TRUST GOLF WOMEN'S SCOTTISH OPEN

August 14, 2021

Lydia Ko

Dumbarnie Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Pleased so far this week?

LYDIA KO: My ball-striking was really good today. I actually gave myself a lot of good looks at birdies. It was a lot calmer today, even though it's still pretty breezy, it made it seem a whole lot easier. I think it could only feel like it was getting easier after the conditions that we had, and I played steady. Always come off feel like I could have done better.

Q. You can always come unstuck somewhere on links but just trying to minimise the difficult holes and the impact they have.

LYDIA KO: I think the less big numbers you have, the better. Sometimes because of the fescue it can get out of hand at times. So you just have to play strategic and at the same time when it's a green light, be aggressive. I think last week I played aggressive at the Olympics and it's kind of been the mindset this week has to be really aggressive and trust it and whatever plan I come up with, just believe in that and kind of go for it.

Q. That medal win, does that give you something extra coming into a big tournament like this?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, for sure. I played well at Evian and that gave me good momentum going into the Olympics. Definitely last week was a super memorable week for me and I think when you're playing well, you're able to feed off that momentum and I think you're able to forget some of the bad shots you hit and I think that's a really good way to may.

So the biggest learning curve for me last week was I played a lot more aggressively in my course management than I normally would, and I think I realise that because of that, I was able to get way more birdies.

Q. Just specifically commenting on the weather conditions and the paraphernalia to cope with the weather, in Tokyo, extreme heat, stifling. What are the challenges in going from that to this?

LYDIA KO: You almost feel like I was getting hypothermia when it's still like 15 degrees. Last week was really hot; the less layers, the better. But today is the least amount of layers I've worn. Yesterday I think I wore two leggings, pants and rain pants. And I'm wearing two layers today and it was three layers yesterday. I feel like very warmed up and cozy, but I would rather be a little warm in these kind of temperatures than feel cold. It's different getting used to such different temperatures. But we travel around the world and that's kind of our job is to get used to it and whatever situation we have, we adjust to that.

Q. You do well on the links, but hard to be aggressive; how are you making yourself stay committed?

LYDIA KO: I'm just trying to trust my numbers and trust that, hey, you know, I feel like I could thread those bunkers yesterday and today because I was a little bit more aggressive with it. You could really get rewarded with that. Today I hit a drive 340-something on No. 12. I thought yesterday's was longer, 320-something, and then today I hit it 340-something, and it was even longer.

So you can be aggressive but obviously you have to hit a good shot on top of that. But at the same time if it's a tricky hole, making sure that par is not a bad score and if I'm out of position to not be too overly aggressive.

Today I hit a shot that I thought was pretty aggressive. Megan gave me a fist-pump. I hit my 310 and hit it in the water and I took my shoes off and went in the water and hit the wedge close and made par. I think you get rewarded like that but at the same time you're not doing something stupid when you do make those kind of decisions.

My caddie was like, you're going to get wet and I was so angry that I had hit it in the water that all I could see is, hey, I could see the ball above the water, so I'm just going to hit it and ended up working like a good strategy. I was going to go in and I told Becky I'll go first because I'm chipping it out but realised my shoes were going to get wet. But I didn't get as wet as I thought I would but I was definitely closing my eyes. The water wasn't as cold as I thought it would be.