Lydia Ko will compete in her first tournament of the year in Saudi Arabia this week. Photo / Photosport
Lydia Ko will compete in her first tournament of the year in Saudi Arabia this week. Photo / Photosport
She may be closing in on the longest time as world number one in women’s golf, but Lydia Ko isn’t comfortable with having the target on her back as she begins the 2023 season.
Ko secured No 1 status for a third time in her career after victory at the LPGA’s season-ending CME Tour Championship last November. Now, 89 days later, she returns to tournament golf at the Saudi Ladies International tomorrow.
Even though Ko hasn’t swung a club competitively since reclaiming top spot, the 25-year-old still added another 12 weeks to her career tally at No 1, taking her to third on the all-time list at a total of 116 weeks. She would need to retain the spot for most of the year to pass Lorena Ochoa’s record tally of 158 weeks.
Asked about the pressure of being world No 1, Ko said being so early in the season she doesn’t feel like the best.
“I’m trying to not really think of it. Like I’m out there hitting balls and I don’t feel like the world number one,” Ko said.
“Obviously, I had a great season last year, and it really couldn’t have been any more and better than I could have ever asked for. I won early in my season, and then played really consistently, especially from the middle of the season to the end.
“You wish that it could be like that all the time, but all I can do is just be - just trust my process and just not get too irritated about things that may not go so well at the start because it is a long season, and I can still keep working on the things that I need to get done and not get too frustrated and just kind of commit to it.
“I think the important thing is it’s a fresh new start. I can’t compare myself to last year or the seasons in the past, just try and have a good year and focus on what’s in front of me now.”
Ko won the Saudi event in 2021, beating the then-promising 18-year-old Atthaya Thitikul, who held the No 1 spot last year and now sits at fourth.
Saudi Arabia is a controversial topic, with claims of sportswashing whenever the nation hosts a sporting event. Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund is also the funding source of LIV Golf, while putting a US$5 million ($7.9m) purse on the line for this women’s event, equal to the men’s tournament, with the winner getting US$750,000 ($1.185m).
Ko said she’s in Saudia Arabia in part to help grow the game for women and girls in the country.
“When I came in 2021 they told me that they had a lot of growth in junior golf, and especially in junior girls’ golf here in Saudi Arabia, from when they first had the event in 2020, so there was a lot of growth even when I came. And when I came, I met a few of the junior girls out here, so it was really good to see the future generations and them getting a lot of inspiration by us just playing out here.
“Unfortunately I wasn’t here last year, but with so many of the top names and so many great female golfers coming out, I think this is a great step forward from where it was at the start. So it’s really cool to be a part of that, and hopefully a lot of the junior golfers will be able to come out this week and watch us, and... just dream that in maybe five, 10 years’ time that they too can be out here playing at this golf course at this event. I think that’s what we’re all here for.
“Yes, we’re trying to compete against the world’s best, but we’re trying to grow the game wherever we go, and it’s really cool to be a part of that.”
Ko’s 12-week break from the LPGA was one of her longest since she turned pro in 2013, as she took time out to get married and enjoy her honeymoon back home in New Zealand.
“This time in the off-season before I started doing proper practice for the ‘23 season was probably the longest time I was away... I would play some golf on my honeymoon or just play some golf here and there, but it wasn’t fully practising, so this was probably the longest from that standpoint.
“It’s nice when you take some time away [if] you’re able to and when you come back you’re more excited, more eager to work on things. But at the same time you realise you lose some of the feel really quick as well.
“For me it was great that I got to play some golf on my honeymoon, and the transition to come back when I was practising made it a little bit easier, whereas if I hadn’t played for like two months, I think it would have been a much longer time for me to get used to my own routine and get all my feels.
