August 26, 2024 • 8 mins
The former coach of Lydia Ko has heaped praise on the golfer's ability to adapt over the course of her career.
The Olympic gold medallist has capped off a remarkable month by winning the Women's Open at St Andrews - her first major since 2016.
Guy Wilson joined Piney to discuss how far she's come.
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Been eight and a half years since her last major title.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Quite a part, but expect nothing else from a champion
Lake Lydia.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
She's sat the mark for the rest to train and
catch She's the seven underpart out. They've all got to
try and catch up. Lydia co it is with a
major European summer. She is the first ever winner from
(00:45):
New Zealand of the AIG Women's Open.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Now let's bring in Lydia Coe's first coach who guided
her for eleven years, a very astute analyst of the
game of golf and still a high level coach, Guy Wilson,
as well as Guy an Olympic gold medal and the
Open championship in quick succession. Can you somehow put into
context for us just how significant this is?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Funny, thanks for having me, and yeah, geez, what a month,
What a month? What a way to string some rounds
together and get two of you know what you'd probably
think is the highest. Secondly, as you could get a
gold medal after getting a bronze and a silver and
then winning at the home of golf, doesn't get much,
(01:29):
doesn't get much better, and probably not as much special.
To be honest, do you think.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Normal people understand just how hard it is to win
big tournaments like this?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I don't know. I think you just sort of see,
you know, someone like this winning all the time, and
they think, Okay, you know, it's just what that person does.
But when you think about how big became a golfers
and how how impossible it is to win a tournament,
let alone multiple tournaments, and then do it when you're
at the end of your career, which she keeps saying
(02:01):
that it is. Yeah, it's crazy, absolutely crazy, and where
we're very lucky to still have her flying the egg
for US and importantly playing the stage for US.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Olivia finished seven under for the tournament. She shot seventy
one seventy seventy one, sixty nine, just six bogies and
seventy two holes and only two in the last thirty
six holes. How difficult is consistency like that to achieve?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well, the condition is of the Open Championship always fickle,
for where they even though it's supposed to be summer,
is never really consistent. And even if you watched the
broadcast last night, you could see the seventeenth hole was
hosing down with the rain, wind way off the right, impossible,
three wood off the deck, and then the final ground
the eight enths. The next hole was bars in sunlight.
(02:50):
And that's the Open Championship. It doesn't have much strength
in terms of length, but if the conditions come up,
it just bites. And just like the men's Open with
the women. So it was great to see her there
or thereabouts after the first round, and they're there about
after the second, and after three rounds you're three back,
and you know, you just don't want to see her
(03:12):
coming from behind because that's what is what she's going
to do if for you the leader just on.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
The conditions, they were atrocious. But do professionals deal with
bad weather better? You know? I mean, you know, the
average weekend golf are probably just decides not to bother.
But the professionals actually, can they deal with bad weather
reasonably well for the most part.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, I think they understand what they're going to get
out of their shots and understand the things that may
likely influence the direction or the shot. They've obviously got
the caddie there too to help them keep the clubs
dry and keep your focused and ultimately they're playing on
courses that are a little bit more used to dealing
with weather, unlike how winter courses here in New Zealand
(03:57):
where you mud halfway up your knee and when to
go trudging around finding a sucker ball in the middle
of the fairway. So they are they're very very very
very good at they do and they're very used to
it as well, because golf is an all of sport and.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Down the streetch there were at one stage, I think
four players tied for the lead with just a handful
of holes to go. So again, what sort of mental
strength does it take knowing that even one bad shot
could scuffer your chances.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, and that's the thing, and it's where where Nelly,
what made it double on sixteen or something fell in
the bunker, And when you're in there that it's basically
death to your score, cut in your chances. And the
people that were on the leaderboard they're all you know,
they're all studs. Joe Oshin was up there too, and
she's she won the Open and a few years ago,
(04:45):
so there's pedigree there. The good thing with the leader
obviously she got in a bit earlier, so she was
able to put some pressure on the leaders to make birdies.
But that second shot on seventeen, if that had bounced
another foot to the left, would have been in that
road hole bunker and she probably was up for double.
(05:07):
So crazy, crazy how one shot can make the rest
of the round in and her chances to go up
the final hole and make birdie.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
And Lida said several times, most notably recently, that her
career at the top may be coming towards an end.
She talks about being on the back nine, whatever that
might mean. You know, that might be a long time
with this recent success. How tempted might she be to
just carry on because she's not what is she? Twenty six,
twenty seven?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, I mean, I can't speak for her, obviously, and
I guess she just wants them freedom to make some
decisions for herself. And this game is a full time job. Obviously,
not a hell of a lot of time at home,
if there is such a thing at home when you're
on tour all week, all year round. But obviously, you know,
(05:55):
as a female, she wants to put priority into her family, probably,
and you can't do that when you're doing golf. Sort
of seven days a week. So she's only known since
she was four or five. So whilst she's only twenty
seven on her passport or a driver's loss, since she's
she's done a lifetime with golf.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I think you met her when she was five, didn't you.
