Ex-coach blames Ko’s parents for her decline

WASHINGTON The slump is only getting worse for Lydia Ko. The former No. 1-ranked golfer has missed the cut in her last two tournaments, most recently at the Women’s British Open, doesn’t have a top-five finish this year and hasn’t won a tournament since April of last year.

According to her former coach, the problem lies with Ko’s parents.

“Her parents have a lot to answer for — a case of unbelievable ignorance,” David Leadbetter said Tuesday to New Zealand’s Radio Sport (via the New Zealand Herald). “I’m angry, I’m sad because to me I know what she’s capable of doing. And to see her play like this, it’s just very sad to see.”

Leadbetter coached Ko, a 22-year-old who emigrated with her parents from South Korea to New Zealand when she was a child, from 2013 through 2016. She had already established herself as a phenom by winning a professional event in 2012 at age 14, and later that year she became the youngest person to win an LPGA event.

By the time she and Leadbetter parted ways, Ko was the winner of 19 events, including two majors, and she attained the world’s top ranking before she turned 18. Since then, though, she has just one LPGA Tour victory.

Leadbetter pointed to several changes Ko has made, including with her coaches, caddies and equipment. Leadbetter said he would be open to returning as her coach if she were “in full control of what she was doing.”

“It really is a very sad situation to observe,” he said. “Her team have to be thinking that they have made some huge mistakes, taking an unbelievably talented player and turning her into ordinary.”

Shortly after he was fired in December 2016, Leadbetter warned of what he saw as overbearing behaviour from Ko’s parents.

“They tell her when to go to bed, what to eat, what to wear, when to practice and what to practice,” he said at the time. “And they expect her to win every tournament.

“And at some point,” he added, “they’ve got to let the bird fly from the nest. I would often think, ‘It’s not easy coaching three people.’”

Leadbetter himself has been accused of starting Ko’s downturn by tinkering with her swing.

Leadbetter “completely changed the DNA of her golf swing,” analyst and former PGA Tour player Brandel Chamblee told ESPN last year. “Why in the world would you do that? Because you want to put your stamp or signature on the masterpiece that is this kid?”

Ko told ESPN last year that she respected Leadbetter.

“But in the end, if I’m making any decision, whether I’m going to shop or change caddies or change coaches, I’m always going to talk to my parents about it,” Ko said. “No matter what, I’m going to ask them. If it didn’t feel right, I wouldn’t have done it. I believe in my decision. I have no regrets.”

Ko said in May that she did not expect such early success and now finds herself compared to those days.

“One player told me, and I think it kind of came to me, that I’m never going to be the same,” she said. “I might play as well as I did then or better, or not as good, but I’m never going to be the same. Through every experience you change and you learn.”

On Tuesday, Leadbetter called Ko “a tremendous person,” but reiterated that he thought she needed more independence.

“She’s 21, 22 years of age now,” he said. “She could control her own career. She should know what’s best for her.”

He continued: “She’s not a 12-year-old anymore. So they need to let her go, let her fly, let her leave the nest so to speak and find her own way. If she can do that, I mean yeah we could see Lydia back.”