'Closed the door and screamed': How Ko reacted to Fox's win as own Open bid begins
Preparing for the Women’s Open at Royal Lytham and St Annes Golf Course in England, Dame Lydia Ko took inspiration from New Zealand’s history in the UK-based major.
In 2024, Ko came from three shots back in the final round to take out the Women’s Open for the first time and clinch a third major championship in her Hall of Fame career.
This week, she sets out for another opportunity to lift that trophy, this time at the same course where Sir Bob Charles won the men’s Open Championship in 1963, becoming New Zealand’s first major champion in the process.
The tournament comes just two weeks after Ryan Fox won his maiden major at the men’s Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, meaning three of the six major championships won by Kiwis have been in Open Championships.
“I would love to kind of keep the dice rolling. Super excited for Foxy and the whole of golf New Zealand for his win just up the road at Birkdale. I don’t think I’ve been that nervous and that excited watching somebody else play,” Ko said.
“I closed the door and I screamed. I was like, yes, and my husband ran out and was like, what’s happening? Ten seconds later I was just crying. It was emotional for me. I can only imagine what it was like for him. Being only the second New Zealander on the men’s side to have won The Open Championship is so special.”
Ko will be one of two Kiwis in the field taking on the test of Royal Lytham and St Annes, with Amelia Garvey also earning a spot in the field as one of the top 15 players on the Ladies’ European Tour order of merit at the end of the 2025 season.
With the Open being the last of the five majors on the women’s calendar, only two players have triumphed in the biggest tournaments of the season.
It’s the first time two athletes have won back-to-back majors in the same season, with American Nelly Korda winning the Chevron Championship and the US Open, before South Korean Haeran Ryu won the PGA Championship and the Evian Championship.
The two will share a tee time to begin this week’s Open Championship, with Ko completing the three-strong group.
The 29-year-old comes into the tournament off the back of a solid performance at the Evian Championship, finishing in a tie for seventh. It was her first top-10 finish in a major since winning the Open in 2024.
Ko was in the field the last time Royal Lytham and St Annes hosted the Open, finishing in a tie for 11th.
“I think this is the toughest Women’s Open championship venue I have ever played,” she said.
“I don’t know what I thought when I played in 2018. I might have been in a lot of bunkers that are on the golf course that are in my memory bank. It actually feels like a very new course to me. I know they made a little bit of adjustments on a couple of the holes.
“But, yeah, it’s a hard golf course. Even on a pretty perfect day ... it’s playing hard. So when you win on that kind of calibre of golf course, I think it’s always something that you come off feeling extra proud.
“But just with Foxy having won The Open, I think [winning] would be very meaningful and I think very empowering for golf in New Zealand.”
Christopher Reive joined the Herald sports team in 2017, bringing the same versatility to his coverage as he does to his sports viewing habits.
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