NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP

September 29, 2023

Lydia Ko

Pinnacle Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, I'm here with Lydia Ko after the first round at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship. Great first round out there. Can you walk me through your round and especially those birdies you had?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I played pretty solid. I don't think I put myself in too many crazy positions where I had to make up and down.

Actually hit it in the water on the par-3, 6 or 5, whatever it is, and I had to drop and I chipped it in for par.

So that was definitely good momentum because I had gone birdie, bogey, birdie, and if I didn't chip it in, would've been bogey or more.

So I think that just helped my day going. I set up a lot of good birdie opportunities, especially from 9 onwards, and couple where it was only like a couple feet.

So it's definitely nice to have those kind of stress-free birdies.

Q. And a past champion of this event. Do you relive some of those moments walking down the fairways?

LYDIA KO: I think on the second round the year I won, I don't exactly remember what score I shot, but it was a really low one. So I had I think a couple-shot lead going into the last day and then I started off really well on that Sunday to win.

I see the picture of me in the clubhouse and it feels like a really long time ago. It was 2016, so like seven years ago. A lot of things have happened since then.

It's always good to be back at a place where I have a lot of good memories. Played with the same pro-am group for eight years, so it's just feel like it's home away from home. Outside of my golf, just seeing them is also like a treat for me when I come here to Arkansas.