There is no wrong way to prepare for a major championship in professional golf. Any preparation is good preparation.
Some players like to play a course a million times. Others want to approach things from an architectural standpoint. Understanding what a course can do and knowing how you would handle things in any number of circumstances is valuable as you never know what you can encounter.
It seems like this is the disposition of the renowned Lydia Ko. Speaking on Tuesday at Erin Hills ahead of this week’s U.S. Women’s Open, Ko noted that she took to a unique platform in terms of preparation for the week’s major championship: YouTube.
Yeah, in all honesty I watched some YouTube golf before coming here and seeing how they played and just kind of get an idea of what the golf course is like. Obviously it plays very differently compared to when the men played here in 2017. You don’t really know until you get here.
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I watched the Bryan Bros, and I think Wesley Bryan was trying to get his revenge from 2017. And I think it’s the series where they do it with Grant Horvat, and it’s going to major championship courses.
I think they played at the ANWA course recently with Alexa Pano. I got into YouTube golf because of my husband, and I won’t be shy to say I watch it on my own now. It’s probably not the preparation that many of the other players did, but it was just a good way for me to kind of see the golf course.
The subject of YOuTube Golf can be a controversial one in the golf space. People feel different ways about it and what it can offer the game. Ultimately the more golf the better, and even more so if it is adding an element of studying and preparation for the best players in the world.
Courses around the world have lowered their gates to let different content creators film videos that can exist like this. Consider how expansive the video Lydia mentioned is.
Perhaps this will provide an edge for Lydia as she hunts down another major this week.