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RICOH WOMEN’S BRITISH OPENAugust 2, 2017Lydia KoFife, Scotland COLIN CALLANDER: We have Lydia Ko with us, a veteran of this championship. You've obviously played quite a few of the venues on the rota, how does Kingsbarns compare? LYDIA KO: This is a different layout I guess. This isn't your typical links where you can run it up. There is a lot of bunkering. I don't think I've played this close to the water before during a major championship. But you know, it's beautiful. The last few days I've been able to experience all different sorts of weather, and I think that's what we're kind of going to face the next few days. I think this is a great layout and it should be a great week for us to play some great golf. COLIN CALLANDER: How do you feel your game is? Obviously you missed the weekend last weekend. Have you been practising since then? LYDIA KO: Yeah, don't want to be missing the weekend when you play the tournament before, but at the same time it was nice to have a couple days off and kind of get the mind refreshed, regrouped and get ready for this week. You know, we just came here on the weekend and just practising a little bit and just got to see the layout. There's not a lot we can do during those couple of days, but it was just I guess extra time to prepare and get mentally and physically prepared for this week. Q. How much of a driving force, how much of a desire do you have to get back to being No. 1 in the world? How important is that to you? LYDIA KO: To me it's more important to put myself in better positions week-in, week-out, and when you keep doing that consistently and have a few Top 10s here and there, those things are going to lead to having bigger World Rankings and all that. So I'm not really focusing on the rankings and thinking, hey, I really need to go back the No. 1 place right now. For me it's more important to get the confidence a bit better and be more consistent. I think that's the bigger picture rather than thinking about the ranking. Q. When you analyse your game, what are you most focussing on and where do you want to get better? LYDIA KO: I think this year my big goal is to be a bit more consistent in my long game, and I think it's improved a little bit compared to the end of last year, which is always good, you know, heading towards the right direction. But you know, last week, I think on the first day, I hit like 13 fairways out of 14, yet I shot 2-over. I think that shows what links golf is all about, and at the same time, you need to play smart and putt well, as well. I've had weeks where I've hit the ball great and struggled with the putter. Sometimes I've been on with the putter but not so good with the long game. So I feel like the puzzle pieces are there but trying to putt them all together sometimes is the hardest thing. But obviously with anyone's game and no matter what ranked player you are, there's always aspects in your game to improve in, so I'm working hard with my coaches and the team to be more consistent in those areas where I think needs a bit more work. Q. Where does this tournament sit in the pantheon of all the majors in golf? And the men's open is always played on a links course and this one various between links and inland. Would you like to see it played on a links course every year? LYDIA KO: I think the British Open itself is definitely a different week. I think it's really cool this year that the Scottish Open has now became an LPGA event and we have these two swing of events over on this side of the world. You know, like technique-wise, there are a few shots that normally we may not hit throughout the year that we have to hit in some of these situations. Like going to the pot bunkers or hitting out of the long fescue rough or keeping the ball under control in the wind. There are a few aspects that it wouldn't really be common in other tournaments. I think to be the British Open champion or to play this event, I think is a huge experience factor, and I think -- I love the challenge of playing here. Sometimes it goes your way. Sometimes it doesn't. I think it's a huge mental work, too, not only the physical aspect of it. I would love to have my name on that trophy one day and know that it would need to be four really consistent, great golfing days for me to have that happen. But no, I'm obviously wishing it would happen one day but I think it's definitely a different week. This year with the men playing a couple weeks ago at Birkdale, I got to play that event when Mo Martin won. Just every course is different. You can't think just because we're playing in the U.K. it's going to be a links course. It might be that type, whereas last year we played at Woburn which was definitely a different style of British Open course we've played. So far course has its own traits, and we just try and go along with what is playing for us that week. Q. Would you like to see the tee up at the fifth this week so you could have a go at that, the par 4? LYDIA KO: One, two, three, four -- five. Is it that green, is that the one where Michael Phelps holed that putt? Is it? I did see some of the girls having the tee forward. I think if the tee becomes a bit more forward than where it is now, it will be nice because I think it feeds from the fairway in towards the green. So it could be fun where it could be a reachable par 4. You know, it's interesting because there are obviously a lot of gorse bushes and fescue around the greens. Doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be an easy birdie, but I think it will make it interesting. Who knows, coming down the stretch on a Saturday or a Sunday and you're in contention, that could be a turning back for. But I think it would be a cool addition if it did happen. Q. Last week, what was the worst -- what was it like when you were facing the worst of the weather, and what is required to play through that when you're over here? LYDIA KO: Well, I mean, it was tough waking up at 3.30 in the morning for a 6.45 tee time. But when you kind of think, hey, normally in the morning, the winds are a little bit calmer and it progressively picks up throughout the afternoon -- but it was blowing and the weather God was blowing on us from early. You know it's going to be a tough day and you just have to stay in that moment and think about that shot only and not really think about what else is going on. But I was quite a lot over par through my front nine, so to me, on the back nine, I was trying to play as aggressive as I can without being dumb about it. So you just kind of have to go with what the situation is like. But when it's so windy like that and when it's that tough, you just have to be really calm and think, hey, par is a good score. If you're in a little bit of trouble, bogey is not that bad because it's so easy to make big numbers when you go in the long rough or when you hit it out of position. COLIN CALLANDER: Thank you very much for coming in. Good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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