Fitness key to women improving — Spaniard
Corvo brings fearsome reputation
A key to the rise in competitiveness and quality of women’s golf has been the push for better fitness.
A strength- training routine is practised by most professionals and one of the fittest players is Spanish golfer Belen Mozo, who will compete in the McKayson New Zealand Open women’s tournament in Auckland.
The tournament will be hosted by the Windross Farm course at Ardmore from September 28 to October 1, marking the first time the LPGA tour has visited this country. It offers $ 1.85 million in prizemoney.
The 28- year- old Mozo finished in a share of 32nd at the event in 2011 and tied for 25th in 2013.
The University of Southern California graduate and former European and British amateur champion has been at the forefront of the sport’s new fitness regime.
Mozo believes gym work has helped her qualify and maintain her status on the LPGA tour and added more clubhead speed to her swing.
That clubhead speed i s greater than the average amateur male, at just under 160km/ h. At 1.70m and 57kg, she regularly carries the ball 230m with her driver.
Mozo, something of an internet sensation with her workouts, says her focus on strength, power and mobilit y has boosted performance and prevents injury. “I love that my body is in one piece. It's strong and fit,” Mozo said. “I can trust my body. My knees are not going to bail on me when I bend down. It's like I'm a big piece of muscle. There is hard work that I have put into my body, and I like that I can feel all of it.
“I create a lot of power for my size. I've learned how to use every ounce of force I can create with my biggest muscles, and then coordinate that energy with the swinging of the club.”
Meanwhile, Lydia Ko, winless in more than a year, unleashed some of her best golf in a bleak period to hold a share of fourth place after the first round of an LPGA Tour event in Indianapolis yesterday.
She shot a seven- under 65 featuring seven birdies and no bogeys at the Indy Women in Tech tournament, leaving her two strokes behind Lexi Thompson, of the United States.
“It’s nice to get off to a really solid start,” Ko said. “I’ve been struggling the last few months, so it’s nice to be able to put myself in a different rhythm. And I was with a really good group with Anna [ Nordqvist] and Stacy [ Lewis]. Obviously, Stacy winning last week, it’s really nice to play alongside them.”
It was a notable improvement from Ko, who has missed the cut in two of her last three tournaments to continue her slide down the world rankings. Winless for 14 months and without a top- eight finish since May, the former world No 1 slipped back to No 8 this week.
It prompted an unusually frank assessment to reporters the day before the three- day tournament teed off.
“The biggest thing for me is I’m fortunate to have a very positive team and family around me,” said the normally- upbeat Ko.
“But it would be a lie to say I’ve been positive all the way. There have been times when I’ve said ‘ man, I don’t know why I’m not playing as well’. It’s a big learning curve.
“Fortunately for me over the past few years, I’ve had so many highs. I’ve never really stumbled upon a rock.”