KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIP

June 24, 2022

Lydia Ko

Congressional Country Club (Blue Course)

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Lydia Ko with a nice round of 67 today. One, two, three, four, five, six birdies and one bogey. Big difference from yesterday to today, huh?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, yesterday I actually played pretty solid. I think some of the pins were really hard to get to. And especially around a course like this, I don't know how aggressive is playing smart, but I just tried to stick to my lines and just committed shots.

Yesterday I thought it was a pretty decent start. Definitely a nice one today to kind of go into the weekend.

THE MODERATOR: Absolutely. You started off on fire with five birdies on the front nine. What was working for you today? Were any of those birdies particularly stand-out opportunities?

LYDIA KO: I actually made a really good up and down for par on the first, and then hit a really, really good 5-iron. Not as good as Pornanong's yesterday, but it was close. It was just a nice tap-in on 2.

I set myself birdie opportunities on 3 and 4, and then I was able to hole a good one on 5. The whole front nine, I think, I wasn't that far off.

So when you are putting for birdie within, you know, 30 feet, 25 feet, you know that it's not going to be that stressful from there.

I got I think all the birdies on the front nine. They were all good shots, but I think on No. 9 I got a little bit lucky. It broke the other way, and then it broke the other way, and then it did nothing what I thought it was going to do, and I hit it too hard, and it went in.

So it was that kind of a day where it started working. I found the back nine just a little bit tougher. Just my ball-striking was not as solid as the front nine, so that made it a little bit more challenging.

To finish strong and make a good up and down on the last was definitely a nice way to finish today.

Q. Lydia, you've hit it so well and been in contention so often this year that it kind of feels like it should be a three- or four-win Lydia year. What's the difference, and why isn't it?

LYDIA KO: I think the last few events I finished well. Whereas, actually in the start of the year I started well and didn't finish as well, in regards to round three and four.

But it's kind of flipped the other way where I just -- I was 50-something or 40-something the first day and then played really solid the second and third round to kind of give myself a run at it.

I think the last couple of weeks it was a few silly mistakes, a few shots where I lost focus a little bit costing me a couple of shots from there. Other than that, I feel like the game is in a pretty solid place.

At the same time, I think it is very difficult to win. The level of play on our TOUR is incredible. You can see just by the scores week in, week out.

It is hard to win, but I'm just trying to put myself more in that kind of position, and I think when you keep knocking on the door, you hope that one day that door will open.

Q. So many of us remember you from ten, nine, eight years ago winning all the time. When did you realize golf was hard?

LYDIA KO: I think it was always hard. Everybody said, man, you make it look easy, and I was, like, well, it ain't easy. It's not as easy as it looks maybe.

I think when you do get into a good momentum, it does feel more natural. You're not working as much. You're not grinding as much on the golf course.

It's kind of like my front nine. Just hit one shot after another, and you just give yourself opportunities. If it falls, great. If it doesn't, it doesn't.

I think in ways it can feel like some days are easier than others, but I think just the level of play and even the winning scores every year at some of these events, it keeps getting better and better, so it just shows what the standard is in women's golf.

I think I mentioned it before the year that Jin-young and Nelly had last year. Yes, they made it look easy, but it's because they played incredible golf. There's nothing else to kind of describe that.

Q. Lydia, what's the inner satisfaction of building yourself back into a constant contender?

LYDIA KO: I think I've just got to keep focusing on what I need to work on, and I think sometimes when you watch other people play and people that are playing well, you go, okay, maybe I should do this, maybe I should do that. Try what somebody else is doing.

I think when things are going well, everything looks good, but I think the important thing is for me to realize that sometimes I'm not -- most of the time I'm not going to have a perfect game.

So I'm just trying to put the best score I can when I'm out there, and when I'm practicing, just making sure that I'm doing the right things and working with my team and being really aware of what really needs to be done.

I think sometimes it feels like, oh, you're not putting as well, but maybe it's just because you're giving yourself more opportunities for birdies. It's just kind of finding that balance.

I think taking that step back and really assessing where your game is at is such an important thing for me, and I think for most people.

Q. I'm wondering what have your impressions been of 18 as a finishing hole, and what's going to be the key to having success there this weekend?

LYDIA KO: You have to hit the fairway. I wasn't that far off, but I said I should have almost hit it more left because then I would have had a flatter lie.

You have to hit the fairway, and you have to hope that you have a very comfortable number and a comfortable shot to go into there.

I know that over the next two days it's not forecasted to have much more rain, so the fairways are going to get firmer, so the balls are going to run out more, but at the same time the fairway slants from right to left, so it could also make the fairways seem narrower just because the bunkers are on the right.

Yeah, it's just fairway, green. Kind of like what Jess did today. Fairway, green, and just hope for an opportunity for birdie, but par on that hole in any day is a really good score.

I think when you are at a position like I was today where if you are in the bunker, to be smart and kind of hit it to a number and just try and get up and down from there. I don't think there's any other way -- there's no other easier way to play the hole.

Q. How comfortable are you with your position going into the weekend? Obviously, In Gee still has to go out and play, but by the end of the day, you probably will have made up loosely a little bit of ground.

LYDIA KO: I think I just tried to focus on my game, and hopefully stick around for the weekend. This is my fourth week in a row, and I try not to play more than three, four weeks in a row, and this is the first of that four-week stretch for me this year.

I know that sometimes when you are fatigued, you could lose focus and then hit some mistakes that you normally wouldn't if you were a bit more sharp. Just kind of having -- I think being rested is also really important for the weekend.

I have to feel there's yet to play 18 holes, so I don't know where I'm going to sit. Definitely I think two solid days of golf and hopefully I better cap off these next two days in a solid way and have a great three weeks off.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much. See you later.