MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY DANA

August 7, 2020

Lydia Ko

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Lydia Ko after a 65 on Friday. Going to head into the weekend solo top of the leaderboard.

Really close, tight between you, Jodi, and Danielle right now. It was an interesting day for you. You opened up with four birdies; you closed with four birdies.

Tell us about your round, how you feel right now coming off the course.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I personally thought I shot 5-under. I didn't realize I was 5-under turning.

But, no, I started off really well. I hit it to like a foot on 1 and then it's one of those tap-in birdies there.

Then holed three really good putts.

On 5 I just kind of had an indecision with the club selection, so hit it on the green but I was 26 yards away. I was almost thinking about chipping it.

No, to finish off with a couple birdies on the last two holes is nice. I think that's going to be the key for this golf course, and especially in the final groups, whether that's me or for any other players. Because it is two par-5 finishing holes, there could be a huge turnaround.

So, yeah, no, I didn't really know exactly what I was shooting. I knew that Jodi was playing really well, but I had no idea what she was shooting, and obviously have no idea what was Danielle is shooting.

No, it's great that a lot of players are playing great, and it just makes for a really exciting weekend.

Q. You mentioned Jodi. She was playing so well in the same group with you. I know you said you didn't know what her score was. Were you guys giving each other good vibes? You might think that when you've got two really great rounds going in the same group.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I mean, even without us playing well, I think Jodi and Amy are some of the nicest players on tour. It's nice when you're in that very relaxed pairing to start off with.

Yeah, no, she's been hitting the ball great and putting well. She continuously did that -- I think it was a flawless round, no bogeys today.

Yeah, no, when people are playing well in your group you're trying to catch that momentum. When you see other people make birdies you kind of feel like, Hey, there are birdies out there for you as well.

This is a golf course that even par is not going to cut it, so you just have to I think be aggressive. We still have two more long days to go. You never know what's going to happen in the end. I think the goal for me is to keep playing my game and play aggressively and confidently out there.

Q. You've had such success here, but you said also there has been a lot of changes to this course since you were last here. Are you able to rely on the past success, or are there enough changes that you've got to look through new eyes?

LYDIA KO: Normally it's those final few holes that kind of change it for you in a round, and those are the holes that have gone through some the changes. But I think they've done some really good changes where you can get penalized if you do go in those bunker. I think it makes it a little bit more strategic. You have to think about your course management, especially where you stand at those different putts of the day.

No, it's always nice to come back to a golf course that you played well at because you draw back a lot of good memories, and I feel like I've been able to do that well the last couple days.

Q. So you shot 64 yesterday; you backed it up with a 65 today. How hard is it to shoot a really good round again after going solo the day before?

LYDIA KO: I think I got off to a really good start that I wasn't worrying about it too much. To me right now score is a secondary thing. It's more important that I have belief in myself and that I'm going out there and hitting every single shot with confidence. To me, that is the biggest goal in my head. So if I'm doing that and playing well on top of that, I think that things are clicking.

But, yeah, no, I think my start definitely helped the day. When you get off to those kind of good birdies start you feel like you get in a good momentum of things.

Q. Lydia, you're a modest person in general. I'm curious where you keep your trophies. Any that you look at every day when you're at home?

LYDIA KO: I don't purposely look at it, but in our house my dad put it these cabinets. I don't really have like a proper trophy case. Maybe if I get a few more.

But we've been having it, you know, on I guess -- in one of our spare rooms. We just actually because of the quarantine, we kind of turned it into an indoor gym. So we've got those gym mats down and like the little indoor sauna and Peloton, which I've been on quite a bit.

Yeah, I've been not on purposely, but having to look at my trophies. My trainer came and he's like, Oh, that looks cool. I'm like, Yeah, thank you.

Because I think some of nice ones are like the CME Globe that we get, like the globe, and MediHeal is quite a unique one as well.

Not bragging or anything, but, yeah, because that room turned into a gym room which it wasn't meant to be, I've been seeing it a little bit more often.

Q. Does that inspire you at all looking at them, or do you not reflect much?

LYDIA KO: In some ways I feel like it's been such a long time since some of those trophies. To be honest, I can't believe this is already my seventh year on tour. To know that one of the first of those trophies was like possibly nine years ago or something, it's crazy.

