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CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIPNovember 17, 2015Lydia KoNaples, Florida THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. We would like to welcome in Rolex Rankings No.1 Lydia Ko and our defending champion here at the CME Group Tour Championship. You come back as defending champion with even a lot more on the line this week, just a few things up for grabs, Player of the Year, the Vare Trophy, money title, million dollars again in a box. How are you feeling coming into this week. LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think Stacy and Inbee was in this kind of situation last year, and I said, oh, man, they must have so much pressure, and you know, I'm just going to go out there and try and have fun. That's what I thought. And now I'm in that situation. But no, I'm just going to try and enjoy it and have the same mindset as last year. I had two weeks off, so you know, I feel fresh coming into this week. But this is the last event of the season, and I can't believe that it's nearly the end of my second year on Tour. Yeah, it's been a really fun season, had a lot of great things happening and things that really surprised me along the way, too. Yeah, you know, even if the season doesn't end the way exactly I want it to, I can't do much about it, and I feel like there's still a lot of positives from this year that I can take. THE MODERATOR: Five victories, I'd say that's a pretty darned good way to have your second season. You did decide to take last week off. You had planned to play in Mexico but then decided to give yourself that extra rest. Do you feel a lot better coming into this week having had that little break? LYDIA KO: Yeah. You know, because last year it ended the most perfect way in my rookie season. In a way some people said, hey, why don't you do the exact same thing as last year, eat at the exact same restaurant or whatever, or stay in the exact same room. But no, I felt like I really enjoyed playing in Mexico last year and I had a lot of fun and it was my first opportunity to meet Lorena, and I was like a fan. I was like, hey, can I please take a photo with you, and I really wanted to do that again this year. But after Asia I was so tired, especially with it being really windy the last two weeks I played. My body was nearly zero on the battery. Even coming back home on Tuesday, I knew that I only have a couple days' turnover to go back to Mexico. I thought maybe I should skip it. THE MODERATOR: With so much on the line, all these different awards, have you thought of what one would mean the most to you if you could walk away with any of these titles? LYDIA KO: Probably Player of the Year, I guess, yeah. Because I definitely didn't expect that coming into this year. One of my big goals was to play a little bit more consistently. Last year it was much better than I would have ever expected. This year is the same. But just coming through this year, I think consistency was really the biggest goal that our team worked around, and to know that you're the player and you've played consistent all year and you've done these points to get here, I think that would definitely mean a lot. But any award or just to know that, hey, I've won five times on Tour and I've had so many top 10s, I think it's great. So that's why I feel like, hey, even if it doesn't exactly go the way I would love it to by the end of Sunday, I think I've just got to be pleased and proud with the way this year has gone. Q. Last year when you came down the stretch, you played 18 like four times in a row, hitting these beautiful hybrids. This is more a part of your game question. It looks to me like you've made those hybrids almost into scoring clubs where you hit them almost as accurately and pinpoint as a lot of people play their short irons. Could you talk about on a course like this how important that is to your overall game and consistency and scoring? LYDIA KO: Yeah, growing up as a‑‑ growing up. I'm still growing. (Laughter.) Way back when I was 12 six years ago, whatever‑‑ no, because I'm not a long hitter and I'm not built, where I'm going to hit it 300 yards or whatever, I think I've never really hit more than a 6‑iron in my bag, so I've always had two, three hybrids in the bag. This year was the first time where I've put in a 5‑iron or took out one hybrid or one wood to counter that. No, because I've never really been a long hitter. I think I've grown up to say that I need to hit these hybrids well. You know, hybrids, I think, in a way are irons. I think they're made so that people‑‑ you don't have to hit 3‑irons and they're going to be much easier to hit than a bladed iron. Q. But you still play it like an iron with a downward strike to the ball and playing them like that? LYDIA KO: Yeah, like technique‑wise, I would think hybrid is more closer to an iron than a wood, because I'd be making a little divot and all that. But just knowing that I've always had two, three hybrids in the bag, I kind of think of them as irons, and I feel lucky that somebody designed these hybrids so they make it