THE problem with expectations is that you often harbour great ones. Blame Dickens for that. Kylie Walker knows how tricky it can be to live up to the standards she has set herself.
Two years ago, the Glasgow golfer was in the midst of a glory-laden run as she won a brace of Ladies European Tour titles in the space of a couple of months.
It was her big breakthrough on the women’s scene but since that shimmering spell, the 29-year-old has struggled to replicate that form. It’s been dogged rather than dazzling and Walker is looking for that one big result to kick-start a campaign which features a hefty run of events in the second half of the season after a stop-start schedule thus far.
This week’s Ricoh Women’s British Open at Woburn wouldn’t be a bad place to get things going again.
“My game has been solid enough but I’m just looking to make that push and have a strong finish to the season,” said the former Scottish women’s amateur Order of Merit winner. “It has been a bit frustrating since I won on the tour and I really felt that last season. I wanted to push on from my success in 2014 and make a real impact. After winning twice the season before I really wanted to consolidate and be one of the best in Europe but it just didn’t happen.”
What did we say about those expectations again? It’s been difficult trying to manage them but Walker believes she has found a happy medium.
“When you win, the expectations go up and that’s the same across the board for anybody in golf,” she said. “You know what you are capable of and when you are not performing to the level you know you can then it becomes difficult. I have high expectations but I have to manage them and make sure it doesn’t get in the way of my level of performance. I feel now I’m a bit more relaxed and I’m not constantly putting pressure on myself.”
Walker has played in five women’s Majors but her record in the grand slam events is something she wants to improve. “My best is something like 59th in the British Open a few years ago,” she noted. “It’s not great and that is the next step, to kick on at this level.”
Walker, along with compatriots like Pamela Pretswell and the 2009 Women’s British Open champion Catriona Matthew, will join a stellar field headlined by the world No1, Lydia Ko. Inbee Park, who won the title at Turnberry last year, has withdrawn with a thumb injury and faces a race against time to be fit for next month’s Olympics.
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