KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY P&G

September 19, 2024

Lydia Ko

TPC River’s Bend

Quick Quotes

Q. Here now with Lydia Ko after her first round here at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by PNG. Great round today. Just maybe what was working out there for you?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I played really solid. I didn't really put myself in that many questionable positions, but there's a bunch of holes where you can take advantage, but at the same time there's a few tricky ones, like our finishing hole on No. 9 today. But, yeah, I think all in all it was really solid. I gave myself a lot of birdie opportunities, and especially on my front nine, that I wasn't able to convert. But I think that's what you've gotta keep doing, keep giving yourself chances and go from there.

Q. Bogey free on the day. You talked about putting yourself in those opportunities to take advantage of the course here. Just what were maybe some of the ways you were able to take advantage of the course?

LYDIA KO: Like I said, I think my irons were really solid. So I had a lot of birdie opportunities, especially on my front nine, which is the back nine, and I think that is the longer side out of the two. So I felt pretty comfortable with where my game was at. It was nice to have one of my coaches out here this week to be able to flush some tendencies out, especially after three weeks off.

But, yeah, it's a new golf course, so all of us are just trying to get used to this TPC course and just putting ourselves in position. And sometimes I think when you do see low scores, you try and chase it too much, but I just tried to stick to my own kind of routine and my strategy.

Q. You just mentioned you took three weeks off. We haven't seen you since your victory at AIG Women's Open. How nice has it kind of been to take some of that time to maybe digest everything that went on between Olympics, Hall of Fame, AIG? How nice was it to sit back and kind of digest it and reflect upon that stretch of events?

LYDIA KO: Yeah. I was always going to take the three weeks off regardless of what was going to happen in Europe. Obviously the best stretch I've had over a cumulative of three weeks with two wins there. But, yeah, I don't know if it has really sunk in yet. I think my husband and I kind of turn to each other at times and go, wow, I can't believe you won the Olympics and then the AIG Women's Open. So it was kind of like being punched in the face twice in a very good way. Obviously very grateful.

And a lot of people said, oh, it's because you work hard. But like all of us work hard. And I think I've been very fortunate about the opportunities that have come in my career, and to be able to capitalize at some of the biggest events for me, especially knowing that Paris is going to be my last Olympics at least in that regards, it was special.

But, yeah, I think the LPGA made a little video for me from like when I first won in Canada to winning in Paris, and I think that kind of brought tears to my eyes because just seeing my 15-year-old self and seeing how much I've grown as a person and as a player, it's pretty surreal. I don't want to go back through those times again. You know, obviously I want to relive the good moments, but I've had my own lows as well, and I think I'm most proud of being able to come through and on top of my struggles, because we all have it. And it's never easy getting out of it, but I think that's what I'm most proud of outside of just the results and the accolades in the end.

Q. Very well said. Looks like Renoma sent you a shirt to kind of remind yourself of what you did in Paris. Did you ever look down at that today and kind of laugh at yourself or let yourself think about it?

LYDIA KO: Yeah. It's pretty crazy. I got this shirt like a couple of months before. Like I think I wore this shirt for the first time at the U.S. Women's Open, and I didn't play great there. I missed the cut. And of all the events you want to be playing all four days at the Women's Open. So, yeah, you know, pretty gutted, and at the end of May, early June, thinking that I was going to be having -- well, I guess be the gold medalist at the Olympics within like a month and a half, two months is pretty crazy.

It's weird because we all have our ups and downs. It's a little bit like a roller coaster ride, and when you're not playing as well, you kind of wonder am I ever going to play well again, and I've been lucky enough to kind of be able to overcome that.

And, yeah, it's been crazy. Honestly, I can't believe it. Winning the first tournament out of the gates this year after struggling last year and then winning the two kind of biggest events that I had probably highlighted on my schedule. And, yeah, I just felt like a part of a fairytale.

In ways I think it was good to have those three weeks off to take a step back and also nice to be able to play solid this week and know that it wasn't just this European fluke that I had for those three weeks.

Q. How easy does golf feel right now for you?

LYDIA KO: You know, it's never easy. I think the three weeks went by really quick, because by the start of the third week before this week I was like, man, I have to leave in like six days. And, you know, you are excited to be home and spend time with family and now you're back on the road, you know, carrying my Trackman, my golf clubs and all that. And my husband said on Sunday when like we left the house at 6 in the morning, he said, I can't believe you're like traveling again, which is like crazy. He said, you should be like done now. And a lot of people have said, like, oh, is your season done? And I was like, no, I think I have six, seven more events to go. So it's far from done. And I think even as in my career, I feel like my far from done. I still have things in my game that I really want to work on. And, no, it's just good to have Holton out here this week just to be able to refresh on the good things that we've been doing these past couple of months. And I'm playing in Korea this week, and Si Woo is going to be there and he's caddying for me. So it's just great to get some quality time with my coaches over these next stretch, because I think when things have gone really well and you have a break, it's easy to kind of fall back into my tendencies, and I don't want to do that. I feel like I've been progressing a lot. So it's great that I get love from both Holton and Si Woo this week and next week.