a whole lot easier for us. Q. So you are playing really, really well. I'm just wondering how do you manage your time playing golf and doing online college? LYDIA KO: You know, it's tough, but you know, we try and juggle it. I know the professors have been trying to make it easy for me, trying to give all the stuff that I need to read and then to do these assignments. But I feel very fortunate that I've been getting that great support from Korea University. But golf enough is tough, so to juggle both is very tough to do that. But I've always been interested in doing college and kind of expanding my studies because if not, I'm kind of a lazy person where if I don't have something to do, I'd lie down all day, watch TV and get told off by mom and then go eat and then watch TV. It's good to have something that I've got to do, and I think studying psychology is great because I get to learn about myself and get to learn about everybody else. I was always fascinated by it, so yeah, it's really interesting. Q. What's your favorite subject, and how many classes did you take this year? LYDIA KO: Yeah, probably the favorite is probably the main in psychology. We did, I think, four the first semester, so we've kind of just gone into the second semester during the Asia swing. But no, I think my most common interest is probably psychology just itself, because even within psychology there are so many topics, like there's things that I don't even know exactly. I went into my professor's room, and he said he studies about rats. I said, rats and psychology? How do those things go together? There's still so many things I need to learn about and really just being in my first year, I'm doing basic 101 stuff, and still, it's hard. Imagine what it'll be like in three, four years. I might have gray hair by the end of that time. Q. Lydia, do you remember first becoming aware of Inbee Park and kind of what do you remember about that? LYDIA KO: I think in New Zealand, we didn't really have much coverage of golf, so I never really got to see‑‑ obviously I saw her on articles and saw a lot of the top players like Annika and Lorena and Yani, but really when I first got to see them was probably my first LPGA event probably in Australia. I don't think she played that year. But it was probably during the U.S. Open, my U.S. Open where I first probably really heard of her. She just kept playing well and well, and whenever obviously‑‑ because going in as an amateur, one of my big goals was to make the cut and kind of go from there. But there was always this name Inbee Park near the top of the leaderboard. You know, that's what she's been doing not for the last year or so but the last few years. So it shows what kind of player she is. I mean, she's so consistent. I think she's the most consistent player on Tour, and I think her putting is just amazing. She definitely showed that last week, too. Q. And just to follow up, how well have you gotten to know each other, and what's the relationship like? LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, I think because especially the last year‑‑ well, last year and this year, you know, with us being paired quite a bit because of the rankings and all that, I think that's where I've really got to know her a little bit. But she's so nice, you know, on and off the course. I guess‑‑ but I don't have a lot of emotions. I'm not a huge fist pumper or whatever, don't do any crazy dances or anything, apart from on Instagram. So I feel like she's less than me. She's got that perfect poker face, but you know, behind all that very calm face, she's so sweet. Like when I won in Canada, she was one of the first people to send me a text saying congratulations and all that. She's obviously very competitive, but at the same time just a very down‑to‑earth person. Q. You guys have kind of developed that friendship. I saw you congratulated her last week in Mexico. Is it fun where you have a rivalry where you're actually good friends with the person or friendly where you guys can have a little fun with the fact that you seem to be going back and forth at No.1 and back at forth at nearly the top of every leaderboard it seems? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I feel very fortunate that I can be‑‑ there is a competitor where I can always feel very nervous about. I feel very fortunate that when my name kind of got in that big three, I was like, hey, do I deserve to be alongside Stacy and Inbee. So I think those kind of thoughts kind of went around my head. But no, just because they were so nice and so welcoming, that made it a whole lot easier for me, and even though you're going up against each other because you're saying good shot or good putt or congratulations, I think that makes it such a cool thing, and I think that's the great thing about our Tour in general. There's no one that really goes, oh, I hate her and I hate her. No, we're all just, I think, friendly with each other. That makes it really cool. It makes it easy so that even if you're paired with somebody else that you might not have played very often with, you know that, hey, they're a nice