After Suffering a Bizarre Embarrassment, World No. 3 Breaks Silence With a ‘Frustrating’ Confession

The 2023 Dana Open drew to a thrilling end on Sunday, with Sweden’s Linn Grant emerging as the winner of the tournament. In doing so, Grant overhauled Allisen Corpuz, who was recently crowned the US Women’s Open champion at Pebble Beach.

However, for 2-time major winner and LPGA icon Lydia Ko, the tournament ended on a disastrous note. Following an embarrassing turn of events on Sunday, the World No. 3 took to social media to divulge what she took back from the incident!

LPGA star Lydia Ko reflects on her Dana Open woes

Kiwi golf star Lydia Ko hasn’t been having a great time on the fairways so far in 2023. In her nine starts prior to the Dana Open, Ko finished in the top 10 only once and missed the cut twice. She failed to turn things around at the Highland Meadows Golf Club as well, getting hit with seven penalty strokes on the final day! The fiasco happened after Ko had incorrectly played preferred lies at several points throughout the day.

While preferred lies were actually in play during the fourth round, they were just on No. 1 and 10. But Ko ended up playing preferred lies on the 3rd, 7th, and 9th holes! Per an LPGA spokesperson, as revealed by Golf Digest, the 27-year-old “played from a wrong place on each of those holes” and got three two-stroke penalties as a result. Then, on the 11th fairway, Ko’s ball was lifted, and she called for a ruling. It was then put back on its original spot, and the 19-time LPGA winner got away with a one-stroke penalty.

Taking to Instagram after the tournament ended, Ko reflected on her mistakes. “Note to self, read the preferred lies memo CAREFULLY next time,” she wrote in the caption accompanying a clip of her from the Dana Open. “It’s frustrating, but you live and learn.”

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This is the second time in as many weeks that an LPGA star has had to bear the brunt of rules-related confusion. During the US Women’s Open at Pebble Beach, Thailand’s Natthakritta Vongtaveelap was disqualified after her caddie erroneously used a viewfinder during the first round.

The reason behind Ko’s confusion during the Dana Open

On Saturday, terrible weather was a mainstay at the Dana Open and threatened to ruin the day’s play. Consequently, LPGA officials decided to play preferred lies throughout the third round. Later, in the final round, preferred lies were in place only on two holes, the 1st and 10th. Lydia Ko was not aware of it.

She then played preferred lies on the 3rd, 7th, and 9th, going par-par-bogey on those holes. The former World No. 1 settled for a birdie-less opening round of 2-over 36. However, after the penalty strokes, her pars turned into doubles. Meanwhile, the bogey on No. 9 became an appalling triple.

After her first three rounds of 67-68-72, Ko had been sitting on T24. Her fourth-round mistakes saw her close with a 78 at T65! She also finished 22 shots behind tournament winner Linn Grant.

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What are your thoughts on Lydia Ko’s sheer misfortune at the 2023 Dana Open? What was your favorite moment from the LPGA tournament? Let us know in the comments!