Stock Watch: Lydia Ko’s stock soars following Canadian Women’s Open win

Welcome to “Stock Watch,” where we take a look back at who’s trending up, and down, in the world of golf over the past week.

Stock rising

Lydia Ko — If Lydia Ko was a stock, she’d likely be some sort of tech startup company with a ton of potential and a bright future. Sure, you don’t know what the future holds, but you can’t help but jump on board and ride the wave of success. On Sunday at the CN Women’s Canadian Open, Ko validated the hype with a stellar performance to become the youngest winner in LPGA history. The 15-year-old has had quite the summer, first winning the U.S. Women’s Amateur and then an LPGA event in the span of a few months. Just looking at what Ko’s done recently, conventional wisdom would tell you she’s going to be a star, but much like a tech startup, we should probably wait before crowning her as the “next big thing” in women’s golf. Regardless, she still deserves a ton of credit for taking down a field full of professionals.

Eugene Wong — With all due respect to the PGA Tour, European Tour and LPGA, the best shot of the year came from the Canadian Tour. Don’t believe us? Just check out the video of Eugene Wong taking dead aim with his 9-iron on the final hole of the tournament and holing out from 133 yards for eagle. We’ve seen plenty of players hole out from the fairway this year. So what makes this one better than the others? Wong’s eagle propelled him to a one-shot win. Clutch putts are so 2011. Eugene Wong prefers to end tournaments from the fairway.

The European Ryder Cup team — European Ryder Cup captain Jose Maria Olazabal announced on Monday that Ian Poulter and Nicolas Colsaerts would be joining the team as his two captain’s picks. With Luke Donald, Sergo Garcia, Peter Hanson, Martin Kaymer, Paul Lawrie, Rory McIlroy, Graeme McDowell, Francesco Molinari, Justin Rose and Lee Westwood already on the team, the Euros look stacked for the upcoming matches at Medinah.

Nick Watney — Watney picked up his first win, and third in the last two years, of 2012 at The Barclays and moved into the Ryder Cup picture with one event to go before Davis Love III makes his four picks. That’s a pretty good week at the office for Watney, who was having a sub-par season before the victory.

Stock falling

Tiger Woods — Recorded his worst round of the year, 5-over 76, on Sunday at The Barclays. There really isn’t much we can say about Woods other than that he’s struggling to find his game on the weekend at big events. The back injury may have played a role, but you can’t overlook the fact he’s only recorded nine under par rounds on the weekend this year.

Phil Mickelson — Lefty seems to be running at fumes at the moment. His T-38 at The Barclays means his last top-10 finish on the PGA Tour came all the way back in May at the HP Byron Nelson Championship. With three events (assuming he makes it to the Tour Championship) to go before the Ryder Cup, you have to believe Davis Love III is hoping Mickelson has enough left in the tank for the matches. He’s looked incredibly fatigued over the last few months, especially on the weekend when it really counts.

Lexi Thompson — Missed her third straight cut of the year at the CN Women’s Canadian Open. Thompson’s going through some first year struggles on the LPGA Tour and will likely bounce back, but you can’t help but notice her game’s hit a rough patch over the last few months.

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