|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
ABERDEEN STANDARD INVESTMENTS LADIES SCOTTISH OPENJuly 25, 2018Lydia KoGullane, East Lothian, Scotland TOM BENBOW: Lydia, welcome to the Aberdeen Standard Investments Ladies Scottish Open media centre, thank for coming. Before we get going, I'll do a recap of your career. So far you've main 15 of 16 cuts with one victory. You've played two Ladies Scottish Opens, once in 2015 where you finished tied fourth and then last year, at Dundonald, where you missed the cut. LYDIA KO: Good and bad. TOM BENBOW: So this is your third appearance, but first at Gullane. What do you think of the setup out there? Have you been out on the course. LYDIA KO: Yeah, I got to play 18 holes on Monday and then I played a quick nine yesterday, and the course is really nice. It kind of reminds me of New Zealand when I go out by the water and see other parts of Scotland on the other side and it's really beautiful out there. It's a good mix of holes. There are some really tricky holes and some holes that are a little bit -- is a little bit more straightforward than others but no, I think it's going to be a fun week. I love playing links golf. I didn't play very well last year but hopefully I'll be able to do a little bit better this year. TOM BENBOW: Are there any holes you see deciding the tournament? As you say, there are a mix of some harder and easier ones. Are there any that stand out? LYDIA KO: I think 1 and 18 are pretty tough. I played 1 straight into the wind and on the first day, to a different pin and I hit a 5-iron and yesterday I hit a 4-iron short of the green. Yeah, I think that's going to be a really long one, and the wind strength is obviously going to be a huge thing. 18 is a little tough one because I could reach the 280-yard bunkers with my 3-wood, but if I go a club less, I can't carry the left side or I -- or I have to be a bit more aggressive and try to hit three of them. I think you kind of have to play with how the wind is blowing and which direction it's going, but I think they are two good starting and finishing holes. TOM BENBOW: Bunker, 280 with 3-wood, that's quite a sizable distance compared to the usual. LYDIA KO: What do you mean? I normally hit it 280. TOM BENBOW: Is it running far because of the wind? LYDIA KO: It's a combination of the wind hemming and obviously it's a lot firmer than a lot of the golf courses we play. I think there was a bit of rain yesterday morning, so yesterday our drives were not going as far as the day before. But I hit my career-longest on No. 10 on Monday. It went like 347 which is outrageous for me. A few more of those drives, I'd love it because it's not in the pot bunkers, but yeah, it was getting pretty firm, but yesterday because of the rain it wasn't as firm. I think if I hit 3-wood to that 280-bunker, I don't think I would have reached it yesterday. But I don't think it's forecasted for rain, touch wood, and that way it will keep getting firmer. A lot of bunkers you wouldn't reach with certain clubs I think are more in play this week. TOM BENBOW: You played this event in 2015 and then last year. What's the biggest change that you've seen since it's become an LPGA event, co-sanctioned bigger field? Is there anything that stands out for you? LYDIA KO: I think there were great crowds when I came out and played as an LET event and there were even better crowds last year. Even considering last year wasn't the greatest of weather, and I even saw some over the weekend through the TV, but it's great how much people love seeing the LPGA here and the LET players here. This is where golf really started, so I think it's really cool for the people here to see the world's best female golfers out here playing in their backyard. So I think this is obviously a little different venue and a little different place in Scotland, but even in the practise rounds, we've seen a lot of juniors and a lot of people local to come out and watch. With the men being here a couple weeks ago and to see us here and with the Opens last week and next week for us, it's a really cool stretch of events I think for golf in the U.K. Q. Would you have seen a situation like you have here with all these juniors around playing with, that have been echoed in Korea at all? LYDIA KO: I think yesterday, did they have like a special event of like speed golf or something. TOM BENBOW: It was a junior clinic, which is a speed golf event. LYDIA KO: We saw them, too. I think it's just really cool to juniors that are soon going to be in our positions in a few years' time. As a tour player you're trying to make a difference and inspire more juniors to take up the game and love the game. Seeing them all here is cool because you can see the future generations and how they are excited to see us here. We're trying to inspire the game, like we've had so many amazing role models on our tour in the women's game. So we're trying to do that for them and it's just so cool that they are loving it and just being able to spend some time with us. I think it's a cool experience, not only for them, but for us, too. Q. Would you have seen that in Korea? Would lots of kids have been out and about or would it have been the parent with a child and working with them on the range more? LYDIA KO: I guess, no, when I play an event in Korea, there are quite a few juniors out there. Some of them here, they might have just come out, walked out from their house and come over, whereas I think in Korea, they would have come with their parents a bit more. I think no matter where you are, there are a lot of juniors coming out, whether they are by themselves or with a group of friends or with their parents. I think they are all here because they are excited to see us and kind of see what it's like on Tour and see the golf because it is different watching live and watching through a TV. The golf course is different and the speed and how players play are different. I don't think it's that different no matter where you go in the countries, but the thing here, it's cool because this is such a small area that it's great that the local kids can come out and just have a good time, and I heard that dogs can come out. So it's like a nice walk in the park almost and get to watch some really good golf, too. Q. Can I start by asking your previous career-best drive and what would your average drive normally be? LYDIA KO: I don't even know what my career-best drive is, but I know I've never hit it more than 347 unless I've hit like three sprinklers which is never happening. I probably average like 255 yards off the tee, about 95 yards what I normally do, and I was playing with girls that are a little longer hitters than me. It was probably not me -- but it was me, so it's nice that you've only got like a 50-yard chip-in and you can almost putt it in from there with how nice the ball is rolling on the fairways. Q. As Tom said, you're in good form coming into this event. You went through a spell where you made some changes. Is that all out of your system now and where would you say your game is at the moment in terms of maybe two or three years ago? