MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY DANA

August 9, 2020

Lydia Ko

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Lydia Ko, and Lydia, certainly not way you wanted it to end, but you've still got a smile on your face. If you could, just walk us through the back nine. Had a big lead, but then ultimately just had some troubles there toward the end.

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I actually hit the ball really well today and made a lot of putts on the front nine as well. You know, it was tricky. I pretty much hit my two first -- well, the first two birdies really came from club selection errors. I think a 3-wood down 16 as it was getting so firm was probably the right club off the tee. And then probably just a 9-iron instead of 8 on the par-3.

No, it's tough. Obviously not the finish that I had envisioned, but Danielle played great today. Every time she made a mistake she fought back with a birdie, so credits to her.

Q. You had some trouble on the final hole. Looked like you were maybe between clubs there on 18. Walk us through that real quick.

LYDIA KO: With the ground being pretty firm it was going to be a risky shot either way. You know, maybe now when you look at it, maybe I should have hit the higher shot in. I think it's -- really right now at one point -- you don't know what the right option was, but I was so in between, like even in the -- like just being between the bunkers.

If I had been in the bunker probably I would've been able to get on and maybe two-putt for a bogey. No, I think it's God's way of telling me it wasn't my day.

Q. And what do you now take from this that you learn as we head off to Scotland?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I felt like throughout the week I was getting more and more confident in my game. Like today I felt like I hit the ball pretty good. Like the only real missed shot was the tee shot on 17, and it really wasn't so far off. I was so surprised how far it actually had run through.

Other than that, there were no like real errors. Maybe some course management errors. But my short game wasn't like that good, like making up and down throughout the week, so I think here and there I could have picked a few shots through that.

Definitely nice to be able to play some solid golf after this long break.

Q. The second chip you hit on 18 that rolled back into the bunker, what happened? What were you trying to do there?

LYDIA KO: I was trying to bump it there. It was in a pretty fluffy lie. It was probably going to be a tough one for me to hit a high one. And with how the greens are reacting, I think if I had hit a high one I was probably going to end up on the other side of the hill.

So I just don't think I hit it as hard as I should have maybe into the bank, but it's, you know, very like minimal things. Even my first chip. If I had hit it four feet shorter, then maybe it would've stayed on the green. Who knows?

Yeah, like when you look back afterwards you are like, maybe I should have done this, maybe I should have done that. But, I mean, what can you do?

Q. When you walk down into the bunker is your head spinning at this point? What are you feeling at that point?

LYDIA KO: I said to myself I feel like the lie is pretty good, that I can make up and down from here. You know, if she makes a chip before I make the putt, obviously it's game over anyway.

But, no, it was a pretty difficult position just being in the third shot. You know, anywhere just in the short area would've been a pretty simple chip on the green, but just being in the rough made it a little bit more iffy.

Yeah, be no, maybe like not the smartest way of playing and also not the easiest situations from there, anyway.

Q. Is there a sense of disappointment? You were in the middle of the fairway on 18, and then it kind of started to fall apart and now we're here. Is there a sense of disappointment?

LYDIA KO: Yeah. Like even if I had a lost, obviously wouldn't want to lose with a 7. But, no, I thought that 3-wood was the shot for the second shot because to carry the bunker is 207. I was thinking of having the chip from the right side because the pin was tucked on the left.

But just with how firm it is, it went a little longer than I expected. Obviously made me think about it from there.

Q. In the grand scheme of things though, to be back and to have this finish after such a long break, what do you walk away from here feeling?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, no, it's good to be playing some better golf. Even last week I had one bad round, but outside of that, I played really good. I just couldn't hole any putts. To see putts drop this week is nice.

I think when you see that you get more and more confidence. I feel like that's what has been building the last couple weeks. So I'm planning to play five weeks in a row, so I am looking forward to the next three.

Q. Is there a time when a tough loss like that would've lingered? How do you get such great perspective?

LYDIA KO: I mean, at the end of the day obviously it wasn't the finish that I wanted, but Danielle played great. It's not like she played mediocre and I played mediocre. She played good golf.

Yeah, you know, I think I have to see the positives. I'm pretty sure I'm going to be disappointed and go, Oh, man, I should have done this over that. But when you look back at everything and you take everything apart, you're going to have so many things to like think so negatively about.

But I think there are so many positives from there week, and I feel overall like more confident in my game. I think that's really the goal I had coming into the this stretch after quarantine.

So obviously I would've loved to be the one holding the trophy, but I think if somebody said, Hey, you're going to be second at Marathon coming into the stretch I would've been, okay, cool. I would take that.