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ANA INSPIRATIONMarch 29, 2016Lydia KoRancho Mirage, California KRAIG KANN: Welcome back to the press room here at the ANA Inspiration. It is a great pleasure to welcome in the No. 1 ranked player in women's golf, Lydia Ko is here, making her fourth appearance in this major championship. I would say coming in about as well as you could come into an event like this. All you did was win last week. How you doing? LYDIA KO: Yeah, really good. I obviously came in last year with a little bit of confidence having a Top 5 finish, but then this year's a little better. I know with the win last week, but now it's a whole new week, and you never know what's going to happen. KRAIG KANN: A whole new week, but you know what's at stake. These major championships, this is the first one of the year, so I'm sure you've been thinking about this for a while and trying to perhaps build toward this. Is that a fair assessment? LYDIA KO: Yeah, David says, hey, we're trying to peak at the Masters (laughing) at the majors. KRAIG KANN: You're breaking news right now. Are you headed to Augusta? LYDIA KO: Well, I am going next week. KRAIG KANN: You are, that's right. You're being honored. LYDIA KO: -- for the majors. I can't believe it's already been six months since our last major, and I know I'm obviously really looking forward to this week. It just goes by so fast, and especially being the first major of the year you kind of want to put yourself in the right position going for the next few majors too. KRAIG KANN: So far, one win, two runner-up finishes and one tie for third. Is that good enough in your mind? LYDIA KO: Yes, that's definitely good enough. It's better than what I would have imagined it would be. I know obviously you're always trying to -- if you're holding a trophy at the end of the week, that's great. But I've played really solid this year at the start of this year, and I had a good start to the season at the Coates, didn't finish the way I wanted to, but tied third at the first event, I'll take it. KRAIG KANN: Let's talk about the end to last year and the way you finished up the year. There were a lot of trophies and accolades that came your way. This has kind of been building for a while. You went from Rookie of the Year to pretty much the show stopper on the LPGA. How has that been, an adjustment, a lifestyle change, a professional change, et cetera? LYDIA KO: I don't feel like a lot has changed. I obviously love being out here with the girls. I think that's the really important thing is when we're out there we're not thinking about who won what award or what ranking she is. We're out there just trying to play the best we can and trying to make a lot of birdies. To me when I'm on the course or in tournaments, I don't feel a huge difference. When I getting to home, back to New Zealand shall I get recognized a little bit more. Going to play the national open as the number one player, that makes it extra special. But other than that I don't feel like a lot of things have changed. Obviously, I have to do a little bit more media, but as long as I get to talk to you, I'm fine with it. Q. If I could take you back a year or two coming into here. At that time a lot of us, I'm guilty of this, me too, we're constantly reminding you of the fact that you only had three or four events left to become the youngest to win a major. Now having won one already, how does that change your approach to majors and coming into this year's majors? LYDIA KO: Yeah, you should feel guilty (laughing). Obviously going into Evian I think was the most pressure. It was the last event, the last time I could possibly break Morgan's record. But at the same time I was kind of glad that even if I hadn't won, nobody would tell me about it and go, hey, there is no record. It's all behind us. I was very fortunate and very special to win the last major of the year last season. I'm glad that especially coming into this week there is no, hey, you could break Annika's under-par record or you could break the youngest major record. I don't think there is any record -- KRAIG KANN: We'll find some things that you can do. Give us a couple days. LYDIA KO: No statistics, please. That's one of the things I'm looking forward to this week. I'm just going to think of it as any other four-day event and just have fun out there and hopefully have some good golf. Q. Golf is returning to the Olympics this year. So could you tell me what the Olympics mean to you, and what is the difference you think in between the Olympics and majors? LYDIA KO: Ever since they announced that golf would be in the Olympics in the 2016 Rio Olympics, I said I want to get myself to Brazil. That was going to be my ultimate goal, and I can't believe it's already around the corner. It's just been a dream. I mean, I'm not very good at any other sports. KRAIG KANN: No? LYDIA KO: No. I would be last when we did sprints athletics day. I might have to write a sick note to say I can't do it. KRAIG KANN: Rhythmic gymnastics. LYDIA KO: Yeah, look at me. You know, I don't know what sport I could have possibly gotten into the Olympics for, so I feel so fortunate that we're getting this opportunity to be in the Olympics. Golf isn't the most physical sport. It's not the fastest sport, but it takes a lot of skills, a lot of hard work to get here and get to be in this position. So I think it's great that golf is returning to the Olympics, and for the women's, for golf to be in the Olympics for the first time. So it's exciting stuff. I think everybody's working hard to make it to their qualifying dates. It's going to be exciting to have the world's best players there playing for their country. I think just playing for the country is part of it. Just being in that team area when you're really proud to be there. KRAIG KANN: Archery? