AC3AA98028: 2013

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Golf-New Zealand prodigy Ko splits with coach

5 hours ago

Dec 23 (Reuters) - New Zealand's Lydia Ko has split with long-time coach Guy Wilson, who started working with the golfing prodigy as a five-year-old novice and helped take her to number four in the world 11 years later.

Ko was given the green light in October to become a full member of the LPGA Tour from the start of the 2014 season after the governing body waived the 18-year-old age limit clause.

Ko, who was born in South Korea and has already won five professional titles, four as an amateur, became the youngest winner on the LPGA Tour when she captured last year's Canadian Open at the age of 15.

She signed up with management company IMG earlier this month.

In statement to Fairfax media, Wilson said he was "incredibly disappointed" that their partnership had come to an end.

"We've spent a lot of time together over the past decade and during that time I've become very close to Lydia and her family. While I'm incredibly disappointed that our 11-year partnership is over, I respect Lydia and her team's decision," Wilson said in the statement.

"When I first met her the golf clubs were taller than she was and she didn't know the first thing about a driver or a putter but now she has one of the most envied swings in the women's golf world."

Media reports suggested Ko would now be coached by David Leadbetter in the United States.

Wilson began coaching Ko at six, where they were initially restricted by language difficulties as she had not yet been immersed in New Zealand schooling at that stage.

Ko had up to four lessons a week with Wilson, working from about 50 metres away from the green because anything else would have been too daunting, and he was amazed at the youngster's focus, motivation and ability to keep working at her game.

Wilson had told Reuters in October that Ko would not be out of place on the LPGA tour despite her youth.

"She is better than most of the people on the LPGA Tour. Her age does not match her skill set," he said.

(Writing by Peter Rutherford in Seoul, Editing by Gene Cherry)

Teen golfer Lydia Ko splits with coach of 11 years

52 minutes agoAP - Sports

Lydia Ko of New Zealand plays on the first hole during the third and last round of the Evian Championship women's golf tournament in Evian, eastern France, Sunday, Sept. 15, 2013. (AP Photo/Laurent Cipriani)

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Teenage golf star Lydia Ko has split with the only coach she has had since she took up the sport as a 5-year-old.

Guy Wilson, who has worked with the 16-year-old Ko for 11 years, issued a statement saying he was ''incredibly disappointed'' the partnership is over. Ko hasn't publicly commented on the decision.

Michael Yim, her agent at IMG, said Monday that Ko worked with various teachers at the Leadbetter Academy in Florida before going to Taiwan for the Swinging Skirts tournament, an event she won two weeks ago in her second start as a professional. Kim said Ko plans to meet with other teachers before deciding on a full-time coach.

Ko has won five professional tournaments - four as an amateur - while coached by Wilson, who said it had ''been an honor to help develop Lydia into the No. 4 golfer in the world.''

''When I first met her the golf clubs were taller than she was and she didn't know the first thing about a driver or a putter, but now she has one of the most envied swings in the women's golf world,'' Wilson said.

Born in South Korea and raised in New Zealand, Ko won the Women's Canadian Open at 15 last year to become the youngest winner in LPGA Tour history and successfully defended the title this year.

Golf-Olazabal calls on European Tour to back Royal Trophy

December 21, 2013 6:26 AM

Dec 21 (Reuters) - Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal has criticised the European Tour's decision to launch the EurAsia Cup team match play event next year and said they should have re-established ties with the Royal Trophy.

Olazabal is captaining Europe in the seventh edition of the ongoing Royal Trophy matchplay event, which was launched in 2006 by his former Ryder Cup team mate and compatriot Seve Ballesteros and is backed by the Japan Golf Tour and China Golf Association (CGA).

The European Tour supported the venture before dropping it and then opted to launch a similar tournament in Malaysia next year with the Asian Tour, which used to host CGA tournaments before the Chinese opted to side with the rival OneAsia Tour.

"I know the European Tour sanctioned this event for two years and then a split occurred for some reason," Olazabal said in a statement released by the Royal Trophy on Saturday.

"But I do think they must sit down with the Royal Trophy people and work out their differences because it is such an important issue.

"The Royal Trophy will continue even if it is not sanctioned by the European Tour because it has great support from the Japan Golf Tour, the China Golf Association, and other important parties in Asia.

"But I know the organisers are keen to resolve this issue, and I would call on both sides to sit down and sort this thing out."

