Yet another young female golf phenom..

On Sunday morning I was at my usual radio spot on TSN 1050 on the International Sports Report with Pete Irving (you can hear the full interview on the ISR podcast at TSN.ca ) and we were talking about Lydia Ko the 17 year old world #1 who had just won the Australian Open and is the youngest person on any tour to win a pro event, the New South Wales Championship when she was but 14 !!


This wave of extraordinary young women, teenage girls really, reminds me of pro tennis back in the early 80's when the likes of Carling Basset and Tracy Austin were playing all over the world and winning at the ages of 14, 15 and 16 and the argument raged about whether they should be allowed to play so young instead of growing up normally then pursuing their tennis careers, certainly Carling had her struggles before she became the loving mum of three that she is today.


Brooke Henderson our 17 year old star from Smith's Falls comes from a strong Christian family who recently agreed that she should turn down a full scholarship to the University of Florida and turn pro, and she is now travelling and playing golf, with her older sister Brittany, who is also pursuing her pro dreams.


Charlie Hull from England is 17 and has already won the European Ladies Tour Order of Merit, the list goes on and on, all of these little girls from South Korea are in their teens or early twenties, heck Michelle Wie who turned 26 in October is like a grizzled veteran now, she's been in the spotlight for so long.


I think there are so many girls on tour now who are in their teens it makes it easier for the likes of Brook Henderson's parents to let her turn pro. This week there were 12 young Canadian women in the Gateway Classic on the Symetra Tour. None of them won but here's a story on yet another young phenom who did..


AP...Hannah O’Sullivan became the youngest winner in Symetra Tour history Sunday, shooting a 3-under 69 for a four-stroke victory in the season-opening Gateway Classic.

The 16-year-old O’Sullivan, a junior at nearby Chandler Hamilton, broke the age record of 17 set by LPGA Tour star Cristie Kerr in the 1995 Ironwood Futures Classic in Gainesville, Florida.

O’Sullivan is the first amateur winner since Kellee Booth in the 1999 Pacific Bell Futures Classic in Riverside, California, as she finished at 15-under 201 at Longbow.

She opened with rounds of 69 and 65 to take a four-stroke lead into the final day.

O’Sullivan has verbally committed to play at the University of Southern California. She was a semifinalist last year in the U.S. Women’s Amateur and played on the winning U.S. team in the Junior Ryder Cup in Scotland. She won Arizona high school titles in 2012 and 2013.

Haley Italia was second. She birdied two of the last three holes for a 69.

Maude-Aimée LeBlanc led the way for the Canadian contingent, carding a 2-under 70 to tie for 4th. Samantha Richdale finished T14 following a 3-under final round. Brittany Henderson’s 2-under 214 was good for a share of 25th place while Augusta James completed her pro debut T34.

Bryan Angus