Lydia Ko fires caddie #9

[RandallT]

18 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

This thing bears a striking resemblance to an old guilty pleasure movie, The Cutting Edge.  D.B. Sweeney as the latest caddie, Moira as Lydia.

"You people are all excuses.  Gotta find that "go-to" guy, huh?  You shoulda started with a go-to girl!"

 

I was thinking more Spinal Tap drummers

 

[boogielicious]

6 minutes ago, RandallT said:

I was thinking more Spinal Tap drummers

 

Which is why Mick Fleetwood showed up at his audition in this! Maybe Lydia's caddies should wear flak jackets.

[Vinsk]

19 hours ago, DeadMan said:

It makes sense that her parents would be helping her so much,

"Prepare your child for the road, not the road for your child."

[iacas]

7 hours ago, iSank said:

There was a few rain/ lightning delays last week at the Lotte and that's a lot of time hanging out at Roy's waiting. Plenty of time to get on someone's nerve.

He was fired before the Lotte.

[DeadMan]

1 hour ago, Vinsk said:

"Prepare your child for the road, not the road for your child."

It seems like you missed the point of my post. Which was, that at 17, there was no way she was ready to handle being an LPGA pro on her own.

[Vinsk]

1 hour ago, DeadMan said:

It seems like you missed the point of my post. Which was, that at 17, there was no way she was ready to handle being an LPGA pro on her own.

No I get your point and I agree. However it appears her parents are overbearing outside the golf as well. And as a 17yo (then) her parents should allow her caddie and her coach to help her with the golf aspect. Her parents are not golf professionals and need to back off.

[GolfLug]

I will play the devil's advocate and say that a teenager with millions of dollars at stake, I don't blame the parents as far as general involvement including caddie management.There is no way Ko is unique in the level of involvement from parents. Not trying to stereotype but part of it is or could be cultural. Not terribly wrong.

IMO, the issue may not be that they are too involved but that they (this time, the entire camp Ko) seem to have a weird methodology of caddie management. What the hell is it that they are looking for in a caddie that they just can't seem to settle in with one?? Some of them (including Fluff Cowan) are very successful in their own right.

  

 

Edited April 20, 2017 by GolfLug

[iSank]

2 hours ago, iacas said:

He was fired before the Lotte.

Doh! My bad, well then she had plenty of time to reflect on it.

[Chris223]

On 4/19/2017 at 4:19 PM, GolfLug said:

 

Do LPGA caddies generally get 10% of player's winnings as I have heard is norm on PGA?

 

 

10% is usually only for a win.  Otherwise it's typically 7% or less of winnings.  That from what I understand is "normal" on tour.  But I'm sure it depends on the player and stuff.  

Edited April 21, 2017 by Chris223

[Jack Watson]

Some people are picky.

[Pretzel]

11 minutes ago, Jack Watson said:

Some people are picky.

Yeah, but at a certain point it gets to be absurd. There's the saying about if you go through life seeing everyone else as an ass...

While whatever Lydia Ko is doing is working pretty well, I think she probably needs to settle down with all the firing and hiring of caddies. If it was a couple of caddies I could see that maybe they just didn't click together, but it seems pretty clear by this point that Lydia is impossible to get along with.

[Jack Watson]

1 minute ago, Pretzel said:

Yeah, but at a certain point it gets to be absurd. There's the saying about if you go through life seeing everyone else as an ass...

While whatever Lydia Ko is doing is working pretty well, I think she probably needs to settle down with all the firing and hiring of caddies. If it was a couple of caddies I could see that maybe they just didn't click together, but it seems pretty clear by this point that Lydia is impossible to get along with.

Maybe part of her success is blaming failure on things external to herself.  I don't know the situation but it could be that or it could be she has not found a good chemistry.  It could be upbringing/parents.  None of us can say.

For her level of income it would seem wise not to proceed with a person if the confidence was not there.

Maybe she's a brat.  I don't know.  I know that I am the most easygoing guy in the world but if I was playing pro golf and hiring random caddies I would be damn picky and if I thought the caddy wasn't helping I'd dump him her.

Chemistry is key.  Without it confidence suffers.  If confidence suffers good luck effectively playing golf at any capacity.

Even if you suck you will play better when you have confidence.  

Id rather confidently miss big than let lack of confidence in my shot selection process result in a tentative half effort.

Maybe Lydia just has a unique personality that makes it difficult to find a match.

Bottom line she's not on tour to employ caddies she's on tour to get richer.

[Pretzel]

1 hour ago, Jack Watson said:

Bottom line she's not on tour to employ caddies she's on tour to get richer.

That's true, but after a point there will no longer be anyone to carry the bag for her. That will definitely hinder the making money part.

If she can't get along with caddies, that also would hinder the money making. It seems as though she's had no chemistry with the 9 previous caddies, and I'm of the opinion that the problem most likely lies with her if she couldn't get along with 9 different caddies in 3 years or so. 

[gatsby47]

As stated earlier, I doubt that there will ever be a point that there is no one to carry her bag.  Hell, she may just start re cycling them.  But there will always be a hopeful ready to be the next one.

[Golfingdad]

20 minutes ago, gatsby47 said:

As stated earlier, I doubt that there will ever be a point that there is no one to carry her bag.  Hell, she may just start re cycling them.  But there will always be a hopeful ready to be the next one.

Yeah, it'd be like managing the Yankees in the 70s or 80s. ;)

[Hategolf]

Michelle Wie's parents follow her around even during the pro am at the Kia...it was kind of annoying to watch..is the parents deep envolvement a Cultural thing? 

If one of the young LPGA players was my kid, I would let mom  be close and I'd go watch final rounds and such..

[boogielicious]

4 hours ago, Golfingdad said:

Yeah, it'd be like managing the Yankees in the 70s or 80s. ;)

Or just be Billy Martin.

 

4 hours ago, Hategolf said:

Michelle Wie's parents follow her around even during the pro am at the Kia...it was kind of annoying to watch..is the parents deep envolvement a Cultural thing? 

If one of the young LPGA players was my kid, I would let mom  be close and I'd go watch final rounds and such..

I don't know if it's cultural. But if my son was on the PGA Tour and I didn't have to work, I'd follow him. I coached every soccer game he played until High School and went to those as a spectator. I watched or coached every baseball, basketball game.

It also may be a matter of trust. Child prodigy phenoms like Wie, Ko, Woods etc., must attract agents, coaches and managers like french fries attract seagulls at the beach. They see all these people descend on their kid making promises or declaring they are the best for their kid. At some point, as a parent, you would get very protective. I don't blame them at all.

As for caddies, it is a working relationship. We've all had to work closely with people that didn't fit our style. And she is young and maturing. Attitudes change rapidly at that age (remember?). 

I hope she settles on someone. But I also an guessing the level of caddy talent in the LPGA is below that of the PGA due to the money. There are not as many Fluff's or Bones to chose from.

[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.