Lydia Ko Thread

[Hacker James]

just glossed over the Leadbetter article. Looks like he took no time at all taking the credit for her accomplishments. Perhaps rightly so, perhaps not. Who am I to judge?  In any event, I am sure we will hear of future accomplishments from this gifted player.

[iacas]

So… a winless year, her first since the age of 15, on the LPGA Tour this year for Lydia Ko.

I wonder if she's still content to have made the choices she's made over the last year or two… ?

[JonMA1]

That's a shame... so much talent. I hope she makes the change.

[Jack Watson]

Leadbetter sucks.

What he did with Faldo sucked too. 

I haven't seen a lot of Lydias move but one I saw recently she was so stuck!

I bet if Spieth went full Leadbetter he'd be off the tour in less than two years.

YOU NEVER NEVER GO FULL LEADBETTER

[Jack Watson]

Lydia in 2013 had higher hands not deeper.  More space at setup and more space throughout.  

Lead just wrecked her.  (Just from looking at two swings)

[Mr. Desmond]

I believe she kicked Ledbetter out late last year or early this year, and went to a new swing coach, new caddies, and new equipment - so many changes = 0 wins. She began to play better, I believe. late this year.

 

Early 2017 - She had since parted ways with coach David Leadbetter, hiring South African Gary Gilchrist and replaced her long-time caddie Jason Hamilton with another South African, Gary Matthews. The LPGA's top-ranked player, Ko has also changed her clubs. The changes followed the first minor slump in Ko's career.Feb 12, 2017

Edited November 21, 2017 by Mr. Desmond

[iacas]

I'm posting this in both topics, which I normally wouldn't do, but she fired both her caddie and her coach, so they kinda belong in both. If one takes off more than the other, that's cool.

http://golfweek.com/2018/02/12/lydia-ko-begins-2018-with-new-instructor-caddie/

Quote

Lydia Ko begins 2018 the same way she started last season – trying something new. The 14-time LPGA winner switched things up in the offseason, working with former playing professional Ted Oh in Phoenix, Ariz. The 20-year-old also has a new caddie on the bag at this week’s ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open in veteran looper Jonny Scott, who most recently worked for Karrie Webb. This will be their first week together.

New year, new coach, new caddie.

BTW, it's not like she had a BAD 2017. Her scoring average was still sub-70:
2017 - 69.864 (9th)
2016 - 69.596 (2nd)
2015 - 69.441 (2nd)
2014 - 70.079 (4th)

So, there's a bit of "everyone else is getting a little better" too, at least in 2017.

[Mr. Desmond]

Off topic, but gosh, I hope she doesn't get married soon - "Now on the tee, Husband #9!"

I've heard her comment that she wants to game to be fun -- I am thinking that if she does not do so, her team should make new candidates take a psychological profile test, go on several lunches and dinners to begin the relationship, and conduct extensive background checks. Change is good but when is it "you" and not the people you are terminating.

Edited February 15, 2018 by Mr. Desmond

[iacas]

http://www.golfchannel.com/article/golf-central-blog/kos-struggles-continue-founders-mc/

Ko came to Phoenix ranked 112th in driving distance, 121st in driving accuracy and 83rd in greens in regulation. She was sixth in putting average.

Cristie Kerr saw the struggle playing two rounds with Ko.

“Her game’s not in good shape,” Kerr said. “She seemed a little lost.”

[Yukari]

Good grief!  What happened to Lydia Ko?  Her game is way off since she went with David Leadbetter.

She needs to go back to her old swing coach.

[iacas]

4 minutes ago, Yukari said:

Good grief!  What happened to Lydia Ko?  Her game is way off since she went with David Leadbetter.

She needs to go back to her old swing coach.

It can be tough to keep up as often as she's firing people (caddies, coaches), but let me help you:

• https://www.golfdigest.com/story/after-split-with-lydia-ko-david-leadbetter-cautions-her-about-meddlesome-parents - December 2016 - Ko splits with Leadbetter
• https://www.golfdigest.com/story/another-year-another-new-swing-instructor-and-caddie-for-lydia-ko - February 2018 - Her new instructor is Ted Oh. Oh replaces Gary Gilchrist, who came after Leadbetter.

Like I said, it can be tough to keep up… but Leadbetter hasn't been her instructor for almost 18 months now.

[Yukari]

Ah.  Thanks for the update.  Man, sounds like she is a ship without a rudder.  So many changes.

[dennyjones]

I hope her game comes around.  

[Groucho Valentine]

It seems to me in general, most LPGA players don't have sustained runs of success. There are exceptions, of course, buIt seems like they dramatically flame out after 3 or 4 seasons. Could Ko's drop off just be considered the normal trend? 

[3jacker]

Yep, chicks are crazy.

[boogielicious]

20 hours ago, iacas said:

It can be tough to keep up as often as she's firing people (caddies, coaches), but let me help you:

• https://www.golfdigest.com/story/after-split-with-lydia-ko-david-leadbetter-cautions-her-about-meddlesome-parents - December 2016 - Ko splits with Leadbetter
• https://www.golfdigest.com/story/another-year-another-new-swing-instructor-and-caddie-for-lydia-ko - February 2018 - Her new instructor is Ted Oh. Oh replaces Gary Gilchrist, who came after Leadbetter.

Like I said, it can be tough to keep up… but Leadbetter hasn't been her instructor for almost 18 months now.

She reminds me of Murphy Brown firing her secretaries every week. 

[iSank]

Didn’t think I’d be posting on this thread but we spent today at one of our favorite courses Koolina at The Lotte. When Ms Ko came by my wife said “is that Ko? She is skin and bones” then I saw her and wow she is thin, not just small. Now I got to find a foto of her next to either of the Jutanagarn sisters. 

So she does pretty good for such a physical lite weight. 

We watched the last 6 groups off the green on #1, then moved to #5 & caught the last 5, then went over and sat between the 17th green and 16th tee and could watch the tee off on #18. Where we we saw from group 13 on to the last group where BH was up by 4 so we came home after they finished 17.

Aloha,

iSank

[jbishop15]

On 4/13/2018 at 3:21 PM, Groucho Valentine said:

It seems to me in general, most LPGA players don't have sustained runs of success. There are exceptions, of course, buIt seems like they dramatically flame out after 3 or 4 seasons. Could Ko's drop off just be considered the normal trend? 

What male golfers have a long period of sustained success, outside of maybe 3-5 years? Tiger, Phil, Ernie, Vijay, Rory, Spieth, etc. Most players have their run and then fade away pretty quickly. I don't think it's an LPGA thing.