U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

July 4, 2023

Lydia Ko

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please join me in welcoming Lydia Ko. Welcome back to the U.S. Open. How does it feel to be here this week.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, it's definitely nice to come to a very historic place, a place that I've only seen -- the men play here, with the U.S. Amateur, Gary Woodland winning the last U.S. Open here, and obviously the AT&T that gets played here year after year. It's nice to kind of be a part of that history.

I think there's a whole lineup of USGA events and female events that's coming here, which is super exciting. It's nice to see more of the golf course today with the fog lifting. It's just really cool to take in all the view.

I think during the tournament, you're so focused on the shot in front of you, I don't think you're able to really embrace the views and the scenery and how special this place is. It's like a good warmup for that.

Q. Speaking of the golf course, just talk about your reaction to playing it this week in these conditions and how it might suit your game.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, coming off last year's U.S. Open, I thought that was different to some of the other U.S. Opens that I had played, and this one is totally different to that. The grass is different.

Your typical U.S. Women's Open you have to keep it on the fairways, and I think that way you're going to be a little bit more aggressive with the shots coming in.

I think the greens here aren't on the bigger side, so if you are on the green, you've got a pretty good chance of being able to hole the birdie putt, hopefully.

I think the USGA does a great job of the golf course feeling a little different from Monday to the Championship Sunday, and I'm sure the greens are going to get firmer and faster. The rough is only going to get longer.

You know that the golf course is just going to keep playing tougher and tougher with all the pressure that builds up throughout the week, as well.

I think it's going to be a tough week. But I tried to watch some of the coverage of the 2019 men's Open and tried to see how the guys played and try and get some pointers from there.

But it's just really cool that I'm going to be part of those kind of highlights, as well, this week, and I'm excited to play and get it started.

Q. Jim is going to be out here for the first time as your husband. What are your thoughts on that?

LYDIA KO: He actually just left, so my sister and I were trying to persuade him to stay. Even my agent Jay was trying to persuade him to stay. It was nice, he was out here the last couple days because it was Independence Day today.

But he's going to go work and then come back on the weekend. I think because he also works, it's really hard for my husband to be out during the whole week, but the fortunate thing for us is that it's only a couple-hour drive from his work, so it makes, I guess, the drive back a lot easier.

I don't think it's any more different now that he's my husband to boyfriend to fiance and him coming to a major championship. It's just always nice to have family and your loved ones here. I'm here with my sister and my brother-in-law and my husband at the end of the week with my coach and my team. I think we're just having a fun week.

We're all housing -- we are in an Airbnb and staying together, and there's a lot of memories outside of the golf, too.

Q. I know it's impossible to think of yourself as the older person out here, but the last two winners on Tour have been 20. You were a winner during that point in time. What is your advice to these kids that are coming in now?

LYDIA KO: They're playing better than me right now, so I don't know if they need my advice. It's just I think it's really cool to see different names coming up on the leaderboard. I think names that might not be that familiar to other people that are kind of new to the LPGA.

But it's just great to have that diversity and variability between the players. I think that's why it is so much tougher to win, because there's just a bigger group of names that are in contention or the one that wins at the end of the week.

I don't think I have any advice. They've done pretty well. How Ronni played and finished at KPMG a couple weeks ago was very impressive, and Rose -- I think there was a lot of expectations for her when she made her pro debut, but she just focused on her game and played like a superstar and played amazing her first two starts.

I think she holds the women's course record here, so wouldn't be surprised if she has another good week.

Q. When you played here with your husband, what was the weather like? Have you seen Pebble with its teeth?

LYDIA KO: It was sunny with no wind, and I was like, wow, this is beautiful. Then I came around Sunday and I was trying to tee off on 18 and I couldn't see anything. It was just gray. The tree was not visible.

I think I've played in a couple different types of weather. Obviously here just being on the coast, the wind is going to be a huge factor, so I don't know what it's forecasted to be.

But I saw the temperatures are pretty similar, and people were telling me that this time of the year is mid-50s to mid-60s is kind of the range of temperatures, so I feel like it's not going to change that much throughout the week.

But the last time I was here it was like 75, beautiful, sunny. Like even the seventh hole, par-3, is like oh, it's a nice flick wedge, and if it's blowing right to left into me, it might be a low 7-iron. Who knows.

The course I think can play completely different, so it's nice to be able to see it in different ways, and I think, like I said earlier, to play the golf course when you get the best weather, you're just able to take everything in because I know on Thursday I'm trike trying to play the best golf I can and I'm so focused on what's in front of me that I don't think I'm going to be able to take in how spectacular the views are.

Q. What have you and Ted been working on since KPMG?

LYDIA KO: We didn't have -- it wasn't really a long turnover. If I wasn't playing next week I would be playing like four majors in a row, which doesn't happen very often.

But we've been working on the same things, just making sure that I've got a lot of space and I'm able to hit it aggressively.

I feel like even at KPMG, I think I finished 60-something, but compared to my scores, I didn't feel like I played that bad. There was just a few putts here and there and I'm sure a few loose shots.

But I think it's closer than maybe like a couple months ago, and it's kind of weird to think like, oh, she just finished 60 something-ish, but it's like closer. Like what does that even mean?

But I think we're moving in the right direction, and it's nothing new. My whole team, we're just trying to make sure that I'm free and playing aggressively and just enjoying my time out there, and I think that's most important.

I feel like when I'm in that kind of mindset I play the best golf anyway. Just trying to put it all together, and sometimes I think it is difficult to put all those last pieces together.

I feel like if they're bigger components, it's just an easier fix of like repetition. But when you're dialing it in, I think that's the difficult part. We're just trying to grind our way and enjoy it.

I know that my level of play hasn't been to the standard that I would like, but there's still a lot of golf to be played, and this week is a new week. Golf you can miss 10 cuts and win the week after. It's odd. I don't think that happens in any other kind of sports.

I'm just trying to take it day by day. I trust my team, and I think I trust my team more than I trust myself. I'm just going with it, and I feel like there's going to be better results and then it's going to take care of itself.