“Jim Murray-esque” is a column by Sean Campbell that highlights all facets of USC Athletics in the style of former Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray.
When you’re 250 yards away from the pin on your second shot of a par 5, normally, you would lay up and try to get on the green in three. I would be going for four — five if you count my shanked hybrid.
At the Wyndham Cup East vs. West — a junior match-play tournament hosted at Forest Highlands Golf Club in Flagstaff, Arizona — Jasmine Koo had a different idea: the infamously difficult driver off the deck.
In the hands of an average golfer, the driver is hard to hit even off the tee and near impossible off the ground due to its massive size compared to other clubs. If I tried that, I would’ve scared the residents of the house left of the fairway as their window shattered.
Even on the PGA and LPGA Tour, the best golfers in the world are advised not to try the shot by their caddies.
For most players, that advice would be right, but Koo is an exception. Her shot ended up just past the green after a roll.
If you think that sounds like the imagination of a driver-loving amateur you would be right, it just might not be the definition you’re thinking of.
While amateur often means someone new or inexperienced at something, in golf, the United States Golf Association’s World Amateur Golf Ranking shows the top golfers in the world not on the professional tour. USC’s Koo is currently at No. 2 as a freshman.
For context, USC currently has 10 players in the LPGA and is typically ranked in the top three college programs in the nation yet, according to USC head coach Justin Silverstein, no freshman has ranked that high in his tenure.
“She is obviously a great player with a great skill set, but the enthusiasm for getting better at golf on a daily basis is something she brings to practice every day,” Silverstein said. “That has really helped all of our players … That’s exactly why we recruit people like Jasmine.”
Koo is the type of player that doesn’t back down when she sees a challenge.
She doesn’t play matchups, she is the matchup.
When asked if she felt pressure in the final stretches of her three individual tournament wins this season — all in a row — she said she was normally leading by enough she just needed to play her own game.
Koo is the Shaquille O’Neal, the 1988 Orel Hershiser, the Tiger Woods of collegiate golf. When you see her on the docket, you might as well call me — a more traditionally defined amateur — up to play in your place.
We’re both going to get smacked anyways.
Koo says she wants to play “the best golfer ever” in match-play tournaments when asked, according to Silverstein.
“I love the challenge,” Koo said. “When you feel pressured, you have to embrace it and not reject it.”
In her short time at USC, Koo has racked up numerous awards including becoming the first Trojan to be the No. 1 ranked collegiate golfer and earning three Big Ten Golfer of the Week Awards.
After starting golf at just four-years-old when her parents, Michelle and Jin, put her in a youth camp, Koo has never lost her passion for the sport.
By 11, Koo said she began “taking it seriously”. I don’t know about y’all, but I’ve never met an 11-year-old that can take anything seriously, let alone a demanding, intense sport like golf — or maybe I’m just a screw up…
Silverstein said USC had been recruiting Koo since she was 13 as she dominated junior golf tournaments before becoming the No. 1 ranked junior golfer in America. Little did they know — and lucky for them — Koo had considered USC her “dream school” even before that.
Koo said she was drawn to the “aura” of the university and once she realized the school had a strong golf program, it was set.
For the most part, golf is one of the few truly individual sports — outside of a few country-based events — however, in college you win and lose as a team. Despite Koo calling this “foreign” to her, Silverstein’s favorite moment of the season so far was watching the freshman develop into a team player.
“After [the Stanford Intercollegiate tournament], where she made a 12-footer on the last hole to seal the individual win over [USC junior] Catherine Park … her brain immediately flipped from ‘Oh, that was cool that I won the individual title’ to ‘Oh, sick, we just won the team title, and that’s why we’re here,’” Silverstein said.
Koo’s favorite moment was also related to the team. She recalled when freshman Kylie Chong sank an eight-foot putt to win the East Lake Cup, which Koo said was the most “hype” the team had gotten.
Koo said the player she is most scared of in competition is Park, the No. 5 ranked amateur in the world, even though she is on her team. But despite their competitiveness on the course, Koo said she was the biggest member in the “Catherine Park Fan Club” and said the two were hanging out later that day.
No wonder the Trojans are so good, they have MJ and Kobe on the same team — and they get along.
And in her free time — outside of the countless hours of practice and course time — Koo is majoring in business administration so she can learn how to manage her golf and travel expenses when she turns pro.
Koo said she is “really enjoying” her time at USC thus far, so she doesn’t know what the immediate future holds for her as a transition to the tour is within reach if she wants to leave school early.
When asked, Koo said she would be “satisfied” to be a top-10 player on the LPGA Tour for a few years. That may be the peak of the sport but so is she.
Maybe, someday, you’ll see this Jim Murray impersonator at the Los Angeles Times like Murray himself. As much confidence as I have in myself, that’s a lofty goal, but I’m willing to bet Koo will be on the tour and maybe even No. 1.
If I do make it, though, I might have enough to get a lesson or two from the pro, maybe learn how to hit a driver… at least off the tee.
“Jim Murray-esque” runs every Thursday.