Lydia Ko prepares for the scorching heat and smokey conditions leading into the ANA Inspiration. Video / ANA / LPGA
Heat may be Lydia Ko's toughest opponent at this weekend's ANA Inspiration at Mission Hills Country Club, as she looks to break her LPGA Tour win drought.
The second of the women's five golf majors, held near Palm Springs in California, usually takes place in April, but the Covid-19 pandemichas seen the event pushed back to this Friday. It is a time of year where heat waves ravage the state, and recent highs suggest that will continue.
Temperatures in the area have been in the mid to high 30s recently, and are set to crack 40 degrees Celsius this weekend.
"It's very hot. It's hot that you touch the door handle of your car and it's kind of on the slight sizzling point," Ko says. "You definitely need to stay hydrated."
Ko won the tournament back in 2016 and has managed four other top-29 finishes there. But she will be facing a course that will be baked in the scorching summer, rather than bathed in the soothing spring.
"The course is definitely different being at this time of the year, the grass is different to what we normally play," she says. "With the grass being Bermuda there's not as much run as I've seen in the past years.
"Just keeping it on the fairways is going to be key."
It's set to be a scorcher in Palm Springs this weekend, where the ANA Inspiration is being held. Photo / Getty
But as Ko describes, the heat does have its benefits.
"The LPGA's been super generous allowing the caddies to use the golf carts during tournament days and both players and caddies to use it in practice rounds, especially when it's super hot. Being healthy is the number one thing."
Add preparation to the list of differences Ko and her opponents have to endure. Typically Ko would compete at the Kia Classic which precedes the ANA Inspiration on a normal calendar. However the Classic was cancelled for 2020, leaving the Kiwi with a two-week gap in between events.
"[Normally] I'm coming in with some sort of momentum," she adds.
Ko travels to a location where she won her second of two majors four years ago, at a time where she was hanging around the top of the women's golfing world at 18 years old. Since, it has been a bumpy ride.
That was Ko's 12th LPGA win, since she has claimed just three, but she has been in contention in every tournament since joining up with swing coach Sean Foley, and the Tour's resumption in late July, with five finishes of 28th or better.
The form that made her one of the best in the world while still a teenager is coming back.
Kiwi golfer Lydia Ko will be competing at this weekend's ANA Inspiration in the hot California desert. Photo / Getty
Her win drought, which is coming up two and a half years, looks close to ending though. Ko was in the box seat to win the Marathon Classic before a late collapse dropped her to a tie for second, and she would have been well inside the top 10 at the Scottish Open had it not been for a three-over final round.
"It's really a combination of things. I think Sean and I have worked to a place where I'm thinking less when I'm out there, I'm hitting it aggressively," she says talking about her improved form.
"The more aggressively I've hit it without trying to control where the ball is going, I think the better I've been hitting it. The more competitive rounds I get to play, the more comfortable I am of going out there and not worrying about it."
Meanwhile, Danny Lee has made the field for next week's US Open. Lee earned the final qualification spot and will join Ryan Fox as New Zealand's representatives at Winged Foot.
