In college, I took a class called Philosophy for Children. The professor broke the class into groups of five, handed us a cheese grater and told each to group to come up with as many different uses for the grater as possible in two minutes. When time was up, each group presented their results. The professor then said, "When I did this experiment with first graders, the average amount of uses they were able to come up with was 20. The average amount for college students was eight."
I was reminded of that lesson of not limiting one's mind or potential when 18-year-old LPGA golf sensation Brooke Henderson won the KPMG Women's PGA Championship this past weekend. The win lifted Henderson to No. 2 in the world.
Henderson possesses a fearlessness on the golf course and a mind that doesn't limit herself. And she's not the only player on tour whose youth has played a factor in their success.
Lydia Ko, ranked No. 1 in the world, is only 19 years old. Since turning professional at 16, Ko has won 12 LPGA tournaments. And even before she turned pro, Ko won the Canadian Open when she was just 15, beating a strong field of LPGA players.
During my time on the LPGA, I had the opportunity to play with Henderson and Ko, both at different points in their careers. I first played with Ko at the New Zealand Open in 2014 in the final group. I was 24, she was 16. A few short months later, I was paired with Henderson in the Manulife Classic in Canada.
Both impressed me with their ability to just enjoy the moment. They relished being on the golf course and seemed unfazed by the hoopla that surrounded them.
Young players such as Ko and Henderson have taken the reins of the LPGA during the past two years. Of the top 20 players in the world, six are under the age of 21 and only four players are in their 30s. To put it in perspective, Anna Nordqvist, 29, is the oldest player to win on the LPGA this season.
What is it that these young girls have that past generations of LPGA players didn't? The idea of failure doesn't seem to enter their minds; they haven't yet been tainted with, "What if I don't succeed?" During a news conference before last week's major, Ko said, "When we're out there, we're not thinking about if I'm 19 or if somebody's 37, or whatever. We're all out there trying to play the best we can and make as many birdies as we can."
"When we're out there, we're not thinking about if I'm 19, or if somebody's 37." Lydia Ko
We can also attribute the success of these young girls to golf fitness, an industry that has boomed over the past 10 years. They are certainly stronger and more fit than their counterparts. But as anyone who plays golf knows, the mental side of the game is equally -- if not more -- important.
And girls are getting introduced to the game at a much younger age and taking it more seriously.
Gerina Piller, 31 and ranked 15th in the world, didn't start playing golf until she was 15. By that age, Ko was already ranked the No. 1 amateur in the world. Henderson picked up the game at the age of 3, and while she was a competitive hockey player throughout her teens, golf seemed to stick just a little more.
No. 7 in the world, Ariya Jutanugarn, 20, qualified for her first LPGA event when she was just 11. This season, she won three consecutive LPGA tournaments.
Lexi Thompson, 21, ranked fourth, qualified for the U.S. Open when was 12 years old, making her the youngest player at the time to qualify. This record was surpassed by Lucy Li, who qualified for the 2014 U.S. Open when she was 11.
Some may link this phenomenon of rising younger players to LPGA veterans such as Morgan Pressel, who almost won the women's U.S. Open in 2005 when she was a 17-year-old amateur, finishing two shots back of the winner Birdie Kim. Had she won, she would have been the youngest player at the time to win a major. Her passionate play during that tournament sparked a new wave of young girls to believe that age doesn't matter.
During a news conference before the final round of the U.S. Open, Pressel was asked if she felt intimidated: "I'm baffled by the question," she said. "I've played lots of events. I know how to play golf. People look at age as something that should set me back. But I don't think it does."
It appears that "can-do" attitude has taken over women's golf.