Lydia Ko cannot have enjoyed the week she just had. On Friday, the young New Zealander surged to a six-shot lead going into the weekend at the Ricoh Women’s British Open, shooting a 5-under 67 at Walton Heath.
Ko looked as though she had wrapped up the victory right after the turn, teeing off at No. 10 and dropping a shot on the first hole, but later claimed she got distracted by another golfer.
“Today was one of those days. I probably made a couple of mental mistakes that were just on me. My buddy at the time, she was playing pretty well and at the 18th on a little birdie putt, I think I just saw her cross.
“I always do that, but I think it distracted me a little bit, and that was really what made me miss,” Ko said. “Just trying to see how she was doing her thing, and I ended up missing the putt. But it’s just unfortunate. The round could have been even better today, but it just shows what it takes to have a good day. Sometimes results are so overrated.”
This isn’t the first time Ko has had trouble with mental errors this season. She also made two bogeys on the back nine at the ANA Inspiration two weeks ago, also shooting a 67 to move to 10-under for the tournament.
“I don’t look at it as like overrating myself, but I always try to be very solid mentally and make sure I’m very calm, not too intense, not too anxious, and obviously, try to stay away from everybody around me when you’re trying to think about a couple holes,” Ko said. “But, I’ve been doing that this year. I’m kind of good at it, and I think it just was a little bit of a mental thing. But to be able to bounce back and shoot one of the best rounds of the year, I felt like, was an amazing day for me.”