I mean, hindsight, it's a wonderful thing. But could you
tell that something special was was in the offing here? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:27):
You never really know. I wasn't mud enough coach back then.
I was just learning how to coach golf as well.
So I mean we were both lucky to meet each
other so many years ago, and you know, I started
sort of noticing things. I was noticing she was different
when she was sort of eleven or twelve, But that
was still six years after teaching her English and her
math and that sort of thing when we're out on
(06:48):
the golf course. So you know, we were good for
each other.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah, what a time. And just to finish it, it seems
odd to be talking about the legacy of someone who
was not even thirty years old yet. But if her golf,
the golf chapter of her life does soon come to
an end, is there any way of articulating what her
legs see will be?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Ah Wow, a great question. I think she's changed the
game of golf in New Zealand for sure. What she
was sort of getting told off for doing back in
the day, doing golf all day every day and not
doing schoolwork has basically shaped the way that you create
a champion. And now that's what everyone's doing. They're they're
putting everything else aside and doing one thing and doing
(07:30):
it really really well. So great for New Zealand to
have her with all these championships and major championships, not
just Michael Cambell and Bob Charles, but now we've got
letting you out there holding the holding a fist in
the year game that it's how we do things in
New Zealand. So great for Zealand Golf. And they did
a really good job to keep pushing her in the
(07:52):
right direction and help her along the way. So without
David Levine back in the day as well, who knows
where we would have been with her.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Yeah, well have you played the massive part on it too, mate,
Thanks Andy for chatting to us. Guy, really appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
No problem, thanks mate, No, thank you guys.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Guy Wilson there a coach of Lydia Coe from the
time she was five years old, all the way through
until when she was sixteen, so a massive, massive part
of her success. I mean, she's only twenty seven. It's crazy,
isn't it. You know the time she's been around, but
she's only twenty seven years old. Incredible. Great to chat
(08:27):
to Guy Wilson, a pretty astute judge of the game
of golf in a particular Olvia.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Co For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks.
It'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
You're listening to the Sports Talk podcast with Dancy Waldegrave
from News Talk ZEDB.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Been eight and a half years since her last major title.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
Quite a part, but expect nothing else from a champion
Lake Lydia.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
She's sat the mark for the rest to train and
catch She's the seven underpart out. They've all got to
try and catch up. Lydia co it is with a
major European summer. She is the first ever winner from
(00:45):
New Zealand of the AIG Women's Open.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Now let's bring in Lydia Coe's first coach who guided
her for eleven years, a very astute analyst of the
game of golf and still a high level coach, Guy Wilson,
as well as Guy an Olympic gold medal and the
Open championship in quick succession. Can you somehow put into
context for us just how significant this is?
Speaker 3 (01:06):
Funny, thanks for having me, and yeah, geez, what a month,
What a month? What a way to string some rounds
together and get two of you know what you'd probably
think is the highest. Secondly, as you could get a
gold medal after getting a bronze and a silver and
then winning at the home of golf, doesn't get much,
(01:29):
doesn't get much better, and probably not as much special.
To be honest, do you think.
Speaker 4 (01:33):
Normal people understand just how hard it is to win
big tournaments like this?
Speaker 3 (01:39):
I don't know. I think you just sort of see,
you know, someone like this winning all the time, and
they think, Okay, you know, it's just what that person does.
But when you think about how big became a golfers
and how how impossible it is to win a tournament,
let alone multiple tournaments, and then do it when you're
at the end of your career, which she keeps saying
(02:01):
that it is. Yeah, it's crazy, absolutely crazy, and where
we're very lucky to still have her flying the egg
for US and importantly playing the stage for US.
Speaker 4 (02:12):
Olivia finished seven under for the tournament. She shot seventy
one seventy seventy one, sixty nine, just six bogies and
seventy two holes and only two in the last thirty
six holes. How difficult is consistency like that to achieve?
Speaker 3 (02:29):
Well, the condition is of the Open Championship always fickle,
for where they even though it's supposed to be summer,
is never really consistent. And even if you watched the
broadcast last night, you could see the seventeenth hole was
hosing down with the rain, wind way off the right, impossible,
three wood off the deck, and then the final ground
the eight enths. The next hole was bars in sunlight.
(02:50):
And that's the Open Championship. It doesn't have much strength
in terms of length, but if the conditions come up,
it just bites. And just like the men's Open with
the women. So it was great to see her there
or thereabouts after the first round, and they're there about
after the second, and after three rounds you're three back,
and you know, you just don't want to see her
(03:12):
coming from behind because that's what is what she's going
to do if for you the leader just on.
