Learning never stops

Hugely talented, remarkably driven yet enormously gracious – Lydia Ko is the epitome of a champion.

A three-time major winner, an Olympic gold medallist and deserved LPGA Hall of Famer, there isn’t much left for the New Zealander to achieve in golf.

And yet, as she to prepares to launch her AIG Women’s Open defence at Royal Porthcawl alongside Lottie Woad, Lydia believes there is plenty she can learn from the 21-year-old rookie, who only turned pro earlier this month.

Lydia and Lottie will get their first rounds under way at 12:54pm (UK time) on Thursday, with 2023 Champion Lilia Vu completing the star-studded group.

“It's going to be fun,” Lydia said. “Lilia is obviously a past Champion … so playing with her is great.

“It will be my first time playing with Lottie, so I'm excited. She's coming in with a ton of momentum, and I think there's going to be a lot of people that's going to come out and watch her.

“It's going to be really cool for me to see the things that I could possibly learn from her and why she's playing good. Just because you're a higher-ranked player doesn't mean that there's something that I can't learn from somebody else. She's obviously playing great golf.

“I've seen her swing, and my coach has sent me a video of her swing as well because there [are] aspects that I'm … going for that she has.

“It will be really cool to just be inside the ropes, pick her brain a little bit. It's a great group and I think it's going to be a great couple of days.”

Lottie made a stunning start to her professional career, winning the ISPS HANDA Women’s Scottish Open on debut. The Englishwoman also won the KPMG Women's Irish Open earlier this month as an amateur, and came within one shot of a play-off at the recent Evian Championship.

“She's been playing unbelievably,” Lydia concurred. “I don't know a lot about her game personally, but the little that I've seen, she seems super impressive and has that kind of cool, calm, collected demeanour and that's, I think, pretty important as a player.

“She's kind of come out with a bang, and I'm sure she's going to keep continuing to play well.

“When I've seen the coverage or how she composes herself, she doesn't seem like she rushes into things or gets like overly emotional.”

Lydia also enjoyed success very early in her career, albeit at a much younger age.

An LPGA Tour winner aged just 15, Lydia twice won the Smyth Salver – awarded to the low amateur at the AIG Women’s Open – before a raft of pro titles arrived; 31 in all.

And yet there’s one trophy, one week, and one venue which stands out among the rest; her victory at St Andrews 12 months ago, when she cut through the field on a scintillating final day to win by two shots from Nelly Korda, Ruoning Yin, Jiyai Shin and Vu.

“It’s weird to hear that I'm a defending champion of this Championship,” she said magnanimously. “Obviously [I have] a lot of great memories [from] St Andrews last year. I can't believe that it's almost ... been a year since then. [It was] one of the greatest weeks of my life.

“[The final round] was one of [my] most solid rounds. I think I just dealt with that kind of moment really well, but I didn't realise I was tied for the lead until I saw the leaderboard on 16.

“In my mind, I thought I was like kind of like top 10 somewhere. I just wanted to have a strong finish and see where that put me. I didn't think I was like in contention for the win. I think I played a bit more freely and just kind of stuck to my game plan.”

Lydia added: “I don't think there is more added pressure just because I am the defending Champion. At the end of the day, if you win, it's not something that someone can take away from me. So I don't have to prove to anybody that I can win the AIG Women's Open. In that sense, I think it lets me be free and just kind of focus on what this week will bring.”