The Royal Trophy is being staged in China for the first time after Brunei hosted it last year and Thailand for the first five.

While the inaugural Royal Trophy boasted famed major winners Nick Faldo and Ian Woosnam as well as then world number 12 David Howell, Swede Henrik Stenson and Ireland's Paul McGinley, the current edition lacks the same gloss.

Thailand's Thongchai Jaidee is the best ranked player competing in China at world number 46, while Howell is back but now number 93. Spaniard Alvaro Quiros is the worst ranked of the 16 players at 278.

Thongchai will be team captain for the inaugural EurAsia Cup in March, but Olazabal thinks the new tournament is not necessary and European Tour chief George O'Grady should focus on finding new full field strokeplay events instead.

"We do not need another Asia v Europe match involving a maximum of twenty players when we already have a well-established Royal Trophy," said the twice U.S. Masters champion.

"But we do need more full field events, and I know other players feel the same way," he added.

The biennial EurAsia Cup will be held over three days at the Glenmarie Golf and Country Club in Kuala Lumpur from March 27-29 with Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez playing and captaining Europe.

Former U.S. Open champion Graeme McDowell and world number 26 Jamie Donaldson of Wales, Frenchman Victor Dubuisson ranked 32 and Spain's world number 35 Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano have already committed to playing.

Four more players will qualify for the European team via the world rankings, while the Asia side will feature Thongchai and the leading four players from the Asian Tour order of merit, the top three available from the world rankings and two captain's picks.

"Our relations with players from Malaysia, China, India, Thailand, Korea and Japan have been important to us for many years," O'Grady said last month at a promotional event for the new tournament which has been backed by the Ballesteros family.

"We see the development of the EurAsia Cup as a further commitment by us to assist in the development of golf throughout the region and to strengthening one of The European Tour's most important partnerships." (Writing by Patrick Johnston, editing by Pritha Sarkar)

The 10 best golf moments of 2013: No. 10, The 59 (and the near 59s)

By Shane BaconDecember 21, 2013 10:29 AMDevil Ball Golf

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Jim Furyk — Getty Images

Over the next 10 days, until we get to the New Year, we will be rolling out the top-10 best golf moments of 2013. After much deliberation and debate, we picked what we thought were the 10 moments you will remember about this season a decade from now. We start with Jim Furyk, Phil Mickelson and even Tiger Woods as the 10th best moment of '13.

The final putt for Jim Furyk's 59, the sixth in the history of the PGA Tour, happened on September 13, but this story starts months before in the Phoenix desert.

Phil Mickelson, a man that is as synonymous with the Waste Management Open as caddie races, opened his bid for a third Phoenix Open title on Thursday at TPC Scottsdale as on fire as a golfer can be.

Mickelson had basically the entire crowd in Scottsdale following his every move as he made his way to his back nine, and he got to the par-4 9th hole needing a birdie to post that magical number.

The fan favorite hit an incredible putt, the ball looked like it was destined for history, but it caught the lip, shot back his way in a cruel twist of fate, and it was "just" a 60 for Phil.

That Thursday was basically everything we hope for with a Phil Mickelson moment, from the build up of birdies to get to that final hole to the crescendo of fans roaring as that putt looked like it had no other plan but to drop deep into a man-made hole and make history.

Tiger Woods is not a man that we expect to be outdone by Mickelson, and a few months later, at Firestone, got himself into the 59 conversation with an incredible second round at the Bridgestone Invitational.

Woods settled for a 61, but even that had some drama, with Woods rolling in a lengthy par putt on the 18th green to post that number and eventually win the golf tournament.

Furyk, of course, was able to pull off the shot he needed to join this elite club at the BMW Championship. The former U.S. Open champion played his opening nine holes at 8-under, and added to that total with birdies on three of his next four holes.

It all came down to his final hole, the par-4 9th, with Furyk needing a birdie for the 59, and he simply stuffed a wedge to almost gimmie range for the birdie and history.

All three rounds were exactly an indication of the confidence, and game, needed to go extremely low, and while the two biggest names couldn't pull off what Furyk did, both Mickelson at the Waste Management and Tiger at Firestone were two of the most exciting days in non-major events all year.

Five questions with a Q-School

By Shane BaconDecember 21, 2013 10:47 AMDevil Ball Golf

Jake Younan-Wise — Getty Images

The PGA Tour decided to change Q-School in 2013, taking out the "qualify and you're in the big leagues" strategy and making it a six-round event that allowed you to play your way onto the Web.com Tour, not a bad consolation prize for someone that gets hot.

