THE CHEVRON CHAMPIONSHIP

April 19, 2024

Lydia Ko

The Club at Carlton Woods

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Lydia Ko after her second round at The Chevron Championship. I want to talk about So Yeon just because she was just up here. You gave her a big hug. I know you sort of watched her last putt there in front of you. Tell me just about her and her friendship and what she means to this game.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I don't know why I'm the one crying when she's not, but I was hoping that maybe we could be paired together at any one the rounds this week. I got close being the group behind.

You know, she is a role model to I think many of us, and she just has a lot of great energy and she's an unbelievable golfer but a great person as well.

So for me to be able to compete here in her last event and an event that means a lot to her is pretty awesome.

I think all of us just wish her the best in whatever she does next. She seems really happy, so I think that's the best place to be, right? I hope that the day I retire I'm happy and excited for what's next.

So, yeah, it's exciting times for her and it's like bittersweet. I want to keep playing on Tour alongside her, but excited for her second chapter in life.

Q. Did So Yeon inspire you at all throughout her tenure? I know you played alongside each other pretty much your entire career.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, she's been on Tour longer than I have so she's been on Tour since I first came out on Tour. I think she start off with a bang winning the U.S. Women's Open and I think that was like her route to coming on the LPGA.

And I knew of her name even before I was a pro. To be able to have played a lot of actually rounds together and have dinner and talk about the stresses of golf or other things like that, it's been so much fun.

I think I've been very fortunate to have people like So Yeon that's taken me under their wing. If I ask them random questions they'll always be there. It's a very special moment and it speaks -- it just shows what kind of person she is and what kind of classy player she is by seeing all the players and people here waiting for her with this last moment.

Q. You're playing well. Can you talk about how your approach to this golf course or how your game is different this year compared to last year and how you got bad memories out?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I actually felt a lot more comfortable playing the golf course on Monday versus last year. I almost ran out of golf balls when I played my first-ever practice round here last year.

I think by the time that tournament had already come, it's hard to look away from the holes where you had already hit it in the water.

I felt a lot more comfortable. I already missed the cut here once. Can't really get worse than that. It's goal achieved to make the cut. I've been playing really solid the last couple days. Hopefully keep giving myself opportunities.

And just because these greens are new, some pin positions are pretty difficult to get to, so just being smart with which holes to attack and which holes to be a little bit more conservative.

Q. Not to bring up bad memories, but ballpark of how many balls?

LYDIA KO: I think like six or seven, and I played 18 holes. It was either Saturday or Sunday prior to the tournament. I actually hit the ball like pretty solid on Thursday but I didn't hit the ball that great on Friday, and I think that just kind of -- those memories kind of came in.

But I fe0el like I'm like just now not just in this event able to cope with pressure or nerves a little bit better. I still will hit a not-so-great shot here and there. I'm trying to not let that get the best of me and if I make a mistake just clean that up and move on to the next hole.

Q. I know you had your coach out with you in San Francisco last week. What did you two work on and how have you seen that translate to the course this week?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, honestly the same things. Making sure my width and connection is good. Sometimes I feel like he has to have like a tape recorder and keep saying the same things, but I think that's the thing with the golf swing; you tend to always go back to your same tendencies. It's never really is completely new thing that comes and is creating some missed shots.

Just working on the same things. We hit a lot of golf balls. I think one day I hit balls for like six hours. By the end of that I was like, I really just want to be done. I don't want to hit anymore.

So I think as much as I'm trying to be a passionate and hard working player, I think he's very much like that as a coach.

So sometimes I think I'm like, okay, I don't want to hit anymore, but he's been great and I think it's been good that we've been keep I guess consistently working on those few things that we have been since day one.

Q. How many days was he out there?

LYDIA KO: He landed on Tuesday and then I asked him to come to the golf course as soon as he landed, so it was literally from pretty much midday Tuesday to the whole end of Saturday.