Lydia Ko Thread

[Phil McGleno]

53 minutes ago, Ernest Jones said:

I kid, Phil, I kid...

Okay.

[acerimusdux]

On 11/18/2016 at 10:34 PM, iacas said:

I'm just asking.

Nobody seems to be carrying the "Lydia sucks" banner.

There are some carrying the "Leadbetter sucks" banner, which is nearly as absurd. But probably more of that elsewhere (esp. GolfWRX) than here. And much of it based on the misconception that her 2014 season was somehow pre-Leadbetter, when clearly she signed up with Leadbetter before that, and had already made significant changes from 2013. I don't know how much credit Leadbetter really deserves either, but she never ranked higher than 4th before signing up with him. So I doubt he's doing too much damage.

I was also excited by her 62 round, in good part because I was there and followed her for the last 5 holes. While Lydia is good at all aspects, I would say the thing that stands out the most for me is usually the accuracy of her approach shots. Unfortunately the LPGA doesn't have really good statistics to prove or disprove this, but my sense is she is giving herself an awful lot of putts within 12 feet on approaches from 100-160 yards.

 

[boogielicious]

15 hours ago, Phil McGleno said:

I never said any such thing.-But just as you cannot generalize one performance of 62 to say something you cannot really say a bunch about the round that comes after.

We see that a lot on tour. Players go low then the next day high. Is it a let down, different conditions. It happens to the best players too. 

[RussUK]

43 minutes ago, boogielicious said:

We see that a lot on tour. Players go low then the next day high. Is it a let down, different conditions. It happens to the best players too. 

Luke Donald is a case in point. One minute he's world #1, 1st on the money list on the PGA and European tour and the next he's struggling to finish in a decent position. He is by no means a bad golfer. All golfers, pro's and the rest of us, go through bad patches and most bounce back (Good old Padraig springs to mind).

Anyway, no one is carrying a "Russ Sucks" banner. Mainly because i never let my wife come with me 

[natureboy]

On 11/20/2016 at 9:35 AM, Phil McGleno said:

I went back through, read this whole thread and did not really see a bunch of posters saying this.

Who said it was 'a bunch'? There were several who had that negative Leadbetter opinion in addition to the OP. More who had a neutral or marginally positive POV. Recent posters and I were just joining that group.

I don't have a strong opinion about Leadbetter. His 'lead poison' nickname could well have come from backbiters jealous of his prominence / success. He might indeed be a hack. I have no personal direct experience other than seeing his videos where IMO he seems credible as a golf teacher. Sure he may throw out some 'tired old saws' from time to time, but I don't consider that necessarily damming of the sum of his knowledge and experience. I think Lydia is no dope, so my perspective is she wouldn't have chosen him without some prior research and if he was verified 'poison'. The facts are that despite some normal ups and downs she had a very good season both in 2015 and 2016.

I have no issue with folks speaking to Leadbetter's reputation / rumor so long as counter-points are fair game too. I personally don't think Faldo is a good example against Leadbetter. That he lost distance with the swing changes isn't proof that Faldo's rebuilt swing hurt his game. The guy won a bunch of Majors and contended regularly after working with Leadbetter. It's possible that he would have won as many without any swing change, but clearly it didn't seem to hurt his performance relative to before. AFAIC results speak louder than rumors.

On 11/20/2016 at 9:35 AM, Phil McGleno said:

Lydia Ko is a supreme talent.

Completely agree, and smart enough to listen to anything Leadbetter might suggest with a grain of salt if need be. Just like Tiger with his swing coaches.

 

On 11/20/2016 at 3:44 PM, Ernest Jones said:

I kid, Phil, I kid...

I wonder if more of her 'slide' in performance is that after a few years as a full-time tour member it's a bit more mentally like her 'day job' vs. a grand adventure and the energy reserves may be more susceptible to draining over the course of the season, or sloppy swing faults creeping in.

I'd think another significant factor is that the LPGA continues to get more competitive year by year with players like Jutanugarn and the host of Koreans breaking in. Even Inbee wasn't winning as much as she used to.

[Phil McGleno]

3 hours ago, natureboy said:

Who said it was 'a bunch'? There were several

A bunch and several are basically the same thing for this thread.

And you do not get to say neener neener I was right when you did not join the thread until a few days ago.

3 hours ago, natureboy said:

AFAIC results speak louder than rumors.

His nickname is not a rumor.

Lydia will be fine.

[iacas]

How about we rename this thread to something a bit less contentious?

[natureboy]

On 11/7/2016 at 7:10 PM, newtogolf said:

Last I heard Leadbetter was trying to get her to drink more of the A-Swing Kool Aid.  

She says she uses 'parts' of it for her own swing. I expect those common elements are more along the lines like having a backswing followed by a downswing than the 'butterfly' grip. In other words, I'd expect she says it primarily for marketing purposes and gets a spokesperson fee or a cut.

Edited November 22, 2016 by natureboy

[Valleygolfer]

According to the golf channel LK is leaving Calloway and going to PxG. Her reason, PxG gave her a sweeter deal.

