Knock long and often enough and you’re bound to get in eventually. That has to be what Lydia Ko is telling herself these days. Otherwise you’d go nuts wondering why the wins that once came in coveys now seem a lot tougher to find.
Ko shot 1-under par on Saturday at Dundonald Links to enter the final round of the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open tied for the lead with Celine Boutier – a fine round and a great spot from which to possibly pick her second victory of 2022. But after two rounds of 65 on Thursday and Friday, a 71 on Saturday had to feel like an 80. Still, Ko gutted out a good score even without her best stuff.
“I think sometimes I put it in spots where it was kind of working, I had to work for it, and a couple careless mistakes where you think you come off with a pretty easy par, and (then) I three-putted a couple times,” she said. “Haven't three-putted in a while. I hope that I saved it all up for today.
“I just don't think my irons were as sharp, so I didn't give myself as many birdie opportunities. But at the same time it was a touch windier, so there's a few other aspects you have to take into account.
“It wasn't the best golf, but I managed my way around and I still feel like there were a lot of positives. Hopefully I'm going to keep doing that better and hole a few more birdies.”
She slipped in and out of the lead throughout the third round. Typical of the day was the last two holes. A slight miscue with the driver on 17 left Ko in one of the deep fairway bunkers. From there, she played smart, hitting a wedge to leave herself another wedge for her third into the par four. But she failed to get up and down and dropped to 14-under par, out of the lead, and if it had remained that way, out of the final group on Sunday.
Then on the par-5 18th, Ko didn’t get anxious and choose to deviate from her game plan. After a perfect drive that left her in a spot where she could have attacked the green, she instead laid up with a hybrid to 80 yards, a number she loves.
She has done that before. Those who were there remember the 2016 Chevron Championship like it was yesterday. Trailing Ariya Jutanugarn all day, Ko found herself needing birdie at the final hole to perhaps win her second major. After her tee shot found the right rough, she toyed with going for the green with a hybrid or 5-wood. But her caddie talked her out of it, telling Ko, “You’re the best wedge player in the world. Lay up to a good number and stuff it from there.” She did, almost holing her third shot and leaving herself an easy two-footer to become the youngest two-time major winner since Young Tom Morris in 1869.
The shot Saturday in Scotland wasn’t for the win. But it certainly sent a signal that the Ko of old is back in form. Her wedge on 18 almost went in twice – first on the fly and then as it spun back, catching the lip and leaving her a three-footer for birdie to tie Boutier and earn a spot in the final threesome on Sunday.
She has played herself into contention a lot in the last two years. But where the teenaged Lydia almost always seemed to find a way to win, the 25-year-old Rolex Rankings No.4 has often had one hiccup that cost her, or she played well and others simply played better. That’s golf. It’s hard to win. Ko has always said that, even when it looked easy. Now, with more experience than most 40-year-olds, she is in position to have her first multiple-win season in six years.
But she knows you can’t think too far ahead, especially on a links course where so much can change in a matter of seconds.
“I was putting for birdie quite a few times (on Saturday) and for the most part, my speed control was good,” Ko said. “But a couple of times, I think when you really want it, I would just ram it.”
Then Ko summed up, not just her round, but the frustrations that have gnawed at her for a while.
“You don't want to be making careless mistakes and I feel like I made a couple out there,” she said. “I guess when you look back on any day, you feel like, oh, I could have, I should have. You could just keep going (like that), digging yourself down a hole and never be able to get out of it.”
Or you could draw on a decade of winning experience and close out the deal for your 18th career title.
Either way, expect Ko to say on Sunday what she said immediately after the conclusion of her third round. “I just enjoyed it out there.”
She always does.
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