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CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPNovember 23, 2014Lydia KoNAPLES, FLORIDA THE MODERATOR: I'd like to welcome in the 2014 CME Group Tour Championship winner and winner of the inaugural CME Race to CME Globe and the $1 million price, Lydia Ko. Lydia, congratulations. (Applause.) LYDIA KO: Thank you. MODERATOR: All week long you said you weren't thinking about the $1 million and weren't really looking at it. When did you first let yourself think about that $1 million prize you're taking home? LYDIA KO: After I first finished my 72nd hole I thought I may be in a position of playing a playoff. Then somebody told me and said, Oh, you got the million. I was like, Oh, really? It wasn't something I was thinking about all day. When I was out there I just set myself and goal, and that's what I tried to reach for. MODERATOR: I remember sitting here a year ago when you cashed your first professional check by playing in this event. You talked about what you were going to buy. Have you thought about what you're going to buy yet with the $1 million? LYDIA KO: No. Everything happened so quickly. I didn't know that I would have those two trophies and that box full of money. But I'll definitely think about it. I'm not going to spend one big thing on the once, that's for sure. THE MODERATOR: I did hear you had a little gift in mind for your mom. What are you going to get your mom? LYDIA KO: That bag that she wanted. She's done so much for me. I said I would get it for her then, but now she'll go, Okay, I'll have it, honey. I'm sure she will be looking forward to that bag. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Do you have any idea how much vodka you can buy with $1 million? LYDIA KO: No, maybe I should get an expensive one or something. Q. Did knowing that you had won the $1 million bonus put you at ease at all going into the playoff? Did you feel like a winner before you got into the playoff? LYDIA KO: Kind of in some ways. I thought I would be much more nervous than I really was. I was nervous, but I wasn't like shaking really bad. I knew I was going up against two awesome players, two tough players. I said, Okay, let's just hit the fairway and put myself in good positions. At the end of the day I won, so it's been amazing. I'm glad that everything is over. I was actually having a countdown for how many holes we had left, and I would've never imagined there would be an extra four or five holes. Q. Last year here I don't think you broke 70 in any of your rounds. What was the biggest difference this year and last year? LYDIA KO: It was really tough this year with the wind. It was windy last year, too, but I think it was windier. It was really confusing, because we were kind of blocked by the trees, and then up there would be doing some different stuff. I don't know. This week I thought I got my putter rolling well. I gave myself opportunities, and I was able to make most of them. When I was putting for par I tried to do the same thing, too. I think there was a little bit of pressure last year being my first tournament also. Q. You've had a lot of significant moments in your life already. Where does this day rank? LYDIA KO: This is a pretty special moment. You know, my dad came on the weekend. He was able to be here. David was here all week, and Sean was here earlier in the week. My agent is here; my mom is here. Pretty much the whole team was here, so this was a special week. It's a week I'll definitely never be able to forget. Q. What do your friends back home who don't play golf think about money like this? Do they give you a hard time about it? LYDIA KO: Sometimes they're like, Oh, my God you're a millionaire and blah, blah, blah. I'm going out there not thinking about it. It is huge money, you know. Even $1000 is huge money. For us, $100 is huge money. So it's getting bigger. But the great thing about my friends is most of them don't play golf. When I'm hanging around with them, we don't talk about golf or the hook I hit on 7 or whatever. So that's what I really love. I kind of feel like I can get off the course, get my mind free, and just be that teenager. MODERATOR: You talked a little bit earlier about what this experience in a playoff kind of helped you. What does that do? You really hadn't been in a playoff before, so what was going through your mind during those holes, and what do you think you'll take out of that experience? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I've been in a playoff when I was an amateur, and I think my first one was when I was like nine or something. We were playing on a par‑3 and I skied my hybrid straight up and it only went like 20 yards. I ended up making a double and that wasn't a great experience. But the other one I one, which is at the Australian Stroke Play. I kind of try to think about this one. 18 is a great playoff hole. It's really tough. All I said was just hit a good drive, a good shot into the green, and just putt that for birdie. It's really not easy. Q. We have a local Naples amateur girl here, Kelly. What advice would you give to her? She's upcoming on the Florida State Amateur. She's embarrassed. I apologize. LYDIA KO: I'm embarrassed to give advice to a girl that's only two years younger