AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

July 29, 2026

Lydia Ko

Press Conference

OLIVIA MCMILLAN: Okay, good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I am delighted to be joined today by 2024 AIG Women's Open champion Lydia Ko.

Lydia, it's a huge few weeks for New Zealand golf. Is that something you want to keep rolling here at Royal Lytham and St Annes?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I would love to kind of keep the dice rolling. Super excited for Foxy and the whole of golf New Zealand for his win just up the road at Birkdale.

I don't think I've been that nervous and that excited watching somebody else play. Just his whole back nine and the way he played over the weekend was incredible.

Yeah, it would be cool to channel my inner Foxy, his fearlessness, out there for me these next few days.

Q. Wonderful story about Ryan Fox. Tell us where were you watching it? Did you speak to him in the hours after that, and what were the emotions like when you were watching?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I was on the west coast in the U.S. so there was quite a bit of time difference here. It's a good thing that the tee times were a little later so I got to start watching towards the end of his front nine.

I went to go work out and everywhere I went I was like, please turn on The Open. It ended up not working on the TV, so I had my trainer turn it on my cell phone and I had it on my cell phone.

I can't remember my work out at all because my whole focus was there. I took an uber ride back home. As soon as I got home he was on the 18th, and when I saw that drive I was like so relieved but like so excited, super pumped.

I screamed as like I went in. I closed the door and I screamed. I was like, yes, and my husband ran out and was like, what's happening? Ten seconds later I was just crying.

It was emotional for me. I can only imagine what it was like for him. Being only the second New Zealander on the men's side to have won The Open Championship is so special.

I heard that Sir Bob won it here I think like back -- right? That's what the commentator said, so if that person is wrong...

But I think he won here, and it's only less than an hour away. So for them to have both kind of won in this region is super exciting.

Q. As Olivia alluded to, how special would it be if you were to back that up with a victory here this week, especially after you won at St Andrews two years ago?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, I think it would be very special. I think this is the toughest Women's Open championship venue I have ever played. I don't know what I thought when I played in 2018. I might have been in a lot of bunkers that are on the golf course that are in my memory bank. It actually feels like a very new course to me. I know they made a little bit of adjustments on a couple of the holes.

But, yeah, it's a hard golf course. Even on a pretty perfect day like today it's playing hard. So when you win on that kind of caliber of golf course, I think it's always something that you come off feeling extra proud.

But just with Foxy having won The Open, I think it would be very meaningful and I think very empowering for golf in New Zealand.

Q. Could you describe your relationship with Ryan? How long you've known him, how much you interacted over the years.

LYDIA KO: We went to World Ams when I was 14. That was my first World Am. I don't know if he had played any prior to that. I don't know if I'm allowed to say it, but he may or may not have tricked me to think my Coke glass was -- I thought it was my Coke glass but it was red wine.

But he's always been the same. We've gone to the last three Olympics together. I'm not sure what his plans are moving forward, but I've just known him for a really long time. Even in junior golf, I was like pretty straight and didn't hit it very far but hit it very straight. He would hit it like off line, but then hit it so far. I had never really played with a golfer like that. He would shoot the easiest 65 while being in the trees.

So it felt like a different type of sport for me. The thing that really hasn't changed is his I think character, you know, his humour and just how he approaches things. Everybody that talks about him speaks very highly of him, and I think Aaron Rai and Ryan Fox were two like very popular winners of these past couple male major championships.

Yeah, it's just great to see a people's person win, and I really think it was the case for Foxy as well.

Q. Not just at The Open but every time I talk to Foxy, he expresses his admiration for you, respect for your career, and I wonder what you make of that.

LYDIA KO: I mean, somebody like sent me some links of him talking about me during his press conference. Like I touched on before, he's just a great guy and I think he's super humble. He's come from a huge sporting background with his grandfather being in cricket and his father being part of the All Blacks as well.

So I think when you grow up like that you could easily go the other way and be really cocky and kind of take things for granted. He's really not like that, so it didn't -- obviously was grateful that he talked so highly of me on many occasions, but doesn't surprise me because that's just the type of person he is.

He's very humble and I would say he's your typical Kiwi guy that happens to be a freak athlete. I think that would be just the way to put it.

Q. Looks to me like you're doing the same thing. So with the career like yours, what keeps you going? What keeps you wanting to be here? Is it records? Results? What is it?

LYDIA KO: I mean, I think I would be lying if I said it's not result based obviously. Every week I tee it up I want to play well. You know, now I have a mediocre or a bad day on the golf course, I still get frustrated.

I think the day it doesn't frustrate me it probably means I don't care anymore, and I don't know if that's a good thing.

But this is a very humbling game. You could have all things fall your way one day and then the next day you could shoot a ten-shot difference.

I don't think that happens in many other sports where you have that kind of a discrepancy between one round to the other. That really motivates me, that I know I'm far from perfect. I'm going to retire being far from perfect.

It's always kind of reaching to be better. I think that's the mindset you just kind of have to take. Yeah, like obviously my approach and perspective to events have changed over the years, and I think that's natural over time and the experience.

I try and not beat myself up as much now, but it is still frustrating. But I'm eager to be the one that's hoisting the trophy at the end of the week.

Q. With this being such a special championship and rounding out the five majors slate, I think you could probably come into this week a little bit tired. How have you managed your energy to get yourself ready to go for another big week at the AIG Women's Open?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, especially after Chevron, the next four majors are pretty tight together. So when you're in form it's great; when you're not, maybe not so good.

I missed the first two cuts at the start of the year, and especially the U.S. Women's Open I was pretty disappointed. That was one that I was really looking forward to being an iconic venue, place we really haven't played before.