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I hope I've settled down with the changes and I have a solid team around me, which is a great place to be. No matter if I'm playing well or not, they are always there to support. Even if I have a good week, we're trying to improve and be more consistent. Consistency is the biggest thing in golf, and especially being on Tour and I think that's what we've been trying to work on to simplify things and to be more consistent. So yeah, I worked with my coach a couple days prior to flying over and obviously work with Johnny since the Tour started this year. So yeah, it's been good, and I think we've been trying to enjoy it and have fun and I think through all this process, I'm not only getting to know more about the other person on the other side but I'm getting to learn more about myself, and things that I thought I didn't really need or I thought, oh, this is okay. I feel like, no, you know what, I like this kind of style better. Q. You're no stranger to winning, but how important was winning this year? LYDIA KO: I think winning in San Francisco gave me the confidence to say, hey, the game is there. I always felt like the puzzle pieces were all laid out but I just couldn't connect it. Sometimes that is the hardest thing where you feel like those pieces in your game are there, but you just don't know how to connect it all or to produce a good round or a good tournament. It was nice to have that win and there's no doubt in my mind or doubt in other people's minds. I love going to San Francisco. It's probably one of my favourite places to be, and I had a couple of my friends out there week. So I was focussing less on the golf, which in some ways, you think, oh, that's not really good, but I think it took my mind off the pressure and not quite entirely 110 per cent in my golf. Q. With this tournament being held on a course that was on The European Tour a couple of weeks ago, did you take advantage of that to watch the coverage, or do you know any of the players in the field that you could talk to, like Ryan Fox? LYDIA KO: Foxy did play well. I didn't get to talk to him. He hits it quite a long way, longer than me, so I don't know if his course management is anywhere near what I would be doing. I did get to watch some golf, but I didn't get to watch a lot because I think coverage started early in the morning. I think after a long six weeks on the road, I was kind of going for the sleep-ins a bit that week, but I got to watch some of the highlights, and to see what Brandon Stone did on that final day with the chance at 59 on the last hole, I think was pretty cool. It kind of gives you hope to say, hey, there are a few lower numbers out there, but I think it's forecasted to be a little bit windier than when the men's played it. How they played it, I think is a little bit different to ours, so you kind of have to focus on your game. I did get to see how the greens were reacting and what kind of shots the guys were playing off the greens. Those are the bigger things you're looking at rather than how they are taking on that golf course. TOM BENBOW: Is there anything in this week apparent to the fact that it's sort of like a shared tournament because it's quite unique on the schedule. LYDIA KO: I mean, obviously we've got the same sponsors and I think more so just for the players, I think it's cool for people here in this area that they get to watch obviously the men's and then have a week's break and then us. I think it's not a lot of big sporting events come here I'm guessing, but it's really cool for them to come out and have a good time and watch some good golf. We've had amazing weather here, so I think it's a perfect time for us to all be in. It's a cool experience, and if I was living here, I would totally have been loving this experience of watching both the men's and women's, especially with such amazing weather. I'm talking about this weather and I feel like I should save it. Q. What would it mean for to you win either this week or next week at some point in your career in Scotland or in Great Britain? LYDIA KO: Yeah, it would be so cool to win in Scotland because it is really the Home of Golf, I think, and you know, to win where it all started, you kind of feel like you're being part of history and especially -- and also the British Open being one of the five majors on the LPGA. I love playing links golf, and I think it's a bit of a different golf to what you normally play. So I think it kind of brings out like the 15th club, you know, where you have to be a bit more creative and you have to hit shots that normally you wouldn't be doing. So I think it brings out a different part in your game. I would love to win over here and I know that the people here love seeing us and I think it just makes us more excited to go out and play some good golf in front of them. Yeah, if it's sometime within this week or next week, that would be great, but if it's within sometime in my career, I think that will be a pretty special moment for me. TOM BENBOW: I was looking at the tee times tomorrow, and you're off as 12.30 with Jin Young Ko and Florentyna Parker. Have you played with them? Do you look at who you're playing with? Does it matter to you who you play with? LYDIA KO: I don't think it really matters who I play with. Obviously you know, you look at some tee times and go, oh, my God, I'm super excited. But I don't think I particularly mind who I play with. They are two amazing players and have won, you know, Florentyna on the LET and obviously Jin Young is a super rookie and he's not even a rookie, really. I'm super excited to play with them both and I think they are both playing great. Hopefully we'll be able to kind of feed off each other making a bunch of birdies out there. TOM BENBOW: Thanks very much for coming in and good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|