NAPLES, Fla. – Two months ago in South Korea, Holton Freeman had dinner with his LPGA Hall of Fame student, Lydia Ko, after she’d made an appearance on the KLPGA.
“What will do you do tomorrow? Are you just gonna have a Netflix day?” Freeman asked Ko.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementKo, who seemed a bit surprised by the question, proceeded to tell him that she had Pilates at 8:30 a.m., followed by a putting lesson and then a club fitting in the afternoon. Freeman asked if she ever just took the day off and had a pajama day at home.
“No,” said Ko, “I'll just rest on the plane.”
Lydia Ko accepts the Commissioner's Award on Monday night at the Rolex LPGA Awards alongside fellow LPGA Hall of Fame members Judy Rankin and Nancy Lopez.On Saturday at the CME Group Tour Championship in Naples, Florida, Freeman was on the range keeping an eye on Ko’s spine angle. Ko holds the course record at Tiburon — 10-under 62 — and she’d need to go deep in Round 3 to get in the mix for the $4 million first-place prize.
Ko is friends with Sportsbox AI founder Jeehae Lee, and on a recent Hawaii vacation, the former Yale golfer noticed a few things in Ko’s swing. She went back to the office and ran a 3D swing analysis that compared last year’s swing — which yielded her third career major title and an Olympic gold medal — with her current action.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThe result: a tilt in her body at setup by about ¾ of an inch. They made the adjustment last week.
“That's why I feel like Sportsbox is like Trackman for the body,” said Freeman of what can’t necessarily be seen with the naked eye.
The winningest player on tour with 23 LPGA titles including one in Singapore earlier this year, Ko organizes her schedule in a way that’s different from other players Freeman worked with. He knows when they're working together several months in advance, compared to others who might ask what he’s doing tomorrow.
Freeman began working with Ko shortly before last year’s U.S. Women’s Open. She opened that championship with an 80, but told him not to worry about it, she felt good about where they were headed. And the direction was anywhere but left.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisement“When she came to me, she was like, 'I don't care how much it goes left to right. I just never want to see it go that way.' She just doesn't want to see any left, ever,” said Freeman. “She won't even hit a draw in practice.”
Lydia Ko of New Zealand plays her shot from the third tee during the second round of the CME Group Tour Championship 2025 at Tiburon Golf Club on November 21, 2025 in Naples, Florida.Even at this stage of her career, Ko remains curious. Her attention to detail and organized approach stands out among her peers. Good friend Lindy Duncan, who practices out of Lake Nona with Ko, said she could write a book on all that she’s learned from the Kiwi.
“It all comes from working hard,” said Duncan. “She's such a professional, you know, with her time management and her scheduling, just everything she does. There is a purpose and a meaning behind it. She works so hard. I've just never seen anyone work as hard as her. She's just a caring, loving, kind person, and when you're around her you just feel good.”
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementThis week at the CME, World No. 1 Jeeno Thitikul looks to become the first player to win the Player of the Year, Vare Trophy for low scoring, money title and CME title in the same season since Ko swept all four in 2022.
Even now, the humble Ko finds it hard to believe she’s the 35th member of the LPGA Hall. She was honored on stage at the Rolex LPGA Awards on Monday for the Commissioner’s Award alongside Betsy King, Annika Sorenstam, Nancy Lopez and Judy Rankin.
“I think the biggest takeaway I have from that is I think before I was in the Hall of Fame, before I had won the gold medal, I felt like my life was going to be like substantially different,” said Ko earlier in the week. “… Truly, I'm the same person I was even before I won that and even before going to the Hall of Fame, so in that sense I think it's good.
"But when you're so close, you do wonder and think that it's going to be that different, but I'm still the same person. I'm still out here playing and still trying to win this event.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: What can other players learn from Lydia Ko? Her swing coach weighs in
AdvertisementAdvertisement
