KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY P&G

May 16, 2026

Lydia Ko

Maketewah Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Here with Lydia Ko after her third round at the Kroger Queen City Championship presented by P&G. First things first, Lydia, just talk a little bit about the course. Feel like it played any different with the weather that came in?

LYDIA KO: Honestly I thought the rough would be a lot thicker, and the greens would be a lot more -- a lot slower.

It was really neither, which was a good surprise, especially with some of the contouring of the fairways. You know, when the rough is wet, it is obviously a lot more penalizing, so for it to not be the case was good.

Yeah, and I think especially towards the end of our round there was hardly any wind, so it was actually a very favorable time to play at 8:00 p.m.

Q. This week you've been rolling in a lot of birdies. Currently in the top 5 in the field. What does it take to make that many birdies on this difficult golf course?

LYDIA KO: I feel like I haven't been making a ton of birdies. It's been a little frustrating because I actually had like 33 putts today and like 30 putts one of the other days, but I've been rolling it good. But, you know, like maybe I'm just not reading it as well, so that's something that I clearly need to work on.

But it's been nice. You know, it's been a nice change the last couple weeks where even though I haven't holed a lot, I feel like I'm rolling it good.

I think these past few months I've been holing some putts and like feeling like that wasn't a very good stroke, so it was almost the opposite.

So I think it's good in the sense I feel like I'm rolling it down my line, and ultimately that's all I can do. I think that's just a better mindset to be at because you can get a better feedback from what the putt actually does.

Yeah, for the most parts, I really haven't put myself in too many crazy positions. I feel like you can do that at times around this golf course.

Everything feels solid, so I think that's why I'm positioned where I am. Hopefully I'll be able to hole a few more putts tomorrow.

Q. I guess how do you not get frustrated when you're rolling it well and they're just not going in? How do you stay within your mindset and just stay patient out there and just look at the next putt, the next right read, and so on?

LYDIA KO: I mean, I hit 38 putts last week on one of the days. I hit 14 out of 14 fairways, 17 out of 18 greens, and had 38 putts, so that was new.

But even that day I actually felt like I putted good, and I'm trying to kind of take in the process rather than exactly what the results are doing.

Donald Ross can be a little bit mean when it comes to green contouring, so I think it just really hasn't -- like how I feel like I'm stroking it is like not a clear reflection of how I actually am putting.

So I think like when it is that state, all I can do is say, hey, if I'm rolling it good I think that just increases my chances of holing it. I'm just waiting for that moment for it to all come together.

Yeah, I'm just really enjoying it. To be honest, even though I don't hole it, I think I'm less frustrated because I know I did my 100% and it was a good stroke and that was it.