post the hundred-fifty-fourth, 2013

there's this young girl called lydia ko who's a very good amateur golfer. when i say "very good", i mean like, very good. she's currently tied for first in the LPGA evian open, which is considered a major tournament.

(in case you don't know about golf, there are 5 majors in the year for the women and 4 for the men. men have the masters, u.s. open, open championship [a.k.a., british open], and PGA championship. women have kraft nabisco, LPGA championship, u.s. women's open, women's british open, evian championship.)

lydia ko is 16 years old. according to wikipedia, she was born in south korea and started playing golf at age 5 in new zealand. she is currently referred to as 'of new zealand' or 'new zealand native' so i would guess one or both parents are kiwis.

so, she's an amateur and is very good and is ranked internationally. every week during the broadcast of whatever LPGA tournament is scheduled, there is discussion about lydia turning pro. mostly it's puzzlement over why she would not since she could be earning (literally) millions of dollars.

if the earning potential were lower or the occupation were less visible, obviously no one would be talking about the decision. i think it's because so many people play golf as a hobby that they find it easier to decide on lydia's behalf that she should turn pro. seems like a no-brainer, really. all those millions? who would turn that down?

no one is going to perform my occupation as a hobby. it's classified only as a job. this place where hobbies cross occupations is an odd territory. sports, music, art. things that are commonly done by common people. we all know we can't surgerize a brain or build a rocket that'll make it to the moon. we know those aren't hobbies, and we can't really relate to what it takes to accomplish them. but, a hobby that's also a profession - that's something we feel qualified to comment on.

and someone who does a hobby-fession as a hobby when they're good enough to be making a living at it, we can't seem to get our heads around their wanting to remain amateur.

in other news, terry gannon -- golf channel non-hobbyist commentator -- sounds so much like alan alda it's just spooky.