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ANA INSPIRATION

April 2, 2015

Lydia Ko

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA

THE MODERATOR: We welcome in Rolex Rankings No. 1, Lydia Ko into the interview room. Lydia, you wanted to keep things exciting today for us, huh?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, very exciting. Not only do I keep it going pretty steady, make a couple birdies or make a bogey or so along the way, but I decided to have both today, quite a few of them. But lucky I had more birdies than bogeys.

Q. So you had a birdie on No. 8, your second to last hole to go to 1-under to extend your streak to 29. You tie Annika's record now, her record since 1992. You said you were thinking about it. It was in the back of your head. What was going through your mind on those last few holes?
LYDIA KO: Today I was so busy trying to make up-and-downs, or trying to make a good two-putt or make some birdies, because I really wasn't hitting my driver well, and here the rough can get pretty thick. When you're in that position a record was the last thing I was thinking about. But, yeah, Lexi and I made two really good birdies on 8, and I got back to under par.

Q. What was the turning point in the round? Because your front nine didn't look too good on the scorecard. Was there a turning point where you said let's get it together and turn this thing around?
LYDIA KO: I think probably on my first hole which was my 10th, I read a little note that David gave me prior to my round, and I just went back. Just put myself back another step and just said this is a whole new nine. There are some birdie opportunities there, so I just try to keep it simple but it wasn't as simple as I would have liked.

Q. What were your expectations for your second shot on 7?
LYDIA KO: It was a pretty nasty place to be, but I had my driver and I said, well, I hope I can hit it between -- there were two gaps. I said I hope I at least have one that I can go through. I said I'm going to try to hit the biggest hook I could, and it would have probably looked really bad, that swing on camera, but it ended up being okay. That pin was a tough one. Lexi and I were saying it could easily be a final-day pin.

Q. Where does that rank in terms of shots you've hit in terms of degree of difficulty?
LYDIA KO: That was probably one of the most difficult ones because I had to hit it low enough and had to hit a slinging hook, so I didn't end up in the bunker so ended up being pretty good, and I just missed my birdie. But I said, no, to see where I was with my drive for par was pretty good, yeah.

Q. What was the lie?
LYDIA KO: The lie was okay. Obviously, because that side the spectators were walking there on the grass, so it was going towards the green. Yeah, definitely I wouldn't have expected my ball to end up where people were walking.

Q. Bengie seemed to have you in stitches the last three holes. What was he saying and what were you laughing so much about?
LYDIA KO: It's pretty bad because we're like, okay, we should hole some putts. So Lexi and I were like, okay, I think it's time for them to go in. So on 6 I had a down hill putt, but I said, okay, let's put it on a good line, and I hit it, and automatically I knew it was nowhere near the hole. So it was kind of like a stupid oops laugh. No, we both hit it good on 8, so we were like, okay, we've got this. We can make a good birdie out of here. It's fun. She's a fun player to play with.

THE MODERATOR: So it was a little bit of a team effort there towards the end?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think so. We had to push it out of there. It was too long of a par streak.

Q. At the start of your round the conditions were pretty tough out there for the first five, six holes for you or the entire front nine with the wind? How tough was it?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you'd normally expect the wind gets up in the afternoon, but no, the wind was pretty strong at the first couple holes. It made it definitely tough, but, like you said, on 11 it was kind of downwind, so that means we can hit it a little closer. So there are advantages and disadvantages, but it's going to be like that. It can get breezy and then calm down and get up again. So I wouldn't say it was unlucky that we got there.

Q. That was the question. Did you feel you got a little unlucky with that tee time in that wind?
LYDIA KO: No, not really. I mean, a lot of us played in that. You never know what the weather is going to be like. You never know if that's going to happen tomorrow. We might get the winds. I mean, you can't say much about it. It can just get windy quick here, so it can have a quick turnaround also.

