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COATES GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY R+L CARRIERS

February 2, 2016

Lydia Ko

Ocala, Florida

THE MODERATOR: Happy to be joined in the media center by Lydia Ko, Rolex Rankings No. 1. First event of the year; how happy are you to be back?

LYDIA KO: You know, it's pretty cool to be back, but it almost feels like the off-season goes by so fast. But it's pretty exciting to see that this is my third year on Tour now, but I'm excited to get the season started.

THE MODERATOR: What are some of the things you were up to this off-season.

LYDIA KO: You know, I spent a whole month in Korea where I didn't really touch my clubs. I played our university charity day, I got to eat at a really well-known, well-respected chef's restaurant, and I had the best dinner of my whole entire life, best food. Sorry to my mom who cooks every day. And I got to meet some famous variety show comedians and also actors. A lot of things going on and also some traveling with my friends. But when I was back in Orlando, I start to prepare for the season.

THE MODERATOR: I just got a text from Nick; he said you're starting to drive now.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, and I got my learner's permit, so whoever is around Orlando or around champion's gate, I would recommend not being on the road when I am. Everybody said it's the same as a cart, but it's nothing like a cart. It goes so much faster, and I've got a pretty fast car, an RCF Lexus, and it should be going like really fast, nice, speedy, 80 miles per hour, and I'm going like 30, 35 cruising along to Publix.

But no, it's really cool. It's a good change. But it's good that a parent or a guardian is there to keep me in line.

Q. This is your first time being back since last year; just your thoughts on the course, having played it a time or two now?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, not much has changed. I think I was actually here like a week and a half ago, the week before Bahamas, and the course seems like it's even in better shape than I was here a couple days ago, a week ago. Yeah, the course is great. The greens I'm pretty sure will get faster as the week goes on.

It's just a tough course, especially with some of the greens being quite undulating. You kind of have to position yourself in good positions. But it's definitely good to be back where I was able to play some solid golf last year.

THE MODERATOR: Is there something you remember most about last year? I know you took over No. 1 for the first time following the final round.

LYDIA KO: Probably my double on 17. Bad memories. You're meant to erase them.

But no, I think one of the big things about this tournament last year was that we had great crowds. It was our season opener, and most of the fairways are packed full, and it wasn't on a certain group, it was all kind of scattered around. Even being out there today during the pro-am, we still had a few people walking around to watch us play.

I heard some rumors that there will be bigger crowds this year, so that will be pretty cool to see.

Q. Did you drive here?
LYDIA KO: No, I didn't drive here, no. I haven't gone on the freeway yet, and I want to stick to that for a little bit. But no, my mom thought it would be good, but we'd already left the house by then, and I don't trust me (laughing).

Q. So last year when you came back after a break, you said you were really rusty when you first touched a club. What was it like transitioning back into reality at the start of the year, and just tell us about the decision to skip the first week of the year, as well.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, we did most of like trying to plan and schedule right after our Tour Championship, so the day after CME finished, our team got together and we sat down, and we looked over the schedule. I played great the last two years in Bahamas, but because I'm playing in New Zealand next week, I had to kind of play around and see what my best options were, and I thought because I had a full month off, I thought it would be good to have a good solid month to prepare myself for the season, too.

Those are kind of the main reasons on why I kind of had to skip the first event of the year. Yeah, and I didn't feel as rusty as I did last year. I kind of felt like I could hit the ball at the center of the club face, and I said -- I mentioned that I hit a lot of shanks the year before when I came back. But I didn't hit any -- maybe I hit one, so it was a pretty good change because I shanked for the first two weeks last year, so that was pretty scary to come to the first event and know that you were hitting that.

But that's kind of the S word, isn't it, in golf.

But no, I definitely felt better, maybe because I did some training in the off-season in Korea where I kind of was still doing similar motions as I would do swinging a club.

Q. Is there anything unique or unusual about this area that really stands out for you, this Golden Ocala area?
LYDIA KO: I think the course really is unique with the replica holes. I don't know if there is any other courses that replicate other courses. I think it's really cool, especially I've never been to Augusta before, so to kind of get the feel for what the men play during the Masters, it's kind of a cool feeling.

Yeah, I think that's pretty much one of the coolest parts of this area. Obviously there's a lot of horses and equestrian going on, too. I think one of the volunteers were explaining to me there's like a hit or something that goes on, like horse racing, racing jumpers, yeah, so he told me to do that the next time I was here, so maybe there will be on my schedule for next time.

Q. You obviously had a great year last year, but when you analyze it, where do you want to get better?
LYDIA KO: I think one of my big goals going into this year was trying to hit a few more fairways than last year. I think I was in the low 70s percentage-wise on my fairway regulation, but -- I think David and I and TA and Sean, we've been working on trying to get a little bit more consistent with the driver so it doesn't matter if I hit a bad shot the shot before. I'm still able to go out there, be confident, and hit a good drive out there. So that's what we've been working on, and trying to keep the swing a little bit more consistent, and with my training trying to work all of it together so that I will be able to get a little bit more consistency.

Q. I saw the Twitter video of you shooting baskets with a medicine ball. You did well. Can you talk a little bit about your eclectic workouts and maybe are you stronger do you feel like coming into this year?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, we've been working out pretty hard, but TA and Mike has been making it really fun for me. So if I work out five times a week let's say, three days will be in the gym, and then the two days we'll do athleticism where we might be out on the tennis court or the basketball court and doing a lot of speed stuff, some sprints, and now I was just playing around with the medicine ball, and then TA said, hey, that's a good idea, and we started to shoot some. But it's quite amazing, I said I'm so talented that I hit all putts over the rim and it lipped out seven times. I said it almost reminds me of Naples. (Laughter.)

But no, I love doing it, and basketball is definitely one of my favorite sports to watch, too, so we just try and mix it up a bit. I guess I feel stronger, but after like a whole month after where you're not as active as you are during the season, I definitely feel stronger than then, and now when I went on the scale the first day back, I was shocked at the three digits. I'm not going to say my weight. But no, it was -- I definitely feel stronger, but we've been trying to make it fun where it's not the same workout every day.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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