HILTON GRAND VACATIONS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 19, 2024

Lydia Ko

Lake Nona Golf & Country Club

TV

Q. Lydia, just an incredible shot there on 9 en route to that eagle that you had. How did that hole impact your overall day?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I felt like hit the ball really well today. On 9 I had a good lie, and it wasn't the first time I've been in that rough. I was like, hey, what's the worst that can happen? I have been pretty much everywhere on the greens.

I think that's the perks of being a member. I was like, you know what? If I do hit a good shot it may just get on the green, but ended up leaving myself a perfect spot just up the hill.

Yeah, it was definitely nice to make the turn at 4-under.

Q. Having played this course so many times, knowing those little nuances, intricacies of the course, how do you lean on this experience this weekend?

LYDIA KO: I feel like I learn something new about the golf course every time I play. There are still some areas on the green where I'm like, I don't know if this is right-to-left or left-to-right, and I'm a member, been a member here for a few years.

So I'm still getting the hang of things, but I think situations like No. 9 where I know that even if I don't hit a very good shot I've still probably got room for error. Those are things I'm going to try and bank on.

It's meant to be a little cold the next couple days. It was pretty chilly on the pro-am and the course played a lot longer than usual, so I think that's going to be a big factor. Just trying to keep warm and make sure I'm still hitting committed shots.

Q. You're beginning this new season right where you ended the last one, at the top of this leaderboard. What is it that you found that's come together with your game over the last few months?

LYDIA KO: You know, we've been working on the same things. I think I've been trying to take more ownership of like taking swings, they may be good or bad shots, and sending them to Si Woo and doing the drills. Sometimes drills are not that fun. You would rather hit the ball to a distance or a target. Doing practice swings is not like as fulfilling as hitting a good shot.

But I think doing those kind of repetitions are just as important, and he's kind of helped me learn that. So I need to take that going forward, and this is definitely a learning experience for me. I've never really been in a position where my coach is in a different country in a completely different time zone.

So I'm just trying to take ownership of what time I have I'm doing. Some days I'm not going to hit the ball that good and some days it's going to be really good, like today. Just got to keep building and polishing my game. Hopefully take a little bit of my tendencies out day by day.