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I tried that in grade 7. KRAIG KANN: Didn't work? LYDIA KO: My PE teacher said, "Lydia, lucky you have golf. You should stick to it." KRAIG KANN: Synchronized swimming? LYDIA KO: No. KRAIG KANN: Diving? There's a pond out there? LYDIA KO: I could possibly do diving who makes the loudest splash but not in the best form. KRAIG KANN: No other sports? You couldn't think of one sport you would enjoy? How about if you would enjoy competing in another sport? 400-meter hurdles? LYDIA KO: 400-meter hurdles, yeah, no. I'm lucky that with golf, I love the game and I think it's great and I think it's going to grow the game too. It's something for upcoming juniors, girls and boys to look forward to and go, hey, it would be pretty cool to represent your country and play in the Olympics and just be in the Olympic vibe with the other athletes. Q. Has your ball striking ever been this good? LYDIA KO: I mean, last week was probably the most solid I've hit to what I can remember. But in saying that I can't remember what I had for breakfast this morning, so there goes my memory. I played and I thought I hit the ball really solid last week. So even with a driver or if I was in a tough condition I still felt like I could get towards the pin and give myself a good opportunity. But it's strange that one day I'm swinging good and the next day I feel like I'm swinging it exactly the same but the ball doesn't come out the same. I think that's the cool, weird thing about this game. But I felt like I really hit the ball solid last week, and I think that's the key around this course because of the thick rough around here. Hopefully I'll be able to that I can that through in momentum into Thursday and Friday. Q. When you first started turning the ball over working with David to get some extra length, there were occasions where you would overcook it. That seems to be completely gone now. Is that something that's been time and repetition or is there something different you've done in your golf swing to get there? LYDIA KO: I guess we're trying to get more simple, trying to not think about five different things. That's been the real key is working with David and Sean is that we've been trying to make it simple, and only if it's just one swing thought throughout the week and that's it. But going back to the first day I met David, it's not like we've learned something new the last year or so. Obviously there is a transition phase, and just being on Tour, being on the road it's hard to maintain good form the whole time. Obviously, being away, it can get out of place after a long flight or all that. It's good to see a little bit more of a consistent ball flight. But sometimes I get mixed between an old swing and the new swing, and that's why sometimes it creates more of a weird left-right shots. But it's a transition phase, and I mean, like I always say, there is no perfect. But we're trying to work towards getting there and trying to be more and more consistent. Q. Do you wish you had him out here every week with you or a coach out here every week, or is it good to have space? LYDIA KO: I think it's good to have my coaches here sometimes. But I think it's also good to be at a tournament where it's just Jason and I with my mom or my sister because I feel like, obviously, they help me to put me in the right positions. They know my swing very well, but at the same time, I feel like I should know my swing as well as them. If I am hitting it left, I should be able to know, oh, wait, maybe this is going wrong or maybe I'm doing this. So I think it's good to have a balance. Q. You've always made it clear, Lydia, that your game is the most important thing. You mentioned earlier that the Olympics can help the game. In terms of your own personal profile, you appear to be becoming a little more comfortable, and the Evian announcement was just made. How much potential is there in the Olympics for you also to raise your profile while you're raising the game? LYDIA KO: I mean, the Olympics I think everybody just watches. Sometimes you don't know what's going to be on and you go, oh, there is synchronized swimming or there is just swimming. There are all these sports. I mean, I've done those where I've just turned the TV on and I've looked and I Googled the person that's been on there. And I go, wow, that person's got a record, and you learn about these things. I think that's the great thing about the Olympics it's kind of a learning phase at the same time is that you learn about other athletes in other sports too. But golf is obviously an individual game, especially me, I can't play in the Solheim or New Zealand hasn't been able to qualify for the International Crown, so I don't get to play in this team environment very much. So I think the great thing about the Olympics is obviously we're all playing different sports, but you also get to meet other athletes from New Zealand. It could be a swimmer, a rower, and then you're able to talk and share about