WOMEN'S OLYMPIC GOLF COMPETITION

August 10, 2024

Lydia Ko

Esther Henseleit

Xiyu Janet Lin

Le Golf National

Press Conference

Q. (How do you think this win inspire future players in women's golf)?

LYDIA KO: It's going to become a goal and dream for many junior golfers growing up, and I've had an unbelievable experience in my three Olympics, competing in my last three Olympics. I hope that they are inspired, and kids in China and Germany and all of these other countries players that are here representing this week and last week are going to be inspired to be here or playing Brisbane or L.A. in the future. I think that's a big key. All of us are here as athletes and trying to do our, best, but at the same time we want to inspire the future generations, and I think this week has been exactly that.

Q. Was there a time during the round where you allowed yourself to think about a medal or had you not even gotten to that point today, and if you did, did you have to reset at some point?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: To be honest, not really. I was so far back coming into today, and I mean, I had a great start, and after nine holes, I looked at the leaderboard and I think I was maybe in second, and I was more surprised.

But I was always saying to myself, well, I think it was still four groups behind me and they can still make a lot of birdies. Especially coming in, you get some chances. 18 is a great chance.

I knew I just had to keep playing aggressive, playing my own game, and I mean, I played really well today. Kind of had a bit of a struggle at the start into the back nine, but yeah, I managed to make some great pars and then to finish birdie, birdie, is incredible.

But even then, I thought they might still get past me and I don't know what's going to happen. So it not sunken in yet. I think I'll need a few days. But it's amazing to be sitting up here with two of the best golfers in the world, and I think I'm the first European to get an Olympic Medal. So that's definitely very special.

Q. You had 45 minutes watching it play out. What was that like? You said it had not sunk in yet. But I guess, were you thinking, you were secured a medal, basically, and getting to share that time, what was that like?

ESTHER HENSELEIT: It was really cool. I mean, after my birdie on 17, I was really calm. Going down 18, I managed to actually enjoy everything, to look at the crowds, and sitting in the clubhouse, knowing that I had a medal, and then to share it with my fiancée who is on the bag this week, definitely special.

I mean, we were saying, if there's one person who I would want to finish in front of me, it's probably Lydia. And I mean, yeah, there's some players that you know they are not going to mess up coming down the last two, and she is definitely one of them. I was just kind of happy sitting there enjoying my Silver Medal.

Q. Another question for Lydia in English. How did you feel playing the golf course having a five-shot lead compared with 14, 15, 16, 17, when the lead was one?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I had been really steady and patient all day. I think making that birdie on 7 was crucial for me because it kind of put me bag into red figures for the day and I could just kind of build on from there. I hit a great tee shot on 13, and to be honest, I didn't imagine it going in the water, and it wasn't like that poor of a golf shot.

And you know, in ways, I said it's a good thing I had a comfortable lead but I wished that had not happened at that moment. You know, I know that especially from 15 onwards, it was going to be a very crucial finish.

So I didn't want to get that to go straight to my head, and I think 14 being a pretty attackable par 5 helped because I didn't have like a very difficult hole right away to kind of feel like I needed to get that. I made a par on 14; so at least it kind of calmed the nerves. But I don't think even making the double on 13 made me like too anxious.

I think I was a bit more anxious on like 15, 16, because there was a little bit of water in play and I had already hit it in the water on 15. So I talked to my golf ball a lot when that ball was in there, and normally I don't really, you know, say anything to the ball because, one, it doesn't listen to me and it won't listen to me. So even if I say "Go" or "Sit," it's not going to do as I say.

So I think there was a little bit of anxiousness going through those holes because there is water in play and at the same time I didn't want to back off and hit a tentative approach to it because you just never know what's going to happen.

So I just stayed patient and stuck to my game plan, and you know, 18, that tee shot and the second shot was probably two of the most important shots in my life because I knew if I laid up to that position that I was going to, worst case, I was probably going to make par.

So hitting those two shots on the fairway calmed the nerves and from there I think I was kind of able to take everything in. I just said to myself that I'm going to keep focusing and focusing until the ball drops on the 18th hole because I've had so many interesting things that have happened in my career that I wanted to focus until the very end, and then just say, okay, now it's done.

Q. Just to be clear, because the leaderboards are different, did you know you had a five-shot lead and did you know that with Esther's great finish the lead was down to one?

LYDIA KO: I knew that I had a five-shot lead because I saw the leaderboard on 11 or 12, and then, you know, I think I realised that I only had a one-shot heed when I saw the leaderboard on 14 because when I was on 14, I think that's when Esther had made her birdie on 17. That's when I said, Oh, this is not the most comfortable position.

You know, it's nice when you have a five-shot lead going in with like four shots, but at the same time, I think if I was in that position, I knew I needed to focus even more, and like every shot really counts.

I holed two or three good 3-footers, and you know, we practise a lot of that when we are training. But you don't realize how important those are until you're in those kind of circumstances and you have multiple in a row.

I think when I started holing them, I felt like I got back into my own rhythm of things and going down the last, I knew that I had a one-shot lead. So being on the fairway was really important.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies and gentlemen.