person and it's going to be a great day. Q. Is there a tournament within the tournament in many respects this week just with you and Inbee being so close in so many categories? Do you keep an eye on the full field while keeping at least one look on what she specifically is doing? LYDIA KO: I'm going to just try and concentrate on my game, and I think that's what Inbee is going to do, and I think that's what every other player is going to do. The top nine has a chance to win the race, so it necessarily doesn't mean it's going to be Inbee or me or Stacy. It could be somebody else. So you just never know. No, it's not an easy course out there, so every shot really counts. So yeah, you know, it just all depends, but I've just got to concentrate on my game. I know there's obviously a lot of things on the line at the end of Sunday, but no, if I end up thinking about all the things like Player of the Year or Vare Trophy or the race or the tournament, I think it's way too much because when we're out there we're just trying to hit good shots, trying to make a lot of good putts and give ourselves good looks for birdies. Q. You mentioned there have been some surprises this year. What specifically anything good or bad? LYDIA KO: Ocala was pretty surprising. You know, like I don't think I've ever taken that much break from golf. After this tournament here last year, I didn't touch my clubs until January 2nd, so I had a whole month and a little bit off where just no golf, I was eating, going to the mall, watching a movie, and I was just doing that teenager life. And then when I came back, David looked at my swing, and he said, whoa, that doesn't look too good. So even the first week I was doing my pitching practice, and I was shanking maybe one out of 20. Like it was not pretty. It's not something that I would recommend to be on Golf Channel or anything. It wasn't nice. So when you kind of go into your first event after a long break, you don't really know what to expect, especially me coming off with such a great finish. So that was a surprise that I ended up coming second. Also I was surprised with the way I finished the last couple holes. I made like a triple or a double on the 17th. I didn't want to go back in that situation again. But I've always felt like I've come home strong, but it was one of the times where one mistake after another after another, and it wasn't the best experience, but I feel like I learned from that. Yeah, Evian was probably another surprise. I've always dreamt of becoming a major winner, and for Callaway to make me a golden putter and now I have that, and just to win a such a beautiful place, it was definitely a dream come true. I think it was very overwhelming because of you guys, because of so much media attention, and after I've done something, they said, hey, now you've got this record you could possibly break, and if I did break it, they're like, hey, you've got this one now. Everything, I think it put a lot of pressure, even though I tried not to feel it. It just kind of became overwhelming, and that's why there was a couple of tears in my eyes. Q. There was a lot of pressure over the summer. Talk about being the youngest major winner. Talk about chasing Annika's made cuts record. Going through those experiences, how did that sort of help you settle down and maybe take this week not as much of a pressure packed week as it would have been without it? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think the biggest thing that really helped me to get through all those scenarios was having my team right there, continuously telling me, hey, don't think about that record. Just play your own game, have that smile and just go out there. I think that was really the big key. I didn't know I was anywhere near Annika's record going into ANA until somebody told me at Kia or something, and I was like, whoever first started it, it might be Tom Abbott, and I was like, hey, I don't like you for a little bit, especially when the week after is a major, and especially major courses, they are not easy to play, and therefore you'd expect to shoot under par every day, that's tough. But no, I think just having my team there really helped me to just kind of go through it and just kind of block all those lasers that was coming at me with all these records. Q. How comfortable having won here last year and certainly that elevated you, the biggest tournament you had won so far, how comfortable do you feel this year on this golf course knowing that you played well, knowing that you won here last season? