Ko got the fun back in her game – psychologist

Leading golf psychologist Dr Gio Valiante has labelled Lydia Ko’s return to winning form a victory for having fun on the course.

He’s adamant that putting fun first was a key to the 21-year-old winning for the first time in almost two years.

Valiante has worked with some of golf’s most successful players, including Justin Rose, Jack Nicklaus, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III and Matt Kuchar.

He has become the most successful sport psychologist on the PGA Tour and in 2011 Golf magazine named him one of the 40 most influential people in golf under age 40. He is a professor at Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, and serves as the mental game consultant for the Golf Channel, Golf Digest, and the University of Florida.

In assessing Ko’s gutsy playoff win, Valiante described the Kiwi as ‘‘a once in a generation talent, mentally and physically’’.

And while Ko has gone through a multitude of staff and gear changes in trying to find the game that made her No 1, Valiante had a simple theory for her form revival.

‘‘Most golfers think they are going to let their mood be determined by how they play. . . ‘if I play good, then I’ll have fun’,’’ Valiante told the Golf Channel.

‘‘But what you come to realise is that is a bad bargain because golf will tie you in mental knots if you do that, put you in a psychological straightjacket.

‘‘What Lydia Ko did was to say, ‘you know what? I’m going to go out and have fun first, my priority is to enjoy myself’ and, lo and behold, good golf follows.

‘‘I’ve had this happen literally 100 times with clients over the years where you make the goal to enjoy yourself.

‘‘All of a sudden you put your head up and you are shooting a great round. There are all sorts of psychological and physiological reasons for this but it is really a textbook veteran move out of a young lady.’’