Golf: Top Kiwi amateur Ko faces her first major test

Lydia Ko. Photo / NZPA

Lydia Ko faces her toughest golfing test at the US Open this week - but coach Guy Wilson believes she is fully prepared for her first major tournament as an amateur.

The world number one will be teeing off at the notoriously tough Blackwolf Run Golf Club in Wisconsin on Thursday, becoming only the third Kiwi to play the competition.

"Lydia's main strength is her driving," said Wilson, confident Ko's long game can withstand the 6359m course after practice on the black tees at her home course in Gulf Harbour.

"Her accuracy is as good as any on the tour and she will hit most fairways.

"But the challenge lies in the distance from the hole.

"The key is to establish the length from her second shot onto the green and work from there. She is becoming accustomed to the black tees, breaking par once, and has been using 3 woods onto the green. There is a reliance on her short game to get up and down from 30 yards just to save pars."

The adopted New Zealander will be competing against worldNo1 Yani Tseng and Michelle Wie but Wilson insists Ko, having worked so hard at Gulf Harbour, is unfazed by her playing partners and only concerned by the course.

"The problem lies in heading into unknown territory," Wilson said. "We are unsure of the course difficulty until we arrive and whether Lydia's length will compare to the holes and set-up. On both the long and short holes, she is still hitting long irons and hybrids as second shots."

During the men's US Open at The Olympic Club, most players negotiated their way round by hitting irons off the tee to ensure they hit the fairways, despite having a longer shot onto the green.

"If Lydia misses the fairway she will be looking at a bogey minimum," said Wilson, confident Ko's six-week intensive training programme will pay dividends. "Given the winner last time shot six-over, there is little room for error."

The tournament will be played on the Original Championship Course, incorporating holes 10-18 of the Meadow Valleys Course and holes 1-4 and 14-18 of the River Course.

"There will be a lot of fescue around the course," Wilson said.

"There are many tough lies just off the green so we have intensified this area of practice.

"But the grass is different to New Zealand, meaning the only option is trying to facilitate the practice in as similar an environment as possible until you arrive on tournament week."

The 15-year-old arrived in Wisconsin last Tuesday and will play the course in the four days before her major debut.

"Lydia is like a robot in that she just needs to walk the course to understand the holes and greens," said Wilson. "The key will be determining which holes she can take advantage of and which ones to err on the side of caution.

"If she cannot make the hole in two then we will assess where best to leave the ball to get up and down.

"It will be a case of taking calculated risks and playing percentage golf."