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SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY CTBC

April 23, 2016

Lydia Ko

San Francisco, California

Q. Another good round. You're still in it, but a little tougher conditions, pin positions? What was going on?
LYDIA KO: You know, there were a few tough pin positions where the pin was on the left side and the wind is blowing from the other side, so we were joking out there, hey, this is definitely a hole where we can get a hole-in-one. But you know, my game wasn't really up to it today. It was pretty average. But I felt like chipping, short game wise it was good, but I wasn't making the putts that needed to go in for birdie or those crucial par saves, so I think that was the difference from today to yesterday. But no, overall, obviously there wasn't a lot going on today because there was only two birdies and three bogeys, so there wasn't a lot happening in my round, but I definitely think it could have been worse. Yeah, I've just got to stay positive. I feel like putting myself in pretty good positions and giving myself good opportunities, and I've just got to trust my game, and that's it. I mean, it's tough conditions out here with the wind, and the course itself is tough. Tomorrow I've just got to stay positive, enjoy it, and it's my birthday anyway, so there's a lot more things that I can think about and smile about. I'm just going to enjoy it. It's been really cool to even have the chance to be close to the three-peat, so I feel very fortunate with that, and hopefully tomorrow a few more putts will fall.

Q. Will you actually celebrate your birthday tomorrow or tonight?
LYDIA KO: Tomorrow night probably. The three girls that I asked if they could stay, some of them are on like red-eye flights, so it just depends, but if this two-ball continues, the round is much quicker, so we'll finish quicker anyway. But we'll celebrate tomorrow night. Well, I'm not playing next week, so it makes it easier for me. I can't party hard. I'm still not legal for anything, so I'll just enjoy it, and to me, family time is great. The whole family is here, family and friends. I think that's the great thing about it.

Q. What's a good dinner for you? What's a good birthday dinner?
LYDIA KO: Last year we went to Korean barbecue and we were in kind of like a little room. I don't know what we're going to do this year. My mom says she planned it, but who knows. I don't think she's done it. But it's such a long week, and there are so many things going on, especially here as it's my sponsor event and all that. But anywhere is fine, anywhere that's edible and anything that tastes good, and after a long 18 holes everything tastes good. To me rather than what specific place I'd rather go, it's just to be with my family and friends is the more important things.

Q. Looks like you're six back. That's not insurmountable, is it?
LYDIA KO: It's not impossible. I mean, especially with the tough conditions, anything can happen. But I think Haru is leading right now, but she's been playing consistently well the last few days, and she's got a few birdie opportunities coming up if she hits it in the right places. Yeah, I mean, it's going to be tough, and I need to -- I know that coming from six behind, I need to have like a magical round like what Minjee did last week, coming from five, four shots behind. I've just got to play to my game, my strength, and that's all I can do. It's kind of out of my hands after that, so I'm just going to try my best, and hopefully if I have a good round tomorrow, that's great, even if I don't finish on top.

Q. What was the wind like today? Yesterday they were saying that the wind was blowing in kind of a consistent direction. What was it like today?
LYDIA KO: I think it was a consistent direct all day. It was definitely a little different to yesterday. On the range the three days was kind of into left to right, but today was more into right to left. So direction wise it's a little the same, but the holes that were playing into yesterday are still playing into today. It didn't make a huge difference unless we were playing more sideways across the wind. So yeah, strength-wise I think it's pretty similar because it got breezy the last few holes yesterday, so it is breezy out there, and it kind of maintained I guess the whole day. But with the firm greens, it almost seems like it's drying out the greens more, so that's, I think, the bigger impact of the wind so that it's actually drying all the moisture out of the greens and all the rain that kind of remained from yesterday.

Q. So that makes it more slick?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, it's definitely slippery. That's why there are some putts where you don't really want to leave it above the hole, especially if it's downwind. It's kind of what happened to me on 15. I had like a three-, four-footer, but I had a downhill, downwind, left to right, and I mean, I played like a ball, ball and a half out, and it was still not enough. That shows you kind of need to place yourself in good positions where even though you don't make a birdie, you're not trying to scramble for a good two-putt.

Q. How much harder and faster was it out there today compared to yesterday?
LYDIA KO: It's definitely a little bit drier, and I mean, we all know that the greens are firm because the wind is definitely drying it out more. Yesterday even though it rained, it wasn't like it was playing soft at all. It was just a little bit less -- it was a little dense compared to the day before, but with the wind picking up, it's definitely drier. Today is the driest day compared to the first two days.

Q. After yesterday's round you said you wanted to go to the range to work on something with your swing. Was there something specific that you worked on?
LYDIA KO: I just wanted to hit a few drives, hit a few iron shots and just see the ball going straight and just be positive. That's what I tried to do, and obviously I can't go through my whole swing and be all technical about it. I talked to David, and it was just one key thought, and it wasn't a whole new thought, it was something that's just so simple that I can go out there, and at the end of the day, sometimes I might hit it bad on the range and I might hit it great on the course, so I've just got to think about the positives, and even if it's not going straight, I've just got to trust it and commit to my swing. When I have doubts, that's when I'm not going to hit it as good, so I've just got to put quality drives on it, and that was kind of what happened on 17, 18, and it's probably the two best drives I hit all day. Maybe I should keep playing.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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