than me. One of the things I try and do is just have fun. Doesn't matter if I'm shooting a 70 or 75 or 65, I try and stay in the moment and really have fun and just enjoy every tournament. You really never know what's going to happen at the end of that Sunday. I always say, Just have fun. That's the most important thing. That's a big key, I think, to having a long career. Q. Going back to the playoff when Ciganda hit the shot in there to looked like four or five feet, were you like, Well, it's over? Did you let yourself think that far ahead? LYDIA KO: When I was walking up I kind of noticed‑‑ I thought she hit it to like a foot when I was way back there. I just said, Okay, we've got to give this a good run because she's a great putter and she's going to make it. I left my putt short and I was really disappointed with that. If it ended like that, you know, just ending where you leave it two feet short, that's not where you want to be. But she missed, which came to me as a surprise. From there I said, Okay, this is a new hole, the next one, and that's all I thought about. I really didn't see Carlota's shot for the last hole. I told Jason, Where did it go? Where did it go? Q. After your round today you went to the driving range to obviously work on some shots. Did you work on some shots that you used on 18 to help you win the tournament? LYDIA KO: Well, I hadn't been hitting the ball fantastic or wasn't hitting it that great the last couple days. Lucky David was here and he checked my swing after every round. Today I felt like I hit the ball pretty well. I hit a couple thins, but they ended up being pretty good. I made a birdie from that. People say, Thin to win or whatever. But, no, I felt much more comfortable hitting my long game today. I mean, I didn't really prepare for that shot, but my drive was pretty consistent. So I really had three times the same distance and I really didn't need to pace it off. Just checked the wind. The last one was only when I went down a club. Q. What was it like to play the 18th hole over and over and over and over? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I thought four times was enough. It's a tough one. With the pin position being on the left side behind the bunker it's really tough. Lucky we had the wind into us, you know. Still hitting a hybrid or long iron in there, but it makes it a little easier to stop it. But obviously I like the hole now. I haven't made a bogey there and I made a birdie yesterday there. So, no, it's a fun hole to finish on, and I think it's great for the crowds, too. Q. If you go back to this time a year ago and looked ahead to your rookie season, what do you think would've been a season that you would've been happy with? LYDIA KO: I think just playing consistent. You know, top 10s are really tough. You have to be in good form to be in that position, too. So I just said, Okay, go out there and have fun, have a couple Top 10s, and just really learn more about the tour and what it's like to play on the tour full time. That was just one of my biggest goals. To come off with three wins, it's been an amazing year. Q. (No microphone.) LYDIA KO: Yeah, about that. Q. It may seem absurd to ask you this as good as you are right now, but you are only 17. What do you think you need to do to become an even better golfer, specific parts of your game? LYDIA KO: I think there is no perfection. Even if I shoot a 10‑under, I know I'm going to find a little mistake or a little putt and say, Oh, I wish I had that. I think my game needs work in every area. It's definitely helped. On the day I'm hitting the ball well I wasn't putting it well. So this week my putting really helped, and that's definitely one the biggest things I'm going to work on. Q. You mentioned out there you were looking forward to what was coming up next year. What would that be that you're really shooting for? LYDIA KO: I'm just going to enjoy my off‑season. You know, enjoy a couple weeks off and then really get prepared. This is the season finale, and I'm excited that it's kind of over and I finished on a good note. But next year is a whole new year. Everyone is playing great golf. Everyone is going to be really energized and fresh for next year. It's the same mindset. This has been a great year, but I'm never going to go a step further and have wide shoulders and go, Oh, I won three events and everything. Just never know. Golf is that kind of game that you can shoot one day an then 85 the next. Q. What are you going to do for an encore? THE MODERATOR: An encore, how do you top this year? LYDIA KO: It's going to be tough. Yeah, no, I think I played pretty awesome this year. I've had 14 Top 10s and three wins. It's a year that I would've never thought that I would have. It's a hard year to top off. Just playing consistently is my goal for my whole career, I think. MODERATOR: While there is a lot of impressive stats, the fact that you haven't missed a cut at all in your career playing LPGA events, now take home $1 million prize at 17. Got some pretty impressive stats out there. Congratulations on the beautiful trophies, and a great way to end your Rookie season. The 2014 Rookie of the Year, Lydia Ko. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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