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LPGA KEB HANABANK CHAMPIONSHIP

October 17, 2015

Lydia Ko

Incheon, South Korea

Q. You pulled a tee shot on 13 in the left rough and recovered, and of course the double. 16, I assume it was pretty close to the hazard. So not your best ball-striking, but you're still at the top of the leaderboard. Are you at the point now where you think you can win even when you don't strike it well?
LYDIA KO: I thought I hit the ball pretty good until the shot on 11, pushed it on 12. I think that the 11th hole was a turning point where I started not hitting the ball very good. On the front nine, I thought I put myself in good position.

16, I thought I hit it really good and I looked up and I was hitting it left. I think because I like to play a draw, and when I hit it really solid, sometimes I kind of overcook it a little bit. And with the draw -- when I hit it just a little bit more left, but I came up with a par.

I thought it was an okay ball-striking day. You know, it wasn't fantastic, but it was still playable. I think that when you do hit those missed shots, you kind of have to pray to get a good lie in the rough or get a little fortunate.

But I think the winner tomorrow will probably be holing a lot of putts. I think putting is the most important thing. You may miss the fairway, but to putt yourself in good position and hole out the birdie or a good par save, I think that's the crucial thing about being in that winner's circle.

Q. You won in San Francisco where for 54 holes, you hit it okay, you didn't really flush it. And then I come back on that back nine and really charged away. Here, you've had -- you hit it okay, hit it pretty good in spots but you've had a couple of miscues. Are you to the point now where you feel like, yeah, I don't have to be perfect.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think it's -- you might not even get one day out of the 365 days in a year where you hit it perfect. I think -- I always say, I love golf, because there is no perfect. Like yesterday, I shot 7-under, and I felt like I could have done 10-under.

New Zealand Open, I think I had my career low ^ and I felt like I could have shot 59. I think that's the cool thing about it.

But most close to being perfect for me was probably the last day in Evian. But I don't know if there will ever be that perfect day where I'll be striking the ball great, because if I think about it, if you're hitting it perfect, it should be going in the hole every single time (laughing) going in the hole every single time, going in the fairway every single time.

Unless I do that, I think I'll never say, hey, I had a perfect round today. I think you can always be close to perfect but perfect, it's hard. It's like you have to be 101 percent.

Q. So at your level, I don't think you will be very conscious or nervous about your competitors, but you are going to be playing with a lot of long hitters, which means that sometimes you'll be hitting the first or second shot. Is there any particular concern going in with long hitters?
LYDIA KO: I was paired with Lexi today and she is one of the longest hitters on our tour. Yeah, I've just got to go with it. I am 20 yards, maybe a little bit more behind them but I know that I can't hit it 275 unless it's straight downwind. I just have to play with what I have, what distance I can hit. In some ways, who knows, tomorrow I might be feeling a little bit more tight to try and get near them but I've just got to relax and just play my game.

Yeah, they are going to be -- I don't know who exactly my pairing is. I know I'm going to be paired up with Sung Hyun Park, and I heard she's maybe even longer than Lexi. I'll expect to be hitting first off every second shot and with that mind-set, I think it will be much easier.

Even like the fifth hole, the par 5, it's a dogleg-left. I can't carry the bunkers, but so Lexi was way ahead of me. Maybe close to 100 yards ahead of me. But those are the things that I've just got to play my game and just concentrate on one shot at a time and just not think about what the other girls are doing.

Q. If you were to win tomorrow, would the win be any more special because it's in Korea?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think it will be a very special moment. There's still a long day ahead of me. But if I am holding the trophy at the end of the week. It will be very special; to win at your birthplace, it's hard to do. To be able to win in front of the Korean fans and my family and relatives who have flown over from Jeju Island, I think it will be a very special moment.

So I think that's why tomorrow, I think I'm going to try and enjoy it more. But also, be focused at the same time because I feel like in a way, the win will only mean -- it will be a huge factor to me and I think it will be a very special moment for my family, too.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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