H and caddie changes ‘the right decisions’
e ed c cs o of e er d d has had 11 caddies since turning pro five years ago. And she’s on her third coach after hiring and firing one within a year.
But Ko says critics of her changes miss the point.
“I’m trying to make the decisions where I think it’s the best for me in my career,” Ko said.
“Sometimes, I think ‘hey, maybe I shouldn’t have done that’. But I feel like I made the right decisions.
“All I can do . . . is do what I think is best for me and sometimes not everybody is going to agree.”
Ko last year lost her world No 1 ranking amid her first winless LPGA season since 2012.
Her meagre year came after switching coaches from the renowned David Leadbetter, with whom she worked from 2013 to the end of 2016.
In came Gary Gilchrist, who lasted just the year. Now, Ko is working under Ted Oh.
“Hopefully, this one does go a long way,” she said.
Ahead of her opening round, Oh said the pair worked nine-hour days for a five-week span as part of his ‘old school’ coaching method.
Oh told GolfChannel.com that he didn’t make any changes to Ko’s swing as he began coaching in January in Phoenix.
“Her mechanics were already great,” Oh said. “It was more finetuning things. It was more about sequence, tempo and balance and a lot of practice. We worked a lot on her scoring clubs, her short irons and wedges and shots around the green. We spent hours and hours with the scoring clubs.”
Oh said they went into a bootcamp-style preparation for the new season after the Kiwi went winless in 2017.
“The days would have been longer, but the sun went down,” Oh said.