PELICAN WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

November 21, 2020

Lydia Ko

Pelican Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. How did it feel just to put a nice solid round together on moving day?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, overall I thought I played really solid. I made a lot of really good up and downs my first few holes, so it was nice to -- especially because that was probably the windiest part of the day -- it was nice to be even, steady.

And then made a good birdie on the 7th. Hit a good drive and then hit an eh kind of second shot and chipped it to like four feet. I told Les after that drive if I had not made a birdie I would have been really mad.

Yeah, you know, a little careless; maybe loss of focus on the double where I had few too many putts. Other than that, I feel like I putted really well and hit the ball really solid.

So, yeah, happy with the round overall.

Q. When you have a double bogey and you can rebound with a birdie and then a couple closing down the stretch as well, just what kind of mental fortitude does that take to erase that so quickly?

LYDIA KO: I mean, that Par-5 I knew with the wind direction and a good drive I thought I would be able to reach the green because I reached it on the first day as well.

So I actually hit it to like 15 feet and just over-read the putt a touch. It's nice to come back with that and then also to know there are birdies coming in.

It was a surprise they moved the tee box on 17. I didn't know that they would do that, so I almost did not make birdie there.

But, yeah, you know, I loved how they were pretty -- like the rules officials set up the course today was very different. They tucked some pins and moved the tee forward, and I think it's really fun when you don't play just a standard number and they mix it up for us.

Q. We've all seen Sei Young kind of do this before, separate herself from the field.

LYDIA KO: Yes.

Q. From your vantage point, what is Sei Young like, just her game, when she's on like she is.

LYDIA KO: I actually haven't played with her in a while. It's probably because I haven't put myself in these kind of positions as often this past year or so.

What she's done is super impressive. Her first major I guess was at KPMG, and when there is that kind of pressure I know what it feels like to be in that position, and the way she finished was absolutely incredible.

So I'm sure right now all she's seeing are like good shots and putts going in, which is always a great mindset to be at. I think 2 was probably one of the toughest holes out there with or without wind. She hit I think a really good shot in there, and I was on the tee and I said to Les, that's why she's leading right now.

So she's playing great. She's a really good ball-striker and hits the ball quite far. I think she's taken advantage of all her advantages, and at this point a lot of her game are strengths.

Q. You've had plenty of those weeks in your career. Take us through what one of those weeks kind of feels like for a player.

LYDIA KO: I think there are definitely some times I think in your career where you feel like everything is going the right way. You hit a miss-shot, you get a great kick. You hit a great shot and really get rewarded.

She's just playing super solid, and I think Sei Young, her game itself, is very consistent. So I can definitely see why she's been playing great and been dominating these weeks.

It's only like her second or third event back, right? So I think it's pretty cool to see. Yeah, I think when things are going -- when you kind of hit the right momentum you just feed off that good energy. You only see positive things, and I think you're really playing with confidence.

That's a great mindset to be at.

Q. What about when somebody is -- I think she's at 14 under right now -- how do you approach tomorrow?

LYDIA KO: I don't know what group I'm going to be off, but I'm just going to go out there, play my game like I did today. This is a golf course that it really, depending on the wind, can make a huge difference around here and obviously with the way they set it up.

So I just got to focus on me, try and shoot the best score I can, and if somehow I can catch her, or be in that kind of I guess reaching range, that would be cool.

But she's been playing great, so it's actually -- I think she's going to be a very tough one to catch. With golf you never know what's going to happen, so you just got to focus until the end and hopefully things go your way.

Q. Is this a course that you can be aggressive on?

LYDIA KO: I think down the back nine the fairways are pretty generous, so you can be a little bit more aggressive around here. I think the wind direction is very important, where some of those par-5 -- like the par-5 where you can reach it when it's quite a bit down, but when it's across it's quite a bit tougher. So I think whether it's east-northeast or northeast it makes quite a bit of difference.

But the greens are pretty firm, and I think going towards the pin it's actually pretty tough to be super aggressive. So you just have to play smart, and I think clearly she's playing a great balance of the two.