It can be easy to be inspired by the enchanting scenery of Evian-les-Bains. “The location is so beautiful and it doesn’t matter if you make a bogey, you look around and say ‘wow’,” suggested Lydia Ko. Funnily enough, this correspondent often has a similar sense of reflective serenity after racking up a triple at Linn Park Municipal.
Ko is back in the happiest of hunting grounds this week as she prepares to defend her Evian Championship title. This may be the last major on the women’s schedule but Ko will always remember it for being the first.
This time 12 months ago, the young New Zealander arrived in south eastern France with one nagging question still to answer. ‘When are you going to win a major?’ came the cry from all and sundry as the then 18-year-old continued to be burdened by a quite colossal weight of expectation. The only person who wasn’t getting in a fankle about all of this was Ko herself.
In a quite remarkable career, she had just about done everything else and had broken more records than a riot at a vinyl fair. The clock was ticking on her latest feat, though. The 2015 Evian Championship was the last chance Ko had of surpassing the achievement of Morgan Pressel and becoming the youngest winner of a women’s major at 18 years, four months and 20 days.
Perhaps fittingly, Ko delivered an abbreviated version of her surname; a knock-out. Her eight-under 63 was a superbly assembled round of poise and purpose which underlined her qualities and gave her a six shot victory over the wheezing chasing pack. The questions could finally stop. “It was the last chance to pass Morgan’s record,” reflected Ko, who became the youngest player, both male or female, to capture a major since Young Tom Morris landed the Open in 1868. “If I won, finished second or 10th, they were not going to ask me that question anymore. That was actually the big relief in my head. It took the pressure off me.
“There were a couple of tear drops. I didn't totally cry-cry. But I kind of got a little overwhelmed, and I could kind of feel tears coming when my caddie said, ‘enjoy the moment’, coming down onto the green. That last round was something I’d never imagine.”
A second major crown would follow this year when Ko won the ANA Inspiration, the opening grand slam event of the campaign, before she finished second in the Women’s PGA Championship and tied third in the US Women’s Open.
Talent and competitive grit continue to combine to form a formidable alliance. Ko has been winning professional events since she was a 14-year-old amateur and at just 19, we can only wonder what the future will hold. A total of 22 of the world’s top 25 are competing this week with Ko, the global frontrunner, being joined in the field by Ariya Jutanugarn, Brooke Henderson and Lexi Thompson, the next three players directly below her on the world pecking order. Inbee Park, the world No 5 and the winner of the gold medal at the Rio Olympics, has been forced to miss another major after her bothersome thumb injury flared up again.
On the home front, North Berwick’s Catriona Matthew will tee-up in the 83rd major of her career while Edinburgh-based Californian Beth Allen can take another step towards becoming the first American to win the Ladies European Tour’s order of merit with another strong showing this week.
All eyes will no doubt be on Ko, though.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here