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CANADIAN PACIFIC WOMEN'S OPEN

August 23, 2015

Lydia Ko

Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada

MATT HAAS: Happy to be joined in the media center by Lydia Ko, three-time CP Women's Open champion. How does it feel?

LYDIA KO: It feels amazing. It's great to come back to Vancouver and play well in front of such big crowds. I had an amazing week. I didn't know that in 2012, I might be coming back here in a couple years, and then winning here again. So many great memories here and hopefully we'll be able to come back here.

MATT HAAS: Had to go to a playoff to get it done. What was going through your mind in the playoff? Obviously you had to have a pretty good 2-putt to even make it there.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, unfortunately Stacy missed the fairway. I said, hey, you've just got to concentrate on your game, just one shot a time, and that's what I tried to do. I said, I don't want to get too aggressive to that pin but maybe it was a little bit too safe and maybe wasn't the best shot going in.

I made a really good first putt on my normal 72nd hole, and made a good putt on the first playoff hole. If the put was any longer for my second one, I would have been really nervous.

MATT HAAS: How would you assess your play in the 18 holes leading up to the playoff? How would you say you played during your fourth round.

LYDIA KO: I only made one birdie today. So that kind of says it all. But I missed a couple greens and then, you know, most of them I got up-and-down, apart from No. 9. I'm really happy that when it really counted, I was able to make those putts.

It would have been great if I was coming down the 18th with like a four-shot lead like I did in 2012. But it is what it is. Stacy played amazing today; to shoot 67 under those conditions. But no, it's a lot of fun.

Q. How much different is it walking down that 72nd hole being tied for the lead versus where you are at a couple years ago when you were four strokes up. How is it different for you?
LYDIA KO: It's really different. But I think I was more nervous then. I was really, really nervous thinking, hey, I should not hit the left tree or the right tree or go in the rough. Like this time, I just thought, one shot a time and that's all I can really do. My first putt, the distance control was good, so it wasn't a long second putt for par.

Q. You've won this event twice before. How much different is it this time when you can actually cash the paycheck?
LYDIA KO: You know, really the check is the last thing I'm thinking about. It's great to be back in the winner's circle, and to play good golf in front of great crowds was really one of the highlights of this week. I kind of feel like somewhat Canadian. But the CP Canadian Women's Open is such a great event, with the top players playing here, so, you know, every year, I have fun.

Q. If you're Canadian, how do you feel about hockey?
LYDIA KO: You know, in New Zealand, I don't think we have ice hockey. We have field hockey. So I don't really know much about it, but I sometimes see it on TV.

Q. Seriously, you had it in cruise control all week. It seems until you got to nine, kind of made an unforced bogey. I just wonder if you can walk us through what you went through there and then just how you battled on the back nine when clearly you didn't have your best stuff but you were still able to grind out pars?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I didn't have that many birdie opportunities. Maybe the one on 17 and the one on 15 was really the two best opportunities I had in the back nine. I think maybe that stupid bogey on 9 kind of rattled me a little bit because my second shot, I was only coming in with a sand wedge.

At that time, you don't think of bogey. That's the last thing you're thinking about. But I missed the green a couple times, and holed a couple good putts. You know, chipped it where I didn't put too much stress on myself. I just tried to concentrate on my game. I knew that the other girls were making birdies and I wasn't, so that was kind of the hard point. But you know, I just tried to concentrate on what I could do, and ended up being okay.

MATT HAAS: When you look at a leaderboard like that and see a bunch of other players making birdies while you're kind of making pars and struggling to make birdies on your own, how do you approach that situation on the course.

LYDIA KO: I felt like 10 was a birdieable hole. I birdied it the first day where it was the only day where I really couldn't get on the green for two. But I just kind of missed the fairway and then, you know, just couldn't take advantage of the holes that I could birdie.

So I just tried to say, one shot at a time, and just concentrate on what was ahead of me. I knew that there are some tough holes out there but then, you know, there are always birdie opportunities coming.

Q. 2012 was obviously such an exciting point in your life. Could you just compare this win versus that win, where you are in your life now, where you are as a golfer versus where you were in 2012?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, I really didn't expect to win in 2012. I came off one of the most memorable weeks, winning the US Women's Amateur two weeks before. Coming into this week -- well, coming into that week, my goal was to make the cut and go from there. But I had two really solid rounds. I shot even par on the third day and then played really well on the last day.

I don't think I kind of knew what was really going on. I knew that I had won an event, but I didn't really know how big it was. But when I look back, it was such an amazing week. It's my first ever LPGA win. The first one is the most memorable. And to come back here again and do it in front of similar crowds who are cheering for you, it's amazing. This has been an unbelievable week.

Q. When you were scrambling for so many pars, did the memories come back to you of how the greens went, how the putts broke? You had some incredibly tough, longer putts that you got very, very close to the hole.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, I think most of the pin positions were different to the final day pin from 2012. The 18th hole, I think was a similar pin, and that -- I remember hitting driver, hybrid over the green and then chipping it and then 2-putting for bogey.

But it was much different this year. I was hitting driver, 8-iron, so it was definitely easier I guess when you're coming in with a shorter iron. But I guess a little bit more of memories. I don't remember then -- I don't know how I shot 5- or 6-under that day. I think I just concentrated on my game. I had fun out there. I thought it was such an amazing experience to play alongside Stacy and Jiyai.

I was just enjoying it, so maybe today was just a little bit more stressful because I knew that I was leading and that I could kind of get this done. I think that put a little bit of pressure on me. But I holed some really good putts, so that kind of gave me a little bit more comfort to say, hey, you can still do this.

Q. From the time you won your first championship here, how has this changed not just your life but the life of your family, as well?
LYDIA KO: That's a really hard question. I mean, I think winning in 2012, it kind of put me more out on the golfing world. I could see by this week, because there were a lot of people following our group. But this has definitely changed my life. The starting point, and the first time, really one of the most memorable. It is hard to get that first time. Obviously it's hard to win, win, win, but that starting point is really the hardest point I think.

But I don't know, I don't know how much of an influence I've put on my family. But I'm glad that I can spend this win with them because my sister and my parents are here this time. We are just going to have fun. But hopefully they are happy about it. But I'm not really sure on how much of an impact I've caused.

MATT HAAS: Congratulations again on your third title.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, and I just want to thank everyone here. We've had this Louise Suggs pin on our hats or on our shirts this week. I really want to kind of pay a tribute to Louise for what she's done for the women's game. I think her luck stayed with me this week, so thank you, Louise.

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