these things. I've been talking to a swimmer that is trying to qualify for the Olympics and how he trains is so different to how I train. Their mindset is so different. It's been really cool for me to learn more about the Olympics and also learn more about the game. For New Zealand, golf isn't a main sport in New Zealand, so if one junior can look at it or somebody can look at it and go, hey, why don't you try and have a whack at a golf course nearby, I think that's going to be another great stepping stone. Q. Shortly you'll be doing a panel with Missy Franklin who obviously became a household name when she was a teenager, all of 20 now. I'm curious if you've had a chance to chat with any other athletes that have been in your shoes in terms of being at the top of their sport at a young age? If you've been able to pick anyone's brain? LYDIA KO: I think I haven't really talked to any other athletes in other sports, but we've had teen phenoms and still great players like Lexi who turned pro, I think, when she was 15. She was out on Tour in her early age, Michelle too, who played in men's events and we all knew what Michelle was going to be, and like the U.S. Open champion now. I think it's been really good and I've been fortunate that I've been able to go out there and talk to girls like Lexi, Morgan or Michelle or Paula, and actually get some advice and what they did. Like Michelle went to university while playing on Tour. I think that's what I've been fortunate of is I've had these role models where I could ask them and they kind of walk through a similar pathway to what I've been working through the last year or so. Q. Now there's now the LPGA/PGA alliance. Could you imagine a Victorian open type tournament being held in the States or Asia where you have the men and women playing the same course and alternate groups? LYDIA KO: I would love that. I've only been to one PGA event and that was one that was the back-to-back U.S. Opens. That was a really cool experience for me to go out and watch Sergio or watch Phil and just see how they create the ball and how they hit it because it's so different to how I hit it. So I thought that was a cool experience for me. Now that the LPGA and PGA have an alliance, I think it's great. Growing the game too is that for me growing -- well, my favorite players are Michelle and Phil. Just because you're a girl doesn't necessarily mean you're going to have one girl role model. So I think it's great for the juniors that they might be able to see us play together, the PGA and the LPGA and go, wow, you know, that's a pretty cool team or wow that's so cool, and you can see the difference. I think that will be a really cool thing. I don't know when it's happening, but I'm super excited for it. To me, I think I'll be a fan, and I'd want to like take photos and get autographs and all that. KRAIG KANN: Maybe you can broker that business deal. Speaking of, you have some business to announce today which maybe ties to the thing that just fell off your leg, and to the major championship that you won last year? LYDIA KO: Yeah, when I heard this deal was kind of done, I obviously with Evian, just so many special memories. I mean, obviously, the water itself is great and everybody knows how pure and what a great brand it is. But for me, it was extra special just having my first major win there at such a beautiful place in Evian. It was a pretty cool thing. I kind of gave my agents a pat on the back, and I said, this is the best thing you've done for me. KRAIG KANN: You give a lot of people pats on the back, that's one of your great qualities. Q. Lydia, this begins a six-month stretch of seven major events when you include the Olympics and International Crown. How important is this run of six months and how do you approach it with so many big events so close together? LYDIA KO: I think the important thing is, obviously there are 11 or 12, 11 tournaments in a row, and I mean that's a lot of events. So the important thing for me is play it by my own schedule. The tournaments in a row I'm going to play is going to be different to some other player's schedules, so the important thing to me is to stick to my own game plan and stick to the schedule that I planned at the end of last year. Obviously, it's a long stretch of events, and it can get a little tiring mentally and physically, but I think that's why it's good to have that balance on and off the golf course. So t I know when I'm off the golf course, I can relax and take my mind off the game, and when I'm back at it on the course, I can concentrate on what I'm doing. But I think balance is going to be the really important thing. It's a long stretch of events and so many great events. So I'm just going to try to enjoy it and I know that's an important factor for me. Q. Very quickly, what made Phil one of your favorites? LYDIA KO: I think he's a short-game king. I would love to get some tips from him, short-gamewise, and just how he creates the ball and how he's able to hit these shots that maybe nobody else in the field might be able to do. Like hit a backwood bunker shot or a backwood rough shot. I would just try to go the safe way or try to play out. So I think that's the great thing about him. I just love how he plays the game. It's been really cool to see him play great the last few weeks too. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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