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BANK OF HOPE FOUNDERS CUPMarch 15, 2017Lydia KoPhoenix, Arizona THE MODERATOR: Hi, Lydia. How is it going? Lydia Ko, No. 1 player in the world, is in the media center at the Founder's Cup. Welcome. How are you feeling so far heading into this week? LYDIA KO: It's definitely nice to be back here in Phoenix. I really love this stretch of events, and I love being on the west coast. Just a lot of positives going on. Definitely nice to be able to play back here in our domestic events. But, no, I think this tournament really celebrates the founders, the players, and the history of the LPGA, and then the generations that are going to soon be on the tour. So it's a great event. I'm feeling good and very nice to be back here in Arizona. THE MODERATOR: The past two events have been pretty good for you; couple top 10s. You're kind of finding your groove in this 2017 season. How are you feeling about your game in particular? LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, definitely nice to see some good results the last couple weeks in Asia. I hit the ball pretty well in Australia. I really couldn't score and I couldn't make the putts, and, you know, those things, at the end of the day, those par putts that don't end up jumping and those birdies that don't drop, those are a lot of score differences. It was nice to see a few drop the last couple weeks. You know, I think to see those kind of good results with all the changes that have happened I think gives me a little bit of confidence going into this stretch of events. THE MODERATOR: Great. You guys have some questions? Q. Can you explain to us the biggest challenge in going from the swing that you had at the end of last year to what you and Gary are working on? What's the thing that you most focus on in that change? LYDIA KO: You know, I think transition-wise has actually been very easy and pretty smooth in the way that Gary gave me quite a few drills to work on. That way I'm just doing the drills and not thinking about, Hey, should I put position here, this area? Where should my hands being on the back swing? There is less conscious thinking, which has been good. I guess the hard part is because I have my old habits and things that I've always done, you know, since I was like five. Those things will always creep in here and there. I think at the end of the day, trying to make it more consistent, where even my missed shots aren't terrible. Those are the things that I've been trying to work on in the past month or so. Yeah. Q. Looks more like one plane with just a very subtle shallow move at the top. When you're working on your swing, are you focusing more on the takeaway or at the top? LYDIA KO: We changed a little bit in the setup. That naturally changed a little bit of the takeaway. I don't think we've got into detail of exactly how I should get it to the top the backswing. But because I changed the setup the position, that changed the way I took the takeaway, and I think that changed the way how my club or how my position was at the top. So rather than thinking all about the top of the backswing, we kind of went to the basics. That way the swing became more natural from that position rather than making it in some position. Q. I have more questions, but I don't want to ask them all right now. Q. When you're on the golf course playing and you're working on the drills in the driving range, are you aware of the drills on the golf course that you're using? If you hit a bad shot, are you thinking about why you hit that bad shot and how you can fix it for the next time? LYDIA KO: No, actually in my pre-shot routine, the first one I normally do just a normal swing; the second one I've been trying to do kind of a step-through, which has been one of the drills that Gary gave me. So I guess I've kind of put in that drill so I'm a little bit more loaded into the left side coming down. That's a thing I've always been -- I've always had really fast hips, so I've always been a little bit spinny every since I was five and six. So those are always the habits that come back to me. That step-through drill has been good where I felt like I'm more loaded rather than me thinking about, Hey, I need to transition. I think it naturally kind of puts me there. When I hit miss shots, I think I'm trying not think as much and get into detail about it. Some days I think you're going to draw a little bit more than other days. Some days it's just not going to turnover. I think you have to play with what you have that day. To me, I think it's most important to just keep the mind really simple and keep it clear. The days that I don't hit the ball as well, hopefully my short game is good where I can make up and downs and recover from there. Q. I think of you as a feel player when I watch you play. You see the shot visually and you play it from a lot of your feel. Do you think of yourself as a feel player more than a technical player? LYDIA KO: I hope so, because sometimes it might look -- I think feel is so important. One day might look exactly the same as the next day but it feels different. I think it's really important to imagine the shots. I always say that probably one of the best shots I've ever hit is on the 18th hole of the Swinging Skirts when I first won that event. I think it was one of the few times where I exactly imagined how I wanted to the ball to react, to come out. Land just short of the green and hopefully it would run up and I could have an uphill putt and an opportunity for birdie. You know, I said, Man, maybe I should imagine like that more often. I think imagination is really good because it gives you more options. That way you're able to, I think, have a clear understanding of what exact shot you can hit. You can possibly hit a grip-7, which I sometimes like to grip my clubs, or hit a full 8-iron depending on the conditions. I think imagination is something I'm trying to learn more to do. It's worked out good in the times I've done it, so I think it's something that I'm learning to do more and more often. Q. I just have one more question, and it's about your change to PXG. How has that transition been for you? What has been the hardest thing to adjust to if anything at all? LYDIA KO: Specs-wise it's been pretty similar to the clubs I had before. The transition actually has been really great. The team at PXG, the rep, John, they're doing everything to make it as easy as possible for me. When I tried the clubs, you know, I thought they were great. They felt good. At the end of the day, no matter what the business side of it is, you got to be able to perform well with it and feel