‘‘Coach’s impact on Ko’s mental game might be greater than that on her swing’’ Kiwi golfer’s surprising route back to form
Ian Anderson reckons she ex-world No. 1 is playing with a mental freedom that seems to have helped her recapture some of her old brilliant form. Not that she’s seeking perfection.
John Mitchell was endlessly ridiculed for talking of ‘‘the journey’’. New Zealand sports’ fans might prove far kinder to Lydia Ko – especially if her path includes the kind of golf that rocketed her to within touching distance of her first major win in five years.
Ko’s pronouncements after producing one of the greatest final rounds (62) in a major tournament on Monday (NZ time) at the ANA Inspiration may sound to the cynic like New Age nonsense.
All Blacks’ fans used to demand something more earthly from the man in charge – talk instead of rucking, dominating up front, blood, sweat and tearaway flankers, please coach – and when the results from Mitchell’s charges were equally unsatisfying, his time was swiftly over.
But two decades on, New Zealanders hungry for Ko to recapture some of her past glories may be enlightened and accepting enough to allow the 23-year-old to pursue her chosen path to . . . well, wherever it may lead.
It appears Ko believes the key to again being a consistent, titlechasing force in the golf world is to not seek to be a consistent, titlechasing force in the golf world.
Under the guidance of swing coach Sean Foley, Ko has climbed the world rankings from a low of 55 in August last year to 11th this week, and she now sits second on the LPGA season standings.
It seems his impact on Ko’s mental game might be greater than that on her swing.
Prior to the first major of the season, Ko said her three key words for playing this year were gratitude, acceptance and patience.
‘‘This is a tricky game, you just never know what’s going to happen on a day-to-day basis. I’ve just got to do a good job with things I can control, make sure that the things I’m working on are good and when I’m out there playing, play with full commitment and confidence.’’
After her superlative round in the Californian desert, Ko sounded like she was heading off to the Joshua Tree in a campervan with a collection of crystals.
‘‘This is another Sean thing,’’ Ko said of her swing ‘guru’.
‘‘He said, ‘We’re always in the position or place that we are meant to be at that time.’ He said just because
I win an event or miss the cut, that doesn’t make me a better or worse human being, and I think that kind of strips everything back. All day I had in mind that God has a plan for all of us.
‘‘I just have to believe that, have faith and go on my journey. I might not know what that journey is, but I feel like it’s all laid out. All I can do is try my best at that exact moment.’’
Putting less pressure on herself to be the same golfer that dominated the women’s game at amateur and then professional level through the middle of the previous decade seems logical.
One of the problems Ko faces in being the best in the world again – or beating the world’s best in a tournament – is that new stars keep popping up.
Ko’s conqueror at Mission Hills, Patty Tavatanakit, may not have been the same allconquering force as the Kiwi was as a teen, but she was still an undoubted major talent destined for bigger things.
Now just 21, she won the Junior World Golf Championship for girls in 2014, was the lowest scoring amateur at the US Women’s Open in 2018, was a superstar at US college level and won three times in eight tournaments on the
LPGA’s development tour in 2019, earning the Rookie of the Year award.
While Ko was making birdies for fun at Mission Hills, 17-yearold Tsubasa Kajitani of Japan was winning the Augusta National amateur championship. She’s also a former world junior champ.
And it appears just to keep pace with the current world’s best, Ko will have to continue to putt the lights out – she had just 24 shots with the flatstick in her final round at the ANA Inspiration.
On this year’s tour, Ko sits 10th in birdies made at 4.125 per round, and 15th in putting average.
But she’s 102nd in driving accuracy and 63rd in average driving distance at 260 yards – Tavatanakit is second at 284 and hit the ball on average 34 yards further off the tee in the final round in California than the Kiwi.
Those problems have Ko sitting 30th for Greens In Regulation – behind the likes of Brooke Henderson (T3), JinYoung Ko (7th), Jessica Korda (9th), Tavatanakit (12th), Nelly Korda (19th) and Inbee Park (23rd).
It doesn’t appear those numbers are causing Ko to lose sleep though. She emphasised after her runnerup charge last Monday that she’s not seeking to be the player – or person – she was.
‘‘I was actually thinking in my head, ‘I wonder if on the [Golf Channel] coverage they are going to be like, ‘oh, Lydia Ko is back’.
‘‘I hope it’s not the sense that I’m back to a position where I was or where I could be. I just want to be the best version of myself right now.’’
Remember too that Ko may only play for another seven years. She told ESPN in 2018 after taking up golf as a 5-year-old, 25 years in the game would be ‘‘a good round number’’.
‘‘I’ll probably play some odd golf here or there, maybe play for $100 or something with a friend,’’ Ko said as she discussed possible careers in psychology, criminology, interior design and architecture.
This week, she pointed forward to her new journey.
‘‘I’ve had so many different experiences, ups and downs since I was No. 1, to this point and I think at the end of the day I’m not going to be the same person any more.
‘‘I think everything happens for a reason and I am in this position for a reason.
‘‘All I can do is keep working hard and see where it takes me.’’