LPGA Tournament of Champions: Dame Lydia Ko bounces back to card bogey-free 67 and sit seventh

Dame Lydia Ko has given herself a chance to defend her Tournament of Champions crown. Photo / Getty Images

Dame Lydia Ko has bounced back from a disappointing first round to sit just outside the top five at the LPGA’s season-opening Tournament of Champions.

A five-under-par 67 meant Ko rose 21 places on the leaderboard into seventh at four-under, six shots back from leader A Lim Kim.

Starting the day at one-over, Ko carded five birdies and remained bogey-free to give herself a chance of defending her title heading into the weekend.

She could and perhaps should have closed the gap to Kim further, yet her usually dialled-in putting was a little wayward, spurning three makeable birdie looks on the back nine in Orlando, Florida.

The lack of bogeys will be of great satisfaction to the Olympic champion, though, as the three she scored on the back nine in round one had put her behind the chasing pack.

That chasing pack includes world No 1 Nelly Korda, who also shot five-under to leap up the leaderboard 11 places and into a tie for third with Japan’s Rio Takeda.

A top 10 finish or better at the Tournament of Champions would be a solid start to the year and early-season form was the driver for Ko’s historic 2024, but she said she now knows it is not the maker or breaker of a year in professional golf.

“Last year I won here, and then I played well the next week ... it was a good kickstart to 2024. As much as it’s small differences [between] winning and not winning, there’s a huge confidence matter that goes on.

“Even if you play well and don’t win, I think, always, the doubt creeps into my mind. But I feel like now, after the year that I had last year, coming off from one of my worst years in ′23, I have the belief that even if I don’t play well for a span of a few weeks, I don’t need to get too down on myself because I know what direction I’m going in.

“I just believe I can overcome my lulls, so I feel like I’m a much stronger player in that sense, and hopefully I do get off to a good start, but I’m not going to let that reflect on how I’m going to approach the rest of the season.”

Will Toogood is an online sports editor and golf reporter for the NZ Herald. He enjoys watching people chase a ball around on a grass surface so much he decided to make a living out of it.