comfortable. I felt comfortable with it. I think that my driver is going a little longer than before, which is never a bad thing. It's going longer without hindering the direction-wise. So I've been really liking the ball flight and the results I've been seeing. Obviously pretty proud to be part of the PXG troops with the girls out here and some of the players in the PGA TOUR. Q. Also about your putting stroke, two things about that: Are you conventional grip all the time now? You were going back and forth, right, just on feel? What do you do now? LYDIA KO: To be honest, like I came back from the off-season and I said, Man, like the left-hand low felt a little different. It felt a little uncomfortable. Then I tested it out even short putts for the conventional grip, and when I saw the numbers, the numbers were just as good or even better with the conventional grip rather than the left-hand low with the short putt. That was one of the reasons I changed. No, I must have spent too much time away from golf that I forgot how to grip it left-hand low, even though I've been playing the game for like over 14 years. That's a true story. Like I almost like literally forgot how I gripped it left-hand low. That's one of the reasons why I changed. I feel comfortable with the conventional grip. Because I have always putted with a thicker grip in the past years, I think it's different to having a conventional grip on a thinner one. I feel comfortable in the shorter range with those, yeah. Q. Second part of that: Just your general putting stroke with Gary, have you changed that? Worked on a different style with Gary? LYDIA KO: No. We really haven't changed my stroke style of putting. Yeah, yeah. Q. I know it's early on in the season with your new team, but just curious, all the work you've been doing with Gary, the other Gary, your caddie, how much are you relying on him during tournament rounds to have a fresh pair of eyes? LYDIA KO: Yeah, Gary actually came and spent a couple days with us in Orlando, so he was able to see what Gary and I were working on. That was nice for him to see what's going on. Sometimes I ask him, Hey, did that look good? You know, just without using the camera or filming the swing. Yeah, I think it's good that he kind of knows what's going on not only just on the golf course so that the whole team is kind of connected. Yeah, and Gary and Gary both knew each other even before I knew them, so I think -- they must be friends, but... The Gary-Gary gets me so confused. Q. You had a tremendous stretch here last year at the next three events. How much do you feed off last year's success when you get back to the same place? LYDIA KO: I think it's always nice to be back to a place where you've played well. It brings back a lot of good memories. Like I said earlier, this tournament is great because it celebrates us players and the founders who really started the LPGA, and then the generations coming up with the girls' golf. So this is a great I think place where a lot of generations of players come together and learn from each other and even get advice. Every time I come here, I love seeing Marilyn out here in her cart saying, Hi, girls. I think it makes us all thankful. Because of the 12? 13? 12 plus Marilyn, 13 founders, we're here. So I'm thankful for that. It's great to be able to talk to someone like her. Obviously the tour was a lot different when she was on tour. Yeah, I love coming back and I love the west coast. No matter how well I play, I just enjoy these three stretch of events. Q. You like birdie-fests? This is sort of a birdie-fest here. LYDIA KO: Yeah, they actually lengthened a couple of the holes, and I said it's because Sei Young made a couple too many birdies. No, I mean, especially around a course like there where some of the par-5s are reachable for two; there are some shorter par 4s. Depending on the tee position, there might be a reachable par-4. Then there are those birdie holes. But there are some holes even coming off with a par is a good score. I think we've seen in the past that the scores have been pretty low, so it's I think important to be able to hole a lot of the putts. Birdies are going to be very important going into this week. Q. 73 weeks in a row at No. 1 now. Only Lorena and Yani had it for more weeks in a row than that. My question to you is, we've heard No. 1 players in the past talk about the extra pressure. How do you deal with the extra pressure of being No. 1? LYDIA KO: You know, obviously there are expectations because you're the No. 1 ranked players you should play well every day, should be in contention every week. I mean, I would love that and I'm working towards being more consistent week in and week out. Obviously my team has changed in the past years and seasons, but I've been thankful and I've been lucky to have such a supportive team that has really helped me to I think stay in the moment and just think about the tournament coming up and what's right in front rather than think about what has happened and what might happen. I think it's a good way to think about it, and that's what I've been trying to think about it. I've talked to a few other athletes outside of golf, and they mentioned it's really important to embrace the moment and embrace every single moment that goes by. At the end, you're going to learn from both the ups and the downs. I've been fortunate enough to be able to get this kind of advice from people within golf and people that have walked similar paths in other sports, too. THE MODERATOR: As an aside, last thing. With Arnold Palmer's tournament this week and as the golf world kind of reflects on his impact on the game, do you have anything that sticks out in your mind like a memory about Arnold Palmer? LYDIA KO: I actually got meet The King, Mr. Palmer, at the Masters last year. He was always -- I think the name The King is so perfectly suited for him because he was a people's man. No matter his good day or bad days, he was always there to support the fans that came out, the volunteers, his fellow players. That was what made him him. Even though he was such an incredible, amazing player, he was so approachable, I think. And what he's done with the hospital to help children, I think it's great. He's touched a lot of people all around the world. On social media being able to see some of the PGA TOUR players tribute to him having the umbrella, I think that's great. I saw that legends never die, and I think that's exactly the case for Mr. Palmer. He will always be with us even though he's not here anymore. Yeah. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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