Jon Rahm's words inspire Lydia Ko to LPGA win

Golf is not a game of perfect.

These words have rung true since the game’s origins, but sometimes even the world’s best can forget.

During last week’s Gainbridge LPGA at Boca Rio, former women’s world No. 1 Lydia Ko came across a reminder via a video shared on social media.

The source of inspiration was none other than men’s world No. 1 Jon Rahm.

“Things are not always gonna go your way,” Rahm told First Tee junior golfers prior to last week’s Farmers Insurance Open, in a video later posted on the PGA TOUR’s social media platforms. “Golf, my dad used to tell me, is a game of misses.”

The video was shared last Friday, during the second round of the Gainbridge LPGA.

Ko proceeded to card weekend rounds of 72-69, finishing 14 under par for a one-stroke victory over Danielle Kang. It was Ko’s 17th career LPGA victory, but just her third since July 2016 after she fought through an extended slump.

After a first-round 63 in Boca Raton, things didn’t come as easily for Ko as she jockeyed for position in the latter rounds. Channeling Rahm’s words, though, she weathered adversity at critical junctures, took the title and moved up to No. 3 in the Rolex Women’s World Golf Rankings.

“I just came across that quote on Instagram,” Ko said in her winner’s press conference Sunday evening. “The part of my game when I was struggling was probably the long game, and I feel like now it is so much better and is more consistent. But I think sometimes I get too carried away about, ‘Oh, I missed that fairway or I missed that green.’

“It’s not about trying to get a perfect score. I don’t think you can get a perfect score. In bowling, you can, but in golf, unless I holed out on every par-3 and holed out for 2 on every par-4, there is no perfect.

“I think sometimes I try and become too much of a perfectionist, and to kind of hear that, I was like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. I’m just trying to play golf and not control everything out there.’”

Ko recorded 14 LPGA victories before her 20th birthday. She spent 85 consecutive weeks as world No. 1 and 104 weeks in total.

Dominance is difficult to maintain in professional golf, and Ko was not immune. She fell as low as world No. 55 in early 2020, battling different aspects of the game at different times.

With the help of perspective shared by Rahm, the reigning U.S. Open champion, Ko sets her sights on a return to that dominance.

“Whoever misses his swing or shot the best is gonna end up winning,” Rahm continued in his message to First Tee juniors.

This past Sunday afternoon, Ko did just that.