Editorial: Lydia Ko's slump not of family

Lydia Ko is the product of her environment. Photo / AP

Editorial

EDITORIAL:

What's happened to Lydia Ko? For a long time the world's best female golfer, the 22-year-old has been in a slump over the past 18 months.

That decline appeared to reach its nadir last week at the British Open, one of the five majors for women players.

Ko shot rounds of 76 and 80, to miss the cut by 10 strokes, which represented her worst performance as a professional. A week earlier she was also out of contention early at another major, falling outside the cut line after struggling across two erratic days.

Given Ko's achievements, which include 15 tournament victories and 109 weeks as the No1 ranked player on the planet, her struggles have come as a shock to many.

But so has our reaction, which has seemingly evoked some stereotypes about Asian culture and parenting.

Former coach David Leadbetter said Ko's overbearing parents were the main factor in her slide.

His comments found favour with many critics and commentators here, who reasoned that Ko had to become much more independent to rediscover her best form.

We used to marvel at Ko's achievements, her work ethic, and her well rounded personality, as she became one of our greatest sportspeople.

Now she is struggling, and it's apparently all the fault of her supposedly demanding, obsessive Korean parents.

Korean culture has family at the core. It's common for parents to live in the same space as their married children, rather than across town in a retirement village. It's built on reciprocity and sacrifice.

Ko is the product of her environment, and asking her to step away from her parents is like expecting Kiwis to stop obsessing about rugby.

Along with foundation coach Guy Wilson, her parents have also been her greatest influence; she's achieved her amazing success because of her parents' dedication, guidance and support, not despite them.

Gil Hong and Tina Hyon should be put on a pedestal, rather than castigated.