I'm starting to wonder if PxG is the kiss of death though... Seems like the winners that start using the clubs, quit winning. I know Ryan Moore won but he wasn't consistently winning prior.

[newtogolf]

27 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

According to the golf channel LK is leaving Calloway and going to PxG. Her reason, PxG gave her a sweeter deal.

I'm starting to wonder if PxG is the kiss of death though... Seems like the winners that start using the clubs, quit winning. I know Ryan Moore won but he wasn't consistently winning prior.

Horschel made it to the playoffs last week and Moore did pretty well prior to Ryder Cup and at Ryder Cup.  I wouldn't consider Hahn, Horschel, Howell, Zach Johnson, Ryan Moore and Schwartzel to be the best of the tour so I'm not sure you can blame PXG for their performance any more than you can credit them when they win.  Every golfer takes some time to adjust when they switch manufacturers, remember when Rory went from Titleist to Nike?  

Ko is a big win for PXG, where she joins, Kerr, Lee, Piller and Recari.  

[Groucho Valentine]

PXG irons are ok. I swung an a couple of irons from their players set and it performed just as well as any other club I've hit. Ive never hit their other offerings, though. 

Im only casually interested in women's pro golf, but it there seems to be a pattern among the Asian LPGA players to me. Many of them come out like gangbusters and then it seems like they burn themselves out just as quickly and fade away from championship level play.  Maybe Ko is going through that kind of burnout. It seems like since the olympics she's lost her game.  Se Ri Pak is the only one i can recall thats had a long career arc. 

[Valleygolfer]

1 minute ago, Groucho Valentine said:

PXG irons are ok. I swung an a couple of irons from their players set and it performed just as well as any other club I've hit. Ive never hit their other offerings, though. 

Im only casually interested in women's pro golf, but it there seems to be a pattern among the Asian LPGA players to me. Many of them come out like gangbusters and then it seems like they burn themselves out just as quickly and fade away from championship level play.  Maybe Ko is going through that kind of burnout. It seems like since the olympics she's lost her game.  Se Ri Pak is the only one i can recall thats had a long career arc. 

Ko wasn't isn't from Korea. The norm in Korea for the girls in golf, according to a story from the golf channel is that these girls at a young age like 9, practice golf 7-8 hours every day of the week. Can't really blame the burnout on them.

Ko has stated in her interviews that she wants to retire by 30 and this would seem like this career isn't the most important in her life. She appears complacent in tournaments and although a incredible talent, seems to lack motivation or that killer instinct lately. Maybe this is just the way she has always been, I have only watched casually.

[Groucho Valentine]

2 minutes ago, Valleygolfer said:

Ko wasn't isn't from Korea. The norm in Korea for the girls in golf, according to a story from the golf channel is that these girls at a young age like 9, practice golf 7-8 hours every day of the week. Can't really blame the burnout on them.

Ko has stated in her interviews that she wants to retire by 30 and this would seem like this career isn't the most important in her life. She appears complacent in tournaments and although a incredible talent, seems to lack motivation or that killer instinct lately. Maybe this is just the way she has always been, I have only watched casually.

I saw in a bio once she was born in Seoul, so i assumed she was from there. If Ko does view golf as a hobby rather than a profession, then i agree the motivation to be great will not be there. A player have all the talent in the world, but if  they don't have that competitive drive, its always going to produce mediocre results. 

[iacas]

2 hours ago, newtogolf said:

Ko is a big win for PXG, where she joins, Kerr, Lee, Piller and Recari.  

Well, as big as it can be considering they're all LPGA.

1 hour ago, Groucho Valentine said:

Im only casually interested in women's pro golf, but it there seems to be a pattern among the Asian LPGA players to me. Many of them come out like gangbusters and then it seems like they burn themselves out just as quickly and fade away from championship level play.  Maybe Ko is going through that kind of burnout. It seems like since the olympics she's lost her game.  Se Ri Pak is the only one i can recall thats had a long career arc. 

She considers herself to be from New Zealand. She left Korea as an infant.

And represented New Zealand in the Olympics, of course.

[newtogolf]

6 minutes ago, iacas said:

Well, as big as it can be considering they're all LPGA.

Agreed, but she ranks much higher in the LPGA than the men they have under contract do on the PGA Tour.  

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

Agreed, but she ranks much higher in the LPGA than the men they have under contract do on the PGA Tour.  

Obviously.  But is the top ranked female player not named Lexi, Michelle… and a few others really worth more than the 70th ranked male? 100th? 120th? How low can you go?

[Valleygolfer]

1 hour ago, Groucho Valentine said:

I saw in a bio once she was born in Seoul, so i assumed she was from there.

She was born there but grew up in New Zealand. Not the same military golf training there but maybe from the same mindset with her parents?

[RussUK]

27 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

Agreed, but she ranks much higher in the LPGA than the men they have under contract do on the PGA Tour.  

Doesnt Zach Johnson play PXG irons. Sure he's "only" 35th but double major champ (although he won them with Titleist if im correct?)