HILTON GRAND VACATIONS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS

January 20, 2024

Lydia Ko

Lake Nona Golf & Country Club

TV

Q. Lydia, bogey-free round today in quite different conditions than we saw yesterday. How were you able to adjust?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I knew that the wind direction was going to be almost opposite. This north wind is where it tends to be a little cooler, but it was a lot warmer than I thought it was going to be.

On Wednesday during the pro-am it was pretty freezing. I prepared well. Right now I look like I'm about to go skiing. But no, I played really solid. I think it's part of our job to adjust to the conditions.

Fortunately for me, I've been able to play in north, south, or no wind out here, so doesn't feel completely new.

Q. You probably know this course better than most of the people in the field with it being your home course. How do you use that knowledge and experience to your advantage tomorrow?

LYDIA KO: There has been some situations where maybe normally I would think about what you need to do for the next shot or what are the consequences if I don't execute the shot I want to.

Here I think I've just gone up to a shot and I go, hey, I think this is a 3-wood or 5-wood, et cetera. Even though you do know the golf course well, I think I was standing on 16 today like, I have zero idea which way this putt is going to break.

People I think there is an advantage, and I'm sure there is to some parts, but you still have to hit good shots and hit it where you're trying to hit it.

So that does play to an advantage. At the end of the day the person that plays the best golf is going to win at the end of the week.

I'm hoping that I can do that. I've obviously put myself in a good position. Just going to enjoy being back in contention again for the first time in a while.

Q. Speaking of that position, given the challenging season you had last year, what does it mean to be back in this position heading into the final round tomorrow?

LYDIA KO: I think I have to thank Jason a lot. You know, even at the start of the week at Grant Thornton, I was -- I wasn't really sure how I was going to play that week. He had belief in me when I was like, oh, my God I feel so sorry for him that he is partnered with me.

We had such a great week. To come off and win the last tournament where I obviously didn't have the season that I would've want going into 2023, that just gave my good momentum and better placement to lead to say, hey, you know what, it's okay. You can turn things around really quick.

From the fall onwards I played a lot better. There is still a lot of golf to be played. Everyone knows what can happen in golf. Just going to enjoy it. I'm sure there will be a lot of nerves and maybe wake up a couple more times overnight. That's part of it. I actually watched Mardy Fish's documentary last night, and it just shows that like there is more to like your sport or whatever you do than people think.

To know and feel and you said that there is people that go through whether it's pressure, anxiety, or whatever these emotions that other people go through it you feel like you're not alone. I'm going to take that all in and be excited to play one more round out here.