Lydia Ko – Max Bechtoldt/Women’s Golf Daily News
In the opening round of the Ford Championship, played at Whirlwind Golf Club near Phoenix, Arizona, Lydia Ko shot her career-low round with an incredible 60 in the morning wave.
The players that went out in the morning were treated to beautiful weather, cooler temperatures and low wind made it an ideal morning to play golf in the desert. Lydia Ko went off on the back nine and wasted no time making an early statement.
Ko made birdies on each of her first four holes, before entering her longest birdie drought of the day on her fifth hole. That drought lasted just two holes before four birdies in five holes around the turn.
Ko birdied four of her last five holes to get to -12 60. Ironically, the only hole in that stretch that she didn’t birdie was the par 5 seventh hole.
As tends to happen with Ko, the weakness was probably her driver, where she missed five fairways, but hit 17 greens and had only 25 putts.
“I think when you’re in to the zone you’re just focused and there is not as many external thoughts going in and out of your head. You’re just focused on what shot you have in front of you and then — and not get too carried away about the outcome of it,” said Ko after the round.
Since 2010, this is just the third time a score as low as 60 has been shot on the LPGA tour and just the eighth time overall. Annika Sörenstam is the only player in history to shoot 59 on the Tour.
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