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ANA INSPIRATION

April 3, 2016

Lydia Ko

Rancho Mirage, California

THE MODERATOR: Good evening, everyone. We would like to welcome in the 2016 ANA Inspiration winner Lydia Ko. Lydia, I know you got to make that famous leap. Has it sunk in yet?

LYDIA KO: I don't think so. I mean, I'm still wet under the robe. But it is special. Obviously I've seen it on TV and live, players doing it with their team and family. It's so special, and it's one of the great things about this event. It's a tradition, and I think for every player, just leaping into Poppies Pond, it's something that you would love to do in your career.

THE MODERATOR: What a dramatic way to take home a major championship, too, birdieing the last hole. Take me through that a little bit with 18. What were you thinking and what was your approach knowing who was behind you and what was happening?

LYDIA KO: Actually I didn't really get to see exactly what Ariya's score was coming down after 17. When I was on 17, it said -- the scores only loaded up to her being on the 15th hole, and it said she was 4-under through her round. I knew that being two shots behind, I needed to make my par putt on 17, and make an eagle or birdie at most on the last hole. But just after I hit my shot, I looked at the leaderboard, and I saw that we were all tied at 11-under with Charley and In Gee could make an eagle, too. Just so many thoughts, but obviously hitting it to a foot on the last hole, that makes it a lot easier than having a three- or four-footer. But I think I'm lucky that Jason kind of talked me out of not going for the green in two, and that definitely helped having a good yardage with a wedge.

THE MODERATOR: You've made a lot of clutch shots over the course of your career, but where do you think that might rank to be able to hit that shot that close in that situation with a major on the line?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I mean, it would be up there. Every shot is special in its own way, like every win is special, because every tournament is so different. But just playing the 72nd hole, birdieing the last hole, that's always a good feeling. Obviously for that shot to mean so much that I would win the event, that makes it extra special.

But I obviously laid up to the right number and hit it to the exactly right spot. But I thought it was going to be a little short, but with the greens firming up, it ended up being perfect.

Q. Can you talk us through Jason talking you out of going for it in two on 18?
LYDIA KO: Yeah. I left my drive out a little bit on the right side, but fortunately I was still on the fairway. If I was in the rough, I definitely would have laid up. That would have been really my only smart option. But I think I had 202 to the front of the green, and I tried to set up with my 3-wood, and I said, hey, Jason, what do I normally carry with my 3-wood, and he said, 210 if you're on the tee, maybe 206, 205 when you're on a flat lie. Having that downhill lie, I knew if I mis-hit it, it was going to go straight in the water. He said, hey, we can still make birdie going the conventional way, and I decided to hit an 8-iron out and hit a sand wedge.

Q. Can you tell us what it means to you to be the youngest player in LPGA history to win two majors?
LYDIA KO: No, I just -- Steve told me that yesterday after my round. Thank you for the stats again. But you know, to me it's more special to have just won this event and to win a major. Obviously it makes it extra special that I'm the youngest winner to win two majors, but just to win any event is special, and just to know that the hard work that you've put in as a team kind of paid off.

All the stats and everything comes at the end. Just to embrace this win, I think that's the special part, more than the youngest something.

Q. Everybody is going to remember the birdie on 18, but you kind of kept your hopes alive with a series of par putts on the back nine. Which one of those was the biggest one for you, or were they all kind of equally important?
LYDIA KO: I mean, at the end of the day, they were all important. You know, if I had missed my par putt on 11, who knows what would have happened, and if I had missed my par putt on 13, I might have been a few more shots behind. If I missed my putt on 17, I might not have birdied.

At the end of the day, they all were crucial putts at that exact time. But probably coming down the stretch, to make the par putt on 16, because I left it three, four feet short for my first putt, and then making the good up-and-down on 17 was probably the important putts, but they wouldn't be as important if I hadn't holed the putts before that.

Q. How much did the birdie putt on 8 kind of set that up in terms of confidence and in terms of momentum?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I've been leaving my putts short all week. My green speed was off, and there were so many times where I had the right line but just couldn't get it to the hole, and getting it to the hole is the first thing I've got to do.

No, it wasn't an easy putt, and it was probably the longest putt I had holed all week. It had good pace, and I knew that it was going to break all the way, so I didn't want to do any fist pumps or anything just in case it missed. But no, obviously holing a good putt sets some momentum, and I feel like the front nine -- I mean, today was tough because of the tucked pin positions, so when the holes -- you could go for it for birdie opportunities you want to grab it, but I obviously didn't hit it that close, but that putt gave me good momentum going towards the back nine.

