Hard to top Lydia Ko’s big week

Lydia Ko planned to stick around San Francisco on Monday, maybe check out some of the sights.

“The mayor said there is cable car downtown,” she said. “So I think I’m going to do that.”

Or she might sleep late in her hotel room -- the teenage golfer had quite a week.

In the space of a few short days, Ko turned 17 and was named to Time magazine’s top 100 influential people in the world.

Then, she won her first LPGA Tour event as a professional, holding off Stacy Lewis and Jenny Shinn to finish atop the leaderboard in the Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic at Lake Merced Golf Club. And she was using a fill-in caddie from the local course.

“Normally they would [say] Sweet 16, but I would say it’s Sweet 17,” she said.

Ko has three LPGA victories in all and rose to No. 2 in the world rankings on Monday. Still, the young athlete -- who was born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand -- seemed most amazed by the recognition from Time.

“I don’t know what I’ve done to get there,” she said. “But, yeah, it’s a very -- it’s just a really special week for me.”

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