20 Apr 2018

Leadbetter: Ko form shows change was 'strange' choice

3:36 pm on 20 April 2018

The former coach of Lydia Ko believes the New Zealand golfer appears lost with her game.

A frustrated Lydia Ko at the weather disrupted NZ Women's Open

A frustrated Lydia Ko at the weather disrupted NZ Women's Open Photo: Photosport

Two-time major champion Ko has fallen from first to 16th in the world rankings in the past 18 months and this year has a best finish of tied for 10th in the seven events she has played.

After the first round of her eighth event on Friday (NZ time), the Los Angeles Open, the 20-year-old is tied for 15th and four shots off the lead at one-under par.

David Leadbetter coached Ko for three years until the pair parted ways at the end of 2016 and he said it's odd seeing her struggling so much.

"That's the thing, I don't know where her game is at at the moment because she hasn't been in contention to win a tournament for quite a long time now," Leadbetter told RNZ from his base in Florida.

"Which is strange, because you always used to look near the top of the leaderboard to see where she was."

Ko and Leadbetter joined forces in November, 2013 and had immediate success together.

The Kiwi star won numerous events, including both her major triumphs, during her time under the guidance of the Englishman.

She also rapidly rose to become world No 1 at the age of just 17, the youngest in the history of the game and a berth she held for more than 100 weeks.

But after a comparatively disappointing finish to her 2016 season, which Leadbetter said was purely done to physical and mental fatigue, Ko confirmed she was looking for a new coach.

Leadbetter said her current form meant he had the same opinion now, as he did then.

"Change sometimes can be good, but when you're in her position in the world of golf you should be loathe to make too many changes.

"You might make a couple little ones but to almost completely reinvent the wheel is a strange choice.

"I've heard from several players who have played with her, they just say it's not the same Lydia who had the same confidence about her. It's almost as though she's timid in the way she is playing."

David Leadbetter - 'it's crucial that Ko has time away from golf'.

Lydia Ko's former coach, David Leadbetter. Photo: David Leadbetter

At the time of their split, Leadbetter stated his belief Ko's parents had too much control over what she was doing with her career.

Ko has said on numerous occasion since that is not the case.

But Leadbetter, who said he and Ko remain friendly when they bump into each other at tournaments, stands by those comments.

"Yea, well, if you believe that [she is making all her own decisions] you believe pigs can fly as well. There's no way she makes those decisions on her own, no possible way.

"Unfortunately you've got naive parents who think she should be winning every week because it looked like she was going to win every week.

"In the end that's just the nature of the game, you're going to have your ups and downs. I mean, hell, even Jack Nicklaus went through periods where his game was off.

"The strange thing really is where she was and why she wanted to make those changes.

"To me, I'll say this in a way maybe people can read between the lines, but her team decided we can do better, well good luck trying to do better than she did."

Lydia Ko with new caddie Jonny Scott at the 2018 Women's Australian Open.

Lydia Ko with new caddie Jonny Scott at the 2018 Women's Australian Open. Photo: Photosport

Any potential suggestion he was simply bitter Ko had decided to end their partnership, Leadbetter added, was simply not true.

He maintained he would love to see Ko come out of her form slump.

"I have no axe to grind, I'm just trying to lay the facts out because there is a lot of comments being made [about Ko's loss of form].

"When you look at the record she had when she was with us for those three years, there's no way anybody could play better golf than that.

"I hope it works out for them, I really do. You hate to see a player of her calibre, her ability level [struggling like she is].

"At this point in time they've turned an exceptional player into an ordinary player. I hope that changes."

As for what was needed to turn around the fortunes of a player who, for a long time, could barely put a foot wrong, Leadbetter said regaining the confidence she played with during their time together was crucial.

He also didn't rule out, given the fickle nature of professional golf, one day working with Ko again.

But, harking back to those surrounding Ko, Leadbetter asserted that would only happen under certain conditions.

"I never hold a grudge and when you get the opportunity to work with a world class player like her, you jump at it.

"It was a lot of fun, I enjoyed it. [But] it ever that opportunity came up I would say, 'you need to do this on your own, you don't need a support team around you because you're the player.

"To me they should let her do her thing, she's the player and the talent and she needs to get on with it and do it herself.

"Until she starts to do that and take ownership of her own game, she's probably going to struggle. Hopefully as she's gets older she realises that what she had was great and she didn't need to make those changes."

- RNZ