Ko uses time off to re-tool swing for big campaign

Teenage sensation Lydia Ko has taken the opportunity to make significant swing changes, during a rare period without tournament golf, ahead of her first major championship, the US Open starting on Friday.

The 15-year-old, who is the world’s top-ranked amateur, this week begins a stretch of five big overseas tournaments, including her first two major championships and another crack at the US Amateur.

She earned a spot in the field at Blackwolf Run in Kohler, Wisconsin, this week by virtue of her No 1 ranking at the end of 2011, and she will play the British Open at Royal Liverpool in September.

It is a big few months for Ko, who also hopes to be invited to the Evian Masters in France late this month – this will become the fifth major from next year – while she’s slated to play the US Amateur in early-August and the Canadian Open on the LPGA Tour in late-August.

The Aucklander required an extensive break after a massive summer, which included a world headline-grabbing victory at the New South Wales Open, becoming the youngest golfer to win a professional event.

Ko and her coach Guy Wilson used the break to undertake big changes to her swing, most notably relaxing her grip on the club, which had a flow-on effect.

But Wilson is happy with the outcome and believes his prodigy, noted for her unerring accuracy, could well be driving the ball straighter than before.

‘‘We had a period of about six weeks where we didn’t have any golf, so that was a good time to be able to make some changes with her swing,’’ Wilson said.

‘‘They were significant, that’s why it was good to not have any events, so she could really ingrain the movements without having to worry about the result.

‘‘As a youngster, we allowed her to have a stronger grip, which put a lot of pressure on her wrist.

‘‘We’ve weakened it off and as any golfer knows it’s a difficult thing to change a grip and still be able to commit to hitting it.

‘‘The change also in turn pretty much changed her swing, but we’ve got to a point where we’re pretty happy with it.’’

Asked if she had lost any accuracy, Wilson said ‘‘No. It will probably be a little bit more accurate now.’’

Ko will need all of her accuracy on a monster of a course typical of a US Open.

Blackwolf Run intimidating and it is.

It’s been lengthened by more than 500 yards since the last US Open there, in 1998, and will play about 6950 yards this week — a good-sized men’s championship course. The winning score in 1998 was, believe it or not, six-over par.

Ko is a short hitter so hitting fairways is a necessity.

Failure to do so means she’ll be looking at bogey minimum.

She’s been ramping up the training ahead of her major championship debut, doubling her hours to 60 in the last few weeks as she’s had limited schooling – she’s only doing three subjects at the moment.

‘‘She’s looking forward to the week although there is a lot of pressure on her shoulders,’’ Wilson said.

‘‘There is a lot of expectation, and people don’t really understand how much of a burden it is for her being the world No 1 amateur.’’

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