Q. Can you quite believe it?
LYDIA KO: Going into the final round with a two-shot lead with Morgane, I think when I was younger, I would have been, oh, man, everyone trying to catch me. So get almost more pressure from that.
I tried to think of, hey, like I get two free shots over some of the other players, and you know, they don't come for free. I wanted to have that as a cushion, but also focus on my game.
I think it's one of the things I'm most proud of is I stuck to my game plan and stuck to being aggressive off the tee, and that's been something that I've been struggling with and been working really hard with on with my coaches. And for to progressively get better these past couple months and for it to hits peak here at the Olympics, it doesn't get better than this. To be holding and wearing this Gold Medal, it's pretty crazy right now.
Q. You called it a Cinderella story in the lead-up to the Olympics. What it does feel like?
LYDIA KO: I mean, Cinderella's glass slippers are see-through and my podium shoes are also see-through; I guess that's something that we have going for us. I feel like I'm part of this story tale.
Going into this week, everyone was saying, Oh, what if you finish and collect all the Gold on top of the Silver and Bronze you have. Of course I want to do that, complete it, too, but it's much easier said than done.
I wanted to focus on my golf and nothing else. And that's why I deleted my Instagram because I just didn't want to be fazed by what other people were saying and just enjoy this opportunity because this experience has been unbelievable and the fans have been great. The French fans have been awesome, kind of taking me in as one of their own. And it's definitely a life peak for me here. I don't think I've experienced this kind of adrenaline before, and to do it here, it really can't get any better.
Q. Was that the most tears after you've won in golf?
LYDIA KO: I cried a lot winning the CME TOUR Championship in 2022 because that was actually the first win with my fiancée at the time, now husband, there with me. Seeing him, I was getting very emotional and my mom and my sister was there, as well.
So I think those moments are what makes it extra special. Like because I know that because of them, I'm here today, and you know, my husband may be in America right now but I felt like he was with me. I had a marker that had his name on it.
So you know, thanks to them, I'm a Gold Medallist now, and you know, I think all of those emotions combined was why I was crying.
I definitely don't have our National Anthem on repeat on Spotify. Listening to my National Anthem, I can understand why Scottie Scheffler was so emotional last Sunday. It's a feeling that you can really not repeat unless you are in that position again. I know that it's probably never coming again, so what a way to kind of...
Q. Do you bring your other medals with you?
LYDIA KO: They are all at a different place. Bronze in Korea. Silver is in America. So they are scattered right now in different continents.
Q. The 46-footer, can you talk us through that putt?
LYDIA KO: Yeah, we were actually being timed and was on the clock at that point. So I just kind of read my lie and I said, hey, you know, I've just got to commit to it. It was going in with a little bit of speed but looked like it was right at the middle of the hole.
Doesn't matter how you get it done as long as you get it done. That was definitely a good momentum changer for me, being under par for the day, and knowing that I had No. 9 as a par 5 to have another birdie opportunity.
So that was crucial, and I think when those kind of moments happen, that's when you know that, hey, you it could potentially go your way.
Q. Did you know walking down the 10th fairway, your lead was up to five shots?
LYDIA KO: I had seen on the leaderboard maybe on 11 or 12. So I knew what position I was in. I think I was really focused on what I needed to do. 15 through 18, anything can happen.
So I wanted to make sure that I was hitting quality golf shots and giving myself opportunities, and not letting other people's scores affect the way I was playing.
I think that's exactly how I did. I kind of stuck to my own game plan. In my mind, I have not hit it ultra close. Hit some really quality shots coming in. I was pretty steady with the putter as well.
All those things combined and hitting my tee shot on 18 in the fairway and second on the fairway as well, I think that was able to give me a little bit of a sigh of relief but I know that in golf, it's never over until the very end.
So I wanted to focus until that ball dropped in the hole, and I think that's when I realised it happened.
Q. Can you quantify how surreal it is to win the Gold Medal and to qualify for the LPGA Hall of Fame?
LYDIA KO: You know, being two points away last year was actually quite difficult because as much as people say it's only two wins, I know how difficult two wins are, especially in this day and age. You don't win like multiple times, and not many players win multiple times in a season.
So I think that putt a lot of pressure on myself and so I struggled in 2023. But to win the first event of the year at my home club at Lake Nona that took the pressure off, and I knew that if I worked on the right things, that one tournament could happen at any point.
Did I imagine that I was going to do it at the Paris Olympics? Probably not. But this is definitely the coolest way to do it. And I was -- you know, not going to lie, I was gutted when I lost in the playoff in Bradenton. I knew that Nelly had played amazing and that she finished amazingly.
But still, I felt disappointed with the way that I had finished but I felt like if I kept working on the right things, it was going to happen. I struggled a little bit in the middle of the season between like May and June, but I worked hard with my coaches and my coaches really made me feel more comfortable.
I was telling one of my coaches that I feel really good, like better about my game, and for it to have all come together here at the Olympics, it's really cool. So it's rewarding for the whole team and family.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports