Lydia Ko reverses recent form at Amundi Evian Championship
Lydia Ko holds the Evian Championship trophy she won in 2015
Former champion, Lydia Ko may still be the higher ranked female golfer in the world but the manner in which she has been playing in recent weeks, in which she has finished no better than 35th in her last four starts two of those when missing the cut, suggested her brilliant game may have deserted her.
Until today that is. Ko opened this week’s Amundi Evian Championship in Evian les Bains with a round of 65 to be just one behind the lead after day one.
This event is one of two major titles the New Zealander has to her name, her victory here coming in 2015 and it is an event in which she has produced several other good finishes in addition to the win.
“When you come back to a place that you’ve won and where you played well at, I think no matter how you’re playing, you’re always able to draw on some of the good memories there,” said Ko after her round.
“Yeah, enjoying it here. I get to see some of the fans that I only see here at this week, so it’s kind of like a good reminder seeing them and seeing little kids getting taller every year I come back.”
Ko trails the leading trio of Gemma Dryburgh, Ingrid Lindblad and Patty Tavatanakit but has an afternoon time on day two to deal with.
New South Wales’ Stephanie Kyriacou is the nest best of the Australasians after her round of 66, three ahead of Gabi Ruffels, while Grace Kim and former winner, Minjee Lee are at 1 under and in a share of 38th place.
“Yeah, today was good,” said Kyriacou. “It was definitely an early start, but it was nice to get out early, no wind. Weather was a lot cooler than what it is now. Yeah, played with Anne. Know Anne very well, so we had a little birdie match going on.”
Yeah, overall it was a good day. Played well. Yeah, just a good day.”
51 players broke par on a golf course just so different to the layouts they play in other major championships.
“I mean, I think probably sounds a bit silly, but I think now that I’ve played this course a few times, I kind of know what to expect and nothing is like really scary anymore with the lies,” added Kyriacou.
