Lydia Ko has 'made her mark' on women's golf - Amy Alcott | Golf Central | Golf Channel

The old criteria to earn a spot in the Hall of Fame DIAMOND SURE THREE TIMES. WELCOME IN ONE OF THE GREATS, AMY ALCOCK, MEMBER OF BOTH THE WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME AND LPGA HALL OF FAME. AMY, WE ARE PLAYING OFF THE LYDIA KO STORY FROM THE OLYMPICS. EARNING A SPOT IN THE LPGA TOUR WITH 30 WINS. YOU HAD 29 AND CHASED THE 30th WIN FOR A WHILE. WOULD YOU THINK AT THE TIME ABOUT A SYSTEM THAT SAID, 29 WHEN WASN'T GOOD ENOUGH FOR THE HALL OF FAME, BUT 30 WAS? >> WELL, IT IS SOMETHING THAT TAKES A YEAR AND A HALF WITH. THE OLD CRITERIA, 40 WINS, 35 WINS, WITH ONE MAJOR AND 30 WINS WITH TWO MAJORS. I'M JOINING TOUR WINNERS. YOU KNOW, TURN PRO OR PLAY THE GAME TO BE IN THE HALL OF FAME, BUT I GATHERED A LOT OF WINS IN THOSE YEARS. FOR NUMBER 29 -- OTHER MAJORS I WON -- DIDN'T COUNT FOR ANYTHING. I HAD FIVE MAJORS. THEY DIDN'T COUNT FOR ANYTHING. THEY REALLY DETERMINED THE HIERARCHY IN GOLF, IN WOMEN'S GOLF, AND THEY WERE GOING TO HAVE -- HALL OF FAME IF THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT IN 1988 I THINK IT WAS. AND WHEN THEY DEVELOPED THIS POINTS SYSTEM OF 27 POINTS. AND SO, IT WAS SOMETHING THAT EVERY SPORTSWRITER IN EVERY CITY WOULD SAY, TO WIN THIS WEEK, ONE MORE TOURNAMENT IN MY CAREER THAT I DIDN'T KNOW, AND, YOU KNOW, WITH MY CONVERSATION WITH LYDIA ABOUT A MONTH AGO, I DID KNOW WHAT SHE WAS GOING THROUGH. >> YOU MENTIONED THAT CHANGE TO 27 POINTS AROUND 1998.AS YOU Is the bar too high MENTIONED, 1999. YOU ARE FORMERLY INDUCTED INTO THE LPGA HALL OF FAME. 20 SEVEN-POINT CRITERIA HAS SOMETIMES BEEN CRITICIZED AS BEING TOO HIGH OF A BAR. OTHERS SAY, IT IS A HALL OF FAME, SUPPOSED TO BE HARD TO GET INTO. WHAT YOU THINK? >> I THINK THE BAR NEEDS TO BE VERY HIGH. THAT, BEING THE REWARD OF GREATNESS AND CHARACTER, AND IT HONORS A PERIOD OF TIME, INTO THE GAME, ALL THE HOURS NOBODY SEES THAT YOU PUT IN. YOU KNOW? IT'S A REALLY TOUGH HALL OF FAME. IT WAS BEFORE, BACK BEFORE I PASSED THE MARK. ISSUE REMAIN HIGH, AS FAR AS I'M CONCERNED. PLAYING GREAT GOLF -- IT IS GETTING YOURSELF INTO CONTENTION. YOU LOSE MORE THAN YOU WIN.SO, I MAY BELIEVE HER AND THAT. What else can be done >> ALL BEING SAID, YOU HAVE THE HALL OF FAME, TO PLAY DEVILS ADVOCATE, WITHOUT HOLLIS STACY, AMONG OTHERS -- SO KEEPING IT TOUGH, WHAT ELSE DO YOU THINK CAN BE DONE TO ADJUST FOR PLAYERS LIKE THOSE? >> YOU KNOW, THE WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME HAS HOLLIS IN IT, MEG MALLON, AND LAURA DAVIES ARE IN THE WORLD GOLF HALL OF FAME. SO, THE LPGA HAS THOSE MARKS, BUT I DON'T KNOW THAT ANYTHING REALLY NEEDS TO BE DONE THAT MUCH. I THINK IT SHOULD BE BOARD GREATNESS, AND IT SHOULD REWARD QUALITY OF PLAY. WE'RE IN A NEW ERA IN WOMEN'S GOLF OF GREAT ATHLETICISM, THE GAME IS VERY DIFFERENT, AND THE PLAYERS -- WHEN I WAS PLAYING, PEOPLE SAY, AMY, SHE HITS IT LIKE A MAN, AND I USED TO BE CRITICIZED THAT I WAS AN AGGRESSIVE PLAYER, BUT NOW EVERYBODY PLAYS LIKE THAT, AND IT'S A COMPLEMENT TO BE MORE ATHLETIC, AND WE'RE IN THIS ERA OF REALLY QUALITY GOLF THE PEOPLE CAN PLAY FOR, BUT IT IS TOUGHER. THE COMPETITION IS MUCH TOUGHER. I THINK YOU SHOULD REMAIN, YOU KNOW, AS DIFFICULT FOR EVERYONE . >> GOING BACK TO LYDIA KO, SAID Lydia Ko YOU HAD A CHANCE TO SPEAK TO HER THE OTHER MONTH, THE YOUNGEST MEMBER