By: Max Bechtoldt
After a week that included completing the podium slam, winning the gold medal at the Olympics and gaining entry into the LPGA Tour Hall of Fame, it could’ve been easy to see an off week coming from Lydia Ko. That didn’t seem to be the case Thursday morning.
Playing in the wave with less favorable conditions in Scotland, Ko fired a -3 69 in the opening round of the 2024 Scottish Open. With a round delayed twice due to rain and wet conditions, Ko was finishing up around the time the weather became beautiful.
Ko had five birdies and two bogeys on the round, continuing her momentum of solid ball-striking, especially off the tee. Ko hit 12 fairways, staying away from any of the real trouble. She turned that solid play off the tee into 13 hit greens.
While her putting wasn’t quite at the level we saw last week, she had a high for her 30 putts in this first round, it really didn’t negatively impact her score much.
Ko sits one back of the leaders Megan Khang and A Lim Kim, but expect that number to get lower, and a lot more players to fill in between Lydia and the lead. If the afternoon wave has the time to finish today, the scores should get low.
