THE MODERATOR: We welcome Lydia Ko to the 2025 HSBC Women's World Championship.
You're one of the five players that's played here ten times previously. What can you say about the atmosphere and what you've seen?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, somebody was actually asking me how many times I've been to Singapore and played this event, and I thought it was around, like, 11. So yeah, it shows how long I've been on tour. You know, this is my 12th year and I think the only time I really wasn't here was because of COVID.
So yeah, it's always exciting, and the fans are great. You know, all the partners that are here, it's a huge kind of meet-up and you know, the course is always in really pristine condition.
I'm excited. I think Singapore is one of those places where I'm excited about the golf course and the tournament but things outside, as well. So it's always, I think, a favourite spot for so many people, and I think it's why like myself and four other players have played it ten times, and will probably be returning in the future, too.
THE MODERATOR: You were at the Pro-Am party last night, a lot of action there. Can you talk about the set up and the energy of the set and what was going on?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, MBS, very special place from the casino to the shopping and the amazing food and a club. I was telling somebody, I don't go to the clubs very often so that's my once a year club visit. It was nice to make it a little bit more of a casual environment. I think it's a new kind of -- place where you meet new people. Some familiar faces but it can become a little bit static and too stiff. To have it at a local club and the performances with the drums and dancers, it makes it relaxing and engaging for everybody there.
It will probably be my last visit to a club this year, but it's definitely not a shabby place to go if it is that one time.
THE MODERATOR: I was going to ask you, you had an off-course opportunity this year being on the cover of Vogue Korea, I don't know if anyone has seen the photos, but they are amazing.
LYDIA KO: Some people are like, Oh, is she the same person. It was so much fun, and obviously my first experience, really, of being on a fashion magazine outside of golf clothes and my hat, and I think the hat in particular is a signature look for all of us. I think that's how most people recognize us.
To have hair extensions, hair down, wearing amazing clothes, it was so much fun. I'm honestly not envious of the models that do this quite often. It's a lot of work and a lot of people to make that cover shoot the way it is.
But I was super proud and excited of the way it turned out and obviously very grateful to Vogue for giving me that opportunity. It's literally a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Yeah, I had a great time. But modeling is probably not in my near future.
Q. What would be a game-changer for your good days and your bad days?
LYDIA KO: It's all marginal difference from a few lipouts to getting a good lie in the fairway to maybe going in a divot.
Some things are really out of your control. Like I was telling my Pro-Am partners today, there's a lot of variables in golf, and I think that's why it's so difficult having 14 different clubs. No one to the second shot is the same lie. We play in different countries and different grasses. So I think there's less common grounds than things that change all the time.
That's why I try and do a good job of the things I can control. But sometimes it's really out of my hands if the wind picks up when I've already made contact with the ball and it affects the ball in a good or bad way, it's really -- it's really not my fault at the end of the day.
But confidence is a really big thing, and I think that's probably been the biggest momentum shifter for me between when I'm playing well or not. Everything is very marginal. All the players here, the 66 of us, I don't think skill-wise we are that much different.
But somebody that's coming off a good week or winning like Angel or somebody that's just having some of their best performances they have had in a while, it's what kind of rhythm you're taking and how you carry that on for your next events coming up.
Q. How does attitude affect good days and bad days?
LYDIA KO: I think it's probably the most important thing. It's trying to make sure that not one shot affects you, and I feel like that was kind of the big thing that I felt like I overcame in Paris. It wasn't that I won or got the Gold Medal or got into the Hall of Fame. It was definitely a very important feat for me and will be for the rest of my career.
But I think I was most proud that I was able to overcome some of my fears and doubts, and maybe less than a year before, I remember I was sitting with my sister and having a discussion on whether I wasn't sure if I was ever going to be in the winner's circle again.
It's like, did my golf drastically change? Probably not. But what goes in between the two ears is really important, and I think that can be a big factor not only for that round or that day, but really what's coming up, as well.
Q. You've said you are going to retire by 30. Is that still the plan?
LYDIA KO: 30 is a long way to go. I'm 27 now. Soon turning 28. But yeah, I'm just trying to honestly take it day-by-day. My schedule has changed. I've gone from thinking I was going to play ten, 15 events this year to now playing over 20, and then also kind of reassessing during the middle of the season like where I am with my energy levels to me thinking, am I going to play more or less.
I think that's a very down-the-road question, but 30 is a long way. It definitely doesn't get any easier. It's easier in the sense that I've come to these kind of golf courses and I kind of know what to expect, and I'm not like a rookie getting used to these types of tournaments and courses.
But it all builds up at the end of the day, and I'm obviously very grateful for everything that I've gotten through the sport, and I want to play the best golf while I'm still playing, and that's obviously the biggest goal for me right now.
Q. You had so much success last year, and what are your goals this year?
LYDIA KO: The career Grand Slam was the goal I set after the Women's Open. I had not particularly played well at the Women's Open before. The only good results I had before was at Turnberry and Muirfield. It wasn't like the odds were in my favor because I had not played that well on a links course.
Having two miracles happen in the span of three weeks of winning the Gold and the last major of the year, I thought if those things that I wasn't really sure was going to happen, happened, as long as I put a goal and set my mind to it, like who knows what can happen.
So I know last year was an amazing year, and it's kind of hard to classify, is it just as good as the year I got Player of the Year or better. I think I was a little afraid that I wouldn't be able to match or have that fluidity after having a year like last year.
