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KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 29, 2018

Lydia Ko

Kildeer, Illinois

Q. What was working for you out on the course today?
LYDIA KO: I was able to hole some putts. It started from the first hole. It was really frustrating yesterday because I hit the ball pretty good, apart from a little bit of some trouble that I saw on the 18th, but I just couldn't get anything rolling, and just to be able to make a putt straight out of the gate I think was a big momentum changer. I tried to make as many birdies as I can, and I know it's difficult out there with the wind being a little bit more up than yesterday. Tried to play smart. Had a couple silly bogeys, I think, coming in. What did I shoot today? 66? I will take it on a Friday.

But I think my goal was to try to make the cut, so I think mission accomplished.

Q. Did anything change in your setup?
LYDIA KO: No, not that I know of.

Q. I think for a No. 1 player, a former No. 1, to say you just want to make the cut --
LYDIA KO: I think that was kind of the goal coming into today because I just couldn't roll anything. I tried to take small goals, small steps, and I think those few birdies in the front nine definitely helped with the confidence. You don't really want to be -- you want to be going out there playing the best you can, but I tried to think small and not get too ahead of myself.

Q. That first putt you made, how far was that?
LYDIA KO: I think that was like 15 feet, left to right.

Q. How tough are the last three holes, 16 through 18, playing?
LYDIA KO: It is really tough, and I think the wind makes a huge difference. If the wind is going towards the water or going away from the water, I think the wind is a huge factor on those three holes, and even 17 today, So Yeon and I both birdied it, but there's not going to be that many groups where two players birdie it. It's a really tough wind, especially because it's quite a bit across, you're not sure if it's a little down or a little into. Those are three really tough holes, and I think that's why it's going to make it super interesting coming down on Sunday when they can make a few-shot swings with the leaders.

Q. In what ways did winning the MEDIHEAL help you?
LYDIA KO: I hope in many ways, but I think it gave me a lot of confidence, and I felt like I was playing good golf, but I just felt I couldn't put it together. Going to Lake Merced made me feel comfortable, even before I got there, and I think obviously winning twice before that and playing the U.S. Juniors there I think really helped. It's a place I love going back to. San Francisco is also one of my favorite cities. I think the big thing for me was that two of my friends were there, so mentally I was worrying less about the golf and I was just having a good time with them rather than thinking, hey, is this going to go my way or not. And I think going into that Sunday, I thought, if it's meant to be, it is, but I was just going to try my best out there and have a lot of fun, and I think that was a huge confidence booster for me.

Q. Can you point to something that you and Ted worked on in the winter that you used to think about and now it's just coming naturally?
LYDIA KO: I think being aggressive was one, where sometimes my misses come from me being a little bit more tentative and being not as fast through the ball. I guess in some ways it's a good position to be in, so you can hit the ball aggressively and not really worry about it. And we tried to simplify things so that if it's still not going very good, we're not too far away from it. So I think those are the key things that we're going to continue to work on, and there are a few things in my swings that will always be with me, so it's just trying to polish those aspects, too.

Q. You hit more fairways yesterday, you hit more greens yesterday, but the putts dropped dramatically. Did you give the putter a talking to last year or did you give it a spa bath or what?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, gave it like a pedicure, manicure. I hit the ball really well yesterday, and I think the only two putts I holed outside of 10 feet were two par putts. I wasn't putting great. But straight out of the gate, I was able to make a birdie on the first, and that just gave me the confidence to say, hey, you can make a birdie around this golf course. I played solid. I know I missed a few fairways, but I tried to put myself in good positions and got lucky with that chip shot, too, but I'll take a 66 around here.

Q. We've watched you in this position so many times around here. You're a player that uses the word confidence a lot. You were kind of struggling, got things back in order winning the MEDIHEAL back in April, and now this happens. How much confidence do you have going into the weekend?
LYDIA KO: I think I had a bit of confidence coming into this week because of the two top-10 finishes these couple weeks, and I felt like I was driving it pretty good and rolling it good, and I was able to do one of the two things yesterday and one of the two today, so hopefully I'll be able to put it a bit more together over the weekend. But I think confidence is a huge thing for me, where the swing itself or the stroke itself is not too different. But if I'm out there playing with confident, I'm just able to execute the shots a little better.

Q. Maybe a pedicure is in order for the putter again.
LYDIA KO: I hope so. Many more if it does that.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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