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PURE SILK-BAHAMAS LPGA CLASSICJanuary 23, 2014Lydia KoPARADISE ISLAND, THE BAHAMAS THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everyone. We could like to welcome our first‑round co‑leader Lydia Ko into the interview room. Congratulations, a great 5‑under par round today. First official round as a rookie turned out for you pretty well. Take us through your day out there. LYDIA KO: I had kind of like a shaky start. I still had like a four‑footer for par on the first hole, so I was kind of wondering what the rest of the day would be. But I made a birdie on 2, so that kind of led my day into a good day. Yeah, I just gave myself a lot of opportunities. I left some out there, but overall I think I was putting well and hitting the ball well. THE MODERATOR: When you look at this golf course, what is your strategy with it? Is there a certain thing that you have to be successful at to shoot low? LYDIA KO: I think the greens are the toughest part of the course. Some parts can be extremely fast like on the 18th, the eagle putt. I had no idea it would go that far past. Some putts are really slippery. The greens are grainy, as well, so it's kind the most of this condition. THE MODERATOR: We were talking earlier just about your day, and you were saying you were surprisingly not as nervous as you have been in the past. Why do you think that was today that you didn't have as many nerves? LYDIA KO: I don't know. Yeah, I just felt really relaxed and kind of just played my game one shot at a time, watched Stacy and Beatriz hit. I think it's great to be paired along with the world's greatest players, and just to be able to see it is a plus. To play better golf, that's even better. Q. You said you struck the ball well. It looked as though you hit a lot of good putts that did not go in. Did you at any point get frustrated and think, wow, I could really be going low here? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I thought I was playing much better than my scores. 3‑under was a great score during the middle of my round, but I thought I was playing even better. I gave myself opportunities and I hit my putts on line, on the line that I wanted to hit them, and sometimes it would just dive off to the left or right. So I had a couple close ones, but like I said, the grain can definitely affect the ball. Q. If you were giving yourself a grade for the way you played today, what would it be? LYDIA KO: I think I'd be pretty up there. Yeah, I think this is‑‑ I was just more shocked that I wasn't as nervous as I would be. I think just birdie on 2 kind of got me going. Yeah, it would be pretty up there. I shot 10‑under at the Australian Open, but here I just felt relaxed and felt really confident. Q. Do you think conditions were as good as they were? LYDIA KO: Maybe the wind might die down. You really don't know, and especially the holes right next to the sea. They can get pretty windy. Hopefully it stays like this, but yesterday playing in the pro‑am it was pretty tricky. So if we have a day like that, the scores are definitely going to be different. Q. I think I know the answer, but expectations that you had coming out, now that you're a rookie, and there was some sort of a spotlight on you, did you have expectations of yourself? LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, most of the times if I feel pressure about expectations, it's about self‑pressure and self‑expectation. My mom said yesterday just go out there, have fun, and I'm never going to always play under par. Yeah, just tried to keep my mind positive, and yeah, just hit the white ball. Q. When you look at the number of players that have either changed managers or hired a manager or whatever, changed equipment, they have gone through slump periods after, and yet you haven't done that, playing extremely well in your first outing. Is it something you're completely able to block out, or how do you account for that? LYDIA KO: Yeah, over the last month hearing the word change, it could pretty much be my middle name. Yeah, I knew what happened like before with some other players, but you never know what's going to happen. That slump stage, you never know when in your career it will happen. It's good that I kind of got off into a good start and it will definitely help with the rest of the season. Yeah, I guess change is quite big, but I wanted a challenge. Q. It doesn't seem like being a rookie would feel so different. Do you feel like a rookie? LYDIA KO: I do, yeah. Seeing the other rookies for this year, like Jaye and a lot of the others, I kind of think, oh, I'm one of them, and I've actually become a Tour player. Last year I was amateur pretty much the whole time. It is definitely different, but I'm just really happy and excited to be on the Tour. Q. Is the orientation coming? THE MODERATOR: We'll have a few of the seminars at Founders. They've had a few different things that have gone on, but no official rookie orientation this week. Lydia, now holding a tie for the first round, what's your strategy for tomorrow? Anything you'll do tonight to keep yourself relaxed heading into tomorrow? LYDIA KO: You know, I normally like nine hours of sleep, but I don't think I got as much, so hopefully a little bit of practice and then have a nap and go out to dinner and then sleep again. I like to sleep, and sometimes I oversleep, which is a huge problem. Q. What was it like to start with Stacy, and I noticed there was a lot of interaction, going down 12 you guys were laughing and talking. What was it like starting with her? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I've never been paired with her from the first round, so that was quite cool seeing my name right next to her on the pairing sheets. Yeah, she's a great player, and she's also a great person, as well. Yeah, I really enjoyed playing with her and seeing her game, especially with putting. She seems so confident and so relaxed, and that's some of the things I want to learn from her. THE MODERATOR: Are you one of those players that when you're playing alongside some of the other top players in the world, do you really kind of pay attention to their game? Do you watch and get some tips, or do you stay more in yourself and kind of appreciate what they're able to do with their own games? LYDIA KO: When I'm hitting the ball, I just concentrate on mine, but when it's not my turn, I just kind of see what they do and how different their game is to mine. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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