Caroline Wozniacki, only UFC superstar fighter Ronda Rousey and American IndyCar driver Danica Patrick rival Ko's earnings this year. Rousey has reportedly earned US$3 million while Patrick has made US$1.7 million.

But top professional golf still remains very much a man's game when it comes to earnings. Lee, New Zealand's top-ranked professional, has already earned US$3.9 million on the American PGA tour this year, even though he is ranked 44th.

The pay-day vaults Ko up the list of the highest-earning Kiwi sports stars. By the Herald's reckoning, only All Whites captain Winston Reid, IndyCar star Scott Dixon and Lee are likely to be earning more from contract winnings within their sport. Reid's deal with West Ham United is said to be worth $12 million a year while Dixon earns about $11 million annually.

Ko's latest exploits will move her ahead of the likes of NBA star Steven Adams and dwarfs highest paid All Blacks Richie McCaw and Dan Carter, even with Carter's new $2 million-plus-a-year plus deal at French club Racing Metro.

Ko fired a final round even-par 72 to finish at 11-under for the season finale. Closest rival Inbee Park finished one stroke ahead, but it wasn't enough to deny Ko top status status and the Rolex Player of the Year title for the first time.