Ko onside with all Kiwis now | John McBeth

It's not so long ago that the brilliant young New Zealand golfer Lydia Ko was under fire for accepting financial assistance from High Performance Sport NZ. It was funding which had been applied for by Golf NZ when Ko was still an amateur and based on the knowledge she'd be an Olympic medal prospect.

But the green-eyed negative brigade which thrives in this country pounced when it became news a year ago. They demanded that, because Ko was now earning prize-money, she should not accept any financial assistance. Of course these critics didn't stop to consider that probably the majority of our leading sportspeople, who were accepting the same sort of assistance, could have been placed in the same category back then.

The criticism she faced might have forced Ko to turn her back on this country and not bother to return for any tournaments or promotional engagements, much along the lines of what Danny Lee has done. But she's better than that. Lydia Ko has ensured she'll continue to be hugely popular here through her decision to return for this week's New Zealand Women's Open in Christchurch rather than opt for the much richer and more prestigious LPGA tournament in Thailand.

While it's probably an ideal time for her to be back in New Zealand to relax slightly after winning the Australian Open, Ko misses the chance to earn a substantial amount of money and collect more world ranking points.

Her choice indicates that life is not purely about money for this sensational youngster. She was justified in being granted funding by HPSNZ and all those who slammed her for that a year ago must surely have reconsidered their attitude through her latest decision.

Ko has hinted though that we might not see her here in the future and that's understandable. Professional golf exists overseas and that's where our top players earn their living. Lydia Ko has made a big effort to be here and play in front of her many fans. We're fortunate she's done so in what is possibly a way of her saying 'thank you New Zealand'.

ENDS

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