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BMW LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP

October 27, 2019

Jin Young Ko

Busan, South Korea

Q. You have received recognition this season. You have also won a lot of awards this season. I would expect that you have exceeded your goals for the season, and having achieved your goals, I'm curious to know what your goals are for the next season?
JIN YOUNG KO: The season is not over, and I tend to set my goals on a weekly basis, so I have not thought about my goals for the next season.

But I do know that I want to be more grateful next year, and I want to be a better player obviously but I also want to be able to spread the gratitude. For instance, I would like to take part in more charity events and donations and so forth.

Q. It's been a really long season, so do you have any special workout routines or any types of food that you enjoy to boost your energy?
JIN YOUNG KO: I like marinated duck, and usually, I don't really enjoy eel, but this time around in Korea, I've also eaten a lot of eel.

Q. You're on the brink of breaking many records, but when we take a look at your average strokes, last week you recorded 69.5. This week, it's 69.5. Do you have it in the back of your mind at all that you want to break the record of 68? Was that in your mind during your play?
JIN YOUNG KO: I have to say, not really. Records are set to be broken, and if it's not broken this season, it might be broken next season, and actually having that record to break can be a very big motivator.

And so I don't think it really is that important which year the record is broken. I think that it can happen along the process of me playing better golf.

Q. So you talk a lot about sharing with the community and giving back in terms of charity and donations. Since when did you have these thoughts, maybe perhaps it was two years ago when you went to Jeju Island?
JIN YOUNG KO: When I started out with golf when I was ten, we were not that well off. So it was a struggle. When my coach told my mom that I should really go down this path, my parents both had to work very hard so that I could learn golf and become a professional golfer.

When I started to go on Tour and go on competitions, I would be apart from my family, and whenever we struggled financially or emotionally, there were people around us who helped us out. For my mom, too, whenever she thought that they really couldn't pay for my lessons anymore, somehow, somebody helped her and they could afford to pay for my lessons.

When I turned pro at 20, we were in a lot of debt because my parents were supporting me, and I knew at that point, I wanted to really work hard to really pay off that debt. I know at that time, there were a lot of negative stories about me and there was some misunderstanding, but until I had five or six wins, my household was still very much indebted.

I just focused on working hard, and my parents, when they saw me in the States really working hard, that made them very happy. I guess this kind of has led me to think more about helping others, as well.

Q. You never were really No. 1 on the KLPGA Tour, but now in your second year on the LPGA, you've really swept all the titles and you're No. 1. How did you prepare, what made you stronger, and you seem very patriotic. What is the reason?
JIN YOUNG KO: Like you said, up till my fourth year on the KLPGA, I was always overshadowed by other players. I think I did well, but they performed better. At the time my friends would say, oh, it must be really difficult for you to be overshadowed all the time but to be honest, I was never really that uncomfortable or sad about that. I was really focused on paying off my debt and I thought I just simply needed to work harder. Looking back, I think God had that period for me to make me stronger.

And as for my patriotism, I don't think I'm especially patriotic. I'm just really proud to be Korean. A lot of people saw my yardage book and how I have the Korean flag on it. I just want people to know I'm a Korean national and my caddie gave me that flag. I'm just really proud to be Korean, and I would be born Korean again if I had the choice.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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