AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 8, 2023

Jin Young Ko

Press Conference

ED HODGE: Our final media conference of the day, delighted to have Jin Young Ko here.

You're out on the course already. What are your impressions? Hopefully the weather improves but what were your impressions out there.

JIN YOUNG KO: Yeah, long today. I had a lot of 5-wood and 3-wood. But yeah, it was cold. So I'm still wet right now. But it was okay.

ED HODGE: And you've come close in this championship before, a second and a third I think. What are your hopes for this week and what do you think it will take to be a winner here?

JIN YOUNG KO: If no in the bunker, I will win. That is a good target for this week for the win. So yeah, I'm going to make no play in the bunker for whole week.

Q. The last three weeks, you have a very tight schedule. After Evian Championship, you went to South Korea, and now you are here. This previous week, you withdraw in South Korea tournament. I wonder, how is your condition?

JIN YOUNG KO: Yeah, I have injury in the neck. I flew over 20 hours from the Evian to Jeju, so I think that's the only -- the reason why I was really tired in Korea.

After the first round in Korea, I had injury, and I couldn't sleep all day, all night. So I had headache before the tee off in second round, so I was really dizzy and headache. I think I need to, like, throw up, and personally, I didn't want to withdraw in Korea because that tournament was my sponsor, like one of my sponsor tournaments. So I really wanted to finish till Sunday, but I couldn't. My condition wasn't good, so yeah.

And then after that, I have one more major of the year, the last major of the year, so I need to focus. So yeah, it was sad to withdraw.

Q. Sorry about your injury. Now, there are so many injuries in golf, aren't there. I mean, when you girls get together, do you discuss your various injuries and what would be the most likely injury for a woman player?

JIN YOUNG KO: I think the wrist is the biggest injury for women. Some players not, but yeah, in my case I have wrist injury, like every few years. So wrist is my biggest type of injury in my body. So yeah, I think wrist.

Q. And what treatment do you get? Is it tendonitis, is it?

JIN YOUNG KO: Yeah, if my left shoulder from the back and shoulder wasn't good, it comes out to wrist. So I need to massage my shoulder and back, then it will be better a little bit.

So if I practise or travel a lot, yeah, it comes out again so it will be a little pain again.

Q. I think a lot of people might be grateful to know that, so if you have a bad wrist, you get your massage in the shoulder and the back?

JIN YOUNG KO: Yeah, it's from here to wrist.

Q. And who discovered that, that that was the cure?

JIN YOUNG KO: Yeah, I have physio, so he does.

Q. And what do the girls, other girls, mostly get, if it's not a wrist injury, what would the next most likely injury be?

JIN YOUNG KO: I think back.

Q. And what's that from doing? Bending over the putts or what?

JIN YOUNG KO: Because golfer is always -- we have always rotation on the backswing through the finish. So we use the back every time. So if no muscle in the back, it is going to be weaker and weaker, so it's more getting tighter. But we have to rotate again, because tournament. So yeah, if no muscle in the back, I think it's going to be really tough to play.

Q. What are your expectations for this week, and how much does the neck issue influence those expectations?

JIN YOUNG KO: Yeah, I don't -- I don't expectation for this week. I just -- I just like to be here for play in England, especially London, so I don't -- I don't have the goal, any goals. I don't have any expectation. I don't have any stress from the golf.

I just want to enjoy for this week and I just want to eat a lot of sausage roll.

Q. That was going to be my next question.

JIN YOUNG KO: I had three already.

Q. You told us last year about your love of sausage rolls. What's the plan for this week?

JIN YOUNG KO: One of the guys that is a member of this golf course, he knows a really good bakery around here. So he bought four sausage rolls for me yesterday, so I had three yesterday. I had one this morning and I had two yesterday. I don't have more sausage roll right now, so I need to look where is a good place for bakery.

Q. Are they as good as you remember?

JIN YOUNG KO: Yeah (smiling).

Q. Walton Heath looks like a Korean course. How about this course?

JIN YOUNG KO: Some courses, some holes like Korean style of golf course, but some holes, not. Some holes like links golf course. Yeah, depends on the wind on the weekend if it's going to be good weather for four days.

But some we have some dogleg holes, so we need to create target from the tee. And greens are some holes big, some holes narrow, so we need to hit good iron shots and great short games around the green.

Q. What do you think players will need to do particularly well around this golf course?

JIN YOUNG KO: Hit long and hit green, middle of the green, and hit maybe one putt or two putts, that's it.

ED HODGE: Celine is obviously playing very well. Who do you see as the main contenders this week for the championship, obviously including yourself?

JIN YOUNG KO: Yes, Celine play really, really good right now. We are really close friends because we live in Texas, and then we are same practise for the club in Texas. So when we golf, we meet every day in the golf club.

Yeah, I'm really happy she made wins the last two weeks, and yeah, but we have a lot of great players on the LPGA Tour, including me. So yeah, if I'm playing really well this week, I have a chance, but I don't want to make stress from the golf, especially from the wind.

Well, I want to win the major, but I don't want to make a lot of stress at the same time.

ED HODGE: When you've come close before, what do you think has been the key to the successes that you've had, and how can you improve on that this week?

JIN YOUNG KO: Yeah, I had two wins already, and I had a couple more chance for the win. And I have a lot of tournaments left, so if I'm playing well, I think I will be a winner again in the future hopefully. Yeah, that's it.

ED HODGE: Any other questions? Okay. Thanks for your time and have a good week.