Could there be a more complete story than the one Lydia Ko has experienced in the month of August? It’s hard to believe.
As she acknowledged minutes after lifting the first Open of her career, she felt like she was living a fairy tale and that she was the Cinderella of a great story. Olympic Champion, inducted into the Hall of Fame and champion of the Women’s Open in the great cathedral of golf, in its cradle to be more precise. All in 16 days.
The New Zealander closed a cycle of eight years without lifting a Major, but she closed another even wider one. In 2013, the last time the British had been contested at the Old Course, Lydia Ko was the best amateur in the tournament, tied by the way with Georgia Hall. Thirteen years later she has established herself as the best professional in the tournament. In between, two other Majors and 29 titles as a professional. She is only 27 years old, the newly inducted into the Hall of Fame.
She is cheerful and friendly. No one has a bad word to say about the golfer, but the reality is that yesterday in really horrible circumstances she didn’t stop smiling almost at any moment of the day. The wind and rain were unpleasant. Never better came the saying: “In bad weather, good face” and Ko explained it like this: “I think I had a lot of fun and it was so windy that on some shots I could only laugh, because I had never seen a ball react like that”. Instead of getting frustrated and complaining, a good laugh. There is no better medical prescription.
Lydia also had time to talk about the work of art she created from the 17th hole street. If a day before Jiyai Shin seemed to have hit the shot of the tournament in that hole, Ko surpassed her with a classy 3-wood. Not so much for the final result, which the champion didn’t get the birdie, but for the moment and in the rain and wind conditions in which she did it: “It was probably one of the best shots I’ve hit. On the 15th, I went over with the 3-wood towards the green and hit the bunker. So my main goal was to make solid contact. And, honestly, it was so windy and raining so much that I saw the ball heading towards the flag, but I had no idea it was on that second level. I was able to make an aggressive swing, and yes, that’s probably one of the best shots I’ve hit”, Ko concluded.
Lydia can finally take her well-deserved vacation. After the Olympic gold, her team suggested a week off, but she wanted to stick to the schedule they had set. It has not gone badly for her. However, she has cleared up any doubts about retirement for the time being.
With the happiness she has and the level of play exhibited, anyone would retire, but Lydia is Lydia and it’s always good to hear it from her lips: “I don’t think there’s a word in the dictionary that can explain how incredible what just happened to me is. Before winning the gold, I saw being inducted into the Hall of Fame as the end point. Someone made me see that it was just like a petrol station on the way to my final destination and not the final destination itself. I think for a while, yes, I saw that that could be the end and in a way I conveyed it. Now, with a little perspective what I’m not going to do is enter the Hall of Fame and say: «Goodbye, Golf». For now, she has already won another Major and there are more petrol stations waiting for her victories.
Golf lovers breathe a sigh of relief, we don’t know how much longer, but for now there is Lydia Ko for a while.
