OCALA, États-Unis - Avec deux prix dans son viseur, la jeune sensation Lydia Ko s'en est contentée d'un seul, samedi, obtenant tout de même celui dont on se souviendra dans l'histoire du golf.
Même si la Néo-Zélandaise a échappé son avance en fin de parcours et a dû se contenter d'une égalité en deuxième place lors du premier tournoi de la saison sur le circuit de la LPGA — elle a terminé à un coup de Na Yeon Choi — l'adolescente de 17 ans est devenue la plus jeune golfeuse autant chez les hommes que chez les femmes à atteindre le sommet de l'échelle mondiale.
Ko, qui s'est retrouvée avec une avance de quatre coups lors de son premier neuf au Championnat Coates Golf, a commis un double boguey au 17e trou, ce qui lui a coûté la victoire. Elle a tout de même fracassé la marque de Tiger Woods en tant que plus jeune no 1 mondiale par près de quatre ans.
Elle avait besoin de terminer au moins à égalité au deuxième rang pour grimper au premier rang mondial et elle a dû se sortir d'ennuis au 72e et dernier trou réglementaire grâce à une belle sortie de fosse de sable. Woods était devenu no 1 au monde en 1997 à l'âge de 21 ans, cinq mois et 16 jours. Ko est devenue la reine du golf féminin à 17 ans, neuf mois et sept jours.
Quand elle a accepté sa défaite au Golden Ocala Golf and Equestrian Club, Ko a finalement pu prendre le temps de réaliser l'ampleur de son exploit et l'idée de célébrer un peu n'a pas paru aussi folle.
«Ça va être une belle soirée, a dit Ko. J'étais ici pour me concentrer sur le tournoi, mais le résultat global est quand même positif.»
Ko, qui est native de la Corée du Sud, mais qui a déménagé en Nouvelle-Zélande dans son enfance, a devancé Inbee Park au sommet de l'échelle mondiale.
«Elle est probablement celle qui frappe le plus droit, a déclaré Park, qui a conclu à égalité en 17e place. Le golf est un sport plus facile quand vous frappez la balle en ligne droite.»
Ko n'a pas été aussi précise qu'à l'habitude dans le dernier droit, ce qui l'a privée du trophée, mais cela ne l'a pas empêchée d'être souriante après sa ronde.
«Oui, j'ai perdu, a-t-elle dit. Mais il y a un énorme positif. C'est vraiment génial.»
Choi a remis une carte de 68 (moins-4) pour conclure le tournoi à moins-16, un coup devant Ko, Jessica Korda et Ha Na Jang. Ko a joué une ronde de 71, Korda 66 et Jang 70.
Alena Sharp, de Hamilton, a inscrit un score de 74 et a terminé l'événement à égalité au 59e rang à plus-5.
INOLTRE SU HUFFPOST
In the 1960s, Rudolph was considered "the fastest woman in the world" -- a feat made all the more impressive by the fact that she spent most of her childhood in leg braces. Rudolph suffered from polio as a child, and was fitted for leg braces after she lost the use of her left leg at age six. After years of treatment and determination, the braces came off -- and her sporting career began.
During the 1960 Summer Olympics, Rudolph won three gold medals in track and field.
"I don't know why I run so fast," she told ESPN during her heyday. "I just run."
The Romanian gymnast won three gold medals at the 1976 Games. She was the first female gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10 in an Olympic gymnastics event for her routine on the uneven bars.
"You have to have a lot of passion for what you do," she told CNN in 2012. "To be able to work hard and to have a lot of motivation because you're going to go to places that you're never going to believe."
Coachman, a high jumper who grew up in the segregated South, was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in 1948.
Coachman's father didn't approve of her initial training -- which involved practicing on a homemade high jump.
"He said, 'sit on the porch and act like a lady,'" Coachman told NBC in a 2012 interview. "But I didn't do that."
The Dutch athletics star won four gold medals in 1948. At the time, she was a 30-year-old mother of two, and was criticized for competing in the Games.
“I got very many bad letters, people writing that I must stay home with my children and that I should not be allowed to run on a track with -- how do you say it? -- short trousers,” Blankers-Koen told The New York Times in 1982. “One newspaperman wrote that I was too old to run, that I should stay at home and take care of my children. When I got to London, I pointed my finger at him and I said: ‘I show you.’”
Durack (left), an Australian swimmer, won gold in the 100m freestyle at the 1912 Olympics.
Between 1910 and 1918 Durack was considered the world's greatest female swimmer of all distances between sprints and the mile marathon.
Wills, an American tennis player, took home gold medals in women's doubles and singles at the 1924 Paris Olympics.
Wills was largely considered "the first American-born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete."
Carpenter, the first woman to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, competed as a skater in the 1972 Games and won the gold medal in the cycling road race at the 1984 Summer Olympics.
"For me, it was everything, because I wanted to win the Olympics so badly," Carpenter-Phinney said of her win in a post-race interview. "That was the crowning glory of a long career, and it gave me the chance to retire on top."
Retton, an American, was the first female gymnast not from Eastern Europe to win a gold medal in the Gymnastic Individual All-around competition. She won five medals total in the 1984 Games.
As a child, not realizing that competitive gymnastics even existed, Retton's ambition was to become "the finest cheerleader in the world."
"She always knew what she wanted to do," coach Bela Karolyi said in the documentary "Bud Greenspan Remembers: The 1984 L.A. Olympics." "She always had very set goals. And she was following her goals."