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June 11, 2015
HARRISON, NEW YORK
Q. Can you sum up your day for us? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I was hitting the ball pretty good earlier this week. Today I just really wasn't doing that. Straight off the first tee, I hit it in the left bunker. I was kind of middle of the tee times and I saw nobody had hit in the bunker. Yeah, it kind of shows it was a wayward shot. I hit it down and I got a penalty because my ball moved, too, on the green.
Q. Where was that? LYDIA KO: On like 4 or something. The ball kind of moved. That's the second time this year. I obviously don't love that rule but it's there for a reason. When you kind of don't do anything and you're trying to putt for birdie and you end up trying to putt for par, and that putt just didn't drop.
Q. How long was that? LYDIA KO: About a 15-footer. I was back left kind of pin-high but there was a little slope there.
Q. You had a nice up-and-down on 1 and then actually -- well, was it 4 when you were in the rough, you had a nice pitch, was that the one where you had the penalty? LYDIA KO: No, it was -- sorry, it was like 13.
Q. That was a nice up-and-down there, too. So you were holding things together? LYDIA KO: I was putting really well on the first hole and made a good, solid 9-footer for par. Next hole, made a good 12-footer for birdie. Next hole, made like a 10-footer for par. Next hole I 3-putted. But yeah, I was making some crucial putts and if they didn't go in, I know my score would have been much worse than what I have right now. I think 1-under is a pretty good start to the week. The scores are not going to be crazy low. It's not really set up for that. So I think I'm in a good position.
Q. At one point just a little while ago, there were 14 players at minus three. Is it a hard course to separate from? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think so. The only real advantages that you need to grab are the par 5s I think and a couple that are reachable for two, you just have to hit a good drive and then come off with birdie. When you make par, even though you're not losing a score, you kind of feel like you're losing a shot. Yeah, it's tough. You just miss the fairway and you've got thick, sticky rough. And the greens aren't easy, either. You kind of hit it on the green but you've got like a 50-footer, might as well just hit a bump-and-run up the hill. Positioning is really important. Because the weather is so nice, I think it's going to dry out the greens, so I think it's only going to get firmer like here.
Q. U.S. Open-like? LYDIA KO: Yeah, this course, like I said yesterday, there's nothing about it I would say it's not a major. It's got great facilities, great hospitality, and the course itself is playing tough. You can lose shots in the blink of an eye and you can grab some along the way. Yeah, I think KPMG and all the staff has done an awesome job. I'm excited for the next couple days.
Q. Can you tell yourself -- do you have to think of things differently because it is a major, and like you said, it's going to be hard for everyone to be more patient than normal? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think so. I think patience is really one of the big things. If you're not patient out there, it's going to get to you. You're going to make some silly bogeys or make some good bogeys maybe. Yeah, just keep the mind in a positive state, that's what I tried to do the last two holes coming in. I think that's really important. Just got to know that, hey, there may be some tough holes but then there are some holes that you could recover from.
Q. And how important is it just to finish well like you did on a hard day like today? LYDIA KO: I think it's really important. I personally love courses where you can finish on a par 5. I feel like it makes it very interesting. And especially if the leaders are close, you just never know what the score is going to be like. I love that we are finishing on a par 5, and two birdies in a row, I hit some solid shots. So yeah, just got to take that out tomorrow.
Q. When you finish like that, do you carry momentum into tomorrow or is that another day? LYDIA KO: I'm hoping it does. But morning tee time and then you've got quite a long time after you finish until tomorrow's afternoon tee time. But every day the course plays a little different. So I'm hoping that I can kind of get my game a little tidier this afternoon and be confident for tomorrow.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
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