Lydia Ko poised for that winning feeling again
LYDIA Ko should break her wins drought in 2021.
It’s been 32 months since New Zealand’s greatest golfer triumphed in a tournament. Her most recent attempt to break that barren streak ended limply when she faltered in the final round of the US Women’s Open on Tuesdaymorning (NZ time).
Ko’s five-over 76 was another disappointing finish for the 23-year-old, who will end her abbreviated 2020 LPGA season at the CMEGroup Tour Championship which began with a disappointing 74 on Friday, but she shot 65 yesterday to be just four shots from the lead.
But among this year’s missed opportunities and wayward play were enough signs to suggest that the once-dominant Ko can again be awinner.
Working with new coach Sean Foley, Ko has made some notable improvements to her game while maintaining previous strengths and put together a run of results that may pale in comparison to her prime, yet suggest that she should contend enough during a full season in 2021.
In 11 tournaments since July – and in difficult conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic – Ko has had seven top-15 finishes.
The more she puts herself in contention, the greater chance she has of finding her best form when it counts most.
That’s proved costly for Ko this year – in the last round in Houston on Tuesday, with the leaders struggling, Ko could only find six of 14 fairways with her driver.
That wasn’t as painful as her biggest chance to win evaporating in early August when she blew a five-shot lead with six holes to play at the Marathon Classic in Ohio.
Foley has helped her add almost an extra nine metres to her drives off the tee. It may not sound much, but it’s significant, allowing her to play a shorter – more accurate – club into the green.
Ko has added muscle to her frame and club-head speed to her swing that has lifted her from 152nd in average driving distance (224.5 metres) on the LPGA Tour last year to 52nd place with 233.1m.
That has brought about a fall in driving accuracy however, from 102nd to 120th, and that’s what Ko and Foley will need to fix for her to be a contender.
‘‘The goal was to get her to understand her swing, how it works, why it works and to get her to hit that baby fade,’’ Foley told Golf Digest before the US Open when outlining his initial goals when employed by Ko.
That extra distance may have helped Ko also make a notable climb in the greens in regulation (GIR) statistics, from 96th to 36th this year.
And possibly more important, Ko remains an outstanding putter.
Her putting average per GIR leapt from 23rd to 5th, while her overall putting average put her sixth on the standings, after being seventh last year.
So it seems there will be many opportunities next season for Ko to contend. If she can excel on a course with wide fairways, forgiving rough, continue to putt well and be near her best in the final round, a first-place finish is possible.
Foley said his other goal since becoming Ko’s swing coach early this year was to get her to enjoy the game and the creativity of it again.
‘‘She’s so creative. She’s brilliant. But here was a girl who was looking at videos and numbers. That’s not her,’’ he told Golf Digest.
Ko admitted she was trying hard not to over-analyse every swing in the search for perfection.
‘‘When we first started, she had 50 questions a day,’’ Foley said. ‘‘There’s no questions left. In 51⁄ months together, she’s seen
2 her swing twice. She used to video every shot.’’
It’s understandablewhy Ko is searching deeply to recapture past glories – because they were so glorious.
At age 15, she was the youngest player to win on the LPGA Tour.
She became the youngest player to becomeWorld No.1 aged just 17. Only six months later she became the youngest woman to win amajor championship. By 19, she had two major championship trophies and the only debate was around how many she’d collect over her career.
As we prepare for the 2021 season, that number remains two.
‘‘Maybe she’ll be the best in the world again, maybe she won’t,’’ Foley said. But he told Newshub this week he likes her chances of being back on top.
‘‘I think everything is in a great place. I think 2021 is going to be an incredible year.’’