Lydia Ko admits to mental cracks as she plummets down the world golf rankings

Confused in Canada - Lydia Ko grimaces on her way to missing the cut in Ottawa last month. Photo / Photosport

Lydia Ko has admitted to the odd mental crack as she struggles with her form and hurtles down the LPGA rankings.

Aucklander Ko is one of the headline acts at this week's inaugural Indy Women in Tech tournament, as the LPGA tour returns to Indianapolis for the first time in 12 years.

But it is 14 months since her last tour win, she has missed two of the last three cuts and has gone seven tournaments without making the top 10.

Ko was the world number one for a mammoth 85 weeks - the second best run since stats have been kept - until June 11, when her ranking went into free fall. She is now ranked eighth with a couple of months remaining on the 2017 tour.

"The biggest thing for me is I'm fortunate to have a very positive team and family around me," Ko said in Indiana.

"But it would be a lie to say I've been positive all the way. There have been times when I've said 'man I don't know why I'm not playing as well'. It's a big learning curve.

"It's not always going to be a high. Fortunately for me over the past few years I've had so many highs...I've never really stumbled upon a rock.

"The biggest key is I've had great people like my parents and my sister there who said 'hey it's okay, we'll work on it in the off week, move on'.

"In the game of golf you can miss three cuts in a row and win the next week.

"Sometimes you can't look at what's happening right now...it's gradual work that helps you a little bit further down your career or the season."

Ko said she still found the game fun, because of the challenges it presented and the global nature of the tour which introduced the players to different cultures.

She wouldn't nominate one part of her game which needed working on more than any other, saying the problem was her inability to put all the pieces together at once.

An example was her most recent tournament, the Canadian Open a fortnight ago, where she hit the ball well but struggled on the greens and missed the cut.

World number three Lexi Thompson, recent tournament winner Stacy Lewis and Anna Nordqvist - returning after a break - are leading names in the 54-hole tournament at the Brickyard Crossing course this week.

Ko said the focus on her at the first ever LPGA event in New Zealand late this month would be a little "nerve racking". She was hoping the NZ Open at Windross Farm south of Auckland would inspire a new generation of young Kiwi golfers to aim for the top.

The Auckland tournament would help make this the most enjoyable stretch of the year for Ko, who will return to the scene of her first major triumph - the Evian Championship in France - next week.

"It (the Evian) will always be special whether I play well or not...then to go back to NZ and see some of my friends, play the national open now an LPGA event...hopefully a lot of people will watching," she said.

"It's a great step forward for golf in New Zealand."