WOMEN'S OLYMPIC GOLF COMPETITION

August 8, 2024

Lydia Ko

Le Golf National

Quick Quotes

Q. How was today compared to yesterday?

LYDIA KO: You know what, I actually played really well yesterday. I think the pin positions were a little bit more difficult yesterday, and honestly going through some of the pins in the morning, I was a little stressed. But when I saw Celine shoot that 7-under, I thought she was playing a different golf course than me. But in ways it give me hope that I, too, could maybe shoot a score like that.

Today I playing really solid and really put myself in that many awkward positions, and I think being consistent is really important around here, especially off the tee. A little bit of a sloppy finish, I would say, but other than that, if I don't think that I bogeyed the 18th hole and I said, oh, well, I bogeyed it on 8 or something, I would have probably been even happier. So it's like putting into perspective.

But obviously nice to have a good round under my belt and be if a good position for the next two days.

Q. The mental test this golf course presence, everybody talks about it off the tee but to go bogey-free into the last, how much of a mental challenge that to try to keep yourself in check and take pars where you can get them?

LYDIA KO: I made a really good up-and-down for par on the first today, and then a couple good pars at the start of my back nine.

Sometimes pars are just as crucial as birdies. People get so excited about birdies because it knocks a score off your total score but at the same time I think pars are sometimes what kind of gets the momentum going because you're not losing shots, and around this golf course, I think that's so important.

Yeah, you know, like I said, I wasn't in too many like weird positions, and I think that's just so important around this go. Between you being on the fairway and just missing the green and being in the rough, it's really penalising, and I feel like I've been hitting the ball really solid this past couple days and hopefully keep that going this Friday and Saturday.

Q. You're the only person in the field who could complete the medal slam. You're the only person in the field that could make the Hall of Fame by winning. I know you're like currently like 36 holes closer to something like that. Is it hard to focus on just the golf when you have those extra things that no one else has?

LYDIA KO: Honestly this golf course is so hard, it's hard to think about the other things because I'm just trying to shoot the best score I can around here.

I said earlier in the week, I think this is the toughest golf course we've played in the past three Games, and all of them had very different characteristics. But this one, you could shoot a really low score if you're on but at the same time it can get away from you, as well.

I think there's so many things I need to focus, like right in front of me, which has been good. Because then that has been lesson my mind. It's really cool that if I did win the Gold, I could get in the Hall of Fame, and it would stop all these questions, like from you in the future.

I feel like if it's going to happen, whether it's in Paris or in Florida or in Scotland, it's going to happen. And I'm just excited that I have this opportunity.

If I get to do it here, it would be a pretty cool way to get it done. But I'm playing alongside 59 other of the top qualified players here, and there's 36 holes for me to go.

So it's just a lot of golf to be played. So I'm just focusing on me right now and hopefully I do have this opportunity by the end of Saturday. I've had the opportunity to be contending and it would be really cool, I'm not going to lie, to have that done here.

Q. You were signing autographs at the end there. How are you finding the atmosphere? Is it helping you along?

LYDIA KO: It's really cool. Obviously played the group behind Celine these past couple days, and at first, I was like, what are they chanting and I realise they are chanting "Celine! Celine!"

I heard "Victor" from a distance on Sunday. So the people are super excited to support their fellow Frenchmen. But at the same time, the fans here have been so great because they have been supporting each and every one of us. I've honestly loved it. It almost brought tears to my eyes yesterday on the first hole because this could potentially be my last Olympics, and to have it in front of this mass amount of 30,000 people, it's an unbelievable feeling.

I don't know if it's because it's more contrasted to Tokyo just because of the situation we had there. It was such a cool atmosphere, and I'm excited for all of them to return these next couple days because I think this is truly a celebration of golf and a celebration of sport, and it's cool that I'm one of the thousands of people that's here witnessing this.