Ko all abuzz as she eyes Tokyo

Mcilroy wrong on Olympics

New Zealand golfing superstar Lydia Ko hasn’t let her Olympics silver medal out of her sight and is already dreaming of Tokyo 2020.

Ko has quickly moved to Canada to rejoin the LPGA Tour where this weekend she defends her Canadian Pacific Women’s Open which she has won three times among her 14 tour titles.

But the 19-year-old is still buzzing about her Olympics success in Rio where she finished runner-up to Korean rival Inbee Park.

The world No 1 has almost been mesmerised by her silver medal and says it ranks ‘‘right up there’’ with her two major titles.

She said the medal had hardly left her grasp since she received it on the podium.

Ko revealed the only time she removed the medal from around her neck on the day she received it was to take a shower ‘‘and even then I rested it on a New Zealands flag’’.

She even had the medal with her when she went to watch the Olympics in the main arena later in the day after her success on the golf course.

‘‘I was worried going through security with it being metal,’’ she laughed.

‘‘I watched TV with it around my neck that night. I had it beside my bed when I went to sleep.’’

She said the medal would take pride of place among her other trophies that sit in a book case next to the TV at her Orlando home in Florida.

‘‘It was a surreal week and one that I will never forget,’’ Ko said.

The most surreal moment came at the medal ceremony, a part of the Olympics she always enjoyed when watching previous Games on TV.

‘‘I almost didn’t know what I needed to do. I thought thank goodness I’m not the first one going up on the podium I don’t want to go up at the wrong time,’’ she said.

‘‘It felt so different being the one up there actually doing it, with the flags and the anthem.

‘‘When I went to the athletics and watched the medal ceremonies it really brought it home ... I couldn’t believe that I was the one on the podium a few hours earlier.

‘‘It was so great going to the athletics. There were about 40 of us (New Zealanders) and it felt like ‘wow, this is the Olympics, we are a team’.’’

Ko admitted she had been a little star-struck during her time in Rio and loved mixing with some of the other big names of New Zealand sport.

‘‘I’m not home often so I don’t get to cross paths with them. I felt like I was in a bit of a fan zone ... I was the fan.’’

The whole experience has her This is one time Rory Mcilroy says he was happy to be mistaken.

Mcilroy was among the top four players in the world who chose not to play in the Olympics, and the four-time major champion didn’t help the cause when he said it was not his role to grow the game and that he would only watch ‘‘the stuff that matters’’ on television.

He did watch the golf – at least the final hole, when Justin Rose outlasted Henrik Stenson to win golf’s first gold medal in 112 years.

‘‘It pleasantly surprised me,’’ Mcilroy said yesterday.

‘‘There was more people at the golf events than there was at the athletics. It was good to see, it really was.

‘‘It seems like it was a great atmosphere down there. I think it was one of the cheaper tickets, as well, and I think that encouraged a lot of people to go.

‘‘But to see the crowds and see the turnout, I was glad to be somewhat proven wrong.’’

Golf did its part with tickets that cost about US$16. It was the only sellout among Olympic venues on Sunday of the men’s final round.

The Olympics went as expected for Jordan Spieth.

He said on the day he withdrew that his decision would loom over him during the Olympics. And he was right.

‘‘I enjoyed watching the finish to the Olympics, and I wished I was there,’’ Spieth said.

He still believes he made the right decision at the time. Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Mcilroy all specifically cited the threat of the Zika virus, while Spieth said he had broader concerns about the Rio Games and that Zika was only a part of it.

Spieth tweeted after the men’s golf ended that it would be a goal to be in Tokyo in 2020.

wanting more and she plans to target the next Olympics in Japan in four years time.

‘‘I’m just super excited and hopefully I will be there for Tokyo 2020.

‘‘It was more than I ever dreamed of ... more so the atmosphere and the vibe of the Olympics, that’s what I loved so much. Tokyo 2020 would be another dream come true and I will work towards that.’’

Ko believed golf’s return to the Olympics after a 112-year absence had proved successful.