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SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA TAIWAN CHAMPIONSHIP

October 26, 2018

Lydia Ko

Taipei, Taiwan

Q. What a great round. What did you have for breakfast?
LYDIA KO: Just the usual but you have hey. My favorite thing actually at the buffet has been sweet, like pumpkin puree, but it's not seasoned. I'm guessing it's for the babies. So the best thing for me has been the baby food.

Q. The baby food has propelled a lot of birdies on your scorecard. That was a brilliant front nine. You must feel quite at home playing in the Swinging Skirts event, a tournament you've been very successful.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I was actually telling Johnny, I had my 10th LPGA win here in Taiwan and my first ever professional win as a professional here in Taiwan, and that was the Swinging Skirts event at that time.

You know, I feel like I have a great relationship with the people here at Swinging Skirts, Chairman Wang and everyone has been super supportive. I love coming here. The food is amazing and the fans are great, and especially with so many of the Taiwanese players playing such great golf, I think everyone is super excited to see the LPGA.

Q. And can you just show us, if we have a quick look, this is -- tell us about this?
LYDIA KO: That was my first win on the LPGA as an LPGA member and that was the Swinging Skirts event. I think it was probably one of the most memorable shots I've ever hit in my career on the 18th hole. It's going to be with me forever. It's a date that I always look back to and go, you know, it was very special.

Q. That was a great putt to make on 18, as well, the par save.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I don't think I left it in the right spot right there. It wasn't the best spot to be in but definitely nice to be able to hold that putt. The good thing was I had a straight uphill putt, so I knew I could hit it a bit more aggressively.

Q. Really good start to your day today. Can you just talk about how you were able to get things going on the front nine?
LYDIA KO: I hit a good drive to start off the day and then I set myself with three good looks for birdies, especially on the third. It was only like a 3-footer, and you know, all day I felt like I was giving myself good opportunities, and you know, that's what you've got to do, especially around the greens where there can be a lot of slope on it.

So yeah, definitely nice to come out with a bang, and then just to be able to finish strong. There is some tricky holes here and there, so you really can't I guess let go of your focus. You just have to keep playing, and sometimes there can be a string of holes where you don't really get anything going. But I know that as long as there's holes in front of you, there's always an opportunity for birdie. That was kind of the mind-set I was trying to take today.

Q. Do you think this course you have to think more and stay focused, more so than other courses you play?
LYDIA KO: In some parts of the greens, there are a lot of slope. So if you miss it on the wrong areas, you can have some severe breaking ones. I think that's why the greens aren't as fast as maybe some of the other golf courses that we play. But you know, you just have to leave it in the right spots. The more uphill puts you can have, the more aggressive and confident stroke you can put on it.

So I think that's super important, and you know, just because the downhill ones are quite fast, you know, you're a little bit more tentative on those than any of the other putts. But yeah, you know, you do definitely have to think around this golf course, and sometimes it might not be the driver off the tee. But you just have to play the course to what the conditions it is that day, and yeah, hopefully a lit more like this for the next couple days.

Q. You didn't play particularly well yesterday. Did you make ana effort to be aggressive today? Did you slow down on the back nine?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, yesterday my putting wasn't amazing and my long game wasn't amazing. When they are not that great, you can't really shoot a low one. I feel like being able to shoot under par yesterday was a decent start.

It's not easy out there, so it's not really easy to just for somebody to shoot a really low number. So at the end of the day, I tried to stay patient and I mean, like last week, I felt like you had a couple average rounds, and by having two really good rounds, I was able to be in contention. So I think for me it's really important to stay patient and you just never know until the very end.

Q. Did you discover the installation art? How do you feel about the paintings?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I feel like, you know, Swinging Skirts event is very artsy and every Swinging Skirts event we go, there's been some years with those big statues and different artwork. It's been very cool and unique, little characters describing the holes on the side.

I think it's definitely different, and I think it draws a lot of people in, especially there's a lot of kids out here. I've been taking photos and I'm sure a lot of people have been taking photos. I think it's a cool way of Swinging Skirts to, I guess, put in a different side of golf and how golf and art can come together. They all do an amazing job with doing things like that. Yeah, it's very unique. It doesn't happen anywhere else.

Q. You had a very strong finish last week, and in this Swinging Skirts event, you seem to be playing very well. How confident are you after you shot 66 today?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, definitely I think finishing on a high note last week was good for the confidence. Every week's a few week and every day is a new day, so you just have to come out thinking as that day and not worry about what else is going on.

I've been very fortunate to have a great relationship with everyone at Swinging Skirts, Pony, Chairman Wang, and they have been super supportive. Just seeing them on some of the holes or after the round, I think is great and they always tell me, you can do this, be the champion. Justify don't end up being the champion, just hearing that and getting their support I think is great, and what Swinging Skirts is doing to grow golf in Taiwan and to support a lot of these up-and-coming amateurs I think is great, and not many people can do that.

It's very inspiring on all levels what they do.

Q. What's this you're wearing?
LYDIA KO: Unfortunately, it's for many causes. You don't want to be having the black ribbon, but this was started from last week where one of -- well, I guess almost, it was late two weeks ago where an LPGA caddie passed away. He passed away and then obviously with the accident here on Sunday night.

It's so sad that these things are happening, but hopefully with a lot of the players trying to show, and those people that can maybe help out, we're trying to express our, I guess, gratitude and hope everybody that are affected, we feel very sorry for them. If there's anything we can do to make them better, in our roles, I think that's what we're trying to do. It just always so sad to hear these kind of things happening all around the world.

So you kind of wear it thinking, oh, we wish it hadn't happened, but if things like this do happen, you know, we're just trying to show the world that we're one, and I think that's a big thing, and the LPGA are thinking of everyone that's affected.

Q. When did you start wearing that pin?
LYDIA KO: This was from last week, and then obviously this week, with the train, I thought it was a good idea to continue wearing it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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