WOMEN'S OLYMPIC GOLF COMPETITION

August 9, 2024

Lydia Ko

Le Golf National

Quick Quotes

Q. How would you sum up today's round?

LYDIA KO: Overall I played solid. Today was difficult with the wind picking up. The wind was up all day, and despite being in the final group I felt like I was able to embrace the atmosphere really well. It was a lot of fun.

I had a great group and I think when I did make some mistakes, I was able to recover really well and stay patient. I think that's a big key in any kind of major event, and especially at a big one like this.

Q. With the wind, was it the toughest out there in terms of conditions?

LYDIA KO: I think you just have to be patient in ways -- knowing that you might not be able to attack every single pin position if you are on the fairway and just be smart, and if you are out of position, knowing what's the best place to recover from there.

The wind has definitely dried up the golf course, even compared to when the men were here. So just being smart and knowing what kind of clubs I have to hit off the tee. It might have been a driver at one point but now it might be a 3-wood or less.

Q. I heard you watched a Simone Biles documentary last night. How did that inspire you?

LYDIA KO: I just had to download it. I deleted my Instagram am for the week because I didn't want other things to distract me. Normally -- obviously it shows how much time I'm on my Instagram.

I was like, what do I do? I watched her documentary called Rising and it was so inspirational. I think as an outsider, we never know like what the person is going through. I think for her to have been so vulnerable, I think it inspires a lot of people and it inspired me.

I loved a few the quotes that she said so I kind of wrote it on my yardage book. It was awesome to hear literally the greatest of all time as a gymnast, and maybe potentially one of the best athletes of all time, to kind of show her story was awesome.

So yeah, I don't watch documentaries very much. But I watched it and I loved it.

Q. What quotes did you write down?

LYDIA KO: I think one of the things is he she had is, "I get to write my own ending."

Sometimes we get carried on about things that we can't control, and if I can do a good job of the things that I can control, you know, the rest is out of my hands. And I always say, like I want to like be the one that's determining my fate and my ending and how I end my career, my round, and that just like sunk in with me a lot.

I think that quote was because she wanted to push to come for this Paris Games, and she had obviously a very successful Games here as well. I think that was probably the one that stuck with me the most.

Q. Seems very fitting for you tomorrow, as well; right?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, it all goes to the way I would I imagine it or dream of it to be, that would be the perfect quote to kind of say that.

But I think this golf course, doesn't matter if you're four, five, six shots behind. You could potentially be there, and I think tomorrow is meant to be warm and pretty still conditions in regard to the wind. So someone could shoot a very low score.

I know that all I can do is do my best out there and hit quality shot and see where that put me and hopefully I get a good chance at it because the Olympics doesn't come around every single day, and definitely not even every single year.

So to be in this kind of position is awesome. I'm excited to embrace all of this.

Q. Are you much of a leaderboard watcher?

LYDIA KO: I normally aren't but everywhere you turn there's a leaderboard. So it's really hard not to look when there's names there.

At times I think it is important because you need to know where you are and what you need to do. I think these final few holes can create a lot of drama. I've seen like an eagle like Morgane did on 18, or a string of birdies Maya in the first round.

I've been doing well focusing on me and sticking to my strategy. I know if I hit good shots, then I'm just going to give myself a lot of opportunity, so it kind of doesn't matter what somebody else is doing.

Q. How much is your experience a factor tomorrow?

LYDIA KO: I don't know because I'm not in that positions but I think it's pretty cool that all three of the Olympics that are played in the final group for all three of them, and I actually didn't think of that until like a couple days ago. I was like, so it's kind of like a bucket list that's been checked.

In ways, I do think that because I have two medals under my belt, I've got nothing to lose. I know that I'm going to give it my all and I'm going to try my hundred per cent, and if it meant to happen, it's going to happen. I know that feeling; standing on the podium is definitely a once-in-a-lifetime kind of story tale emotion that you feel and I would love to feel that again tomorrow.

But there's still 18 very difficult holes in front of me, so I'm just going to focus on that and see where that puts me. But I feel like my game has progressed really well this past month.

So it's actually good to see all the training and work that I've been doing with my coaches kind of pay off, and yeah, for it to, hopefully, I'm going to be positive, hopefully if it does payoff here at the Paris Olympics, I mean, there's no better place to do it I guess.

Q. Do you remember what you felt in 2016 going into the final round?

LYDIA KO: I was really nervous. But I think the biggest kind of standout moment for me. I was tearing up on the podium and I was like, Oh my gosh, I can't cry if Inbee is not crying and she's the Gold Medalist, and she's listening to her National Anthem. I think internally, I was a bit of an emotional mess.

But I think actually outside of that last round, the first round, first tee shot in Rio, was probably the most nervous I've ever been. It was a good thing that I had a driver in my hand with a lot of surface area. Any other club it might have been a little questionable. That was probably the most nervous I've actually been.

Q. How are you now?

LYDIA KO: I was very nervous on the first hole the past three days and I actually almost teared up on the first round hearing the roars. Tokyo, we had unusual circumstances; so we couldn't kind of take this all in.

The French fans, and all the fans that have been here have been absolutely amazing. It's a scene that I've never experienced before, and it's cool to be a part of the thousands and thousands of people that are here to turn up and kind of celebrate sport and celebrate women's golf as well.