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Fun-damental truth: Looser Ko opens with 66

TURNBERRY, Scotland – Lydia Ko’s laugh is an engaging burst of hearty delight.

It’s a really good laugh.

It sounds like it springs from such a sweet reservoir of spirit.

Her swing coach, David Leadbetter, loves hearing it, because he knows there’s a certain joy that is really the essence of her game. Yes, there is undoubtedly a dutiful component in Ko’s game, the good daughter wanting to please highly committed parents, a common dynamic in the culture of not just elite South Korean-born players, but elite Americans as well. But it’s the sheer joy of playing well that fuels her epic runs.