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LPGA KEB HANABANK CHAMPIONSHIP

October 12, 2018

Lydia Ko

Incheon, South Korea

Q. You're in a good position going into the weekend. Can you assess where you have been up to this point?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I have been hitting it consistently well these past couple days, and you know, even in the wind yesterday, I felt like I set myself up for some pretty good birdie opportunities. I just wasn't able to hole that many.

But I was able to hole a really good eagle chip shot yesterday, so that was kind much the highlight, and I knew that even though it could have been better, 2-under was still a pretty good position, considering the conditions.

I just -- my goal was to shoot 4-under today and I knew that I needed to make that birdie on the last to kind of have that goal achieved. It's I think in a pretty good position for the weekend. There are so many big names and especially in Asia, it's really the top field, the top players who are out here. So you just can never give up until the very end, so yeah, I just tried to give myself as many opportunities as I can.

Q. When you were playing your absolute best golf, the wedges were unbelievable. It looks as if you're close to being back there. Do you feel that way?
LYDIA KO: I feel like the more rounds I play, and obviously the more good, competitive rounds I play, I think the confidence, it kind of builds up. I think for me, confidence is so important.

Before, I thought, hey, you know, the ball-striker has to be good, my putting's got to be on. But I feel like day-to-day, things don't change very much, but if you feel like you're on it and you feel confident, you can just go out there without worrying about it, and I think when I was playing my best, I think it was kind of that mind-set, even without me knowing. I think that's what I'm trying to put my mind into.

Before it might have come more naturally but I think I'm just trying to emphasize, I'm being patient and I'm being positive and being confident.

Q. Was it more -- was it more creative and intuitive back when you were playing well?
LYDIA KO: I don't --

Q. Not that you're not playing well now.
LYDIA KO: I don't think I was more creative. I almost feel like sometimes when you're not in good positions, you try to hit more creative shots. Like at the British, I wasn't leading or anything, and I was like, hey, I'm going to try and hit this flop shot over the bunker, and I was in the rough and the pin was only two yards past the hill. Then I hit it and I was like, oh, maybe I should do this more often.

I feel like in some ways, I'm more creative because maybe I wasn't at the top and it's not like, okay, that one shot, you know, leeway, it's okay. I don't feel like I was more creative then but maybe I was just able to execute some of those shots a little better or a little closer so I didn't have, you know, like a 6-footer instead of a 3-footer.

Q. How is the wrist?
LYDIA KO: It's good. I always just tape it there. It's for a foot but I put it there, that's my foot I guess now. Just for like cushioning. I came I think a few seasons ago -- I took a few weeks off and then just getting back into it, it was a little tender there. It doesn't hurt but after that, I've always just kind of played with that cushioning, but I've had it with like the Band-Aid around there. This just doesn't slip because I have really sweaty hands.

Q. Bogey-free through round two for the day, 4-under. Very different conditions. How would you assess today's round?
LYDIA KO: I felt like overall it was pretty consistent throughout the bag. I knew that even though it wasn't super low yesterday, that you know, just being under par and being in the red numbers was a good position heading into these three days.

When I saw the forecast, I knew that it was going to be a lot calmer considering to yesterday, so when it's those kind of conditions, you try and take advantage of that, but at the same time, I think because it was a little calmer, the officials tucked the pins a little bit more.

So in some ways, it balances it out, but you know, I tried to give myself good opportunities, and there are some really tough holes out there. I knew that coming off with pars on those holes is really not a bad score.

So yeah, I had a good time, just a lot of fun, and especially on the back nine, we had quite a few birdies between the three of us. It's always fun when we get into good momentum as a whole group.

Q. You had such a good reception coming in on 18 green and you finished with a birdie. What's it like playing in front of a Korean crowd, and is it different than other countries?
LYDIA KO: I feel like the spectators and the atmosphere is like a major championship. People here in Korea absolutely love seeing the LPGA here. You know, every single time, we're really welcomed by them. It doesn't matter if you're in the first group or you're in the last group or if you are 10 or 1, there's always going to be people rooting you on and clapping for you. I think that's a great spirit of this event.

I think obviously with quite a few of the Korean girls on the LPGA playing great, I think it really makes the sport more popular and I think they are super excited to see us here. I think we feed off that good energy from them and try and translate that into some good performance.

Q. Well, you're in a really great position heading into the weekend. How is your level of confidence going into tomorrow's round?
LYDIA KO: I'm just going to try and play like I did these last couple days. I don't really know what position I'm going to be at the end of the day because the leaders are still out there right now.

So yeah, I feel like the wind conditions and the weather is a big factor on this golf course because there's some holes where it's very wide open. Just give myself opportunities and stay patient and have a good time this weekend.

Q. We saw you go through a beauty make over with your hair. Have you gotten a lot of positive comments? Is there any special reason why you did that?
LYDIA KO: I feel like there's always a time where you just want to change something, and I've been I think three years ago, I was crazy where I had like five different hair colors in one season. And then I've been, you know, just kind of growing on that brown train and then I went lighter just before my sister's wedding, and my original black hair was growing out, so I said, I need to make this tone a little better.

But for that tone that I had, it was a little iffy. I was like, you know what, I'm just going to go blonde. I can't do this when I'm 40, I don't think, or I might have hair loss problems if I do it then.

I feel like everyone's been saying -- when Danielle braided my hair for me at the gala dinner, everyone said, "You're like the Korean Elsa," which is pretty cool. So I think I have to tell my salon hair stylist that maybe we need to continue this trend, but it does take a lot of time to get used to.

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