Golf: Lydia Ko sends caddie up tree

Radio Sport

30 Apr, 2015 09:22 PM2 mins to read

Lydia Ko had a rare bad day today. Photo / AP

Lydia Ko's rich run of form has come to an abrupt halt in the first round of the LPGA Tour's North Texas Open.

The world number one, who has never missed the cut since turning pro, has carded a four over par 75 which included a triple bogey on the 14th, a double bogey on the 15th and a bogey on the 16th.

At one point Ko sent her Aussie caddie Jason Hamilton up a tree to fetch a ball.

Ko is tied for 98th, eight shots off the pace.

It's bad timing for an off day on the course after the 18-year-old revealed yesterday that all her winnings from the tournament will go to the relief effort in quake-hit Nepal.

Ko would need to make the cut to earn any money from the tournament.

Lydia Ko takes a drop on the first hole, in soggy grass, during first round play in the LPGA Tour's North Texas Shootout. Photo / AP

Ko said the disaster had impacted on her. "We had a big one in New Zealand, too, a couple years ago [in Christchurch], and it affected a lot of people," she said.

"Natural disasters you can't do much about. Sometimes it's hard to be prepared for it, so I thought, those people there, nice people and very innocent, I wanted to give this tournament's earnings and donate it to them."

The total purse this week is $1.7 million, with the winner to receive $A255,000. Ko, who claimed her seventh professional title at last week's Swinging Skirts LPGA Classic, has won $1.19 million on the LPGA Tour this year.