Lydia Ko after winning her third major title at last year's British Open. Photo: Photosport
New Zealand's Lydia Ko will tee off her year on Friday morning as defending champion at the season-opening Tournament of Champions in her home base city of Orlando.
It would be the first of 22 Tour events she plans to play this year, plus a possible appearance in the International Crown teams event in October.
The newly-anointed Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit hadn't let her lofty status, nor her breath-taking 2024 achievements, dull her career aspirations.
New Zealand's gold medallist Lydia Ko celebrates on the podium after the women's golf event at the Paris Olympics. Photo: AFP/PIERRE-PHILIPPE MARCOU
An Olympic gold medal in Paris last August unlocked entry to golf's Hall of Fame - one of her long-held targets - and she followed it with victory at the Women's British Open at the hallowed grass of St Andrews in Scotland.
With three of the five majors under her belt, 27-year-old Ko took time out over Christmas to recalibrate her career goals, having always stated she wanted to retire before age 30.
"I would love to do the career Grand Slam," she told a pre-tournament press conference in Orlando.
"It's hard winning one major championship. To win five, and they all be different ones, it's a very small group of players who have done it. If I could be alongside that small group, it would be amazing."
So still on her to-win list was the US Women's Open in Wisconsin in early June, followed by the Women's PGA Championship in Texas three weeks later.
New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Rather than adopt a light playing schedule to focus on the Majors, Ko had deliberately stencilled in a busy schedule.
"I want to peak at the Majors and, for me, I think it's always good to have some sort of momentum, whether it's playing the week before or at least having some sort of play," she said.
"When I was constructing my schedule, I was adding more and more events and the International Crown was a cool surprise as well."
Ko said she wouldn't place additional pressure on herself to win at the two June Majors, having learned about the importance of being relaxed.
That mindset worked a treat in her two-shot triumph at the British Open, just a fortnight after climbing the Paris Olympic podium.
"I had one of the biggest weeks of my career at the Olympics and I thought 'there's no way I can out-do that'," she recalled.
"So I just played freely and enjoyed being in town, spending time with my family and I played some good golf on top of that."
Lydia Ko of New Zealand Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Ko said last year's opening win in Orlando was the "springboard" to a big year, coming off a disappointing 2023 campaign.
She admitted home advantage should again give her an edge this week at the $US2 million ($NZ3.5 million) tournament at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club.
"After having a very tough year in '23, to win the first tournament back last year gave me a lot more confidence and good momentum to a year that I knew was very important for me.
"Obviously this being my home club, I got a lot of home crowd support.
"I've played this golf course quite a lot and it helped with the nerves and I almost took it as me playing on any other Sunday."
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