Timing was right to pack his bags
The last time I played golf was in Malaysia last year. The club gave me a caddie and I shot 120, roughly 30 shots worse than a 70-year-old Pakistani in my playing group.
What did I take away from that? Caddies don’t make bad golfers better.
Lydia Ko is a very good golfer. Her last six tournaments, by her high standards, have been bad ones, so she sacked her caddie Jason Hamilton during the week.
What did I take away from that? Caddies can make good golfers worse.
Caddies have three core jobs: carry a bag, measure distances and keep their employer happy.
The last is by far the most important, given how much of a mental game golf can be.
Ko’s a pretty chipper individual on and off the course, but hasn’t been getting on with Hamilton lately.
Maybe she was miffed about his role in her US Open capitulation, when she stuck her ball in the drink on the par-five ninth to slip from first to third. Maybe his dad jokes weren’t funny anymore. Maybe she just got tired of him, that happens with people sometimes.
The reason is irrelevant, but judging by her coach David Leadbetter’s comments it has been bogging her down mentally.
‘‘I think that’s been on her mind a little bit. The reasons are a little uncertain at the moment. They felt they weren’t getting on together, it wasn’t acrimonious in any way,’’ he told Radio Sport.
Now is the perfect time for her to drop Hamilton.
The majors are finished and the world No 1 has four tournaments left to audition a replacement before next season.
As much as she’s probably keen to end the season with a win at the Tour Championship in mid November, as well as claim the Race to the CME Globe for the third year in a row, getting herself right for a tilt at the majors next year should be the priority.
It has been clear that something has been wrong. With a mental block cleared, she can get back to playing her best.