‘Hell of a way’ for Ko to seal spot in Hall of Fame
Lydia Ko had accepted Hall of Fame (HOF) status might never happen.
In the middle of a slump, her world ranking on the slide, she was at peace with it, too, particularly after some words of wisdom from her husband and mother.
But the 27-year-old also knew the lone point she needed to become the 35th player enshrined in the LPGA Tour HOF could be as close as her next tournament at any given time.
And so it proved.
“It's a hell of a way to do it,“a beaming Ko said after her Olympic gold medal earned her the 27th and final point needed.
Talk about two birds with one stone - a complete set of medals from her third and final Olympics, and a long-time goal ticked off.
“I struggled a little bit in the middle of this year and I felt like I’d lost a little bit of direction, in ways that helped me realise it potentially might not happen,’’ Ko conceded.
Ko had been chasing the final point since she won the season-opening LPGA Tour event in January, and came within a whisker of clinching it the following week.
However, after looking primed to do so, she lost a playoff to American Nelly Korda at the LPGA Drive on Championship.
Ko put a brave face on at the time. But, speaking after her triumph at Le Golf National near Paris yesterday, admitted it stung.
“I'm not going to lie, I was gutted when I lost in the playoff. I knew that Nelly had played amazing and finished amazingly. Still, I felt disappointed with the way I had finished.’’
The 20-times winner on the LPGA Tour managed just one more top-10 finish between March and last month’s Canadian Women’s Open, a stretch that included two missed cuts.
All the while Ko, who long ago made it clear she would retire before she was 30, couldn’t avoid the subject.
Quickly approaching two years since she pulled to within two points of the magic 27 number, when would the elusive mark be reached?
Would it ever? “I’m so glad that’s [question] gone,” Ko told media.
But she couldn’t avoid one on another subject she’s often queried on, particularly now that she’s essentially achieved all there is to achieve.
Is retirement impending?
“I mean, I know I’m playing the Scottish Open next week, and the British Open the week after - there is still so much golf to play this season,” she replied.
“I have great days where I want to play as long as I can, and I have days when I wake up with a sore lower back and think I don’t think I can make it any more. I don’t think there is a specific date.”
Another 14 tournaments are scheduled this season but Ko, now a three-time Olympic medallist, won’t play them all. However, having started to feel her game was headed in the right direction before the Olympics, she is at least energised.
“I've seen a lot of progress this past couple of months, and I'm excited to see how I can finish in the last major ... and assess and see where it goes from there,’’ she said. ‘‘For now I want to enjoy this moment.’’
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“I have great days where I want to play as long as I can, and I have days when I wake up with a sore lower back and think I don’t think I can make it any more.’’
Lydia Ko