Golf: Lydia Ko set to announce caddie, new equipment deal worth $14.5m

Lydia Ko. Photo / Getty

World number one golfer Lydia Ko has reportedly signed a new equipment deal worth more than NZ$14m.

The 19-year-old announced on the Golf Channel that she is changing to PXG after previously using Callaway clubs. According to golf reporter Geoff Shackelford, the deal is worth US$10m over five years. That's more than her career earnings which currently stands at US$7.4m and doesn't include the CME Race to the Globe million-dollar bonus which she has won twice.

According to the Golf Channel Ko will also announced a full-time caddie today.

Golf Channel's Randall Mell reports that Gary Matthews will be named as Ko's full-time caddie after taking the job on a part-time basis at the end of last year. Matthews, a South African, has previously worked with the likes of Sergio Garcia, Anthony Kim and Camillo Villegas. Ko split with former caddie Jason Hamilton in October.

Matthews will be alongside Ko for her first tournament of the season in Febuary at the Australian Open where she will be playing with new clubs for the first time.

Ko is yet to decide on a new coach after parting ways with David Leadbetter in December.

"I can't really say any coach's names yet," Ko told GolfChannel.com. "Because I haven't tried out anyone yet. I just got back to Orlando last night, and I'm going to see what my options are. I'll definitely have a coach before going to Australia."

Ko re-iterrated that the decision to ditch Leadbetter as coach was her call and not influenced by her parents.

"My parents have been with me from Day 1, and, yes, they give me input, but if I didn't want to make this switch, I wouldn't have done it," Ko said. "The final decision was mine. It's why I reached out to David, not my parents. I thought this was going to be the right decision going forward. It's my decision, and I have to own it."

Ko has spent her break from the game in South Korea, visiting her grandparents, before heading to Paris for a Evian promotional shoot.