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KINGSMILL CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY JTBCMay 13, 2015Lydia KoWILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome world No. 1 Lydia Ko into the interview room. Lydia, welcome. First question is: Your greens in regulation are up a good amount this year. Best on tour.  You have you said you've been fighting your putting a little bit in your two non‑top‑10 finishes. You putted great in San Francisco. Is this something that comes and goes for you you feel like? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think my main goal was to increase my greens in regulation, so that's been going well so far this season. Hopefully I can continue that. Yeah, you know, my other one is just to get more consistent with the putting. I still feel like I left a couple putts out there in San Francisco. I holed a lot of crucial, important putts. At the end of the day you can't make them all, but the important ones along the way was the key. I couldn't do that at all in Dallas, and I didn't do that in Palm Springs either. The greens are great here, so hopefully I'll be able to put a good stroke on it and make a couple more. THE MODERATOR: You mentioned you wanted to be consistent. Is there something specifically you work on to do that? LYDIA KO: My distance control, it was a little off the first couple days. In Dallas I was leaving them short and it was kind of the right read, but when you leave it short it's never going in. The last day, because I left it short all week, I kind of ran them by. That doesn't go in either. Yeah, just to get the green speeds more consistent is I think one of the big things I'm trying to work on, and I'll still have to work on for a while. THE MODERATOR: Previously you mentioned ANA. You had, for you, what is kind of a subpar week there. You bounced back and won the next week. What do you do when you go home to recalibrate and get your game back that quickly? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I took I think two weeks off. That first week I really didn't do much. Did a couple sponsor things, and then the next week was trying to get back into practice, get back into the game. We worked a lot on trying to get my swing a little bit more consistent. I wasn't hitting the ball great at ANA, so we tried to work on that. I was hitting it solid in San Francisco. I was doing that in Dallas, too, apart from going up the tree. Yeah, I think always when you're putting yourself in good positions that's going to give you confidence. If you hit 17 greens and make three putts, you're still couple under par. Just got to work my way around it and just got to be confident in the areas. THE MODERATOR: So you returned to Kingsmill. Obviously last year was your first year; top 5 finish. What's the key to playing well? LYDIA KO: I think the great thing about this course is that it doesn't particularly suit one type of player. It's got some good wedge like short iron holes and then you got some hybrid holes. Yeah, you know, I think, like I said before, the greens are great here. There are a lot of subtle slopes, so that makes them really hard to read with some of the grain. I think just the whole atmosphere is great. Obviously rained a couple days ago, but the course is drying out. Yeah, I think it's going to be fun. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. What about this course suits your game, do you think? LYDIA KO: I don't know. Honestly, a lot of things. I think a big part of playing well on this course is holing some good putts. There are some birdie opportunities out there, but there are some really tough holes where you're hitting long clubs and you might have a 60 or more, those kind of long‑range putts where it's crucial to make a two‑putt. Yeah, I don't really know what particularly suits my game to this course, but last year I really had lots of fun here. I remember there was a little delay, suspension, but other than that I had so much fun. Yeah, it's a great course, and the course is in good condition. It's always good to come back to a course where you know you're going to enjoy it and the person that makes a lot of putts will be the winner at the end of the week. I mean, that happens every week, but... THE MODERATOR: It's true. Q. A lot of young players have come out and done very well on the LPGA Tour at the start of their career. You now have won multiple tournaments several years in a row. What has been the key for you in sustaining your early success? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I mean, I would've never imagined myself to be here in this position couple years ago. It had always been my dream to play on the LPGA. Yeah, you know, it's just been a lot of fun. It's my second year and it's still a learning process, and I think it'll still be that for the next couple years. The cool thing about me was that I had role models like Lexi and Michelle and Morgan who had won at a young age too and I could kind of learn from them. Now there is Brooke, the 17 year old they're talking about right now. She's playing great, too. I think it's just great. Golf is a cool thing where doesn't matter how old you are. You can go from 17 to 50. It's a sport where you can play for a long time. Q. You mentioned Brooke. She has been very open in saying she wants to get to where you are. She's been very close to winning but hasn't broken through yet. What advice to you offer to younger players who are right there on the verge but just haven't quite got own there yet? LYDIA KO: Yeah, she's played so good I'm pretty sure that time is going to come really soon. She's too good for it not to happen. Yeah, she still keeps playing well.  