Q. Here with the new clubhouse leader, Lydia Ko. Just tell me when you finally felt the momentum really start kicking in, especially with those four birdies on your front nine?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I hit a string of birdies on my front nine. I tee'd off the back, so it was definitely a solid start. Overall I didn't get into too much trouble, so I was kind of putting myself in play.
No, when I had an opportunity for birdie, for the most part I was able to hole it, which is nice. I didn't have a great time on the putting green last week, so to kind of see putts going in, I think it was definitely like a good imagery, and I tried to feed off that for the rest of the round.
Q. You made the turn, three consecutive birdies there on Nos. 1, 2, 3; take us through what was working so well there as well.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I hit it on the green for two on 1, hit two great shots, and then I hit one of the worst putts of the day. I was like, Man, I'm working way too hard for a birdie here.
I holed two again medium-length putts on it 2 and 3. Yeah, I think just gave myself lots of opportunities. I felt like it took me a little bit to get adjusted to the speed, just to kind of be aggressive out there, and when I felt like I put a good stroke and was aggressive and kind of had the right speed, it had good chances.
That's all you can do, right? Just put a good roll on it, and if it falls, great. If not, onto the next.
Q. Absolutely. So seemed early on that the greens I'm guessing were slower than you anticipated.
LYDIA KO: We had pretty quick greens last week, so compared to Lake Nona it is a little slower out there. But as long as the roll is pretty true, you know, all you can -- as players we just got to get adjusted to it.
Yeah, when it is a bit of a difference I do think it takes a bit of time, but, you know, everyone is playing the same greens, so you just have to hopefully get adjusted as quick as possible.
Q. You start out and made some good par putts. Did that kind of get you motivated?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I made a good par putt on 11 and then everything else I had just good looks for birdies.
But after starting off with a birdie on 1 you kind of want to feed off that momentum, and holing that par putt on my second hole definitely helps with that.
I just tried to kind of keep looking forward and just play one shot at a time.
Q. And then ball striking, how satisfied were you with your game today?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, I hit one very, very loose shot, but luckily was in play and I was able to set up another birdie chance.
Other than that, it was overall pretty solid. Hopefully I'll be able to maintain the goods from today to the rest of the week.
Q. That was a great shot on 8.
LYDIA KO: 8?
Q. The third shot.
LYDIA KO: Yes, yeah. It's always nice to tap in for a birdie for the next, yeah.
Q. Did you see something last week that told you you would play really nicely this week?
LYDIA KO: I have not played this golf course before. This is my first time out here, so I personally didn't know what it would be like.
I played with the president of the club yesterday in the pro-am, so maybe he gave me some good energy. I don't know. They had like a course layout thing on the website so I tried to take a peek at that.
But you never know until you're here to kind of get your strategy right. I do know that you have to drive it pretty well around here, and that sets up lots of good birdie opportunities.
For most putts I was able to do that well, so hoping to continue that the next few days.
Q. Were there a highlight or two in all the birdies you made?
LYDIA KO: The shot into 8, as you said, that was nice to kind of tap-in for birdie.
And, yeah, I mean, it's hard to like pick one, but definitely the tap-in is nice. Makes it a little less stressful for the next one.
Q. I know you talked about your ball striking, being happy with that. Just overall how satisfied were you with your entire game when you're hitting it so well you think?
LYDIA KO: I think I'm just trying to be patient and not get too -- like if I do hit a loose shot, not get too carried away with that. I do think sometimes I won't hit a good one and then I will hit the next shot not with confidence, and I think that's a part of my game that I have been trying to do better.
I think I did that well last week to kind of move on and just this is a new shot, you know, just be committed to that and just hit it. That's always a good mindset to be at.
And definitely playing with Nelly and Lexi, who are some of the most aggressive players, I think that kind of helps me as well to say, Hey, I'm just trying to put a good, aggressive swing on it, and hopefully it ends up on the fairway or on the green.
Q. Did you know where you stood on the leaderboard?
LYDIA KO: At what point?
Q. That you took the lead.
LYDIA KO: I mean, I knew that Danielle had shot 7-under. I think that's when I saw it, like when I was on 13 or 14 or something. Other than that, I don't really look at the leaderboards that much.
This is the first day, so there is still a lot of golf to be played. Obviously you can -- I'm just trying to play the best golf I can, and if I end up on top like I currently am right now, that's great.
But I know I'm playing against the best female golfers, but trying to play the best golf I can and see what happens.
Q. You did so many nice things last year. How would you describe your confidence level come into a new season?
LYDIA KO: It was a fairly short off-season, so actually going into last week I felt very rusty. I wasn't really sure what was going to happen, but there were a lot of positives in the ball striking area that I actually thought wouldn't be as good.
But, no, it's such a long season, right? You know, I'm trying to not get too caught up on, Okay, if I start well it's going to end well. It's just taking it one day at a time, one tournament at a time, and see where I put myself.
But, yeah, you know, last year was definitely -- being back in the winner's circle helped with the confidence, and I felt like it proved it to myself than proving it to anybody else. I think that's so important, that I'm out there playing with confidence and just belief and not trying to control everything out there.
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