Ko hopes bid won’t go to pot
Lydia Ko answered the question with her usual mix of seriousness and humour.
Asked what her main challenge would be during the US$3 million (NZ$4.5m) Women’s British Open this week, the 18-year-old world No 2 Ko was in no doubt – avoiding the numerous pot bunkers on the famous Ailsa Course at Turnberry, on Scotland’s Ayrshire coastline.
‘‘I think, really, the big thing on any links golf course is for you to not hit it in the pot bunkers, first of all. [Coach David Leadbetter] said because I’m not that tall, every bunker is a pot bunker to me,’’ she said, laughing.
‘‘But no, I mean, stay out of the pot bunker and stay out of the long rough. The tee shots are really going to be crucial.
‘‘Obviously the next shot is going to be tough too but to hit your second shots into the green when you’re hitting off the fairway makes a huge difference.’’
Ko tees up in the fourth major championship of the year on Thursday night (NZ time) still chasing a slice of history.
A win this week or at the Evian Championship in France in September would see the New Zealander eclipse American Morgan Pressel as the youngest women’s major champion.
Ko’s form is certainly on the upswing after a quiet period – by her standards. She has chased three top-12 finishes on the LPGA Tour recently, including a tie for 12th at the US Women’s Open, with a tie for fourth at the Scottish Open 30 minutes up the road in Troon last week.
This is Ko’s fourth appearance at the British Open and it has not been terribly kind to her in the previous three attempts.
She earned low amateur honours in 2012 (T17) and 2013 (T42) and finished tied for 29th last year at Royal Birkdale.
She described it as the toughest tournament to prepare for, hence the decision to head over the Atlantic a week early and play the Scottish Open, so she could not only acclimatise to the weather but the greens and course conditions.
‘‘I thought it would be a good idea to play the Scottish the week before and I had a lot of fun playing at Dundonald Links last week,’’ she said.
‘‘I don’t know if I’m more relaxed or not because the course was a little different.
‘‘Last week’s course, it wasn’t really a traditional links because when it’s a traditional links you kind of expect it to be pretty flat 20 yards short of the green and you can run it up there and know that you are going to get the roll.
‘‘They actually had quite a bit of undulation and on some greens you have to carry it on the green for you to be on the putting surface. Kind of different.
‘‘But I guess the big thing was really the wind and the type of grass we play on.’’
Ko said a couple of club selection mistakes and bad tee shots were the difference between winning and losing at Troon, and highlighted the need for accuracy this week especially if the weather turned nasty.
Strong winds and rain are forecast at various stages during the four days.
The Kiwi, who played nine practice holes on Monday and 18 in the pro-am on Tuesday, is still wearing a protective bandage on her left thumb.
She has been wearing it since the start of the season after some issues in late 2014 and confirmed there was no pain, the bandage being used more as a cushion or ‘‘precaution’’.
Ko tees off at 6.41am on Thursday local time (5.30pm NZ time) in the first round and 11.26am on Friday (10.26pm NZ time) in the second round.