NEw Coach New Outlook Beginning to Pay off for Lydia Ko In 2021 Season

Lydia Ko Speaking to Reporters at the CMe Group Championship Last 2020

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     The morning of the final round of the Lotte Championship Lydia Ko received a short, inspirational text message from her coach. “Trust and conviction” it read.
     Ko scribbled the message on her pin sheet before going on to win the tournament at 28 under par and seven shots ahead of her nearest competitor. It was her first win on the tour in two years.
     Since then Ko has finished tied for second twice and among the top ten in five out of the eight tournaments she has competed in this year– causing more and more to wonder whether her work with her new coach Sean Foley has begun to pay off.
      Ko and Foley – who has coached both Justin Rose and Tiger Woods – began working together in June of 2020.
     With Foley based in Orlando – just 30 minutes from where she lives – Ko said working with her new coach has been “super convenient” and extremely helpful and made her training simple.
     The weeks that Foley is not traveling Ko says she is able to work with him a couple times a week.
     In the past Ko said she has put a lot of pressure on herself and has doubted herself on the course.
​     “Sean I feel like…gives me great wisdom and builds that confidence in myself,” she explained to reporters following her victory in Hawaii.
     According to Ko things have begun to click mentally for her and she feels she has been hitting the ball more confidently than in the past.
 

      Foley, she said, has helped her put less pressure on herself. “Sean has always been helpful when he says ‘if you win it doesn’t make you a better person,’” she explained.      “He’s been a huge help for me to clear out the questions in my mind and really embrace myself for who I am and accept and be grateful for everything.”
     Ko’s win in Hawaii was also a big confidence booster which helped clear some of her self doubt as well she explained.
     With Foley’s guidance Ko said she is trying to be less result oriented and work more on what she can control – whether that be her putting or her swing. This she says has simplified her practice and training.
     Prior to working with Foley, Ko said she could tend to overcomplicate things. “I get in the way of myself. So when that happens I ask Sean…just to clear those doubts. He puts all [those] rubbish thoughts that come in and moves them to the side for me,” she said.
     This season Ko said she has been trying not to be perfect on the course but just to play golf.
 
                     -By Shawn R. Dagle Women's Pro Golf Editor/Reporter
                       May 12, 2021