Alongside Her Idol

Top-ranked amateur golf player in the world, New Zealander Lydia Ko, 15, partnered with American professional Michelle Wie at Mission Hills Country Club in California, where the first major of the women’s golf season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship, got underway. “The juxtaposition of Ko and Wie, a world-weary 23, was a jarring reminder of time’s inexorable march,” Karen Crouse writes for The New York Times. “For years, Wie was the game’s child star. At 13, she made her debut here and became the youngest player to make the cut on her way to a tie for ninth. Ko, the top-ranked amateur, has three victories against pro competition, including last year’s Canadian Open on the L.P.G.A. Tour. Like Wie, who chose Stanford because she wanted to follow in the footsteps of Tiger Woods, Ko aspires to attend Stanford.”