Ko gets back into swing of things
Lydia Ko’s return to form has caught the eye of an astute golf judge.
Marilynn Smith, 89, was one of 14 founding members of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) in 1950 and was sitting in a comfortable recliner next to the 18th green at the Founders Cup yesterday – a tournament created to honour her and her 13 trailblazing counterparts.
After Ko carded her thirdstraight five-under round of 67 at the Wildfire Golf Club in Phoenix, Arizona, she went over to Smith to say hello and give her a hug.
In response, Smith praised Ko’s swing.
‘‘Now let me tell you something – your golf swing looks great,’’ she said. Smith went on to ask her if she was trusting her swing more, to which Ko replied: ‘‘yes, more belief’’.
Ko, 21, has had a lot of issues with her swing in recent years, dropping from first to 15th in the world rankings.
When she burst on to the LPGA Tour scene in 2013, Ko’s swing was a thing of rare beauty – smooth and effortless with every move synchronised to perfection.
But she then employed her former coach David Leadbetter in an attempt to gain extra yards off the tee with a different shot shape, and her game fell apart.
She has a new coach now in Ted Oh and the kind words from a World Golf Hall of Famer such as Smith, who had 23 tournament wins in her career, will surely give her an added boost.
Yesterday’s third round was blemish-free for Ko and had her sitting in a tie for fourth at 15-under, four shots behind the leader, China’s Yu Liu.
Ko carded birdies at holes two, three, seven, 12 and 15.
She has bogeyed only one of her 54 holes so far – the par-three 17th during her second round on Saturday – but said she still had a few things she needed to get right to be in contention final round.
‘‘If I tidy it up, and keep playing with confidence, I think it’ll be a good thing.’’ for today’s