Jake Younan-Wise, a 26-year-old pro out of Australia, needed a late charge in his final round to jump into the top-50, a coveted spot for those playing at PGA West, and he did just that with a seven birdie stretch over his final 13 holes to finish T-42 and earn a spot on the range at the Web.com events in 2014.

We talked to Younan-Wise (follow him on Twitter here) after he touched down in Australia about the difference in Q-School this year and years past, his play to close and what happens to the players after they complete six rounds of mind-numbingly tough golf.

DB: This is the first year the PGA Tour decided to change Q-School. Did it feel different in Palm Springs this year compared to years past?

YW: This was the first year that the tour has decided to change the format. I played at final stage in 2010 and it was very intense. I felt like you could tell in peoples faces the stress that final stage out on them. This year seemed a little different. In Q-School there is always going to be people that have bad last days just due to pressure. It's not a fun thing to see a fellow golfer perform like that. Not many played bad on the final day. The weather was perfect which helped and we finished on the easier of the two courses. Also the pressure of a PGA Tour card wasn't looming over our heads. I know I had more fun on the course and knowing I've already played on the Web.com tour before it wasn't as stressful for me.

DB: You had an incredible finish, playing the last 13 holes 7-under to jump into the top-50, which is extremely important considering your 2014 status is now on the Web.com. Talk about your finish, your mentality after the slow start in the final round, and the emotions that came after your finished?

YW: The whole week was a blur to me after shooting 77 in the first round. I felt like I was living and dying by every shot because I was so far back. I had to slowly claw by way back. The start to my round was painful. I figured I had just blown my chances. I didn't hit that bad of golf shots. A few unlucky breaks in a row and next thing I know I'm in an almost impossible position. I had to chip out of a fairway bunker, had a ball stuck 30 feet up a palm tree and a 360 lip out all in my first three holes. I stepped to the side and had a quick pep talk with myself and then I had to figure out how badly I actually wanted this. From that point on I was pretty locked in. I had an 11 hole stretch of 7-under and holed two of the biggest clutch par putts of my life. An eight-footer on No. 8 and a five-footer on No. 9 which I had to hit each putt outside the hole and trust it would break. Those two putts are what I'm more proud of then anything. I was a little shaky to say the least because I still had people on the course that could affect my position but after an hour it was impossible for me to move outside the number. That was a huge relief.

DB: How stressful is Q-School? Compare it to other events you've played in, and give us just a rundown of the mental exhaustion that six days play on a golfer trying to earn a living for next year?

YW: Q-School is a strange tournament. It's unlike any golf I've ever played. For years I always thought you had to play perfect golf just to advance but that's not the case at all. You just have to play good, steady golf and minimize bogeys as much as possible. In the 14 Q-School rounds I played this year, I only shot four (rounds) in the 60's. I felt like I handled myself great on the course though. In each stage I had bad stretches but I fought really hard to not let the bad golf affect me. Final stage was a really long nine days including practice rounds. It seemed like it was never going to end. It was mentally exhausting on me because after my first nine holes I couldn't relax on one shot. I had to fight on every shot just to have a chance in round six and I knew that. After the 77 it was all about giving myself a chance to get a spot in the top 45. I have lost some weight recently and worked hard in the gym and I believe that really helped my energy and my focus for the last 13 holes when I most needed it.

DB: What was Tuesday night like after your final round, and everyone's final round?

YW: Tuesday night was a fun night to say the least. We started it off at the golf club after the round with a few beers and then moved to a few friends house to keep the celebration going. Sat around the fire with a few other guys that made it and we chatted about how the week was and how much we are looking forward to next year. It was also our friends birthday on Tuesday so we met up with them at a bar and celebrated pretty hard. Quite a few adult beverages were consumed that night. The adrenaline was still running and me and Jimmy Gunn were the last two standing at about 4:45 AM when we decided to shut it down.

DB: What are your goals for '14?

YW: 2014 I have really decided to dedicate myself as hard as I can. I feel like I took it for granted a bit in 2011 and expected it to be easy. Far from the case but I believe that maturing since then I realize just how hard it is and how much work needs to be done to compete. I have a few goals which include winning a tournament and finishing inside the top-25. I also want to be a lot more consistent and make cuts on a regular basis. I feel 2014 is going to be a great year.