It's just child's play for Ko WATCHING 15-year-old Lydia Ko effortlessly swing a golf club around Royal Canberra, you could be confused for thinking the sport is child's play. With 21 birdies and an eagle over the first three days of the Women's Australian Open, the Auckland schoolgirl has made the game look deceptively easy. But the majority of 420,000 club golfers around Australia would argue otherwise. As one spectator in Ko's gallery said: "Hasn't anyone told her it's a hard game?" So why has a teenage amateur been able to dominate strong fields of women professional golfers three times in the past 13 months? Karrie Webb says the beauty of golf is that it doesn't pose age limitations. I don't think that any age is a negative to how you can play. I think anyone of any age can play golf at an elite level," said the seven-time major winner. I think the popularity of golf has increased and so therefore the technology with equipment but also the technology of teaching. I think kids are getting taught correctly at a younger age with equipment that fits them. They're not starting with heavy cut-down clubs. They've got clubs that are specifically weighted for someone that's seven or eight years old. But that still doesn't explain why Ko has been able to separate herself against top professionals. Webb's coach Ian Triggs says Ko has sound fundamentals with her golf swing. But it's her maturity and mental composure where she stands out from other girls and boys her age. Four footers don't really faze her. She just goes through her process in a simple way because she's so calm. She shows incredible maturity for someone so young. She doesn't seem to be fazed by competing with people at this level. Most of us at that age are very respectful and we're in awe of our peers and have difficulty in performing in the top stage. She's showing that she's quite comfortable walking in here into the lion's den with the elite. It's just like her going to another junior tournament. Therefore, her coordination, her sequencing and her timing and everything like that stays the same. She's not got herself out of her comfort zone. So that shows a lot of maturity, shows that she looks at things in a very simple light.