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SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY CTBC

April 21, 2016

Lydia Ko

San Francisco, California

Q. Rebounded from that missed par putt early on. Did that get you down?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, a little bit. I mean, you obviously want to get off to good start. Missing the green with a pitching wedge was the big mistake of that hole. It was a tough chip and I hit it to like three feet. I'm not even sure if it hit the hole. Yeah, no, wasn't a really good start.

Then I missed the green again on 12, a little short of the green, and then made a good up and down there. I think that kind of kick started the day almost.

Yeah, you know, took advantage of the par-5 on 14. Then, yeah, I guess the last three hole of my front nine, which is the back nine, was kind of where it turned around.

So it was definitely good to get back into the red figures. I dropped a shot on 1, but then I was able to hit a good birdie on 3 and make a few good par saves.

Yeah, overall pretty solid, and I'm happy with the way I started this tournament.

Q. You're pretty experienced on this course. Is there a key hole for you?
LYDIA KO: I mean, it's a tough course so you almost need to take advantage of the holes where you're coming in with shorter clubs. I guess those are kind of like the par-5s. If they become reachable, then if we make an eagle, that's just an extra bonus.

It's tough, especially with the rough being lush. When you get those birdie opportunities you need to try and grab them. Yeah, there is not really one particular hole. But to me, I think No.4, the par-4, is one of the toughest holes on the course.

Even if you're hitting a short iron with the way that that hole is kind of set up, if you come off with four pars at the end of the week, that's pretty good.

Q. Looks like In Gee did a pretty good job on your braid there on the first hole.
LYDIA KO: Well, I had my two bracelets and my hair tie and I was planning on braiding my hair before I played. She was like, Oh, doesn't it bother you having stuff on your wrist? I said, No, no. Well, the hair tie was for me to braid it. She was like, Do you want me to braid it for you? I was like, Sure. It's going to end up way nicer than how I braid it.

She did good. I told her, It's a hairstylist In Gee.

Q. How well have you gotten to know each other?
LYDIA KO: I think the first time I played with In Gee was Hana Bank last year. Every since then, obviously we played the final round at ANA, we haven't played really often. Whenever we walk by we talk and have a given conversation. She is a couple years older than me but just super nice.

Q. And she braids your hair.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, she braids my hair. She's my hairstylist. Just that personality where like if you have a conversation you just enjoy talking to her.

I think that has come across everyone out here. She's so bubbly and nice and you don't know if she's shooting under or over par. She hardly ever shoots over par anyway.

She's got the personality where you love talking to her. I was excited for this pairing with Stacy and In Gee.

Q. What do you think of In Gee's game?
LYDIA KO: I think she's really consistent. I don't know if she his missed a fairway today. They are quite tight fairways compared to some other courses we play on. She's been really consistent, and I think that shows with her game. She doesn't make that many bogeys in her rounds on whatever courses we go to.

I think she's been in the top 10 in every single tournament she's played this year. That's really impressive. For her to put herself in contention week after week, that's tough to do. I think she's a consistent player and I think it shows with her first LPGA win being the U.S. Women's Open.

Q. The shot on 14, you want to keep it left and the fairway is sloping against you. How hard is that shot, the par-5?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, if you hit on the right side of the fairway it's the best angle towards the green. You know, if you hit it far enough out there you can get one toward the front edge or even on the green.

I had it fairly solid but it was kind of on the left side. I don't like drawing with my woods because they're not the easiest clubs to move the ball. Fortunately I was able to draw it enough and get at the front of the green.

I mean, the pin position itself, even if I laid up back, it's not an easy pin position to go for. I just tried to be aggressive and said, Hey, if it goes great, great. If it doesn't, bunker shot or a rough shot.

Q. Get it up and down.
LYDIA KO: Yeah. I'll figure it out.

Q. Did you see a 9-under out there at all? Did you see that by So Yeon?
LYDIA KO: No, I saw So Yeon was first off today. I first saw her score on (interruption.) Course is easy, whatever course she's playing on.

Yeah, you know, she's a really consistent player, too. I think she's one of the best putters on tour, too. Obviously everything was going right today. Yeah, for her to shoot a score like that, that's really impressive.

Q. No. 17 was the one that kind of stands out, the putt you made. When you have a downhill right-to-left breaker like that, walk me through that putt.
LYDIA KO: You know, I hit it in the rough first of all, so I knew I was going to be around pin-high and I would have a really breaking putt.

When I was over it I was kind of on that hill. For my second shot it was good because it stops the ball from going too long. But then for my putt I've got this 90-degree putt.

But, yeah, I normally like to line up my putts, especially if it's in that birdie range, within 15, 20 feet.

But that one was breaking so much I decided to not put the line down because it was more of a feel putt. It was a perfect line, but if I hit it too hard it's going to go -- miss on the high side; if I hit it too soft it's going to miss on the low side. So it's just more of a feel putt.

So those breaking downhill putts are the hard ones. You need to have perfect speed and the perfect direction. Fortunately went in and went in on the low side. I was happy with that.

Q. You just aim for a spot and let gravity work?
LYDIA KO: I just hit and pray, hit and hope. I mean, I just knew that it was going to be a fast putt. The greens were even faster than yesterday. I knew you needed to just cruise it down. I almost tried to overplay the break that I saw than underplay it.

Q. What about the second shot on 18? Looked like Stacy kind of laid back and you hit 3-wood all the way up that hill.
LYDIA KO: I think it's probably the toughest pin position on that green, just behind the bunker and with the greens being firm. So I knew that I needed something that I could spin. To be on the upslope is kind of an advantage where the ball kind of goes a little higher.

I decided to -- I don't have my hybrid 20 this week, or today. I had my 5-wood. I knew it was going to be long, if anything, than short of where I was planning to hit. I kind of hit it a little right of my target for my third shot, but Jason said, Hey, you got the member's bounce. I said, Well, I am a member, so I got the right bounce. Ended up being a good tap-in birdie.

Q. How tight is that landing area?
LYDIA KO: You know, it's really tough because even if you have a wedge, with the greens being firm and you only the have a couple yards to deal with, it really makes the target small. You just have to trust your yardage and just commit to it. Even if you're a couple yards by, you know, it's not the end of the world.

Q. Last question. Second hole when you asked Stacy to mark her ball when you were out in the fairway...
LYDIA KO: I know. I'm like 60 yards out and I am asking for someone to mark it. But it was kind of like perfectly in line with the pin, and I ended up hitting a shot that was nowhere near her ball.

When that happens it's kind of embarrassing. The back of my mind I just didn't want to be unlucky where I feel like I hit a good shot and it lands and hits hers. Then that will kind of put me off a little bit the next few holes knowing that, Hey, I could have just asked her to mark it. She was nice enough to go up there mark her ball.

So no dramas. Even though I wasn't anywhere near her.

Q. So you were trying to land it a couple yards short of the hole and let it trickle up there?
LYDIA KO: Maybe just short of Stacy's ball. With the greens being firm you're hitting wedges and they're still bouncing seven, eight yards out forward. I just thought maybe around her ball, maybe just short of it. Yeah, plan didn't go plan, but it was all right.

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