Lydia Ko savors her chance to be Olympian

RIO DE JANEIRO — David Leadbetter might have his hands full next week.

The swing coach’s star pupil, world No. 1 Lydia Ko, will add a new wrinkle to her swing if she wins the gold medal as women’s golf returns to the Olympics.

“If I end up with a gold medal standing on the podium, I’m not sure I’ll ever take it off,” Ko said Monday ahead of Wednesday’s start of the women’s tournament at the Olympic Golf Course. “It will bruise me a little bit if I was swinging.”

She was kidding, of course, which comes very easy to her. Then again, she’s been, in her words, giddy since she started watching the Olympics last week and definitely since she landed here on Saturday.

“I love my sleep and I don’t know if I’ve ever gotten up at 7 a.m. to watch someone else play,” Ko said about her alarm going off Sunday so she could go to the golf course and watch Team New Zealand’s duo of Danny Lee and Ryan Fox in the final round of the men’s tournament.

Then she played six holes as the course was opening up to the women. Then she watched the medal ceremony and hooked up with gold medalist Justin Rose after he won the gold medal.

“I kept asking my caddie, ‘I wonder what it’s like to stand on the podium?’ And ‘I wonder what it’s like to hold that medal?” Ko said. “To be able to take a photo with the gold medalist was very special. Hopefully his vibe will go off him and into me.”

Ko said she’s been excited to play in the Olympics since golf’s return was announced in 2009. She was 11. Now 19, she’s been a record-setting phenom since she became the youngest to win a tour event in 2012 when she was 14. For instance, she is the youngest in LPGA history to win a major and became the youngest to win two majors when she won the ANA Inspiration earlier this year. She has 14 LPGA titles.

“I know in a couple of days I will be an official Olympian,” Ko said. “I could have never imagined myself being in this position. To know that there are people who are going to watch me compete in the Olympics is a great feeling.

“It’s an honor to represent New Zealand. No one can never take being an Olympian away from you. … I’ve met some athletes, I’ve watched the guys play and it’s been great so far. It’s only going to go up the next few days.”

WILDLIFE AT THE OLYMPIC GOLF COURSE