MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY DANA

August 6, 2020

Lydia Ko

Quick Quotes

Q. You just finished up a first round, 64. Tell us about your round today. You seemed to make it look easy out there.

LYDIA KO: I hit a few shots that were really tap-in range, so when you have three, four of those kind of opportunities, it definitely puts a little stress off the putter, which was kind of the bit that I was struggling with last week.

Apart from the second day, I'm going to completely forget. The first and the last day I hit the ball really well and I really wasn't taking advantage of my opportunities I gave myself.

So it was nice that a few were really close to kind of put that stress off, and nice to just walk off the hole with the easy birdie.

Q. I know you had an easy birdie here on 9. What were some of the other easy tap-ins that you had, any moments that really stood out to you?

LYDIA KO: I had the one here on 9, and then another tap-in on 7. I had a tap-in on my 1st hole of the day, the 10th.

And then pretty much tap-in on the 18th hole. I had a tap-in on the 5th hole. Actually hit the pin and I was hitting from the rough, so Amy was like, At one point one of these shots are going to go in.

You kind of wish it went in, but at the same time, a tap-in is birdie is all you can really expect at that point, yeah.

Q. Two wins here, two other Top 10s. Our statistician did the math. Since 2012, your average here is 68, your scoring average. You haven't played here in a couple years. What's it like to be back? Seems like this place just seems home to you.

LYDIA KO: I always love coming here. I think over the years I've gotten to know Judd pretty well, and Marathon is an amazing supporter of the LPGA. You know, even though these crises, for them to host an event and make to the best possible tournament -- we wish there were fans here, but even without those, for them to do pretty much everything in their power for us to play here this year, I think it's credits to them and credits to everyone at the LPGA.

No, it's nice. It's not one of the longer golf courses, but throughout the years they've lengthened some of the holes and added a few bunkers this year. Well, I don't know if this year, or within the time that I've been gone.

Yeah, no, it's good to be back. It always makes you draw on good memories. But I think I hit some not-so-good shots, but got really lucky where I had an opening and could go for the green. When that's kind of the case, you try and take advantage of those.

Q. Obviously you can't win the tournament today, but how happy are you with the position you put yourself in after day one?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think you just got to take it one shot at a time, one round at a time. Golf is a silly game where one day you feel like everything is going your way, and the next day you're like, What am I doing?

I said it's a crazy game, but someone said, No, you're the crazy people that's playing the game. But I think that's the great personality of golf itself.

So, yeah, I think it's nice to start the tournament off well. I mean, only half the field has almost finished, so you don't know where you'll stand at the end of the day. All I can do is play my own golf and just enjoy my time out there.

Q. Along those same lines, in a tournament where you know the final score will be really low, how important is it the first day to be up near the top?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, this is a course a little different to last week where you know that you need to make your share of birdies. But at the same time, I think when you put yourself in a wrong position it can get tricky to make up and downs.

You just have to be smart. Some holes are playing tough with the new bunkers. You have to be pretty strategic, and, and when you get the birdie opportunities, try and grab them.

But, no, even though you're playing alongside the best female golfers, you just have to go out there and play your golf. That's what I'm going to aim for these next few days.

Q. When you have a tough day like you did at Inverness on the second day, how do you mentally reset?

LYDIA KO: I saw actually Danielle's interview and saw that Annika said, especially on a 54-hole tournament, you got to play aggressive and just put your foot down on the pedal or the gas.

Then I saw it and I was like, Yeah, I'm going to go tomorrow and play as aggressive as I can. I was talking to Sean about it as well. Like aggressive doesn't mean you're going at every pin. For me, the term aggressive is like even if it I have -- I'm playing safe, I'm still being aggressive and committed over that shot.

So I that's really important for me, to be really committed and I'm hitting each shot with my 100% authority. I know that I hit it better that way, so it's good to be back in this competitive atmosphere to kind of put that into play and see like what you need to get better at.

Yeah, I went out on Sunday and I was like, It's not like I'm going to win. I mean, maybe with an 18-under, but I'm just going to go and play aggressive golf, trust myself. I know on the back nine I hit nine greens and all the fairways. All of my like ball striking was really good. I think the confidence in being aggressive really is something that I'm continuing to work on, and it's something that really helps me a lot out there.

Q. Just one more. With Sean being on the other post at a major, how are you kind of working with him this week? Do you talk daily?

LYDIA KO: I don't really -- I don't talk to him like every day, but I send him a few swings early in the week, and then we FaceTimed on Tuesday. He was mentioning how cold it was over there. I could see like it was pretty gray.

But, no, definitely we've been just doing it through FaceTime and I think it's been nice. He just said there is not a lot that can go wrong in my swing, so I think when somebody tells you that it gives you the confidence.

So it's really I think at the end of the day for me to be out there and just swing it aggressively and confidently, and I think that is really going to make the difference. The fundamentals are somewhat there for me to hit it more consistently. Just, yeah, so for me, it's just like be aggressive. That's all I got to say in my head. Yeah.

Q. This is a tournament that usually has pretty good galleries, large grandstands. How different did it feel out there without the grandstands and no crowds believe?

LYDIA KO: Jodi, Amy, and I, were talking about how No. 9 looks different without the grandstand. How No. 18, like the hole and the green itself looks different with something being there and without it.

Obviously we love seeing the fans. They're a huge supporter of the LPGA, and especially because we've been here for so long. So they're gutted that they're not here this year, but hopefully next year they'll be back.

Right now, safety a priority and staying healthy, so, yeah, hopefully we'll see them next year.

Q. Does the lack of grandstands impact aiming points or sightlines?

LYDIA KO: I don't think so. I think there are plenty of targets to aim at. You know, lots of trees or edges of houses or whatever, so I don't think the alignment is much of an issue.