The World Is a Big Place Files: Lydia Ko Edition

So it seems Lydia Ko has split with Guy Wilson, her coach of 11 years.  Alarm bells are ringing for Geoff Shackelford, who's already shaping up a story of how IMG and David Leadbetter are about to ruin another young phenom.  But what if this is just about what Ko told New Zealand TV this is about?

With Wilson remaining in New Zealand and unable to join her throughout the 2014 LPGA Tour, the decision was a logical one for Ko.

"I'm going to be away from home and I'm not a player that likes to (not) have my coach out at tournaments, so it doesn't really work, him being here and him coming on the weeks that I'm not playing a tournament," Ko told ONE Sport at the Gulf Ha[r]bour Country Club today.

"That means I'd only see him like 10 times a year and to me that kind of situation didn't work out so that's why I thought it might be better to have a coach based somewhere in the States."

I mean, as Ji-Yai Shin's and Momoko Ueda's recent decisions to focus on the JLPGA make clear, the world is a big place.  Here's how Ko put it to TVNZ:  "Playing on the LPGA Tour it's going to be hard coming back home. Obviously it's so far to get from here to anywhere apart from Australia."  So unless Wilson is willing to uproot himself and move halfway around the world to keep coaching Ko, how can their partnership continue?  Wilson himself sounds a lot more resigned and accepting (or at least diplomatic) in the New Zealand, Australian, and Canadian media than in the U.S. media (although Golfweek has Wilson's complete statement).

Kris Shannon looks at the decision from both sides, calling the split "inevitable" but questioning the timing and possible repercussions on Ko's swing and game: 

Set to spend next season on the LPGA Tour, Ko will be based overseas for much of the year, but she already had a hectic travel schedule during her unprecedented amateur career. 

"I'm sad to hear it because they can do most of the coaching over the phone, with all the videos and different stuff," Lister said. "If [Wilson] was to see her once every three or four months, it would be plenty. She doesn't need somebody every day. 

"I'd be very reluctant to be changing anything with Lydia. She's done pretty damn well with what she's doing, and if it ain't broke don't go and fix it."

Ko herself is well aware of possible pitfalls but hopes to avoid them:

 "It's going to be a huge change. Swing-wise obviously not every coach has the same swing technique but even my parents and I said we don't want huge changes, just little changes, that if someone else saw my swing they wouldn't know that anything's changed. 

"Golf isn't really all about having the perfect swing, it's about getting out there and scoring well as well." 

She remains undaunted by stories about players falling on hard times after changing coaches and insists such speculation does not apply to her situation with Wilson. 

"Not really. I've heard those rumours and Tweets where people say lots of people have left their coaches after they've succeeded and stuff, but to me it's not like I left him because he was a bad coach. 

"It was because that situation, we knew there was going to be a problem. I know it's a change but fingers crossed that nothing bad happens."

The fact is, you never know how changes like these are going to turn out.  I'm reminded of how the size of the planet played a role in Ji-Yai Shin's slow-motion split with her long-time caddie Dean Herden back in 2011.

Bottom line is that it's Ko's career and her decision.  If she's convinced a long-distance relationship won't work for her, better to act on that conviction than draw out the transition.  It seems to me that all outsiders and onlookers can do is wish both Ko and Wilson the best.

[Update 1 (8:57 am):  Stevie Williams, a friend of Wilson's, strongly criticizes Ko's decision.]

[Update 2 (9:09 am):  I can only hope Lydia and her parents each have great Christmas presents for Wilson and that IMG is ponying up serious severance pay for him!]

[Update 3 (9:31 am):  Ladies on Tour notes that Ko's mother was talking about finding a U.S.-based coach at the CME Titleholders.]

[Update 4 (9:51 am):  Brent Kelley has a good overview.  But is nobody else seeing that Lydia mentions Sean Hogan by name in that TVNZ story?]

[Update 5 (11:16 am):  Randall Mell just tweeted:  "Just off phone w/ David Leadbetter, Lydia Ko will work w/ him & Sean Hogan of his staff. 'It's about guiding, not re-inventing the swing.'"]

[Update 6 (11:50 am):  Here's Emily Kay's Steve Williams-centered overview.]

[Update 7 (12:28 pm):  So much for this being a sudden decision.  There was even pre-decision blowback before Thanksgiving in the NZ media.]

[Update 8 (8:03 pm):  Randall Mell covers reaction from Kiwi Nation and statements from David Leadbetter.]

[Update 9 (8:07 pm):  And here's Stephanie Wei's recap.]

Back from Oak Hill

Well, the Constructivist family has returned from Oak Hill, and even though we didn't get to see any of the golfers we were hoping to this afternoon, we still made out pretty good.  We did catch glimpses of Stewart Cink on the putting green, Matteo Manassero on the 18th, and Bubba Watson on 13 found a great place to see action on 3 greens simultaneously (you'll figure it out if you look at the course map), we walked about half the holes on the course, I got smoked by my wife and both girls in the Omega tent's putting contest, we got to see the Wanamaker Trophy from a distance as it was getting a photo op on the lawn in front of the clubhouse, and, of course, we had a pro encounter at the Korean restaurant we always eat at in southern Rochester.  Last time, we were lucky enough to eat when Se Ri Pak, Ai Miyazato, Jiyai Shin, and Amy Yang were there.  This time, we came in just as Senior PGA champion Kohki Idoki was leaving!  (As opposed to when the LPGA comes into town, we almost had the restaurant to ourselves, but maybe that's because the players like to save that restaurant until after the tournament is over.  We practically rolled out of there ourselves!)

Oak Hill looked fantastic, but some 20-plus years since I played it in college golf and 10 years since I last walked the course on PGA Championship Sunday, it looked quite different than the few hazy images preserved in my memory bank.  I would say it's a lot more visually intimidating than Locust Hill; although not set up quite as tight for the PGA Championship as they set up Locust Hill for the LPGA Championship, and although the rough doesn't appear to be as high or as thick, the number of severely and sharply elevated greens, the overhanging tree branches guarding what seem like entire sides of greens, the traps and water abutting the 15th green, the canting and curving of the fairways, and the treacherous creek that runs through the course all add up to huge penalties for being just a little bit off.

So on Friday morning Ryo Ishikawa is in the 1st group off the 10th tee at 7:15 am, which presents us with a little logistical challenge:  do we get up early (like 4:15 am) to follow him, John Huh, and Danny Balin, then turn right around and follow Hideki Matsuyama, Steve Stricker, and Jason Dufner at 12:55 pm off the 1st tee?  Do we come a little later, pick Ishikawa up on the back, and wait at 18 to see the likes of Day, Westwood, Cabrera, McIlroy, Donald, Mickelson, and Poulter finish out their rounds?  Or do we just try to catch Ishikawa at the putting green before Matsuyama tees off?  A lot depends on what my brother and parents will be doing, as well as how badly the Full Metal Archivist wants to follow a Japanese golfer and how much walking onechan and imoto are up to....