Rested Ko eyes return to form in Canada

World number one hopes extended break will prove beneficial for her title defence at CP Women's Open

TORONTO:

World number one Ko Jin-young said on Tuesday she hopes some downtime at home in South Korea after missing the cut at the year's final major will prove beneficial for her long overdue title defence at the CP Women's Open this week in Canada.

Ko was unable to recover after struggling in the wind during her opening round of the AIG Women's British Open at Muirfield and figured a busy practice schedule in the lead-up to the major was to blame.

"I needed more time for break," Ko told reporters at The Ottawa Hunt and Golf Club.

"I practised a lot before the Europe Swing so I thought I don't have energy for playing golf. Was sad, but my game wasn't good. That's why I missed the cut.

"So I practised a little bit after the Europe, and hopefully this week better than two weeks ago."

Considered one of the more consistent players in the game, Ko's missed cut at Muirfield was her first at a major in four years and followed a run in which she had earned five top-10 finishes in 11 events this year.

Ko will look to move on from her Muirfield disappointment as the defending champion of Canada's national championship, which makes its return to the LPGA Tour's schedule for the first time since 2019 after being cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

"I was ready to play, defend in 2020, but we had like worst in the world so we couldn't play in Canada or wherever," said Ko. "So it's been almost three years actually to be back here, so, yeah, I feel good."

Despite being ranked number one in the world, Ko is 115th when it comes to driving distance with an average of 250 yards off the tee but she refuses to get caught up in that statistic and will instead lean on other aspects of her game.

"I'm aware that it's very important to increase the driving distance; however, what I felt is that as I tried to increase, like longer the driving distance, it kind of lowered down the accuracy of like the shots," said Ko.

"So I will try not to be too concerned too much about increasing the driving distance. I would like to focus on my current swings and my putting ... I'm already quite happy with what I'm doing."