Lydia Ko fires David Leadbetter in latest shakeup for world No. 1

Lydia Ko made David Leadbetter the latest casualty of an overall shakeup of her support team.

The world No. 1 called Leadbetter, her swing coach of three years, on Tuesday night to lower the boom, according to GolfChannel.com’s Randall Mell. Ko, who was expected to make a statement on Thursday, told Leadbetter she was going in a “new direction,” Mell reported.

Firing Leadbetter came on the heels of Ko dumping her longtime caddie, Jason Hamilton, in October, and ahead of an expected equipment switch, from Callaway to PXG. That’s a lot of change in a short time for anyone, especially a 19-year-old who has held the top ranking for 78 weeks.

Leadbetter made the split public on Twitter.

“These things happen in the world of coaching,” Leadbetter said on his website.

“Our goal,” he said, was to improve Ko’s “full swing shot-making abilities, power, and short game performance. Lydia’s tournament results and statistics in each of the last three seasons clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of our plan.”

Those results, Leadbetter noted, included Ko earning some $7.5 million in prize money, winning 12 LPGA titles including two majors, twice winning the CME Championship, becoming the youngest Rookie of the Year in 2014 and youngest Rolex Player of the Year in 2015, and winning the silver medal at the Olympic Games in Rio.

“Lydia is not only an exceptional player, but also an exceptional person,” he said. “She is a perfect role model for any young golfer to follow on how to conduct oneself on the golf course, interact with the public, and give back to the game. Lydia has been an absolute pleasure to coach.”

Ko got last season off to a bang, winning four times early, but she slumped later, nabbing just three top-10s in nine events between July and November. Amid a “drought” of four months without a tour victory, the 19-year-old did win that silver medal in Rio.

Also during that time, Ko, apparently at the instigation of her increasingly involved parents, decided it was time to ditch her coach. Leadbetter told Mell that during the tour’s Asian swing, which began in October, Ko and her father began changing her swing to one with a flatter takeaway.

Leadbetter believes fitness issues and fatigue from a ridiculously heavy travel schedule and sponsor and other commitments caused the steepness of her swing to break down.

For sure, the numbers don’t lie, and they indicate that Ko lost length off the tee while her driving accuracy was in a swoon, as well. At the end of 2016, she was 126th on the tour in distance, with an average drive of some 246 yards — down from 60th and 250 yards in 2015. Her accuracy dropped from 43rd to 68th, and she also plummeted from second in greens in regulation in 2015 to 31st last year.

With such issues, Ko’s game obviously suffered. She had several year-end awards (Rolex Player of the Year, Vare Trophy for low scoring, and the tour money list) in sight but came away empty-handed.

As all this played out, Leadbetter said Ko’s father became a ubiquitous figure on the practice range. With him speaking to his daughter in Korean while Leadbetter was instructing in English, the situation became untenable.

Leadbetter, who believes Ko’s parents also influenced the golfer’s decision to fire Hamilton after a two-year run, gave his pupil an ultimatum of sorts last month at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. He advised her that, as No. 1, and at nearly 20 (her birthday is in April), she needed to make her own decisions and take control of her career.

“If she is able to withstand the many outside pressures associated with being number one in the world, and if her team keep their expectations realistic,” Leadbetter said, “then she can go on to even bigger and better things.”

Ko has weathered Team Lydia upheaval before, having taken heat for leaving longtime mentor Guy Wilson for Leadbetter in Nov. 2013.

The most recent changes, though, appear more disruptive, especially if she is to play musical chairs with caddies, as she did after dispatching Hamilton, and if her father is to be Ko’s sole instructor (see: Michelle Wie) when the 2017 season begins.