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DIAMOND RESORTS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONSJanuary 19, 2019Lydia KoLake Buena Vista, Florida Q. So watching it on television, you look like you made a lot of good rolls today. LYDIA KO: Yeah, I felt like there were a few putts that I thought I holed and it didn't go in, but I holed a really long one on 8, so it kind of -- that one, I probably didn't deserve, and it went in. So everything kind of balances out. Yeah, it definitely felt like I gave myself quite a few good looks and just wasn't able to hole in. But at the end of the day, all I can do is put a good roll on it and just give myself good opportunities out there. Q. In this format that is different for everyone, does it feel like you're leading the golf tournament? LYDIA KO: I don't know. I mean, like you don't know what time it is out there. You're just having a really good time. For me, when I was out there, obviously, you see the leaderboard and all that, but I'm just trying to focus on my game. I've been having a really good time. I've never been caught up in what position I am and what I need to do. I probably need to do that a little bit more tomorrow so I know what I need to do coming down the stretch, or the whole day really. But it's been good because it just takes your mind away from what position you're in, and you're less worrying about the results and all that and all the leaderboard stuff and just having a really good time. I've been loving it. Again, 3 for 3, great groups. Guys just smash it. It's just out of this world. It's so impressive how far they hit it, how straight they hit it, and how good of a player they are, but it's just been so much fun. Q. When Ariya was playing, she was asking -- who was it? The guy from the -- the basketball player. LYDIA KO: Ray Allen. Q. She's asking him, how do you handle pressure, and they had a very lengthy conversation about this. Have you had any sorts of conversations with any of your guys, like Smoltz? LYDIA KO: I did not. Maybe I need to spend one more day with him and get to know them a little bit better. I think -- they hit, and I'm like this with my two hands in front, like very polite going wow. I've been getting into their games as much as mine. It would have been great to pick their brains a little bit. Great idea of Ariya's. Maybe I'll do that tomorrow with whoever I've been paired with. No, they're just such nice people. It's so impressive. They sign and take photos with every single person or little kid that comes up to them and go, hey, can you please sign this? I know -- I can say that it's pretty hard to do, especially when they're playing competitively too, and they do it for every single one out there. That's why I think they're such great role models and great ambassadors for sports in general. Q. We talked about your swing being simplified so you don't have to think about it. How far along are you in that? LYDIA KO: I guess you're never going to be like 100 percent, but if you're in the 90s, you're doing great. I think the more competitive rounds I get to play in these kinds of situations, you get more and more comfortable. I feel like the more shots I see that I hit with commitment, the more confidence I get and the more comfortable I get. So this week has been great just to see where I'm at, and obviously there's still a lot of things for me to work on. But it's just good to know that we're heading in the right direction. Q. Season opening tournament can be really stressful. This week it sounds like you've kind of -- LYDIA KO: The guys have made it like so stress free. Like when I was kind of going in on Wednesday, I was like, man, this -- I hope this is great, but this could go anywhere just because it is the first event and you have nothing to really relate it to. Plus I'm going to relate it to CME, and that's like two months ago. But from that first hole, I remember just A.J. and Ryan, they were both like, hey, where are you from? A.J.'s from around this area. They're like, oh, let's play a game of golf sometime, and I'm like oh, my God. It just takes your mind away from that competitive stress, I think, and especially -- I mean, I would never know that this is my first event of the season. I think, because these guys are so friendly and have such great personalities, it's been really easy for us. I'm pretty sure every player would say the same thing. Because they're very approachable, it just makes it so much more fun for us to be out there. Q. You made a lot of changes over the years coming into new seasons. Did you make any new changes at all coming into 2019? LYDIA KO: I changed balls. That's about it. Obviously, the PXG came out with some of the new hybrids, woods, and drivers. I've had the Gen2 driver since CME, so that wasn't really a completely new thing. But really the ball's been the only factor. I feel like it was a good change, and I'm gaining something from that. Q. What is the new ball? LYDIA KO: I'm using the Pro V1x Titleist 2019 ball. Q. Remind us what it was last year. LYDIA KO: I used to use a Callaway Chrome Soft X plus plus. Q. Was that a big adjustment? LYDIA KO: It was a little bit just because every ball is a little different, but what I saw with the new ball, I really liked. But I think one of the harder things was I love everybody at Callaway, and they've been an absolutely amazing team to work with. So that was almost a hard adjustment itself because you see Barry and Bjorn out here all the time. They're just amazing people. But I'm excited to be using the Titleist ball. Hopefully, a lot of the balls will go in less strokes as possible into the hole for me this season. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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