Lydia Ko, 17, contemplates retiring at age 30

Lydia Ko may be just 17 and on top of the golf world as the youngest player of either gender to reach the No. 1 ranking, but the teenager is already making plans to become a psychologist when she retires at 30.

Preparing for Thursday’s first round of the Women’s Australian Open, Ko talked with reporters about working toward an online psychology degree while competing for major titles. For sure, the 2014 LPGA Rookie of the Year won’t just kick back and watch her investments grow when she hangs up her spikes some 13 years from now.

“I always say my plan is to retire when I’m 30 so I’m not just going to go to the beach and hang out for the rest of my life,” Ko said at Royal Melbourne, where she’ll face defending champ Karrie Webb and 18-year-old reigning Australian Ladies Masters winner Su Oh in the first two rounds. “There’s always a second career that comes along with it and I’m trying to build up towards it and, because I’m playing a sport, psychology links well with it.”

Webb, a five-time Aussie Open winner, hit the gym during the offseason, which is something she did not have to do so much when she was younger.

“It definitely makes you feel old when your rookie year was before they were born,” the 40-year-old World Golf Hall of Famer said of her two opening-round playing partners. “When we’re competing against one another I don’t really see age as a problem or a difference. We all have the same goal, which is to get the white ball in the hole.”

Su, a South Korean-born former top amateur who makes her home in Australia, texted her countrywoman for some advice on being the frontrunner at last week’s Australian Ladies Masters, which she won by three shots after firing four straight birdies at the end. “‘Just don’t think about trying to win, just go out there and play,’” Webb said she texted back.

Ko’s runner-up finish in the LPGA season-opening Coates Golf Championship last month in Florida earned her the record as the youngest golfer to ascend to the top ranking. After carding two top-10 results in the 2014 majors, she said that experience would serve her well going forward.

“I’m looking for more consistency in playing majors,” she said. “And then one day that will give me a chance to be around the lead.”

With plans to begin studies at Korea University next month, Ko conceded that balancing work and school would be a challenge. Michelle Wie, a teen phenom years before Ko exploded on the scene, certainly found it so and took heat for letting college interfere with her game.

“I have some big textbooks that I need to read,” said the fan of psychological thrillers on TV. “It’s going to be tough to juggle both things at the same time.”

While she expects that some of what she will study to be of little immediate use to her game, other aspects could help her become an even better golfer, which has to be somewhat frightening for her opponents. Ko has won eight professional tournaments worldwide and never missed a cut on the LPGA Tour.

“I’m sure when I go to sports psychology or treatment, that’s the part that will help me, but testing rats or whatever I’m sure that’s not going to help me,” said Ko. “But I think it’s going to be fun. I like to watch like Criminal Minds and stuff like that so maybe it’ll help me figure out what they’re thinking.”

Ko also discussed her caddie merry-go-round of the last couple of years. Second-guessed for the number of loopers she’s had on her bag, Ko said it was helpful to determine what type of personality and abilities were most useful to her.

Jason Hamilton, who donned the No. 1 caddie bib ahead of the Pure Silk Bahamas LPGA Classic earlier this month, seems to be working out well -- at least for the two months or so that he’s been handing Ko the clubs.

“It’s been eight to nine weeks since I’ve worked with him. It’s been good,” Ko said of Hamilton, who’s from Melbourne. “I had like eight caddies last year and it was kind of a good experience for me so I could kind of see what kind of caddie would suit me -- do I like this type of personality or is the skill what I need? I tried to find a balance so it’s been working well the last couple of weeks so we’ll see how it goes.”

Ko asks a lot of her bagmen, including the ability to make her laugh and ease whatever tension she’s feeling at the time. “I ask him for his opinion on reading [the greens],” Ko said. “He gets my yardage, helps me with club selection, lines me up, so there’s not a lot he doesn’t do.”

Including cracking wise when the situation calls for it. “When you make a silly mistake,” said Ko, who has made precious few since turning pro in October 2013, “I like how Jason makes some dumb jokes, I guess sarcastic sentences.

“It makes me go, ‘what the hell is he talking about?’ But it gets me over what just happened,” she said. Hamilton, though, would be wise to hang on to his day job. “In a way, bad jokes [from her caddie] is a requirement,” Ko said. “He would really not have a good career [as] a comedian.”