Ko in the mix after solid first round
Sporting an Olympics ring tattoo with the Silver Fern, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko is in the mix after a gritty opening round of the Olympics women’s golf championship yesterday.
Ko, the world No 10 who won silver at the 2016 Rio Olympics, shot a one-under 70 to be in a tie for 16th.
Swede Madalene Sagstrom was the first-round leader at 5-under with American world No 1 Nelly Korda and India’s Aditi Ashok at 4-under.
On a scorching day at the picturesque Kasumigaseki Country Club course on the outskirts of Tokyo, Ko needed to use ice packs to combat the heat. But she kept her cool to avoid what could have been a disaster.
‘‘There were some good and some bads as well but when I was out of position for most parts I was able to recover really well,’’ Ko told Sky Sport.
‘‘Hopefully, I’ll be able to tidy up my game a bit and give myself a few more opportunities over the next three days.
‘‘You have to be patient and stay smart but also you need to be aggressive as there are only three people who can win a medal at the end of the week.’’
Ko made a solid start to her first round, breezing through the first six holes to par before a double strike of birdies at seven and eight helped her turn at two-under and be right in the mix.
Trouble struck on the par four 11th hole where she double bogeyed.
But Ko steadied herself to grab the birdie opportunity at the par-5 14th.
‘‘From 11, I pretty much hit one bad shot after another after another so when that happens and you were playing well it kills the momentum. But making that putt helped and then taking advantage of the par five.’’
Such was the tight nature of the scoring, just that birdie lifted Ko from 23rd to 12th on the leaderboard.
From there she played to par but will have left the 18th ruing a missed short putt after a brilliant approach gave her the chance of a late birdie.
Ko was in a superstar group, playing alongside 2016 gold medallist Inbee Park of South Korea and China’s Shanshan Feng, who claimed bronze five years ago.
Park was in good form, shooting a two-under 69 but Feng had her struggles to finish at 3-over.
Ko said in a post-round interview with Sky Sport that she cherished representing New Zealand at the Olympics, so much so she ‘‘even got the Olympics ring tattoo with the fern’’.
‘‘I feel like New Zealand’s always there and even though I don’t get to go back home a lot, people always support me. I’m just trying to hopefully do everyone proud.’’