|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIPSeptember 13, 2013Lydia KoEVIAN-LES-BAINS, FRANCE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Lydia Ko into the interview room. Congratulations. Great start to this Evian Championship for you. 3‑under par today. Take me through the day. Were there any highlights that stuck out from your round today? LYDIA KO: No. I did make a couple of good shots to the pin, so I had quite a few, you know, three‑ or four‑feet birdie putts. I made most of them, apart from one. I think I was really happy with my bogey on 18. Hit it in the water for my second shot, and then hit the pin for my fourth. Made up and down. So I thought double, easy double, even triple. So I was really happy about that. MODERATOR: This is your first time playing here. You didn't really see the golf course before the renovations. Since the changes, is this a golf course this tends to suit your game? LYDIA KO: I do hope so. (Laughter.) I mean, the greens are very undulated. I think that's one of the biggest things here. I've been trying to go on the putting green as well. It's playing like a medium‑length right now with the tees forward on some holes. Some holes can get really long, which means like a 3‑wood or a 5‑wood into some holes, which will make a whole different course. MODERATOR: In terms of length, have you gotten longer? You've been a longer hitter, but have you seen your length increase from last year to this year? LYDIA KO: I think so. I hope so again. I'm like 16 now, so I think this kind of time where length kind of goes a little bit further. Yeah, I especially notice that the LPGA is playing longer and longer every year, so definitely distance is a big key. MODERATOR: For you, you've been traveling for quite a bit over the past couple months and haven't played a ton of events. You're coming off a victory at the CN Canadian Women's Open, defending your title, how much confidence did that give you coming into this week into a major championship, and is it your goal increase your performance in the majors? LYDIA KO: Yeah, coming off a really good week in Canada. I think my confidence went from here to a little higher, especially with my putting. My putting helped me today and helped me in that tournament as well. Couple weeks have passed, and I've been in tournament mode for I think two weeks. Yeah, I was kind of afraid that I would lose that feel. Yeah, you know, I haven't played that great in the majors this year, so I really wanted to be there. My dad normally comes with me when we train like at home, and I could always see him like saying, Oh, it's all right. He was a little disappointed as well. Hopefully I won't make those doubles and triples I made in other tournaments. MODERATOR: Questions for Lydia. Q. Tell us about that little chip you played off the gree at 16, was it? LYDIA KO: Yeah. There was a highlight, too. Yeah, I hit my 6‑iron and I said, Oh, my God that's big. Thank goodness it went left so it was still on the green. When I got there, I was like, Oh, it's not even better being on the green because I had that slope. So I knew if I putted it like I would have to go really close to even off the green, which would kind of be risky, or I'll go down anyway. I thought I might as well fly it and slightly kind of bump it into the hill for it to go down. Q. You did one of those at St. Andrews, didn't you? LYDIA KO: Yeah. Did that at one of the holes as well and I hit it to like two feet then. Yeah, wasn't as close, but still made pretty much up and down from there. That was really big. And Janet, the Chinese girl, she was just right of me and made two‑putt from there. It was a really good hole for all three of us. Q. Was there any time at which you three chatted? LYDIA KO: I think it was mostly like two and two and two like that. Wasn't like the whole three of us talking. Q. What did you learn about your Chinese friend? LYDIA KO: I actually played with her in the practice round, so I kind of knew. It was pouring that day. She was hitting next to the pin, so I knew she was a really good player. She played well within St. Andrews. Charley, I played with her four times out of last four tournament rounds I played. I knew she was a great putter especially. I kind of wanted to see her posture and stuff because it's definitely working for her. Q. What would you and Charley chat about? LYDIA KO: Like about what's going to happen the next couple months, what I did before. Yeah, just a little bit of carry on chat from three weeks ago. Q. If I remember well, a birdie on the par‑5, but I've seen a wonderful shot on the 3rd. You hit the pin very, very close. Were you quite far from the pin on the 4th, that means you have no birdie chance on the other par‑4 or... LYDIA KO: I normally make my birdies everywhere apart from the par‑5s, so today was like a whole different day for me. I kind of hit it close to the pins on the par‑5s, which gave my more opportunities. 3 was a really good shot as well the, but I didn't hit‑‑ well, I hit one really good hybrid the par‑3, 14th. Other than that, like I hit a lot of hybrids and 6‑irons and stuff today. Especially with some of the slopes on the fairways, it's quite hard it hit it at the pin and go for it every single time. Q. In August, your prime minister sent two messages on Twitter. The first about squash, and for you to congratulate after you win Canadian Open. What does it mean for you a girl of your age? LYDIA KO: I actually played with the prime minister, so I kind of got to know him. We were in the same cart together so we started talking. Yeah, it was really fun. That was at the New Zealand LPGA Championship last year. After that I saw him again this year as well. Yeah, it's really cool to kind of know the prime minister and have met him. My friend, like a month ago, she sent me a Snap Chat saying, Oh, my God, the prime minister is behind me playing on the driving range. I was like, yeah, I met him. Yeah, it's really cool. It's always cool when you get to see someone live when you've seen them before like the on the signs or on TV. Q. You come from a country which is really small country, but sport is important. Have you pressure to from your country? LYDIA KO: You know, like last year the rugby World Cup the All Blacks won it, and that was huge. And especially New Zealand, I personally think it's a very rugby kind of country, so to me it's like rugby, cricket, and net ball, and golf is like down here. But New Zealand has some great golfers like Michael Campbell, Danny Lee, and so many other big names. So it didn't give me that much pressure, because I know there were so many great players that were much better than me before in the past. Q. How good a golfer is your prime minister? LYDIA KO: I think he played okay. You know, obviously he doesn't have much time to play golf. If he was out at the golf club every single day, people would say, Why are you out there and not doing the politics or the government work? I think he was a pretty good golfer. Q. Was he nervous at playing you or were you nervous at playing with him? LYDIA KO: I think I was nervous. He asked me, because we were in the cart, if I was able to drive. They had just changed it from 15 to 16 for the driving license, so I said, Not anymore I can't.  You guys changed the rules. Yeah, it was really great. We're playing in the same team, not separately, so I think that made it much more fun. Q. (No microphone.) LYDIA KO: 15 to 16. Q. (No microphone.) LYDIA KO: Yeah. Safer at 16. MODERATOR: Any more questions for Lydia? All right. Thank you very much. Great playing. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|