Speaker 4 (03:17):
The conditions, they were atrocious. But do professionals deal with
bad weather better? You know? I mean, you know, the
average weekend golf are probably just decides not to bother.
But the professionals actually, can they deal with bad weather
reasonably well for the most part.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
Yeah, I think they understand what they're going to get
out of their shots and understand the things that may
likely influence the direction or the shot. They've obviously got
the caddie there too to help them keep the clubs
dry and keep your focused and ultimately they're playing on
courses that are a little bit more used to dealing
with weather, unlike how winter courses here in New Zealand
(03:57):
where you mud halfway up your knee and when to
go trudging around finding a sucker ball in the middle
of the fairway. So they are they're very very very
very good at they do and they're very used to
it as well, because golf is an all of sport and.
Speaker 4 (04:11):
Down the streetch there were at one stage, I think
four players tied for the lead with just a handful
of holes to go. So again, what sort of mental
strength does it take knowing that even one bad shot
could scuffer your chances.
Speaker 3 (04:23):
Yeah, and that's the thing, and it's where where Nelly,
what made it double on sixteen or something fell in
the bunker, And when you're in there that it's basically
death to your score, cut in your chances. And the
people that were on the leaderboard they're all you know,
they're all studs. Joe Oshin was up there too, and
she's she won the Open and a few years ago,
(04:45):
so there's pedigree there. The good thing with the leader
obviously she got in a bit earlier, so she was
able to put some pressure on the leaders to make birdies.
But that second shot on seventeen, if that had bounced
another foot to the left, would have been in that
road hole bunker and she probably was up for double.
(05:07):
So crazy, crazy how one shot can make the rest
of the round in and her chances to go up
the final hole and make birdie.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
And Lida said several times, most notably recently, that her
career at the top may be coming towards an end.
She talks about being on the back nine, whatever that
might mean. You know, that might be a long time
with this recent success. How tempted might she be to
just carry on because she's not what is she? Twenty six,
twenty seven?
Speaker 3 (05:35):
Yeah, I mean, I can't speak for her, obviously, and
I guess she just wants them freedom to make some
decisions for herself. And this game is a full time job. Obviously,
not a hell of a lot of time at home,
if there is such a thing at home when you're
on tour all week, all year round. But obviously, you know,
(05:55):
as a female, she wants to put priority into her family, probably,
and you can't do that when you're doing golf. Sort
of seven days a week. So she's only known since
she was four or five. So whilst she's only twenty
seven on her passport or a driver's loss, since she's
she's done a lifetime with golf.
Speaker 4 (06:16):
I think you met her when she was five, didn't you.
I mean, hindsight, it's a wonderful thing. But could you
tell that something special was was in the offing here? Yeah?
Speaker 3 (06:27):
You never really know. I wasn't mud enough coach back then.
I was just learning how to coach golf as well.
So I mean we were both lucky to meet each
other so many years ago, and you know, I started
sort of noticing things. I was noticing she was different
when she was sort of eleven or twelve, But that
was still six years after teaching her English and her
math and that sort of thing when we're out on
(06:48):
the golf course. So you know, we were good for
each other.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Yeah, what a time. And just to finish it, it seems
odd to be talking about the legacy of someone who
was not even thirty years old yet. But if her golf,
the golf chapter of her life does soon come to
an end, is there any way of articulating what her
legs see will be?
Speaker 3 (07:09):
Ah Wow, a great question. I think she's changed the
game of golf in New Zealand for sure. What she
was sort of getting told off for doing back in
the day, doing golf all day every day and not
doing schoolwork has basically shaped the way that you create
a champion. And now that's what everyone's doing. They're they're
putting everything else aside and doing one thing and doing
(07:30):
it really really well. So great for New Zealand to
have her with all these championships and major championships, not
just Michael Cambell and Bob Charles, but now we've got
letting you out there holding the holding a fist in
the year game that it's how we do things in
New Zealand. So great for Zealand Golf. And they did
a really good job to keep pushing her in the
(07:52):
right direction and help her along the way. So without
David Levine back in the day as well, who knows
where we would have been with her.
Speaker 4 (07:59):
Yeah, well have you played the massive part on it too, mate,
Thanks Andy for chatting to us. Guy, really appreciate your time.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
No problem, thanks mate, No, thank you guys.
Speaker 4 (08:05):
Guy Wilson there a coach of Lydia Coe from the
time she was five years old, all the way through
until when she was sixteen, so a massive, massive part
of her success. I mean, she's only twenty seven. It's crazy,
isn't it. You know the time she's been around, but
she's only twenty seven years old. Incredible. Great to chat
(08:27):
to Guy Wilson, a pretty astute judge of the game
of golf in a particular Olvia.
Speaker 1 (08:31):
Co For more from Sports Talk, listen live to News Talks.
It'd be from seven pm weekdays, or follow the podcast
on iHeartRadio.
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