Lydia Ko. Photo / Getty
Lydia Ko has opened up on her recent battle with Covid-19 as she prepares to chase a third major golf championship title this week in California.
The Kiwi world No 3 has returned to Rancho Mirage at Mission Hills for the Chevron Championship (formerly the ANA Inspiration), the scene of her second major in 2016.
For Ko, who holds the joint course record of 10-under 62 set in the final round when finishing runner-up to Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit last year, there's reason to be confident despite the Covid setback that saw her miss tournaments earlier this month in Thailand and Saudi Arabia, where she was the defending champion.
Ko has been in good form in her four tournaments this year. She finished tied for 10th in her opening event in Kona before winning the Gainsbridge LPGA in February. She then finished tied for 23rd in Singapore before contracting Covid and is coming off a tie for 12th at Aviara on Monday.
"My ball-striking was pretty solid over the first two days at Aviara, and then I was struggling a little bit on the weekend, but kind of salvaged my way around on [Monday]," Ko said.
"But I feel like at the start of the year I wasn't really sure where my game was at because I didn't really have a lot of time to prepare. The first two weeks having top 10 at Kona and then winning at Gainbridge at the end of January was kind of a surprise and a bit of a bonus. I then had quite a bit of a break before Asia. That trip kind of got cut short unfortunately."
She tested positive for Covid while preparing to leave Singapore after the Championship for Thailand.
"I had a little bit of breathing issues and I felt like I had never seen the gym before. I was walking 30 minutes and my mask was completely drenched. It was really weird. I normally run and try and stay on top of my workouts, and I felt like I had not done any of that, which was weird. So just doing my laundry and totally out of breath, which is not what should happen normally.
"I hadn't had Covid before - not that I know of - so I didn't know like how it would affect me. I think I got off pretty mildly. I just felt like physically I needed time to kind of slowly get back into [it], get ready for the swing of events."
The former world No 1 feels 100 percent now and is ready for an assault on a tournament that holds special memories. But the event is being played at Mission Hills for the final time before new sponsors Chevron move it to Texas next year.
"There is so much history here. This is kind of the end of the first part of the West Coast swing for us and it's never a bad place to be, so just great memories on the golf course. Got to know some of the members around here as well."
But the Kiwi feels she's hitting the ball well enough to contend every time she plays and would hope to be in the mix in the final round.
"At any event I think a top 10 would be nice, especially this one being the first major of the year. I think the more times you put yourself in contention, especially at these big events, you're able to feed off that and feel like you keep doing it and doing it, and then that door will open and that time will come. So, yeah, top 10 would be great."
Ko says her major work-on has been making sure her ball-striking is more consistent heading into the tournament.
"I know that my confidence rides a lot alongside that. My driving accuracy and fairways and then greens in regulation were both aspects that I wanted to take as big goals going into this year. And just making sure that I'm not getting technical and just being free and aggressive when I'm out there playing."
Ko feels her game is a lot different to when she won her second major as a teenager in 2016.
"I think my game like last year was very different to when I won here. I'm hitting it a lot longer off the tee last couple years than when I played and won in 2016, and the course has changed, too. I think in the last couple years they brought the fairways in, grown the rough a lot more, so I think the course and just how I play is a little bit different.
"It's so important to be on the fairways here, because the greens are pretty firm as well and the rough are quite juicy. So, to be on the fairways is going to be a huge advantage, and I'm sure that the days that I played well I did that well, and then was able to putt and take advantage of the times that I put myself in good position."
Ko has a late start in the opening round on Friday at 9.27am from the 10th hole and is paired with Canadian Brooke Henderson for the opening two rounds.
'Madly in love'
Ko's swing coach Sean Foley revealed a major focus was on her driving accuracy which is still a work in progress.
"When Lydia went through that stretch where she didn't play well for a long time, the driver got pretty sideways," Foley told the Herald.
So is he happy with where she's at off the tee?
"Probably not - I don't think either of us are. Lydia had this completely natural swing, she worked well with Guy [Wilson], they did an unbelievable job with her. But she kind of swung the same way. And then when she switched, she started to swing a different way. And the problem is these are not habits.
"They're neurons, right? So it's all in the brain. And it's how the brain fires the information through the body through the nervous system into the muscles. So we are still working out some of the kinks. I've seen some stuff where I liked some things she does now in her swing more so than she did when she was an amateur. I still feel like at this point in our process we're still flushing out some of those habits."
Foley also revealed Ko is in a great space off the course.
"She is madly in love. Her boyfriend is a lovely kid, he's like a world-class guy, I couldn't be happier for her. So she's not 17 anymore. Golf isn't the only thing in her life anymore. And I think that some of her great play may come from the fact that there are two things now and her identity is not solely collected to her playing golf.
"But trust me, it still matters to her, you can look at her facial expression, when she doesn't do well, she still cares a lot. And this is still very, very important to her. But as a human being, I'm just happy that this isn't the only thing for her anymore."
Alker is in contention for his 10th tour win, while Dame Lydia Ko has improved in Texas.