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HSBC WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

February 28, 2018

Lydia Ko

Republic of Singapore

CHRISTINA LANCE: Welcome back to the media center at the HSBC Women's World Championship.

Lydia has had 14 wins in your LPGA career, including two majors. She is playing in her fifth HSBC Women's World Championship and was the runner-up in 2015 and tied for ninth last year.

Lydia, welcome back to Singapore. You've seen the golf course now. How does it look out there?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, the course is in really good shape this year. We got to play the new Tanjong Course starting from last year, and definitely a different layout to the other golf course. It's in really good condition. I think we're all going to have a good time out there.

THE CHRISTINA LANCE: You mentioned last year was the first year we moved over to this course. You've never finished worse than 15th here. I know it was over two golf courses but what is it about this area that seems to suit you so well again with no finish worse than 15th?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, the golf course is always in great shape and it has been the last few years I've been here. We get a lot of support from all the fans that live in Singapore and also people that are traveling in and watching us.

You always like to come to places where you feel welcomed, and I think Singapore is a great place. It may not be big but there's a lot of things to do and there are a lot of great places to eat, too.

CHRISTINA LANCE: What are some of your best places to eat? I haven't gotten beyond the hotel yet, so give me some recommendations.

LYDIA KO: I've gone to a Korean barbeque place just outside of our hotel and inside the mall there is a really good sushi place that I know a lot of the players go to, and I went to a burger place that is only five minutes away from our hotel that's also a really famous chain burger place in Germany.

I've been trying to try different cuisines, but pretty much all the food is great here and I'm definitely going to have chili crab this week.

CHRISTINA LANCE: I'll put that on my list.

LYDIA KO: When in Singapore.

CHRISTINA LANCE: Good to know.

Q. It's a great field here packed full with talent. How far off is your game, do you think, of attacking the top players coming into the tournament?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, this is my third tournament of the season and I've seen parts, but also seen the areas of my game that needs work. Every week is a new week and when you're out there playing, you have to play with confidence and positivity that you're able to play alongside the best golfers and obviously this is a tournament with a great field. So you do need to have your best game to be at the top of the leaderboard.

But this is a nice blend of holes on this golf course. You've got to be smart and sometimes par is good on some holes and when you do get the birdie opportunities, try and grab them.

Q. Can you just talk a bit about how different is it, the chase to be No. 1 now, compared to what it was like when you first came on Tour? Back then, you had never been world No. 1, and trying to go back to where you were, because you know you can be world No. 1.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, even when I was a rookie on Tour, and before I was world No. 1 and now, I don't really think about the rankings that much. If you keep playing solid and give yourself opportunities and keep putting yourself in contention, that way the rankings and all those points kind of build up at the end.

So I'm not really the type to look at the rankings and say, hey, I've got to do this to do that. That really takes care of itself after the play is done.

So to me, I'm more focusing on my game and that shot or that round I have in front of me, rather than thinking too much about the big picture.

Q. Could you tell us how your attitude towards playing in the Pro-Am has evolved over the years, and do they become easier and do you enjoy them more?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, I think it's fun and a good opportunity to be able to meet other people outside of the industry that you're in. I played with people in Boston with HSBC today, and they were great. We had a great time.

It's especially more fun when you're just trying to have a good time out there, and obviously if you play well, that's great. So really, I don't think I've really had a bad group, so I've been very lucky with that. I think they like spending time with us, and it's great to be able to hear their stories.

Most of the time when we're out here, we get to meet people from the golfing industry, whether it's media or sponsors, so it's nice to be able to talk about different things and some things, even today, I got asked today, what was your hobbies. That's not something you get asked very often, but it's good.

Q. How is it working out, I know you had a change with your off-course team before the Australian Open. How is that working out? I noticed that Bob Charles had some words to say about the changes that you've had over the years. Is it more just it's part of your game, a unique thing to you, or the way that you've set up your team off the course?
LYDIA KO: I don't really know what's been said or what other people have commented about me on media because I haven't really Googled myself yet.

Yeah, you know, obviously at the end of the day, I'm trying to make decisions that I think is the best for me, and you know, with anything, it takes time to get used to. When I make those decisions, I'm trying to make it so that I have the best team around me and I feel like that is going to help my game, and from there, sometimes it may not show straightaway. Things take time.

I feel like I have great people around me, and you know, Johnny has been great the last few weeks. When I wasn't hitting the ball that good or playing that good, he's tried to keep me calm and tried to make me as positive as I can. I think it's good to surround yourself with people that are positive, and that way, even if you don't have your A Game, they are still able to keep you balanced and kind of work from there.

Q. With these off-course changes at the end of 2016, it's been a year-plus, what sort of advice would you give yourself a year ago in terms of having gone through all these changes with your swing and with your game? What are you telling yourself to maybe make it more smooth, the transition?
LYDIA KO: To me, I have no regrets in the decisions I made. Obviously not long after I had these couple new changes again coming into this season, but I still don't regret the changes, and I think that's really important to do what's best at that moment, even though later on down the road, you might think, oh, I could have made a better decision.

No, I have no regrets in the changes I made, and I think it was all going towards the right direction. So sometimes you're not going to take those big steps to go to that final goal. It's little steps that make it go there.

If I had to say something, I would just say, be patient, and believe in yourself. I think that a really big key is no matter what, as long as you believe in yourself and believe that you can do it, I think anything is possible.

Q. You had three second-place finishes in 26 starts. How would you sum up last season?
LYDIA KO: I was struggling during the middle of my season, but I had that second-place finish in Indianapolis and I think that gave me a lot of confidence towards the end of my season.

I had my best finish at a major for last year at the Evian Championship, so I felt like I finished my season off on a high note. Birdied my last hole of the year last year. So obviously, in any year, even if you're the Player of the Year, there's always something that you feel like can improve, and I think that's a good thing -- well, the challenging thing about golf, is that there is no perfect round. Obviously there are a lot of positives, relative things to work on.

I think sometimes we get carried away about, hey, someone has had a winless year or someone has done this. But if you keep putting yourself in good position and in contention, it will happen.

CHRISTINA LANCE: Thank you so much, Lydia. Have a great day.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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