THE MODERATOR: Everybody always talks about the jump. Had you thought at all prior to that moment when you found out you won of how you were going to jump into Poppies Pond?

LYDIA KO: No, I mean, I've seen so many different jumps. People take leaps or walk in, but I never imagined it. I said, wow, it would be so cool to take the jump; what would the feelings be. I asked some people, I said, hey, how should I jump, how do I make it cool, and I think just -- you kind of run and just go, hey, whatever. You're going to have to jump for it.

But I don't even know what the photos ended up looking like, but it was deeper than I thought, but obviously the longer you jump, the deeper it is in the middle.

Q. Lydia, you're probably the most dominant player in all of golf right now, men's and women's golf. What do you think makes you different than every other 18 year old on the planet?
LYDIA KO: I mean, I don't feel like I am the most dominant player. I mean, there are so many great players. You can see it by this week. Ariya, Charley, In Gee, there are so many top names that are playing great week in, week out. It's just great that obviously I won last week at the Kia Classic, and to win here at the ANA Championship, but it's -- I don't know. I just try and enjoy it. That's the most important thing for me is to just enjoy it and have fun and embrace everything, embrace the fans, embrace the moment. I said if I do get nervous, it's because I'm excited to be there.

I don't know; I don't feel like I am special, that I'm better than anybody else. But to me, I'm just trying to enjoy playing on the Tour that I've always dreamt of playing amongst these amazing girls, and just to be able to travel to these amazing places, I think that's what I'm fortunate about, and I don't feel special in other ways.

Q. As people keep bringing up stats, you're the youngest ever to win two majors on the LPGA, there's not many players who have won the event before and then the next week is a major and have won it. Now you've won back-to-back majors. People haven't done it since Inbee. Do you let yourself really think about these accomplishments? Do you let yourself appreciate what you've accomplished?
LYDIA KO: You know, I think the moment when I get to really go, hey, I won this event, I did this, that's when you go to rewards or awards ceremonies or people read out, hey, she did this in this year and did that in that year, but other than that, when I'm out there, I'm just trying to make as many putts as I can, try and hit the ball straight and try and make a lot of birdies.

Like I keep repeating, to me the fun is the key. I think fun is underrated. Obviously we need to be serious out there, and you need to try your best and you need to focus, but at the same time you've got to have fun because we're out there for a long time, four-and-a-half-, five-hour rounds, practice before then, practice after, and it takes a lot of time. So I think if you have fun, you're able to enjoy it more, and I think when I have fun, that's when I play the best. I think that's been the key for me the last few weeks is to just have that positive mindset and just enjoy being there at that moment.

Q. What do you say to young people, especially young girls, who are just getting started in golf?
LYDIA KO: I think have fun, but at the same time, just because you're having fun, it doesn't mean you shouldn't practice as hard. You should practice hard, try and motivate yourself to get better at what you're working on, but at the same time you've got to have fun with it. If you don't have fun, you're probably not going to improve. For anybody, I think just to have fun, and that's the key for me, and that's what I try and improve on every week, so just enjoy it and just love the game. There's so many great aspects about it. There's endless things you can improve on. Just when you enjoy it, I think that's when you'll be able to see the most improvement in someone's game where they're developing their game.

THE MODERATOR: You're headed to Augusta this week to receive your Player of the Year Award. What does that mean and what are you looking forward to most this week of heading to the Masters?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, this is the first time going to Augusta, and I've always just seen it on TV, and so many people said, it's more undulating than what you see on the screen. To me I'm just really looking forward to seeing some of the PGA TOUR players play. I haven't had that many opportunities to watch the men play, so I'm really looking forward to meeting some of the guys. I haven't met Jordan Spieth, so I would love to meet him, too. I mean, I've only heard great things about him, so I'm really looking forward to that. Just being in that Masters vibe. There's got to be a reason why everybody says, hey, that's the Masters. I'm just really looking forward to it, and I think on Wednesday there's a par-3 contest, and that doesn't happen at every event, so that's another special thing that I'm really looking forward to.

Q. How cold was the water? And who went in with you?
LYDIA KO: It was colder than I expected. I mean, all you see from the outside is, hey, it's really clear and it's really clean. I didn't really know what to expect. I think I was more worried about, hey, hopefully this jump is cool enough or something like that.

But my mom, my sister, Jason and his fiancÃ© jumped in. It was a pretty cool team jump, and I would love to see the footage or a photo of it.

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