Lydia Ko's Scottish caddie on why he wasn't about to let himself be an 'idiot'
Aberdonian Paul Cormack completes dream AIG Women’s Open double as a caddie
Paul Cormack reckons he’d have been an “idiot” to turn down the chance to be Lydia Ko’s caddie and, though the New Zealander may have had one of the worst rounds of her career in their first week working together, he’s certainly been proved right.
Since they teamed up almost exactly a year ago, Ko has returned to winning ways on the LPGA Tour after a 14-month drought, completed a full set of Olympic medals by claiming gold in Paris and, following her victory in the AIG Women’s Open at St Andrews on Sunday, is also now a major winner again.
In her press conference after recording a two-shot success in the event’s third staging on the Old Course, Ko heaped praise on Aberdonian Cormack for helping her through “always having a positive outlook on things” and also talked about how his “experience of growing up playing golf in Scotland” had been a factor in why she’s now a three-time major champion.
She also joked about how Cormack is “one up on me”, referring to the fact he was on Swede Anna Nordqvist’s bag as well when she landed the same prize on the other side of the Tay Estuary at Carnoustie in 2021. “It’s not a bad two to get,” he said, smiling, just before Ko was presented with her trophy in the game’s cradle on Sunday.
“I got asked straight after the Olympics to put what she achieved there into words and I don’t think I will ever be able to put that and now this into words,” added Cormack. “And, for me, this being so close to home is pretty cool.
“When we turned up in Paris, the aim there was to obviously win the gold medal to finish the set and also the win to get into the LPGA Hall of Fame. But she was so relaxed that week and it was the same both last week (in the ISPS Handa Women’s Scottish Open at Dundonald Links) and also this week.”
In two key moments in the final round, Ko hit driver-driver to set up a birdie at the par-5 14th before safely finding the green with her approach with a fairway wood at the treacheous 17th despite hitting that shot when it just started to pour with rain. “She does it all the time – that’s like standard for her,” said Cormack of the former before adding of the latter: “That was unbelievable, but that’s what she is capable of.”
Cormack played professional golf himself for a spell after earning an All-American accolade in 2004 during his time at McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas. He’s now based in St Petersburg in Florida and quipped that he was “looking forward to getting back there after having my rain gear on for the last two weeks” on this particular trip back home.
Now an American citizen after being based in the US since 2007, Cormack admitted that he’d initially been reluctant to become a caddie. Speaking as world No 1 Nelly Korda offered her congratulations as the joint-runner up on Sunday walked past him, the 40-year-old said: “I stopped playing myself in 2016 and I was a member at Bay Hill.
"Maria Hjorth’s husband, Shaun McBride, asked me what I was going to do and I said I had no idea. He was like, ‘why don’t you take up caddying as you’d be good at it’. I remember thinking ‘it sounds awful (laughing)’ but I enjoy it. It keeps me in the game and it was probably my easiest route to get from playing back into being involved in that same sort of competitive environment.”
Did he have to think twice after being offered the chance to link up with Korda? “No, not really,” he said, smiling. “I was working for Kevin Chappel on the PGA Tour and he was maybe only going to play two or three events in the fall. Lydia called and asked if I would start working for her after Walton Heath (venue for the 2023 AIG Women’s Open) last year. It was a no-brainer and I started with her the following week in Canada. If you turned that down, you’d be an idiot!”
As Ko recalled, she shot 82 in her third round that first week of the new partnership and said of that: “If I was in his shoes, I would not have had as much belief in my player because it's not really a common score for any of us. But he's stuck it out with me. He has really believed in me.”
Reflecting on their journey, Cormack said: “She didn’t play particularly well in Canada and I remember everyone in her camp was a little bit down at the time. I hadn’t paid that much attention to her whole career, but I knew there had been lots while, at the same time, her highs are so high. I didn’t see why that wouldn’t change. It’s not like she’s 37. She was 26 last year when I picked up her bag. She’s got plenty of golf left.
“I don’t think I am any better than any other caddies, but I maybe just instilled a little bit of belief in her. That’s all I’ve ever said to her really. Everybody out here is good enough to win a golf tournament, but it’s difficult if you don’t believe in yourself. When she gets close to the lead, she normally wins.”
Though still only 27, Ko has made no secret of the fact that she doesn’t intend being around forever on the LPGA Tour and, in truth, it will be almost impossible to top what she’s just achieved in a “fairytale” fortnight. “No, not really,” said Cormack, who admitted he’d been thinking once or twice about fellow Scot and good friend Kevin McAlpine, who tragically died last October aged 39, during Sunday’s closing circuit.
“She’s just won a gold medal and another major. I’m sure she’s probably still got a little bit of a desire to play. I don’t know. I just keep getting told when to turn up for work and keep doing that!”
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