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HSBC WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSMarch 4, 2015Lydia KoSINGAPORE, SINGAPORE MOLLY GALLATIN: You've won two consecutive tournaments in a row and you're taking the golf world by storm. You're the world youngest No. 1 player at 17‑year‑old; has it sunk in yet what you've accomplished so far? LYDIA KO: I don't think so. Just become world No. 1, hearing it, it's pretty exciting stuff. But when I'm out there, I'm not really thinking about it. It's always been my dream and hopefully I can become one of the world's greatest female golfers, and I'm right there. Obviously I have a lot of things to work on still and you know, it's an exciting time. MOLLY GALLATIN: Two straight tournaments, would you say that you're playing your best golf right now? LYDIA KO: I still feel like I've got a little bits to improve. Every course is different, so it's really hard to say, my game is perfect, because every course plays different and coming from the Australian Open going to the New Zealand Open, I was totally confused because the whole setup is different. Here, I guess just more so that I've played well at the New Zealand Open in Clearwater, and I know that I can score well and that give me a lot of confidence going into those weeks. MOLLY GALLATIN: Yesterday we had Michelle Wie in here and she was asked about you, and she said it's not a surprise you're No. 1; that you're the most solid, well rounded golfer out here on Tour and that you have a good head on your shoulders. To you, what is it like to know how well respected you are by your fellow players. LYDIA KO: It's awesome, because they are all my idols and just going back to two, three years ago, I saw them on TV and magazines and I'm like, man, hopefully one day I can come out there and playing alongside them. And Michelle has been one of my idols. And to play alongside her tomorrow, it's exciting. You know, just be able to hang around them, do the fashion show like yesterday, it's really cool. MOLLY GALLATIN: Well, you just mentioned the fashion show and HSBC put on a great fashion show yesterday. How much fun was it for you? I know you blew the crowd a little kiss at the end. LYDIA KO: The whole process of it, I was really nervous, because, I mean, when am I ever going to walk down a runway, first of all. And I didn't do any proper rehearsals; so, okay, I didn't know what strike to pose. So we were in two groups, and I was trying to like practice, and Jessica Korda tried to help me out‑‑ her and fashion is just one thing. But it was fun, and I got more time to talk to the girls. We had some sushi in the middle, and yeah, it was fun. I liked the whole process. Q. You've won in Australia, and New Zealand so far this year. Coming from the Asia‑Pacific region itself, do you find yourself more motivated? Do you want to win in these competitions more? LYDIA KO: Actually I haven't had that many opportunities playing in Asia. The most I've played was really during the Asian Swing last year, and I had so much fun. The crowds are great and just people in Asia, they are so intrigued and they love the LPGA. So yeah, it's always fun when the people there are also excited as much as you are, and I mean, because New Zealand, it's Asia Pacific, I played the Queen Sirikit Cup here a couple years ago. It's always great when you know that it's not home but there's always home support to back you up. Q. You mentioned the Queen Sirikit Cup. I wanted to ask you about that. That was at Tanah Merah, and you were actually beaten there by Kim Hyo‑Joo; what do you recall about that, and can you just tell us your first impressions of Sentosa? LYDIA KO: Yeah, even at that time I had glasses, and the moment I opened the door and went out, my glasses just fogged up straightaway. I was like, man, obviously this is like going to freeze (ph) the whole time. At that time, I really didn't know what to expect of Singapore, but I heard so many great things about it, and you know, I had so much fun. The whole team, we went on the Singapore Choir at night and we got to see the whole view of Singapore, and I found that they were one of the great memories here. Just then, it was good, it's individual and team; so you get you don't great to play that many team events. So it was really cool to compete for New Zealand also. Q. What are your thoughts on Sentosa? Is it the first time you have seen this course? LYDIA KO: No, I came here last year, and obviously the course I played before is definitely different to here. I learn found this course very difficult. You've really got to position yourself well, and the fairways are narrow, but you can get on the wrong side, and might as well, as if you're in the rough. So you need to position yourself well. So I think the drive, having a good tee shot is one of the big keys here. Q. I know that Bob Charles came to watch you a couple years ago in New Zealand. Has he turned up since? LYDIA KO: I actually went and saw him in Christchurch last week. So I got to see Sir Bob. And the Cricket World Cup is going on, so he had that on and we were watching, and New Zealand won that day. It was very exciting. Yeah, I just got to see him and obviously he's legendary in what he's done for the game of golf is amazing, and especially in New Zealand. So I got to see his trophy room. It was really inspiring, his Arnold Palmer Award, Byron Nelson award, all these trophies everything, it was really cool. Q. Did he have any tips for you? LYDIA KO: We kind of just had a conversation. He said, how are you, having fun and everything like that. He said, "Oh, do you have jet sponsor now?" I was like, "No, but I have a jet‑lag drink sponsor." (Laughter) so I had that when I came over. So I think that's definitely helping me with my jet‑lag. Q. I asked this to Inbee. It's International Women's Day on Thursday. Is that important for you? Does the world need an International Women's Day? Does it need an International Men's Day? How do you feel about it? LYDIA KO: I didn't even know there was one. Obviously there are extra days I didn't know. Yeah, I mean, it's great, you can just see by the field here and the tournaments we play and just the LPGA overall, we've got‑‑ it's not only a couple countries. There are so many varieties of countries and so many different types of players. So, yeah, international is great, and we are here at an international event in Singapore. Yeah, I think it should be fun. It's the first day, so it's a good way to kick it off. Q. Going back to yesterday, why did you choose a Korean university, rather than, say, an American one or living in America now? LYDIA KO: Well, first of all, the university is called Korea University. So just that name, Korea; and my background is Korean. Everybody can see that. There's lots of pliers out here on the Tour that have done that route, too. So I thought it's a good way. Yeah, I just wanted to kind of connect with Korea, too, and obviously there are a multiple reasons, and I could have gone to University of New Zealand, and in the States there are so many great universities. But I ended up going to Korea University, and I'm proud to be there, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be a tough journey, study and playing golf at the same time. Q. I was just going ask you, your expectations for this week, are you actually here expecting to win this tournament? LYDIA KO: I have had such a great last two weeks, so obviously there's expectation. You're world No. 1 and a lot of people think you should win every week because you are, but that's really not the case. Hopefully I'm going to keep myself cool. I think that's a big thing here. You can be make good golf and then just the heat gets to you and start making a couple mistakes. I think I'm going to keep myself cool, try and have some fun. I know that there are some birdie opportunities, but there are some really tough holes out there, so try and balance everything out. MOLLY GALLATIN: Thank you, Lydia. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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