Lydia Ko and her team leap into Poppie's Pond at the 18th green after her victory in the final round of the 2016 ANA Inspiration at the Mission Hills Country Club. Photo / Getty Images
Lydia Ko and her team leap into Poppie's Pond at the 18th green after her victory in the final round of the 2016 ANA Inspiration at the Mission Hills Country Club. Photo / Getty Images
The LPGA’s tradition of leaping into the greenside water after winning the opening major of the year looks set to continue - with a “leapers beware” warning that precautions have been taken to ensure alligators aren’t nearby.
New Zealand’s Lydia Ko made the winner’s jump into Poppie’s Pond when she took out the ANA Inspiration in 2016. A change of location from Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California to the new site at The Club at Carlton Woods in The Woodlands, Texas means a new pond and new challenges - including wild animals.
The tournament was moved because the new course is close to the Houston headquarters of title sponsor Chevron.
Golf journalist Amy Rogers tweeted that an area has been set up for the pond jump tradition to continue in Texas, with netting created to ensure alligators aren’t awaiting the winner.
Here’s a look at the new 18th hole at the Chevron Championship and the dock constructed should a player decide to make the celebratory jump into the water. I’m told the water has been dredged and pylons have been submerged about 50 feet out with gator netting to protect the area. pic.twitter.com/cEgBdjPhL1
Ko was asked in this morning’s press conference whether she was willing to make the jump.
“Are you meant to jump? I’ve seen people hit shots onto the green, so I wasn’t sure... I thought it was a little deck to jump, but my caddie Dave and my mum was like, surely not, because it’s too small to fit everyone. But if that happens, it’s definitely a good worry to see if you all can fit on the deck.
“I think in Chevron’s perspective, I think they’re very respectful and understanding of all the history that we’ve had, and for somebody new to come in, I feel like sometimes they want to build their image and make their statement, but for them to be understanding of how people remember this championship and having the jump into Poppie’s Pond and for them to bring that back and give players opportunities and their team opportunity to do that I think is really cool.”
Amy Alcott was the first player to leap into Poppie’s Pond after her victory in 1988 but it didn’t catch on until Donna Andrews got wet six years later. LPGA great Annika_Sörenstam made the jump a record three times.
Ko was wary at least of the water quality beside the 18th green at The Woodlands but she didn’t mention the chance meeting of gators.
“The water is natural, so it’s a little dirtier than Poppie’s Pond that got cleaned out before we came along, but it might be cleaner than when Amy Alcott first jumped into Poppie’s Pond because I think it was literally like a natural pond at that point,” Ko said.
“I feel like people would jump in it because that is a tradition of this championship, and Chevron made that possible for us.”
Lydia Ko. Photo / Photosport
Ko is back to world No 1 and the reigning LPGA player of the year, but another major has eluded Ko since her second title in 2016.
She’ll tee off in the first round on Friday (NZT) alongside 2014 winner Lexi Thompson and world No 16 Charley Hull.
Since Ko’s victory at the 2016 event, six months after her maiden major at the 2015 Evian Championship, the Kiwi has had two second placings and three third-place finishes at majors. In all she’s had 11 top-10 finishes since her last major victory.
Most Top-10 finishes in major championships in the past two seasons:
Ko admitted she had a rough introduction to the new setting.
“I haven’t played that many tournaments in Texas in general, so I didn’t know what it was going to be like,” she said today.
“To be honest, I played a practice round on Saturday and... I thought I was going to run out of balls by the end of my round. But I finished strong and I’ve been playing a lot; I’ve been donating less balls to the golf course since then.
“I think off the back and when it’s windy, some of the holes are playing pretty long, but I do think this golf course is fit for a lot of people in the field rather than like one type of player, and that’s what I always like - to kind of bring more players into contention. I think it’s going to be a great championship golf course.”
