ERIN, Wis. — One of these days, we’ll see Lydia Ko starring in a YouTube golf video, but for now, she’s content just watching golf on YouTube. And plenty of it. So much that she’s actually leaned on it to prep for this week’s U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills.
Ko used part of her press conference Tuesday to explain that one of the difficult aspects of one of the most trying tournaments on the calendar is learning a new course every year. That’s major championship golf, but it requires a heightened level of attention. So much that players will arrive earlier than normal — that was the case for Ko, who showed up over the weekend — and even begin studying weeks in advance, like a 12-handicapper ahead of a buddies trip.
So Ko found herself watching Erin Hills content on YouTube, particularly the Bryan Brothers video where they attempt to shoot scores that would qualify for a made cut at a previously-hosted major championship. Grant Horvat, another popular YouTuber, often hosts one of the “rounds” on his channel and plays in the videos, too, creating content that hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of people tune in for, Ko being one of them.
“I got into YouTube golf because of my husband,” Ko said with a smile. (Her hubby is a golf fanatic.) “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.”
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Ko has confessed to her YouTube golf fandom in the past, at least privately. During a GOLF Magazine cover shoot in February, Ko intimated that she wants to even get involved on the other side of the camera at some point. If it happens, it’ll likely be with the Taco Golf account, a fellow New Zealand native. Until then, she uses it as great background fodder during her treadmill workouts.
The video Ko mentioned features both Bryan brothers and Horvat competing from the same set of tees that players played from during the 2017 U.S. Open. It’s treated as a revenge game of sorts for Wesley Bryan, who actually competed in that Open and finished second-to-last at 15 over par. What they found in 2024 was a slightly easier test, in part because the wind was down, and an Erin Hills without wind can be a refreshingly scoreable track. Brooks Koepka proved that with his 16-under winning tally.
Ko said the video mostly just helped her get a sense of the property, a sprawling plot of country land with rolling hills of fescue, carved out via the last glaciers that covered Wisconsin thousands of years ago. She’s smart enough to know that the way Erin Hills played during the men’s Open in 2017 will be very different than this week, but she likes how it doesn’t feel scripted for any one type of player.
