THE MODERATOR: All right, very pleased to be joined by Lydia Ko here to the Maybank Championship. Lydia, take us through your impressions on the course and how it suits your game now that you had two practice rounds under your belt?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, you know, last time I was here in Malaysia was in 2023, so it's good to be back. It was my first time playing that side of the golf course at KLGCC and it's got a great mix of holes. I think the finishing holes are the signature part of this golf course.
The course really hasn't changed much since I was here last but it's in great shape. I saw the scores last year and it was really low, so hopefully be able to make a budge of birdies and have a good week.
Q. How does it maybe suit your game?
LYDIA KO: I mean, I played pretty solid a couple years ago. I just remember being really tired at the end of the week. Obviously the weather is a bit big factor when you play in Malaysia. It's kind of like when we play in Thailand and Singapore. It's obviously a lot hotter and more humid than anywhere else we play.
I don't think I've ever been known to play that good in in this kind of heat before, but I won earlier in the year in Singapore and I think I just managed my energy levels really well.
I think that's kind of going to be the key. You're going to hit some good shots and some shots that are a bit mediocre but I think the person that kind of keeps cool and has good energy from Thursday to the last putt on Sunday is probably going to have the best chance.
Q. Speaking of maintaining energy, played a lot of golf last week at International Crown. Just take us through that and your experience getting to play some team golf.
LYDIA KO: Yeah, out of kind of the max of 90 holes you can play I played 89, so I played a lot of golf. I think we were part of group B and group B was very strong. There was no round in the first three days where we thought this was going to be an easy one and automatically qualify for Sunday.
Obviously gutted that we weren't able to play for first and second place in the last round, but regardless our team played great. I was really proud of the girls. They stood up and just played a lot of -- hit a lot of clutch shots, made a lot of clutch putts when it really mattered.
It had been a while since I was in that team environment so it was great to be in that team room with all the girls and our caddies.
I wish I could have stepped up a little bit to be honest with my game, but, yeah, it was fun to be part of the International Crown. I really hope that with having Team World this is kind of a step in the direction of just growing that championship. I still feel like there is a ways to go in that sense.
Yeah, it was cool to be a part of that.
Q. I know your dad is here this week. How special is it to get to play in front of him?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, he doesn't come out very much. He's come out to two hottest events this year. Maybe brought me luck in Singapore. But it's always nice to have family. That was one of the best thing about playing last week. I saw a few of my aunts and uncle and obviously my parents.
So, yeah, it makes it special. You know, the opportunity for them to come out and watch me play is getting less and less. Obviously I'm playing less events and it's also harder for them to travel as well.
Yeah, we're having a good time. He wanted to buy some traditional Malaysian clothing yesterday so we went to go buy a couple.
But, yeah, the good golf is very important and I want to play the best golf I can whilst playing. At the same time these are memories I'll cherish and I'll never be able to relive after these moments.
Yeah, it's been a great couple days and really looking forward to the rest of the week.
Q. How are you feeling about your game this week?
LYDIA KO: Last week for the most parts I hit the ball pretty solid. You know, I really didn't make many putts. The only day I really made putts was the last round on the Sunday. So hopefully that gives me a little bit more confidence and momentum going into this week.
Obviously the courses are very different between New Korea and the course here and the grass is very different, so a bit of adjustment that needs to be made.
I've seen this golf course before so it's not a completely new golf course that I'm just purely having to get adjusted to in a short amount of time.
But, yeah, I mean, you have to hit it really well and just when you see a lot of birdies, obviously you have to putt well, but you're setting up a lot of birdie opportunities.
So I think that's what I got to do well, too.
Q. My second question is what motivates you when you are not playing well on one particular hole or round? How do you mentally focus yourself?
LYDIA KO: You know, I think I'm at a point in my career where I feel like I don't really have to prove anything to anybody else.
I've overcome a lot of my own lows as well, and that's something that I'm very proud of. This year especially I think because I'm at that kind of stage, if I'm not playing well, you know, I'll try new things or try and feel different things to kind of see if those things helps.
Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. I feel like this year especially I've been able to grow and learn more about myself and my game. I think that's probably a big motivation, is to know that I'm still continuously learning.
It doesn't matter if you're the No. 1 ranked player in the world or the last person in the field, there is always room for improvement. I think -- not I think, I know that's why a lot of players are out there grinding every day, because there is always that room for improvement.
So, yeah, just the motivation of knowing like how much I can keep excelling and see where that takes me.
Q. I know that you been to Malaysia few times. Just ask each time that you come back to Malaysia is there something that you look forward to?
LYDIA KO: You know, I think the fans are really an integral part of this event. Even when we played the event here when I came here a couple years ago, there was a lot of crowds and a lot of people cheering me on.
I think that's always been the fun thing about playing here. We don't -- I don't play many events over in Asia, so it's my opportunity to meet some of my fans and just fans of women's golf.
So I think the fans have really been a cool part of my memories here.
THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much Lydia. Best of luck this week.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports