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SWINGING SKIRTS LPGA CLASSICApril 25, 2014Lydia KoStacy LewisSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA THE MODERATOR: We are joined in the media center by Lydia Ko and Stacy Lewis. Lydia, you're at 5‑under, 71; Stacy, you're at 6‑under after a 69 today. Can you guys just talk me through your rounds today. The conditions today obviously weren't ideal. Kind of say what was working for you and what you took out of your rounds. STACY LEWIS: For me, I think we all went in to the day knowing that it was going to play really hard and be a test of patience and there were going to be some delays. We knew it was going to be a long day. That's the way I took it. One shot at a time, and tried to get the ball in the hole. That's what I tried to do. Get it in the hole as fast as I could. Fortunately I was able to do that and make a couple putts. I think anything under par today is a good score. LYDIA KO: Yeah, I tried to follow Stacy's lead. Following Stacy you're going the right direction for sure. Yeah, I was pretty happy with my 71.  You know, sometimes I didn't hit it in the most ideal positions and it's not nice being like way right like on No. 2 and you've got trees everywhere. Yeah, I think I gave myself a lot of good birdie putts, so I'm really happy about that. I wasn't really confident with my putter coming into this week, but after yesterday and today I'm pretty happy about it. THE MODERATOR: You mentioned the delay. Was there a moment when you just knew, We're not getting 18 in today? Was there one moment where it just hit you that you were going to have to take a break? STACY LEWIS: I honestly thought we were going to get done. We were on 6 and I thought, Wow, only three holes to go. We could probably get this in. We got on 7 green and it just poured. Lydia was about to hit her putt and we kind of called her off her putt and said, Don't hit it. Because it started to hail a couple seconds later. Once we got on 7 green and it started o flood, we knew it was going to be a long day. LYDIA KO: Yeah, as a rookie, I was like, Okay, let's just get this done. Luckily I was pulled back and then I made the putt when we returned. But, yeah, I was kind of crazy and out of my mind to actually think about putting that in the hail. I thought we would finish like going down 6, and even in the 7 tee box. Then it started getting darker and I was like, Oh, it's going to rain hard. MODERATOR: What's your mindset during a delay and then coming back out of it? You were both putting together pretty good rounds, and then obviously the momentum stops when you go out. What do you do to pick yourself right back up and finish the round on a high note? STACY LEWIS: You know, I think you try to stay patient during the delay more than anything, and try to stay loose. I didn't sit down too much. Tried to stay up. We were fortunate we were finishing on 8 and 9. We only had shots to hit on 8 and 9, two of the probably easier holes on this course. Came back out and made a nice putt on 8. So it definitely felt nice to finish those last holes, because you never now out of a delay exactly how your body is gonna react. LYDIA KO: I was just exact opposite. I sat down, had some chicken soup, played some cards. I was totally relaxed. STACY LEWIS: She's 17 and I'm 29. (Laughter.) LYDIA KO: I was just trying to avoid hot chocolate. I had a cup of hot chocolate before during a delay and next hole I hit it out of bounds. My mom brought me a cup and I was like, Oh, that better not be hot chocolate. Like Stacy said, 8 and 9 are not one of the harder holes, and especially with the nice pin position on 8. So, yeah, I just want it kind of get my birdie going, and then just finish quickly before the rain washed us out again. THE MODERATOR: Two different routines, two similar results. Let's open it up for questions. Q. Lydia, was it 7 you missed the little short one and then missed the short one coming back, then you had the break and came back and sunk the birdie putt right off the bat. Was the delay a good thing to get you out of a negative mindset maybe? LYDIA KO: Yeah, I was putting really well. I think I was getting too confident with the first putt so I hit it way past. I kind of under‑read the next one and it went down. I nearly had the same putt as, y first putt for my third. I said it would be the most disappointing double if I miss this ‑ especially coming off two really good birdies. But, yeah, I think the delay definitely helps with confidence. Luckily it wasn't like a severe break on my 7th hole. So, yeah. Q. How do you expect the course to play the next two days given this rain? You expect it to be different I assume the next couple days. STACY LEWIS: You know, it really depends on how much rain we get the rest of the day. So far the golf course is very playable. We just had to stop because we got so much rain so quick. Playing the last few hole it didn't feel too wet. Felt okay. As long as we don't get too much rain, I expect it to firm out. It's been firm all week. It was kind of nice today we could actually control some wedge shots a little bit, so it was actually kind of nice. I think the golf course will bounce back just fine. Q. Lydia, I understand you had a special day yesterday and a lot of celebrating going on around you. Characterize your experience up to this point with that kind of excitement around you and then playing well. LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, like I said, I feel like I've been 16 for the last 16 years. Yeah, and especially people knowing me as like a 16 year old. You're 16. You're 16. 16 you're doing this. So I am going to probably say I'm 16 years old in a couple days once people ask me. It's good to be I guess different, 17. I think a lot of things have happened the last couple years ‑ and much quicker than I would have planned. No, I think it's going in a really good direction. Yeah, I'm just going to try to enjoy the moment. THE MODERATOR: On top of that, Lydia, you were also named as one of Time Magazine's 100 most influential people. Talk about that and what it means to you. LYDIA KO: It means a lot. It's ‑‑ I want to say it's not even once in a lifetime opportunity. It's less than a once. I guess to be the first golfer to be announced and select for that, that's a huge honor. I've only been doing what I love to do: playing some fun golf out here on the tour. When I saw that, I was pretty surprised. Q. Any of the other 99 people that you would really like to meet? LYDIA KO: I would love to meet 99 of those people. All of them. They're big names, apart from me, I think. I would probably go out there with a sketch book and ask for an autograph from all of them. Q. Lydia, curious, what is working better this week than the last few tournaments? You have something with this course from the United States girls juniors two years ago. Has that helped at all today? LYDIA KO: Actually putts over six feet are going in the hole. Last couple weeks it's been really hard. I hit the ball really well in Hawaii and gave myself opportunities and really couldn't get the job done. I think putting is the most important part of the game. Today and yesterday I've been holing reasonable length putts that kind of bring birdies. You can't hit it next to the pin on every shot. That's in the realistic. So to have a couple medium‑length putts going in, that definitely helped with my confidence. Even with the 3‑putt on the sixth hole, I still feel really confident with my putter. Q. Stacy, just wanted you to maybe comment about how composed she's. Maybe 16 forever, but at the same time, the compusure and the things she does on the course, sitting here very maturely chitchatting with the media. What's her take on her? STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, first time we played together was in Canada a couple years ago when Lydia won. She's been this way for a couple years, so she hasn't really had to grow up, I guess. She's a great kid. She gets it. You can tell by how humble she is. She doesn't really know how good she is and she's not done yet. It's great to have her out here and playing some good golf. I think the Time Magazine thing, I mean, it's very much true of how influential she is right now with her age. What she's doing at such a very young age is very impressive. We were talking about today about what were doing at ‑‑ Michelle and I‑‑ what we were doing at 17. I was in high school and not thinking about doing professional golf. Just very impressive what she's doing. Q. Another question about the American players. Obviously you're playing well; Michelle is coming off a win; Paula is having a good year. Good for the game in general to have the American players out there doing it? STACY LEWIS: I think it's great for the women's game. Over the last probably year I have been going in to media centers every week, and people been asking me, What's the deal with American golf. Every week I say, It's fine. We're in a great place. We're in a great place. Finally we have the wins to show it. It's great to see Michelle coming into her own. I work out with her in the off‑season. We work with the same trainer. I knew coming into this year she was going to play well. She's excited and she's having fun playing golf again. That's what you want to see. Same with Lexi. Lexi is coming into her own, too. It's great for American golf. We need to keep it going for next year's Solheim Cup, too. Q. I think you were No. 1 for about a month last year. How important is it to you to get back to that spot? STACY LEWIS: You know, I think more than anything I would like to get there just to be able to enjoy it. Kind of turned into a media circus and I was pulled in a lot of directions for that month and didn't really get to enjoy it. More than anything I want to get back there so I can enjoy it. At the same time, winning tournaments, finishing Top 10s, at the end of day, that's what gets you there. Q. Follow up on that: What does that mean? How would you articulate the privilege of being No. 1? You've been in the top 5 for quite a while. STACY LEWIS: Right, right. I mean, I would rather win major championships than be No. 1 in the world, if that kind of makes sense. Being No. 1 is great. That means you're the most consistent and you're playing the best in the best fields. But what I'm out here to do, I'm out here to win golf tournaments. I would take two majors over No. 1 in the world any day. Q. (No microphone.) STACY LEWIS: Yeah, that's fun. MODERATOR: Any further questions? Lydia, Stacy, thank you guys so much. STACY LEWIS: Thank you. LYDIA KO: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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