I think I could have -- I think if I was maybe a few years younger I think I would've been like a little bit more derailed in my position after the first round at KPMG.

But I think just being in the position now, I was just able to be like, hey, I still have a good round in front of me. I'm not going to let these events affect my approach for the rest of the year. I think that's how I made the cut. And then played well at Evian as well.

This is kind of the time of the year where I think everybody gets a little bit tired. I'm just trying to manage my energy levels. That's why the schedule is so important, to see is it better to have a week off prior or would you rather play into events. That's like every player has their own way about it.

I thought it was nice to have a couple weeks off between Evian and this one. Yeah, I always just try to have good built in breaks so I'm not here tired and Thursday feels like a Sunday already.

Q. Some pretty exciting news about a month ago. The New Zealand Women's Open is returning, an event you've had incredible success at. After a decade it's returned. How excited are you to get back and maybe what are some of your memories from those tournaments that you won early in your career?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, Amelia Garvey and I were talking about it in the bathroom like not even 30 minutes ago. She's super excited for it. I'm super excited for it. I do think this is an opportunity for more growth in golf, and especially for junior girls in New Zealand. I still think that rugby and cricket are some of the bigger sports, but over the -- I feel like especially with Foxy's win as well and with the popularity of the sport itself kind of since COVID, there has been a lot of growth.

To have a national Open I think is so important. Most of us play overseas 99 percent of the time, so for us to come back to a national Open, I think we take pride in that. I think for the girls that are going to -- the junior girls or boys that come out and watch us play, they're going to be inspired and want to play in the 2030-something New Zealand Women's Open.

I'm excited for it to be back. It's been too long in that sense. But I feel a little bit older than the last time I played, and even during the times that I won because I won pretty early in my career. So it's going to be weird because I used to be the young one where all the veterans were like, who is this 15 year old? Now I'm like, who is this 12 year old teeing it up?

It's a little bit of a different position. I thought it was just the coolest thing to be in the same field as players like Laura Davies, Dame Laura Davies. Hopefully I can have that kind of effect for the future generations, too.

Q. That win in 2013 at the Women's Open probably springboarded your career a lot as an amateur. Do you think it did springboard your career?

LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, I was fortunate enough that the year before I was an LPGA member I had 12 starts. I was able to get 12 starts on the LPGA and a few LET events.

Those were really good opportunities for me to get used to being on Tour and what it's like playing on Tour week in, week out. I think no matter how much you prepare, you're never fully prepared for Tour life, but I think having those kind of opportunities made me feel like these players that I had seen on TV were not as distant.

I think they got to know me and I kind of got an inside scope of how -- what the dynamic is like and seeing all the players.

So, yeah, it was definitely helpful. I mean, I always enjoyed it. I think that it came with a little bit of pressure, too, because you want to do well. As much as being there is great, I don't want to play bad while I'm over there.

So there was a lot of pressure, but I think winning the first one was obviously a little easier for the next one, and Christchurch ended up becoming a pretty special place for me.

Q. Obviously the first time the LPGA has ever had two players go back to back in majors in one season. Hoping you could contrast the style of play or swings of Haeran and Nelly.

LYDIA KO: I'm flattered that I'm playing with the two major champions that have won this year. I think very different games. The only really similarity, couple similarities, both very good ball strikers and they both hit it pretty far off the tee.

But, I mean, for what they did, winning one is hard enough. Could honestly be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. But winning back to back and two players do that back to back is unheard of.

So it's like super impressive. I think as a playing partner they have a very easy demeanor I think on the golf course. We all have frustrating days, but both of them never get too high or low, and I think that's why they do so well in those kind of pressure situations.

You know, just the way that Nelly kind of dealt with the pressure coming down I'm sure the last day at the U.S. Women's Open and Haeran was kind of -- had to work her way to get into the playoff and then just have that finish that she did.

Yeah, I think there are similarities and you see why they have had success. When it comes to their swing, I think it's so different. One is not substantially better than the other. It's what works well for them.

Yeah, I think it's probably the key to their success is their demeanor on how they play out there.

Q. Just following on from that, you were once in a situation Nelly finds herself in now on the cusp of the Hall of Fame. You did it in such an emotional way at the Olympics. Can you sort of empathize what she's going through on that doorstep of the Hall of Fame and what's that like as a golfer?

LYDIA KO: If we were in the same position, like a couple points away, I would probably bet my money on her before me, to be honest. She's had an incredible year, and to kind of have that twice in the span of three years, she did it in '24 and back here in '26, is really unbelievable.

She's proven herself to everyone, and I really don't think she needs to do anything more to say she's one of the best players in the United States and one of the best female athletes. The results really speak for itself.

I think when you are that close, for me, I was like so far away in 2023. With the year I was having, the Hall of Fame was in my mind, but then it was gone because I was just not playing good golf at all.

But I think it's almost harder when you're playing good week in and week out and you feel like you're right there. I think Nelly really shouldn't worry about it. I think there are many ways do it. Obviously winning here, I think the cool thing is she'll be able to complete the grand slam, which is kind of the way I did it too winning the gold.

It's going to figure itself out at some point. There is always that a little bit of added pressure. Every time there has been pressure she's been able to pretty much kind of get through the finish line every single time, so I'm not worried. I don't think anybody should be worried. It's more of when, not if, right? So I'm sure she'll do it in great fashion at some point.

OLIVIA MCMILLAN: Lydia, thank you so much for your time today. We wish you the best of luck the rest of the week.

LYDIA KO: Thank you.