Webb versus Ko – A showdown for the ages

BY BRENDAN JAMES at ROYAL MELBOURNE GOLF CLUB

Organisers of the ISPS Handa Women’s Australian Open will be hoping the Golfing Gods are smiling on them this week and we see a final round head-to-head showdown between World No.1 Lydia Ko and defending champion, Karrie Webb.

Ko is entering her third week as the best female player on the planet – a title Webb held at various times in the late ‘90s and into the 2000s – and will undoubtedly be favourite to win the championship, which starts tomorrow.

The last time the Kiwi walked the fairways of Royal Melbourne’s Composite course she was just 15-years-old and she finished tied for 19th, just six shots back from a play-off spot. That was only three years ago but plenty of water has flowed under the bridge since then. She’s won five times on the LPGA Tour and three times as a pro since April last year.

Lydia Ko rejoices in the No.1 world ranking. PHOTO: Getty Images

The teenager is also still getting used to the extra attention being No.1 attracts.

“I’ve only been No. 1 the last two weeks so nothing’s really changed,” Ko said.

“I try to keep to the same mindset playing in the Bahamas and I finished with a top 10 finish so that was really good. I just have to take every tournament and just concentrate on that because the rankings come afterwards.”

Ko, who has finished third in the Open the past two years, says despite being World No.1 there are players she still looks up to and tries to learn from.

“I still have my same role models that I grew up with – Phil Mickelson, Annika Sorenstam, Michelle Wie,” she said.

“There are so many great players. Stacy Lewis is one of the players I look up to and she said so many nice things in the Bahamas and after I turned pro. So it was really cool for someone of her status to tell me to concentrate on my game.”

Ko, who will soon start studying for a university degree in psychology, says she has learned in a very short time that she needs to enjoy the game more, rather than feeling the pressure of trying to win.

“I have to take each tournament at a time and everyone’s playing such great golf that it’s not only about me,” she said. “When I have fun, that’s when I play the best, so I just have to keep that mindset and focus on that.”

Having fun and enjoying the moment is something Karrie Webb has learned later in her career and could be partly responsible for her continuing to work so hard on her game.

“I’d say I probably enjoy it more now than I did and I should have enjoyed it more when I was at the top of the game,” the 40-year-old Webb said. “But I have learnt to enjoy the process a little bit more and what it takes to play well.”

To remain competitive with players like Ko, Webb parted company with her long-time coach, Ian Triggs, last year and has been working with American Mike McGetrick.

Karrie Webb has made some minor adjustments to her swing to regain some lost distance. PHOTO: Getty Images.

“I actually lost distance, so I’m not actually looking to hit it further, just to get that distance back,” the five-time Australian Open said.

“It happened slowly, but all of a sudden it hit me that I was substantially shorter than I ever have been.

“So making the change to a new coach was something that was very hard for me. I feel like I have had the same team for the majority of my career, so to make a change wasn’t something I was comfortable with, but I went and sought a second opinion, just to see.

“If it was going to be a dramatic change, I didn’t feel like I had the time to rebuild my swing.

“And honestly, I’m really working on the same principles, just hearing it a different way. And sometimes when two people work together for a long time, those things that used to work aren’t working any more and you just need to hear it said differently for it to click.”

Webb tees up this week in just her second event thus far for 2015 and a record sixth win this week will inch her ever closer to US$20 million in career earnings on the LPGA. She needs US$758,624 to surpass that figure, which has only been achieved by her rival of so many years, Annika Sorenstam.

“Winning this week would really be a feather in my cap,” Webb said. “I’ve won at a lot of great golf courses when I’ve won the Australian Open and to add Royal Melbourne to that list would be an honour and really special.

“I feel a lot more comfortable here than I did three years ago,” the Queenslander said. “(Then) it was my first tournament of the year and this is only my second, but I’ve already got that one tournament under my belt, I know the course better than last time and I hopefully look forward to a better performance than three years ago.”

But she recognises that Ko is the best player of her generation and she will have a tough challenge in beating her this week.

“She’s such a level-headed girl,” Webb said. “I don’t even think it really hits her what she’s doing. I think she’s grown up with golf and It’s just supposed to go in the hole and it does and she does it very well and very consistently.

“I keep saying that we’re never going to see another young player this ready at this age, and then Lydia Ko comes along and sets the bar even higher for young players. At any age it’s an outstanding achievement to be No. 1 in the world, but to do it at 17 is incredible.”

Webb versus Ko … it’s a mouth-watering proposition.

 * LIVE coverage of the Women’s Australian Open begins tomorrow afternoon on ABC TV. Check your local guides.