Dream double?

A Lydia Ko victory on Sunday would cap the greatest two weeks in the history of golf in New Zealand.

Fellow Kiwi Ryan Fox [below, left] won The Open in dramatic fashion at Royal Birkdale just 10 days ago.

Lydia triumphed in this Championship at St Andrews two years ago – but another win at Royal Lytham & St Annes this week would spark scenes never before seen in her homeland.

“I would love to … keep the dice rolling,” said Lydia.

“[I’m] super excited for ‘Foxy’ and the whole of Golf New Zealand for his win just up the road at Birkdale.

“I don't think I've been that nervous and that excited watching somebody else play. Just his whole back nine and the way he played over the weekend was incredible.

“It would be cool to channel my inner Foxy – his fearlessness – these next few days.”

Fox clinched the Claret Jug with a nerveless birdie putt on the 72nd hole, prompting an emotional outburst from his long-time friend.

“I screamed as [soon as the putt] went in,” said Lydia. “I closed the door and I screamed. My husband ran out and was like, ‘what's happening?’ Ten seconds later I was just crying.

“It was emotional for me. I can only imagine what it was like for him. Being only the second New Zealander on the men's side [after Sir Bob Charles] to have won The Open is so special.

“For them to have both … won in this region is super exciting.”

It was a maiden major victory for Fox, something Lydia achieved at the Evian Championship in 2015 at the age of just 18.

She doubled her major tally at the ANA Inspiration the following year, marking herself out as one of golf’s leading lights.

A third major was achieved in 2024 just weeks after she won Olympic gold in Paris, and with it a place in the LPGA Hall of Fame.

And, inspired by her international team-mate Fox, Lydia explained that she was as hungry as ever to add to her major CV.

“It would be very special,” she said of the prospect of winning this week.

“With Foxy having won The Open, I think it would be very meaningful and I think very empowering for golf in New Zealand.

“Every week I tee it up I want to play well. [When] I have a mediocre or a bad day on the golf course, I still get frustrated.

“I think the day it doesn't frustrate me it probably means I don't care anymore, and I don't know if that's a good thing.

“But this is a very humbling game. You could have all things fall your way one day and then the next day you could shoot a ten-shot difference.

“That really motivates me, that I know I'm far from perfect. I'm going to retire being far from perfect.

“But I'm eager to be the one that's hoisting the trophy at the end of the week.”

Lydia will begin her first round at 8:42am on Thursday morning – alongside Haeran Ryu and world number one Nelly Korda, the two players who have shared all four majors between them this year.

As a fellow major champion and former world number one, Lydia knows exactly what is required to reach the top – and has nothing but praise for the way Nelly has handled her meteoric rise.

“She's proven herself to everyone,” said Lydia. “I really don't think she needs to do anything more to say she's one of the best players in the United States and one of the best female athletes. The results really speak for [themselves].”

Both Nelly and Haeran are just one victory away from becoming the first golfer to win three majors in the same calendar year since Inbee Park in 2013.

“That's always the goal,” said Nelly, “to contend in major championships.

“My attitude this week is control what you can control. Sometimes with links golf you can kind of get pretty agitated with the bounces that you get. You hit a good shot, get a bad bounce [and] end up in a pot bunker.”

The Floridian has enjoyed 19 LPGA Tour victories in a so far stellar career, although she is fully aware just how difficult it is to maintain the level of excellence she has repeatedly displayed.

“Just because you're playing well doesn't mean you're invincible and you're going to make every cut and be in the top 10 every single week.

“There will be weeks you just don't have it … that's the reality of it. I feel like I've done this long enough where I've missed enough cuts that it's just about the bounce back.”

Nelly readily admits that links golf doesn’t come naturally to her, and plans to keep her driver in the bag for the majority of the week – opting instead for a new 4-iron.

It is a new strategy that she hopes will reap the ultimate reward on unfamiliar, challenging terrain.

“There are so many different shots you can hit when you play links golf, and I think that's what's really fun,” said Nelly.

“The creative side of like tossing everything that you really know out the window. You're like, ‘I'm not going to hit the fairway because all the bunkers are in play. I'm going to go in the rough because that's a better line into the green’.

“I feel like that's kind of what's unique and fun about this type of golf.”