But, no, I think at the same time, it gives you confidence to say, Hey, I played well at these events before. I can get into these kind of streaks. I think the big key for me, it's more a fight against myself rather than -- obviously it's a fight against the best female golfers, but really it comes to me going against myself and me believing in myself, and if I have those doubts, trying to overcome that.

It's a big thing that I've been working on. I think the more competitive golf I get to play under these pressure conditions, I think the more I'll be able to assess myself and get better at it.

Q. After a 64 and a 65 the first two rounds, how much confidence does that give you going into the weekend?

LYDIA KO: You know, this is a golf course where there is your fair share of birdies. That's going to be the case probably over the weekend as well.

Depending on how aggressive some of these pin positions are, some are going to be those birdie holes. But the greens are getting pretty firm out there, so if you tuck these pins, they're going to be -- I think get tougher to go really aggressively at those pins.

You just have to play smart. You know that the whole field is going to be making a lot of birdies, so you just got to focus on your game and try and make as many birdies or eagles or pars as you can and not really get too worried about what everybody else is doing.

Q. If the greens are getting faster and the course is getting tougher, does that put you at an advantage given you're in the lead and now you're protecting it?

LYDIA KO: I think for me, over the weekend I'm going to try -- good/bad thing about being out there, there is no leaderboard. So you're not referencing yourself every three holes or every few holes. When I'm out there I'm literally just playing my golf and supporting and clapping for some of the players that I'm playing with.

But, yeah, I think for me, I'm going to go out there -- I don't know where I'm going to stand. I haven't looked at the leaderboard so I don't know where I stand right now or how many shots.

But I'm going to go out there and play as aggressively as I can. And like Sean said, aggressively doesn't mean like aggressively going at every pin. It's just even if you have a passive alignment or line, hitting aggressively to that.

So I think that's going to be my key. If I make a few good birdies and give myself good opportunity, I think that's all I can do for now.

Q. So you're not going to be checking your phone to see the scores?

LYDIA KO: No. I haven't done that the last two days or the whole of last week, so I'm not planning to do it. I don't check the leaderboard very much anyway just even when I'm off the golf course.

So, yeah. It's more Netflix for me on my phone. (Laughter.)

Q. What are you watching on Netflix?

LYDIA KO: I just finished the Umbrella Academy. I have a habit of like when the whole season is out it's really bad, because I get so curious that I have to look at the next one, and it's some very late nights due to that.

No, Umbrella Academy and I like cooking shows. There was like Sugar Rush Extra Sweet, so I watched all that in a span of two days. Yeah.

Q. If I can just ask one more. Talking about your gym, you're in shorts today. Your lower body looks particularly strong. Do you feel like you have gotten stronger in this off-season, or quote-unquote, off-season?

LYDIA KO: I was talking to Jerry about it. I won't say exactly how many pounds I weigh, but I can say the increments. I went in and weighed myself with one of my trainers and I was X weight. He said for me to not tell people.

And then I went two weeks later and I did like the body fat percentage as well. Two weeks later I was like seven pounds heavier and the body fat percentage was pretty much the same. So I gained like seven pounds of muscle in like two weeks. I been drinking protein powder, protein drinks.

My trainer has been pretty much been giving me, feeding me it as I'm walking out of gym. Yeah, we've been doing well I think making it more of a routine, and even the days I don't see him, going for a run and working out and then doing my Peloton.

I'm not a huge like stationary bike -- I'm not -- I don't love that, so the Peloton was really good for me because it was getting me out of my comfort zone. Things like that.

Like when you're not playing in competitive situations you have to set a goal for yourself. Even when you don't have -- if you're not going for something your motivation a down, so I was trying to do my 100%.

I don't ride as well as some of these other ladies on tour, but it's been some of the like focus for me. The whole team, we thought it would be good if I got stronger, and I think I seem to build like way more muscle in the lower body, but the upper body was also something that we've been trying to work on.

So working towards that.

Q. So is that seven pounds total or more since then?

LYDIA KO: Seven pounds was like a month ago, so, yeah, I think it's seven pounds. But I haven't weighed myself, and obviously on the road right now it's a bit -- I haven't really used the gym, so I've been doing body weight cardio and core. I think that's going to be more the routine nowadays.