Ko weathers the storm on eve of US Open
Reading and watching Netflix is hardly Lydia Ko’s usual preparation for a US Open, but a sopping wet Shoal Creek has forced the Kiwi’s hand.
The already soggy Alabama course has been pelted with more than three inches of rain in the past week, and it’s only getting worse as the remnants of subtropical storm Alberto hang over the US$5 million (NZ$7.2 million) tournament.
It forced officials to close the course to the public yesterday, and cancel all practice rounds. The forecast didn’t look much better for today, the day before the second of this year’s five majors starts.
‘‘I just started reading a book. So I might read, Netflix and chill,’’ Ko said when asked how she would pass time. ‘‘It’s actually nice to be able to get some time to just relax and chill out, too.’’
Ko and the rest of the field did find a window to hit the driving range yesterday, and the 21-year-old New Zealander got a full practice round in at the start of the week.
‘‘I think it will be fine,’’ said Ko, who tees off at 6.04am tomorrow (NZT). ‘‘I just got to, like, this is something that you can’t control.
‘‘I think that’s a good thing going forward. I’m going to try and put in as much work as I can with what I have.’’
Given that thunderstorms are forecast for each of the four championship days, there is speculation USGA officials might conduct part of the tournament using lift, clean-and-place guidelines.
Former champion Christie Kerr certainly thinks the guidelines should be utilised for the first time in the tournament’s history.
‘‘They are going to have to play it up,’’ she told GolfChannel.com. ‘‘It’s already soaked out there. There are puddles everywhere. Around the greens, it’s super muddy.’’
The tournament marks Ko’s first hitout since she finished tied for eighth ❚ 73rd US Open women’s golf tournament
Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club, Alabama; June 1-3 (NZT)
❚ Purse: US$5 million (NZ$7.2 million)
Park Sunghyun
(2016) T3 at the Texas Classic at the start of the month.
She took a couple off weeks after that, a break which included her sister’s wedding at her parents’ hometown in Jeju Island, South Korea.
‘‘After that, I came back to Orlando and I was trying to work on being a bit more consistent with the long game and the short game, try hit all these different shots that were probably, you know, shots that I might need to hit this week,’’ the two-time major winner said.
Given Shoal Creek suits big hitters – think American Lexi Thompson – Ko, playing in her seventh US Open, has got her work cut out, particularly with wet weather and a boggy course further disadvantaging her game.
Ko, who snapped a nearly two-year drought by winning the Mediheal Championship last month, called the importance of her short game ‘‘huge’’, and is holding out hope the sun breaks through and dries out the fairways.
‘‘Definitely yesterday I felt the course was a lot longer because of the wetness and the fairways. But I guess it just makes it a little trickier,’’ she said.
‘‘The US Open is not going to be easy out there. So you just have to see if it does play long, try and play smart and try and be able to come off that hole with a par. If you make a birdie, that’s great, too.’’
What:
❚ When, where:
❚ Defending champion:
❚ Lydia Ko’s best finish: