Ko so sure she will banish dark clouds
LYDIA KO flashed a smile, glanced outside to an Ayrshire monsoon, and asked: ‘Is it snowing or raining?’ Welcome to summertime in Scotland.
Ko is one of the big draws playing in the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies’ Scottish Open which begins at Dundonald today.
Her story is an astonishing one. The Korean-born New Zealander became the world No1 before her 18th birthday. It was a position she held for 85 weeks as she amassed 21 titles across the globe including two major wins.
Her achievements are many and varied, including being voted Young New Zealander of the Year and named one of
Time magazine’s 100 most influential people. The record books state that only 38 LPGA players have won more Tour titles than Miss Ko. She only turned 20 in April.
It is hardly surprising, then, that he has often drawn comparisons with Tiger Woods in his pomp. But Ko remains unaffected by her success.
Although she has not won for a year, and is ‘languishing’ at world No 4, she stays grounded and hopes rather than expects to win again soon.
‘I know that I need to work hard and put in the time and effort, and things will come,’ she said. ‘In golf, there’s always something you can improve on within your game and I am working hard towards being more consistent.
‘But just because I haven’t won in a year or so doesn’t mean I’m playing bad golf. The big key is to stay patient.’
Patience is not a virtue associated with the young, however, and Ko clearly does not suffer from the same selfaggrandisement of some.
‘It’s not like I’m a special case where, hey, I’m the special one,’ she said. ‘All of us girls are working hard to be the one holding the trophy at the end of the week and we are all trying to be patient.’ Home hope Catriona Matthew is more than twice Ko’s age, but the 47-year-old from North Berwick has clearly lost none of her drive and ambition.
Having been a permanent fixture in Europe’s Solheim Cup team since 2003, Matthew, who made her debut in the biennial event 19 years ago, is desperate to keep the run going as a player.
She will be at Des Moines, Iowa, next month in her role as one of captain Annika Sorenstam’s assistants, but she has not given up hope of being a playing vice-captain.
Matthew will need to be one of four captain’s picks as she is currently equal 27th in the rankings.
And with the Ricoh Women’s British Open at Kingsbarns to follow, she conceded that she needs a sudden return of form.
Matthew, a winner of both events, has stated her desire to captain the side when the match is staged in Scotland for a third time, at Gleneagles in 2019, but she stressed: ‘I won’t be playing in it. I know that for certain.’
Meanwhile, with the prize pot having risen threefold to £1.2million, perhaps not surprisingly, five of the world’s top 10 are competing in Ayrshire this week.