But I've come to peace that, you know, what I had a great last year last year and who is to say I can't have an even greater year this year. I'm just looking forward, and so the U.S. Women's Open and the KPMG are probably the biggest stars on my schedule this year.
Q. There's been such growth in women's sport. Is there anything more that you hope to see in the LPGA?
LYDIA KO: You know, women's sports is on a high from the WNBA of what Caitlin Clark, or even in golf what Nelly did last year is unheard of. That's a very rare year, and not only that but women's soccer and so many sports are on a high. I do feel like the LPGA has been riding that trend.
As a tour, we are very grateful to have partners like HSBC and so many that are with us and have been with us for a really long time, support us and see the big picture and see where golf is going, and really want to grow the game and give golf rollback, not only to us but maybe the local juniors. I saw a few of them out there on the golf course during the Pro-Am.
So yeah, I think it's a very exciting time for women's sport, and hopefully we can capitalise on that kind of momentum, trend that we are going in, and I do feel like we are moving in that direction.
We have a great leadership team that is going to carry us that way and I hope that's going to be the case for not only while I'm playing but the generations that are coming ahead. We are playing for more money than we have ever played for. Players are getting more missed cut compensations that ever and for getting hotels and everything. Sometimes it might not just be the purse but things that are really helpful to us players on a day-to-day basis as well.
I feel like we've had a lot of growth with that, and I believe that we're only going to get bigger, and that's really thanks to all of the partners, like a CME or whoever that have really kind of taken this step with us.
Q. Going back to the fashion magazine, did you pick up any tips on how to pose?
LYDIA KO: Fashion shoots are interesting, to the point of very small details. Never have I gotten my nails done at a photo shoot, and they obviously put extensions in. It was weird. I couldn't even like type on my phone.
So I know that's not in my future of having ultra long nails. Most of the time you think, oh, it's about the -- I wore a Loro Piana at the time, and it's about, you know, the clothing or the facial expressions. But it's such -- all about the little details. I think I must have like put so much attention on my fingers on one of the poses, and she was like, "Relax."
I was like, "Relax what?" I was so confused. That's why I'm saying, modeling is definitely not in my future.
But me being put in those kind of situations, it makes you appreciative of what you have, and also realize how hard it is. I'm sure there's some supermodels and models that it's very natural for them, but I think there's countless hours they put in to do the perfect walk or perfect shot or have their signature look. I'm definitely not going to be walking down the hotel hallway trying to see how my walk is going to be like.
But it just makes you realize, like, wow, what they do is like an art. It's really beautiful. For us looking at it, we're like, wow, that's such a cool shot. But it kind of made me realize, like the things they must have done to get to that point and be in like the perfect body shape.
Like for me, if I look a little bit puffier because I had too much the night before, it really doesn't matter. But for them, a gram, a kilogram makes a huge difference in their industry. It's pretty amazing what they do, and I just became very, like, in awe of the modeling kind of business.
I started actually YouTubing model walks just because I just became a fan of like their work. I think it's very beautiful.
I met the Korean actor today, Song Joong-Ki. We're all performers at the end of the day, models, golfers, actors, and we're performing for somebody. I think it's hard because everybody's taste is different. But I realize that we all are very lucky to be able to do what we do, and it's beautiful in our own ways.
Q. Do you have a favorite pose?
LYDIA KO: I liked, I don't -- even know how you explain it. It's like where I'm leaning against the wall, and I'm in like a top and bottom matching pantsuit kind of thing. Like it's weird. You're put in those situations, and you try on different things and I remember like looking at one of the clothes, and I'm like, I'm wearing that?
But when you look at yourself in the mirror, it's because of something that I'm obviously not used to. It's like, odd. But you realize wow, like this is fashion. Like my cover shoot, I wore the dress backwards. Like the back that was open, that's actually the front.
So when they told me to wear it the other way around, I was like, dang, I really don't understand fashion. But it came out great and obviously they had that eye to be able to catch the beauty in all that.
But my favourite one is probably the pantsuit, and it's probably most like me. I think that's why I was more in favour of that one.
Q. I wanted to ask you about golf. Apart from modeling, what are your interests outside the golf course?
LYDIA KO: I love watching -- I actually got into watching documentaries, and I've been watching a lot of other athletes documentaries. I talked about the Mardy Fish documentary at the TOC last year, Simone Biles documentary that I watched before Paris. And then, well, after Paris.
I've been watching the basketball, Court of Gold, and seeing, I think it was like Serbia, mainly on Serbia, France, the U.S. and Canada on their journey to the quarter finals, semis, etc. I've been getting really interested in that because sports is obviously the most relatable to me.
Obviously team sport is very different to what we do but we are as much in a team environment. I'm with my caddie more than any of -- anybody else, really, in my life. And you know, the coaches and everybody that's kind of behind us.
I've been getting a lot of inspiration from that, and obviously watching their journey took me back to like my journey to Paris and all the other Olympics, as well.
Yeah, outside of that, I love cooking. I'm not a very good cook, and that's why I love coming to Singapore because there's such good food here. It excites me when I can go on the delivery apps or on the maps and see the food options. Those are the two things that have been getting me going.
I went to the all stars game, neighbor All-Star Game a few weeks ago, and I think that's also an inspiration of why I started watching the Court of Gold, too.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports