Golf: ‘My job has become more fun and enjoyable’, says newly married world No. 1 Ko

SINGAPORE – Lydia Ko is enjoying golf a lot more these days. Even on her honeymoon in January, she hit an ace and set the women’s course record at the Tara Iti Golf Club in New Zealand.

The 25-year-old credits husband Chung Jun,

whom she married in December,

for sparking her new-found love for the sport that she has played since she was five.

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, ahead of Thursday’s HSBC Women’s World Championship opening round, Ko said: “Before, I thought I would rather do other things than fun golf because golf is my profession.

“But now I enjoy playing nine holes on a Saturday during an off week and my job has become more fun and enjoyable.

“Through him, I was able to get a better perspective on life and differentiate that golf shouldn’t dictate how I see myself.

“This is my job and the results shouldn’t affect how I see myself and how I feel about myself off the golf course. I’ve got a lot to thank him for.”

Ko wasted no time after her honeymoon, returning with a win at the Saudi Ladies International on the Ladies European Tour in February. She then finished tied-sixth at the LPGA Thailand last week to continue the fine form.

The Kiwi reclaimed her spot atop the world rankings after a stellar 2022 season that saw her win thrice on the LPGA Tour and earn the Player of the Year accolade.

This is Ko’s third spell as world No. 1. In 2015, she became the youngest golfer to top the rankings and she stayed there for a total of 19 weeks. She returned to the pinnacle for 85 weeks from October 2015 to June 2017.

But she admitted that she does not feel like the No. 1 alongside the best female golfers in the world, recalling how seeing a shot Thai prodigy Atthaya Thitikul hit last week gave her goosebumps.

She said: “You can never get too cocky about what ranked player you are, especially at the top when it’s so tight... everyone’s playing really well that you can’t really say, ‘I’m going to be there forever’.

“You should get the confidence and believe in yourself when you’re playing but when I became No. 1 for the first time – I’m still young I’d like to think – but I was even younger and I felt that being No. 1 felt like I had to be winning, contending week in, week out.

“But that’s not necessarily true. It’s somebody who plays consistently through the season or multiple seasons.

“Everybody’s going to have their ups and downs. But to manage that, to make sure that the lows aren’t super low and you don’t get too high for the highs, just having gone through a little bit of those things, I’m able to just accept it a lot better now.”

Her resurgence comes after a barren spell that saw her go winless for three years, until the Lotte Championship in April 2021. She admitted that before she won in Hawaii, she had doubts whether she was ever going to win again.

Ko said: “Winning there gave me a lot of confidence – I think I missed the cut the week after, so my confidence was derailed quite quickly – but it just gave me the belief.

“Sometimes your biggest enemy is yourself – you try not to get in the way of yourself. 2022 was a year that couldn’t have panned out any better and obviously that keeps me motivated to do well this year but take it step by step.

“Even if things don’t go well, I don’t feel too pressured about it and I’ll just focus on the now and I feel like everything else will take care of itself.”

Ko, along with second-ranked Nelly Korda and defending champion Ko Jin-young, are among the top golfers at the HSBC Women’s World Championship at the Sentosa Golf Club.

Eighteen of the world’s top 20 players  – and all of last season’s Major champions – are in town for the US$1.8 million (S$2.4 million) tournament.