What was really impressive was after San Francisco, long four days in contention, then she sleeps overnight at an airport and plays a Monday qualifier and gets in and all that. I don't really have advice, especially for her, because she's playing so well. She's a pro and all that. I even just tell myself to go out and have fun, and I think that's really the big key. We're trying to play out here, for me at least, ten years plus. When you're not having fun it's kind of not worth it to spend so much time on one sport. THE MODERATOR: A wise veteran at 18 years old. LYDIA KO: No. I'm not a rookie but not a veteran. (Laughter.) THE MODERATOR: Final question for me: 51 consecutive cuts made for you now to start your career. We're entering a pretty important stretch of the season here. What motivations you week in and week out from here on out? LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, I'm skipping a tournament before KPMG, so it's coming soon. I guess when you start these majors there is really no stopping until the end of Evian. We have a tournament before KPMG, so there is a lot of the prep time. We got a week off next week, too. Yeah, I think just for me, I just got to work a little bit on my game and also not overdo it. Have some time off to kind of keep the body fresh. It's only one third of the season gone; still two thirds to go. It's going to be a long one, so just for me to do the practice that I need to work on, but just never overdo it. Q. You mentioned you learned from Lexi and Morgan as a young player. Anything exactly you learned you can put your finger on? LYDIA KO: Everybody is really all different. To me, I think the big thing was they hit the spotlight at such a young age. Obviously there is the athlete Lydia, but then there is something outside. You never know what they're just watching through the TV. I think the big thing was they always had such great balance, the balance of playing out here, playing these Pro‑Ams, practice, and I'm still trying to balance everything out. I think balance is key. Like I said before, because we're playing for a long time. I mean, they're so awesome, all these girls. There's so nice and so cool to be around. I was doing the LPGA commercial yesterday with Morgan. I met her first time in 2012 and I was like, Oh, my God it's Morgan Pressel. I still feel that way, but it's so awesome that I'm still out here with them and we're all still trying to play the best at the end of the week. Q. Having won multiple times, do you have a feeling that this is a tournament that even starts that that's going to be a week that something good happens? LYDIA KO: No, not really. I don't really get early feelings. Sometimes when you're near or in contention or on the last day you hit a bad shot but it bounces back on the fairway or goes in for eagle, that is kind of like a little sign, Oh, maybe it's going to be your way. But I don't get early feelings like, Oh, this is my week. Q. What about being No. 1? Is there extra pressure there? LYDIA KO: I guess there is. There are expectations. Because you are No. 1 people expect you to win every single week or be top 5 every single week. That's not really it. We're out here, and I guess the more consistent you play the more you can be more close in rankings. Obviously there is a little bit more pressure but I'm trying to not think about the rankings because it really comes after the result of the tournaments. Q. What is it about your sport, the essence and nature of it, that makes it possible for, as you said, someone to come out and win at this level whether they're 16 or 17 or in their 50s? That's unlike anything else. Why is that possible in this game? LYDIA KO: I don't know. I mean, I guess when you're in your 30s, 40s, 50s, it's not like it's only been five years since you started. When you're in your late 20s you kind of have come out of college and you're starting on tour and all that. But, yeah, I don't know. It's just a really cool thing about it. When you see legends and Hall of Famers like Juli playing and she's shooting 5‑, 6‑under, it's so awesome. I don't know if I would be able to do that at her age. That's why age is really a number. It's so cool to be out here with her. Yeah, I mean, Juli is pretty special, pretty legendary, awesome. Yeah, it's just really cool. I can just see in the men's too where you have Jordan Spieth winning one week and Rickie Fowler last week. Yeah, so it's just all so different. I don't know the reasons why, but that's the cool thing about it.  Kind of feel like the earlier start the better, but just because you're starting in your 20s doesn't mean it's ever too late. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions for Lydia? Q. Just pigging backing on Victoria's question, it seems there is a reverence among the younger players for the older players. I heard it in your remarks about Juli and Morgan. LYDIA KO: Yeah, people like Juli really made this tour what it is. I think without players like her, like Annika, Lorena, Juli, those girls, I don't think it would be as popular as we are right now. The LPGA is growing. When you even see the girls' golf, the future stars, it's just really cool. I think they have opened up a lot of opportunities for the rookies and for us that are just starting the tour. Yeah, it's so awesome. To me, the really cool part was I was seeing them on magazines and TVs and, now I'm getting paired up with them. That's so awesome and really a big dream come true. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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