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I mean, it's great to come back, and the best part was I pulled out my yardage book from last year, and I had to kind of rip the pages apart because of the champagne, the pages stuck together. So that's not a bad thing to happen. But no, I mean, it's great to come back and you go, hey, I made a putt from here before, or I was there and then I managed to make a good bogey or etcetera. I felt like I made some solid putts coming in, and even if I was in tough conditions, I tried to get myself out of it. Yeah, I think the 18th hole, I didn't know that we teed off from the back tee, but I asked the rules official if we did last year, and they said, yeah, you played it four times. I said, oh, well, there you go. No, I think I was kind of focused on, hey, let's hit a good shot down the fairway and go from there. But definitely when you come back to a course where you've played well at and there's a lot of great memories, it's really cool to come back, especially here where two years ago it was my first event as a professional. Just in general this event, there's a lot of cool things coming into this week. Q. Do you ever actually yourself pull up stats and look to see where you rank in points lists and whatnot, or do you just rely on people like us to tell you where you stand? LYDIA KO: It would be a lie if I said, no, I didn't look it up. But most of the ones I‑‑ I go kind of straight to greens in regulation because somebody along the lines told me that I was leading greens in regulation, and then after coming back from China, I immediately looked because I think I only hit like five greens one day or two days. It was so windy, and I had a tough time getting my distance control that week, so I knew that my numbers would definitely go down, and then I dropped to second, and I thought, oh, what a bummer. Yeah, but greens in regulation was really the key thing that I look at because coming into this week, one of my big goals that we made with David and Sean was, hey, let's try and make the greens in regulation number or percentage higher than last year, and I think it is. It's good to see those kind of results because it shows that the hard work you've put in in the off‑season is kind of slowly working. Q. Do you sneak a peek at Player of the Year and Vare Trophy? LYDIA KO: No, I don't even know how those points systems work to be honest. I heard last week on TV that the winner gets 30 points. I was like, oh, sweet. I didn't know how it all works. Too many numbers, and I'm not very good at mathematics, either. Adding and minus‑‑ as long as we're going up, right, that's a good thing as long as we're adding, no dividing and all that, I'm fine. But no, even if I looked at it, I would have no idea what I need to do or what somebody needs to do, so there's really no point. If it's 33 or 23, it still would just be odd numbers to me. Q. How did a $1.5 million payday change you? Did it at all? What kind of impact did it have? LYDIA KO: I don't know. It did impact my mom because she finally got the purse she wanted. No, I mean, it would have been really cool if we had that million‑dollar box itself. Yeah, that would have been really cool. That's what a lot of people ask me, hey, did you get that box full of cash, and I was like, no. I remember last year they had a security guard for the money, not for us. But yeah, you know, $1.5 million, I know that's a lot of money. Yeah, but it's $1.5 million. Yeah. It's great. I mean, if you end up getting it. But it looks cooler in that box when you like see it right there. It makes it tempting where you really want to count if that's $1 million or not, but with the security, I'm guessing yes. Q. How are you able to be so calm, cool and collected out there on the golf course, being just 18 years old now, winning last year? How do you overcome nerves, things like that, just continue to play such consistent golf? LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, I definitely do get nervous. That's why I said Ocala is probably one of the biggest examples of me getting really nervous and how bad things can happen along the way. No, I mean, I just try and keep calm, just try and stay patient. I like to write some quotes or something on my yardage book so that I can kind of refer to it when I get nervous, like hey, I deserve to be here, or stay calm, or do breathing exercises. Those things kind of help me because when I'm out on the course it's only Jason and I that's out there, and the team, I can't go, hey, David, can you make me a little less nervous or can I get a massage or whatever. It's just us. So I think just trying to have fun and put a smile on my face, it definitely makes it a lot easier to kind of get rid of the nerves. Q. Kind of following up on the other side of it, when you are checking stats and things like that, I know Inbee has said she'll check and see how you're doing and how Stacy is doing. Do you check on them? And do you kind of study them in any way, how they play, how they practice? LYDIA KO: No, not really. It's hard to keep up with what I'm doing. Probably David and my mom knows better than what I know. But yeah, no, I don't really. Like last week, though, I like to watch TV, and when I'm not playing I like to watch the coverage and see how the girls are doing. So I got to watch a lot of the golf on from last week, or especially if it wasn't live, just see the scores and go, whoa, Carlota made another birdie, she's 5‑under through 5, or etcetera. I'm not a huge numbers person, so I don't really do it for me or for anybody else. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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