OF THE LPGA HALL OF FAME WHEN SHE IS INDUCTED, 27 YEARS OLD, 2 MAJORS, NOW 3 MEDALS, INCLUDING A COLD THIS YEAR. >> FANTASTIC. >> YOU TURNED PRO AT 18. BY 27, YOU HAD THREE MAJOR CHAMPIONSHIPS. HOW ARE YOU ABLE TO APPRECIATE WHAT KO IS DOING, ALL SHE HAS ACHIEVED, NOW OFFICIALLY A HALL OF FAME CAREER AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE? >> I REMEMBER MEETING LYDIA AT MISSION HILLS COUNTRY CLUB AT, THEN, THE AMA TOURNAMENT, THE ONE THAT I WON, AND THE EVENT HAS HAD SEVERAL SPONSORS. WITH HER LITTLE GLASSES ON, HER MOM, AND A LOOK IN HER EYE OF DETERMINATION, BUT SUCH A SWEET PERSON, YOU KNOW, AND I FELT LIKE SHE HAD THE WHOLE WORLD AHEAD OF HER, AND NOT YOUR JOB, BUT PART OF YOUR CHARACTER, YOU KNOW, IS MENTORING OTHER GREAT PLAYERS, AND YOU THINK ALONG THE WAY, I SAW THAT IN ON A SORENSEN, AND I STILL TALK TO HER ABOUT HER EARLY DAYS, WHEN SHE HAD JUST JOINED THE TOUR, BUT WITH LYDIA, SHE REALLY WON A LOT OF TOURNAMENTS THERE, AND SHE HAD THAT LULL. YOU KNOW, PLAYERS DON'T SEEM TO -- IN THIS ERA, RIGHT NOW -- SEEM TO BE PLAYING AS LONG. THEY ACCOMPLISHED A GOAL, THEN THEY MOVE ON, AND I REMEMBER ON A SORENSEN TELLING ME ONE OF THE GREATEST THING I EVER SAID TO HER, DON'T FORGET TO STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES ALONG THE WAY. THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT I TOLD LYDIA. ONE MORE TOURNAMENT IS NOT GOING TO TELL THE WORLD YOU ARE ANY BETTER A PLAYER THAN YOU ARE. MAJOR IS MADE YOUR MARK IN WOMEN'S GOLF, GIVING BACK, YOU CAN CONTINUE TO GIVE BACK IN A BIG WAY EVEN IF YOU JUST STEP Golf in the Olympics BACK. >> YOU DIDN'T HAVE A CHANCE TO PLAY IN THE OLYMPICS. YOU HAVE PLAYED IN PLENTY OF INTERNATIONAL, BIG EVENTS. REALLY SEEMED LIKE, ON THE MEN'S SIDE AND WOMEN'S SIDE, IN PARIS THIS YEAR, GOLF HAD ITS MOMENTS. ATHLETES WHO WORK THERE TRULY APPRECIATED THE MAGNITUDE OF THE MOMENT, WHETHER IT WAS SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER BREAKING DOWN OR LYDIA KO BREAKING DOWN AFTER RECEIVING THE GOLD MEDAL . WHAT DO YOU THINK THE IMPACT OF GOLF IN THESE OLYMPIC GAMES IS GOING TO BE? >> I KNOW THAT PEOPLE WILL THIS SHOULD GOLF EVEN BE IN THE OLYMPICS -- AND, I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT GOLFERS ARE ATHLETES. CONTRARY TO WHAT A LOT OF SPORTSWRITERS USED TO WRITE ABOUT, I BELIEVE I REMEMBER READING IN "THE LOS ANGELES TIMES," ARE GOLFERS ATHLETES? THEY'RE OVERWEIGHT, THEY'RE NOT IN SHAPE AND WHATEVER. THIS WAS WHEN I WAS A KID. NOW THAT GOLFERS ARE THE EPITOME OF ATHLETES, IN HEAT, TO BE ABLE TO WALK 18 WHOLES FOR FIVE AND HALF HOURS, GOLFERS ARE ATHLETES. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN KIND OF A CONTROVERSIAL THING. GOLFERS ARE, AS I SAID EARLIER, MORE ATHLETIC, BETTER FORM. YOU HAVE TO BE THE LAST FOUR DAYS PLAYING COMPETITIVE GOLF IS NOT JUST GOING OUT AND PLAYING GOLF -- I THINK AMERICA SHINES BRIGHTLY. I AM GLAD TO CHANGE THE SUBJECT FOR A SECOND TO SAY THAT WE ARE -- USGA IS COMING OUT WITH ITS DEVELOPMENTAL PROGRAM TO FURTHER THE QUALITY OF YOUNG PLAYERS' PLAY IN THE UNITED STATES FOR GOLF, KIND OF GIVE BACK, SO THEY HAVE A REAL FUTURE IN GOLF, THE UNITED STATES, PRODUCING THE BEST OF THE BEST. >> WITH THE U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR WRAPPING UP, THE MEN'S THIS WEEK, NOW THE OLYMPICS CONCLUDING, EXCELLENT TIMING, CERTAINLY, FOR ALL OF THOSE. AMY ALCOTT J