THE ASCENDANT LPGA BENEFITING VOLUNTEERS OF AMERICA

October 1, 2022

Lydia Ko

Golf Clubs at The Tribute

Quick Quotes

Q. That was a quick turnaround there. You had a double bogey there on the 11th hole, but you were able to bounce back significantly well. What do you tell yourself in those moments when you've had a bad hole that you're able to come back from?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, I missed a couple to the left, and the only place I couldn't hit it was left. I think I was trying to be too cute with the hybrid. It was last place I wanted to be. But, you know, I almost made bogey.

But I tried to just laugh it off. I think I was laughing because I asked So Yeon to move her marker and I ended up almost hitting it even when she moved it.

Yeah, I think it was maybe that just didn't make me too frustrated, and I knew that next hole with a couple good shots I could easily recover from that.

And I think this course is like that, where if you do put it in the right positions I think you can be pretty aggressive. With just how tricky the greens are you do need to be in the right section.

Just tried to be patient and calm. Luckily I was able to putt well, and I putted really well on the first day, so hopefully more of that momentum for tomorrow.

Q. We always marvel at your short game and how great you are around the greens. Do you feel that's an area of your game that comes naturally or you have to work really hard at it?

LYDIA KO: I think it's -- I don't feel like I have that great a short game. Yes, like I think -- like No. 10, I was impressed with myself when I hit that flop shot. I was like, man, that was almost too good.

I feel like in all areas of the game, even though you know that it's going well, you are still trying to keep on top of it and get better. I think the more -- the less times I'm in that position, that's great. But when I'm there, I think it is nice to know that, hey, I still got an opportunity to make up and down and come off that hole with a par.

So, yeah, I just try and kind of keep it simple and I don't get too crazy with my technique. Sometimes it works. I hope that majority of the time it works.

Q. Final question: Do you still get nervous? You've done just about everything there is to do in golf.

LYDIA KO: I think so. And I used to be so frustrated at myself for getting nervous, but I think it also means that it means a lot to me. Like I don't know how many years I'm going to be doing this, but I want to play the best golf I can and finish my career still playing well.

I think even though nerves are sometimes really annoying, I'm like, why is my hand shaking? I'm on the sixth hole. It's like a random hole.

But I just know that it means a lot, and I think, yeah, I just have to feed off the nerves. I think sometimes when you're nervous and you're under the pressure you hit shots that sometimes I wouldn't be able to do when I'm practicing.

So, yeah, it's nice. I feel like I'm less nervous now. Like at my first U.S. Open I couldn't even line up my ball on the first hole. Considering that, I'm a lot better.

But nerves are good, and I just got to feed off the adrenaline.