Lydia sustains the status Ko in Ayrshire
A BOUNCE here, a kick there, some interesting lies goodness knows where?
“I got into some pretty funky places,” said Lydia Ko of an eye-opening first round in the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open at Dundonald Links.
By the end of the day, Ko was occupying another funky place; the top of the leaderboard. Admittedly, a golf writer using the phrase ‘funky’ is as cringeworthy as watching a slightly tipsy uncle dancing awkwardly at an 18th birthday do but when you’re dealing with teenage superstars, you’ve got to get down with the kids.
Ko’s neatly assembled four-under 68 left the world No.2 in a share of the lead with Norway’s Suzann Pettersen and one ahead of France’s Celine Herbin. Kelsey MacDonald, 730 places lower than Ko on the world rankings, tucked herself in among the frontrunners with a 70 to spearhead the Scottish challenge.
It was Ko who the sizeable galleries were keen to keep an eye on and a fourbirdie round signalled her intent. On a largely pleasant and fairly calm day by Scottish links golf standards, the 18-year-old made the most of the conditions and prospered. Birdies at seven and eight – her 16th and 17th – saw the New Zealander up the ante late on and a nine-footer for birdie on her final hole just dribbled past the cup. All in all, it was a good day at the office.
“I got lucky with a couple of lies and the weather,” said Ko. “On 18, my right foot was higher than my left, I hit it right and I got a good kick left.”
That’s par for the course in this game, and Ko was happy to emerge unscathed on a layout that could really bare its teeth if tomorrow’s boisterous weather forecast comes to pass.
“It’s tough enough without much wind,” added Ko, who has been working on lowering her ball flight over the past days ahead of a fortnight of links golf in Scotland that will also take in next week’s Ricoh Women’s British Open.
Pettersen made a purposeful early surge in her round and, having also started on the 10th, the 34-year-old Norwegian reeled off four birdies in her first five holes on her way to a 68.
“You can’t afford to lose concentration at all on this course,” said Pettersen, who enjoyed tackling Dundonald’s abundant challenges.
Herbin picked up two birdies on her last three holes in a 69, while MacDonald’s best round of the season provided a tonic for the 24-year-old from Nairn.
MacDonald, whose progress has been hindered by a niggling back injury, has missed the cut in all five of the events she has played in on the Ladies European Tour this year. But the former Scottish Women’s Amateur champion found some comforts in the auld haunts of home. Her day was illuminated with an eagle on the fifth where she whipped an approach with a rescue club into about six feet and rolled in the putt.
“I was pretty blessed with the weather this morning as it was quite calm for me teeing off,” said MacDonald. “The pin positions and the greens are the defence here. I only had one flat putt all day. There are a few feel putts because you can’t always put them too close because the miss is really bad. You’ve just got to play for the middle of the greens here. You’ll take two putts on every hole.”
Carly Booth, the Scottish Open winner in 2012, was the next best Scot on 72, while Catriona Matthew, the champion in 2011 and 2013, had to settle for a two-over 74 that featured two bogeys on her last three holes as well as a trio of head-shaking lip-outs during the course of her round.
“I actually played well but there were one or two mistakes that need to be cut out,” said the former Women’s British Open champion.
Matthew was joined on the two-over mark by Cheyenne Woods, who slipped out of the leading five with a doublebogey six on her 16th hole after pulling her tee shot well left. Charley Hull, last year’s European No.1, couldn’t find her best form and posted a 76 that featured a duffed drive that went skittering about 100 yards up the fairway.
Those of us peering on from the sidelines could have taught her that one.