Q. You said you were so focused on your round you weren't thinking of Annika's record. When you hit that great tee shot on 8, did you allow yourself to think about it then?
LYDIA KO: No, not really. I thought, okay, it's a birdie opportunity. It felt like a long time since I made a birdie. So, no, I was just excited that I hit a good shot in there. It was a tap-in. Didn't have to overly think about it. So, yeah, the record really wasn't in my head. I guess, post round, now that you guys are asking. Here it is. But, no, not when I was playing. But I think because I was spraying it a little bit, it made me think less about the records and the after results.

Q. Could you go through a couple shots on the front 9? The par-3 where you made the birdie, the wind was probably the strongest there. And then you watched Lexi hit the water there to birdie that hole. What were you thinking there?
THE MODERATOR: On the hole that Lexi went in the water.

LYDIA KO: I know. It was pretty strong. I was only playing about 5 yards when I was playing the other direction. So, you know, when it was into, I had to play like 12 yards. So I went up a club and a half. Obviously, it's not great when the opponent or the person that goes in front puts it in the water. I tried to be confident. I had a good shot in there and made a good putt, so, yeah. I think that's one of the easier pin positions on that green, so I tried to grab the opportunity.

Q. Then on the next hole there you were in the lip of the trap, and you didn't have any chance there?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I didn't really have a chance. I was only half a foot from the lip. I actually had that last year too. I hit it in there and said get a good lie. But it's not the same lie as I did last year. So nothing really has improved in there. So being on that left side is not that great. I had to hit a 6-iron for my third shot. So definitely needed to hit a lot of fairways on this course.

Q. The last one on 18 where you kind of made a mess of that, were you pretty happy to get out of there with a bogey?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I hit my iron good, but it just took a flatter lie from the rough and ended up being nowhere near the pin. Yeah, no, I would have never thought I would hit the tree that was like 3 yards away right on my target. So, yeah, that wasn't good. But holed a good putt, so maybe that was the turning point. You never really want to have a 7 on the scorecard nor a 6.

Q. How well do you know Annika? And what does it mean to share a record with a Hall of Famer like that?
LYDIA KO: Obviously, I've talked to her a couple of times. I would love to play with her one day. That would be really cool. Just growing up I read some of her books and some of the videos we saw. Yeah, I mean, she's legendary, and everybody pretty much looked up to her. Even on the LPGA I said Annika has 59, so hopefully I'll be near that 59 once. But, yeah, I would love to spend some more time with her, but I've only really kind of said hello during these tournaments. She says so many nice things about me. When I got picked for the Time's 100 Most Influential People she's the one that wrote a little bio about me. So, yeah, it's really awesome that somebody like her is speaking about me good or bad.

Q. You said you didn't think about the record throughout the round. Did it enter your mind at all even on your last hole as you're standing over that birdie putt?
LYDIA KO: No, not at all. I was just focused on trying to make a good putt. I left it so short that Jason said did I leave the putter cover on there? Yeah, that was one of his better jokes (laughing). But, I was just focused on let's try to make a good putt. But I've been putting it pretty solid today and hitting it on my line. But, obviously, I would have loved for a couple more to drop. But then they dropped early in the first couple holes, and I think that was what -- how I survived to shoot 1-under today.

Q. Lydia, did you at all chuckle to yourself on 7 when after hitting all of these accidental hooks you're faced with having to try to hit a really wicked hook to salvage the hole?
LYDIA KO: No, not really. I said this is going to be like a 90-degree hook. I had two gaps, and the gap on the left, that means I could go directly at it. But the trees were hanging a little lower. I mean, they were loose, so it could possibly go through. But I knew that I think I'd be better off trying to create a shot rather than expect it to go straight out of there. So definitely don't want to be there the next couple of days.

THE MODERATOR: I know your round by your standards was maybe a little frustrating. But 1-under still kind of towards the top of the leaderboard. Are you surprised that 1-under is still a good score today?

LYDIA KO: I think the pin positions were really tough today. Some were like those Sunday pin positions, so a lot, it wasn't overly aggressive. But like I said, if you missed a fairway, it's really tough. You need a very strong impact to get out and be towards the pin. So, you've just got to be really accurate. With the wind we had the first nine holes, I think that just made it tough, but you never know what's going to happen. Still, three more days for the morning field, and four, really, for the afternoon, so we've got a lot of golf to play.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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