Thursday, March 19, 2015

Lydia Ko plays through the streets of San Francisco


On the way to this week’s Founders Cup tourney in Phoenix, Lydia Ko put on quite a a media day show in San Francisco while Michelle Wie pounded down the antibiotics.


If there were any doubt that Lydia Ko is having the time of her young life, one need just check out how the world No. 1 pumped up interest for the upcoming Swinging Skirts tournament in San Francisco.




Sure, the 17-year-old defending champion participated in the traditional media day press conference at Lake Merced GC, but there was nothing conventional about her playing through the streets of San Francisco for an upcoming video.




The current teen phenom recounted her swing through the city before teeing it up in the first two rounds of this week’s JTBC Founders Cup with ex-prodigy Michelle Wie and Na Yeon Choi, who edged Ko in the LPGA season opener in January.


"You think of just normal media days, you just go out there, press conference, play or whatever. But it was fun and it was different, and I got to look around one of the most beautiful cities," Ko said on Wednesday about a sightseeing visit of tourist attractions through the eyes of a teenaged golf superstar. "Yeah, it was fun."


Ko’s first stop, of course, was the Golden Gate Bridge, from which she hit a drive on perhaps the world’s longest par-5 hole. Her unusual round progressed from there.




"We went to Alcatraz, hit my second shot there," Ko said. "Third shot, I chipped off Lombard Street. And then my fourth, birdie putt, because it was a par-5, I did it on one of the beaches.






"It was great, four different destinations," added Ko, whose final shot was probably the most unorthodox of all her shots.


"My putt, I putted off the beach, which is on sand," she said. "I've never done that before, either."


Ko hopes to defend her Swinging Skirts title starting April 23, but she had more immediate tasks at hand to consider -- putting jet lag behind her and winning in Phoenix and preparing for the season’s first major, the ANA Inspiration, early next month.


"It's been an exciting couple weeks," said Ko, who won two straight tourneys and finished second in a third after bounding past Inbee Park for the top ranking in women’s golf. "But after that, I was exhausted. Hopefully I'm again ready."


Ko was disappointed not to win in front of the pioneers of the women’s tour last year, but lauded defending champion Karrie Webb for her one-shot victory.


"That week didn't go my way, but Karrie played great that last day, finishing with a birdie on 18 … She finished it off in style," said Ko, who tied for second. "Obviously I was a little disappointed with the way that I couldn't pull it off, but no, she played better. And sometimes that's the case."


Wie, by the way, has been battling all sorts of ailments to start her 2015 season. In fact, the reigning U.S. Women’s Open champ has been ill for a month with what seemed to be the flu but turned out to be strep throat and then a sinus infection.




"The doctor said that I probably won’t be feeling 100 percent for the next couple weeks," Wie said on Tuesday. "I’m feeling a lot better, thankfully, but it’s been tough. Right now, my No. 1 priority is just getting my health back in order."


Wie believes that more than poor health accounts for the disappointing start to her year that has included one missed cut and no finish higher than T24 in four starts.


"I think, maybe, I’ve just been trying too hard," Wie said.


"Winning the U.S. Open, it gave me a lot of confidence," Wie said. "Last year, in general, definitely gave me a lot of confidence, but you always want to do better. I think as a professional athlete, if you don't have that hunger, something's not right, and I think you have to put the right balance between wanting to do better, but then sometimes -- just trying too hard."


Wie said she struggled internally with her own expectations on and off the course.


"If I got an A-, God forbid, or a B on a test, I would be really hard on myself," she said about her academic career that culminated with a degree from Stanford.


Her goal was to loosen up so she could get back to playing her best golf, which she was apparently doing recently in Florida.




"I think that's what I did so well last year, is just letting go," she said of her breakthrough 2014 campaign, "letting go and just letting things happen."


The Ko-Wie-Choi trio was scheduled to tee off at 9:55 a.m. local time, but rain delayed the start of the tourney for at least two hours.






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