Lydia Ko used to hate birdieing the first hole, a kind of twisted superstition that she eventually outgrew.
“I’m like what happens when you hit it to a foot, right? It’s not like you’re going to miss that putt because you’re worried about what the rest of your day is going to be like,” said Ko.
Advertisement
On Thursday in the desert at the Ford Championship, Ko birdied her first hole (No. 10) at Whirlwind Golf Club’s Cattail Course, and then birdied the next three, too. After a front-nine 30, she kept it rolling and after her 15th hole of the day, when she stood 10 under, she started thinking about 59 for the first time.
An unfortunate par on the par-5 seventh quickly followed. Birdies on her last two holes from 20 feet and 7 feet, respectively, left her with a career-low 12-under 60 and a big smile on her face.
“It wasn’t like I had a lot of pressure to like break 60,” said Ko. “It was just more like, oh, it’s really cool to be in this position. I think that’s my career low score.”
Lydia Ko of New Zealand walks to the fourth tee during the first round of the Ford Championship presented by Wild Horse Pass 2026 at Whirlwind Golf Club in Wild Horse Pass on March 26, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona.
More: What to know about 2026 Ford Championship as LPGA returns to Arizona
Advertisement
Ko, who put a new putter in the bag this week, hit 17 greens and took only 25 putts on the day. Her previous career low was a 62, shot on three different occasions, most recently at the 2021 Chevron Championship. This was Ko’s 1,030th career round on the LPGA.
It’s only the eighth time in tour history that anyone has carded a 60 and the fourth time since 2010. Jessica Korda (2021), Linnea Strom (2024) and Lucy Li (2024) are the most recent.
Annika Sorenstam remains the only player to break 60 in an LPGA event, carding a 59 at the 2001 Stanford Register Ping in Phoenix.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Lydia Ko shoots career-low 60 at LPGA event
Read the full article here
