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MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY OWENS CORNING AND O-I

July 13, 2016

Lydia Ko

Toledo, Ohio

THE MODERATOR: Lydia, you're back at a place you've won, a place you've played a few times. This is your fourth appearance, I believe. How does it feel to be back and how comfortable are you at this course?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, it's always nice to be back at a place you've played well at and where you also have won it, but Marathon, and Judd, the tournament director, has been really nice to me. They gave me a sponsor's invite when I was an amateur, and I did well there that year. It's always nice to come back to a place where they've welcomed you and the sponsor has been fantastic. I love coming here. Ohio has a lot of great memories for me with the U.S. Women's Am and this event, too, so yeah, it's just very nice to be back.

THE MODERATOR: What do you remember most about your win a couple years ago? I remember standing with you at 18.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, it was my second win as a Tour member, so it was really cool, and I think I was -- I had such great memories in Cleveland, Ohio, with the US Women's Amateur, so a lot of people actually mentioned to me about, hey, I remember Cleveland, remember this, so that was just really cool to reflect back to that. You know, I had one of my worst professional rounds the tournament before at the British Open on the last day. I think I shot 80, and then I came here and won the week after. I always say, week in, week out, every round is different.

It was really cool to kind of have a quick turnaround and play well after a not-so-good finish.

Q. You've had so much success. How do you keep up the good results?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, my big goal has always been about consistency, and I think that's the most important thing. I like to try and have good balance. After last tournament in Naples, I like to have the whole of December off where I'm not touching my clubs, just taking some good time off, and then when I'm into January, have a good solid three, four weeks to just work on some things. I like to set minor goals, maybe bump up the greens in regulation percentage or fairways hit, those kind of things. I'm not a huge how many tournaments I want to win at the end of the year because I think that kind of can become unrealistic.

But I think I've had a really solid team around me to help me to keep balanced and keep working on things. Even though you do win something, there's always something you can work on.

Q. You're going to be playing for New Zealand at the Olympics; what does that mean to you to represent your country on the world stage?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think it's going to be very special. Golf is a pretty individual sport, so I think you're there and you're representing yourself, yes, but you're also representing your country, and you're there amongst hundreds and thousands of other athletes representing their countries. I think it's going to be a really cool way for the women's -- this is the first time that golf is in the Olympics, so it's quite cool to be involved on the women's side of the Olympics and for it to return on the men's side, too.

I think it's going to be a lot of exciting stuff, and maybe a junior or a fan might say, hey, I want to play in the 2028 Olympics for my country, representing it playing golf.

Q. Zika has been a big concern, especially in the summer months here. Did it cross your mind at all, this might be a problem, or something you're not really worried about?
LYDIA KO: It's not something I've been really worried about. I believe in all the experts and everybody that's taking care of this. I truly believe that if it was so dangerous that we couldn't compete and it wasn't right that I'm sure they would pull us off in the first place. We've got the world's best experts there handling all the situations, so as an athlete perspective, I think it's right for us to believe and trust them, for me to concentrate on what I have in front of me. We've still got a couple big tournaments before the Olympics, so right now I'm concentrating on what I have right here this week, but it's obviously unfortunate to hear what's gone on about Zika, but I hear when we go to Brazil it's going to be wintertime, and there's hardly any mosquitos around, either. We have to trust the experts. There are reasons why they're the experts and we're not.

Q. I saw your sister posted a picture, "the bag is in," the rankings are finalized. Is it starting to feel like -- we've talked about it all year and all these months. It's coming up very soon. Do you feel like it's really happening?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, it's very exciting when you get the uniforms, the blazers, the suits, the podium stuff. It's just really exciting to see. It's just kind of -- I think that's all part of the experience. Basically being there is great, but being there with other athletes and seeing how they do, their uniforms, and feeling proud to have your little fern in my case or your flag, I think that's something to be very proud of. I can definitely feel it creeping up, but on my -- I have this tournament here this week, and we have another major prior to the Olympics, and we have two weeks off before. I think there's a lot of excitement building the two weeks before more so than right now because we've got still so many great tournaments coming up.

Q. So you've got all the gear in?
LYDIA KO: I got two shirts and the bag.

Q. You've seen the stuff?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I know what I'm going to wear.

Q. Have you carried the flag for New Zealand yet?
LYDIA KO: No, I have not.

Q. Have you met a few Olympians from New Zealand in any sport?
LYDIA KO: I mean, I've met some Olympians. I've met some rowers, some canoers, and they've been like past gold medalists, silver medalists. Yeah, I've met a few Olympians, and it's really cool to hear their stories and how they're excited to return in the four years that are coming up. It'll be really cool to now stand alongside them after just hearing what their experience is like.

Q. You mentioned the sponsor's exemption. What do you remember about that year?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, just being an amateur, you just feel so fortunate to be able to play this LPGA tournament, which is kind of in your dream what you want to play on. It's just really cool experiences to be able to play with the other girls on Tour, get to meet a few of them and get to see the big star from Ohio like Stacy and just how the fans were. I think it was just a cool experience in that way.

I mean, it's always been super hot here, so that's one thing that hasn't changed in the four years that I've been here.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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