What’s Lydia up to?
"You figure it out for yourself, you go with what you've got. You've got to do it your way and not somebody else's way."
Sir Bob Charles, left.
Sir Bob Charles can’t quite fathom Lydia Ko’s constant chopping and changing of caddies.
The 81-year-old former British Open Championship winner gave his two cents worth a day after Ko sacked swing coach Gary Gilchrist and caddie Peter Godfrey ahead of this week’s Australian Open.
The 20-year-old has replaced Gilchrist with PGA Tour professional Ted Oh, while Johnny Scott will be 11th person to carry Ko’s bags since she turned pro at the end of 2013.
‘‘It doesn’t thrill me at all,’’ Charles said from his Christchurch home yesterday. ‘‘Perhaps it thrills her to be chopping and changing.
‘‘I’m from the old school, you figure it out for yourself, you go with what you’ve got. You’ve got to do it your way and not somebody else’s way.’’
Seven of Ko’s ever-growing list of dumped bag carriers were sacked in her rookie season, while Jason Hamilton (almost two years) was the longest serving caddie in her scrapheap.
The numbers are hard for Charles, who has 76 professional wins to his name and will compete in the Russley Garden City Legends tournament in Christchurch, starting on Friday, to comprehend.
‘‘It’s an interesting concept, it’s a modern concept that I’m not familiar with. I had two caddies over a 20-year period ... and my most recent caddy has been off and on with me for 30 years,’’ Charles said.
‘‘I’ve also never had a coach in my life, so as you can see I’ve come from a totally different era.’’
Ko’s camp has defended the latest changes, which followed the world No 10 also changing both her coach and caddie last year, but failed to help her record her first win on the LPGA Tour since 2016.
‘‘It’s just a normal transition and exploration that everyone does in their off-season,’’ Ko’s management said in a statement to Golfweek.
‘‘They’ve only been working together for one to two months. She is hoping to make a great result with them.’’
Gilchrist bemoaned the swift breakup but, unlike David Leadbetter - Ko’s swing coach between 2013-16 who said Ko’s parents made life difficult with their overbearing influence - he didn’t have a bad word to say about the Aucklander.
‘‘Like any marriage you hope it lasts more than one year to make it work,’’ he told