No Laying Up - Golf Podcast - 1045: Lydia Ko

Episode Date: July 23, 2025

Ahead of next week's AIG Women's Open we're joined by the event's defending champion, Lydia Ko. We talk through her win last year at The Old Course and her road to earning status as a Hall of Fame member. Join us in our support of the Evans Scholars Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://nolayingup.com/esf⁠⁠⁠⁠ Support our sponsors: ⁠Titleist⁠ Mastercard One Club - click here for a chance to win tickets to the 2026 Women's Open If you enjoyed this episode, consider joining⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ The Nest⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: No Laying Up’s community of avid golfers. Nest members help us maintain our light commercial interruptions (3 minutes of ads per 90 minutes of content) and receive access to exclusive content, discounts in the pro shop, and an annual member gift. It’s a $90 annual membership, and you can sign up or learn more at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠nolayingup.com/join⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the No Laying Up Newsletter here: ⁠⁠⁠https://newsletter.nolayingup.com/⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to the No Laying Up Podcast channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@NoLayingUpPodcast Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Be the right club. Be the right club today. That's better than most. How about in? That is better than most. Better than most! Expect anything different. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the No Laying Up podcast. My name is Randy. I am joined as always by my associate, my friend, my colleague, Mr. Cody McBride. Cody, welcome. Hello. We have a great episode for the people today. We do big. I'm so pumped.

I mean, last week you're out wetting your beak at some primo golf spots, but we're getting ready to head overseas. It's one of my favorite weeks of the year. When we head over to the AIG women's open, this is not the preview episode for that, but we did get an opportunity to do a very special interview with last year's defending champion, Lydia Ko. That's what we're gonna be doing today. But before we get there, we gotta pay some bills. And I think that starts with our friends at Titleist. Before we get to our conversation with Lydia Ko,

last year, Lydia had a summer to remember, finishing on top in Paris to earn qualification into the LPGA's Hall of Fame and winning the AIG Women's Open at St. Andrews while gaming her Pro V1 X golf ball. Earlier this season at the Founders Cup, however, Lydia moved from her Pro V1 X to the new 2025 Pro V1. After working with the Titleist team that week, she found that the 25 Pro V1 checked all the boxes for her hitting optimal spin rates flying in her preferred window and

performing tremendously through the wind. After putting the new model in play, she won the HSBC Women's World Championship. Lydia's story is a perfect example of the mindset that the best players in the world have. They're constantly looking for every advantage, making sure that their equipment is optimized, and they know how important it is to be playing

the right golf ball model for their game. Head to Titleist.com to start the process for yourself and find out which Titleist golf ball model is right for you. Very good. Thank you, of course, to our good friends at Titleist. Yeah, Cody, as you mentioned, I was, you know, I was playing some elite golf on the west Coast of the United States. I had an opportunity to play Cypress Point as part of the Walker Cup media day. That was a treat, but we don't need to talk about that today. I'm jealous that I did not get to talk to Lydia,

but you got to talk to Lydia. She is one of the most thoughtful people in golf. What an opportunity. I know folks will listen to the interview, but anything to help set up or any thoughts as you've had time since talking to her? Yeah, I think she remains one of the most well-rounded and grounded individuals that I've ever met in professional golf. And she's a recent world hall of fame, you know, LPGA hall of fame member.

And that's, I think one of the best compliments you could ever give somebody is like, Lydia is just Lydia. And she doesn't think more of herself or expect more of anything that goes around in her orbit. And that's kind of echoed through not only how she presents herself, but really how her team deals with her and everything that goes around in Lydia world.

And it was really cool to talk to her to talk, you know, what it was like growing up kind of being a young superstar. And then what it's like now being married and having, you know, shared responsibilities and somebody else that you have to think of. And that was a change for her. So I'm excited for people to hear her talk more about that because it is a big change, which is very normal in most people's lives. But for golfers, specifically her, when she's been at the top of the women's game for so long, it's a big difference.

So it's very interesting to see how she's managed to get through that big. But yeah, I think people are going to pick up a lot. Of course, this interview, you know, I got to give a quick shout out to the RNA. They provided us opportunity to get this exclusive interview. Of course, RNA, they have a digital fan membership. They're one club presented by MasterCard. Huge thank you to them for this. It wouldn't be possible without, you know, our relationship with their with them and not just for this episode, we're going to do another episode prior to the AIG Women's Open kicking off. And they wanted to do something fun

for our listeners to this episode as well. So we've teamed up with OneClub, the digital fan membership to give some of you, the viewers, amazing prizes with this special, exclusive interview that we're doing today. So a big thank you again to OneClub and MasterCard. One lucky viewer, Big, is gonna win a pair of tickets to the AIG Women's Open for next year at Royal Lytham and St. Anne's.

Pretty sweet. AIG Women's Open pin flag signed by today's guest. Miss Lydia Coe I mean that's a massive $500 dollars to spend at the RNA shop Not only that but 10 additional winners are gonna be randomly drawn to spend 150 bucks at the RNA shop Terms and conditions, of course are gonna be listed below and how you enter is going to be in the description, not only in this YouTube video, but also in the podcast episode description.

Please click there and get involved. Big. It's, we're finally here. It's July, you know, it's AIG Women's Open season. We finally get to go overseas. I'm pumped. I don't know how you're feeling about it, but first time, actually, it's not the. We finally get to go overseas. I'm pumped. I don't know how you're feeling about it, but first time, actually it's not the first time

going to Wales for me. I drove through Wales before, but the first time actually stopping ever in Wales. I don't know what thoughts you have going on in your head. It will be the first time in Wales for me, and I echo your sentiment. This is one of our, I mean, honestly, like maybe our favorite week that we can count on each year.

This will be the third year doing radio stuff at the AIG Women's Open. So yeah, I'm extremely excited to get over there. I don't know much of at all about Wales. We're gonna fly into London. The plan is to rent a car and drive west, ultimately out to to Royal Porthcall. The only thing I know about Royal Porthcall is from the senior open, however many years ago that was when the

weather was absolutely biblical. I have not started checking the forecast Cody, so I'm not sure if we're in for the same type of weather or not. But yeah, I guess I say all that. I'm just excited, you know, all the little towns, villages, seeing Royal Porthcall itself. Everything's going to be new. So can't wait to get over there. As you said, we're going to have a big week of programming. We'll do a preview episode, Saturday night live show. We'll do a Sunday live show. That's all to come.

But yeah, we're finally kind of coming up to the last major of the year for the women. It's been both like a long year. There's still a lot of year left. We've like rushed through these major championships. It's just been a bit of a whirlwind here. Talk about a whirlwind too. Look at these winners that we have so far this year for the LPGA, women's professional golf majors. Mal Sigo, Maya Stark, Minji Lee, most recently Grace Kim.

All right. I can't wait to see what what fourth call brings. I know. I know. It feels like Grace Kim, Mal Siego, Maya Stark, obviously first time major winners, all kind of, you know, young, youngish up and coming players. And then Minji Lee, of course, has been around and won her third major championship. So I'm like you, I don't know if we're going to see another first time major winner. If somebody like Nellie Corder, you know, Minji Lydia Ko, maybe somebody's adding to their major resume could truly be wide open. But I think that discussion will be more as we get to the week of anything from Evian, any, any, you know, bows to tie there. I know we talked about it a good bit on the NLU pod right after the Evian, but I guess the big news

or one piece of big news Lottie Wode has officially turned professional. She obviously had a shocker week. Yeah, I mean, no, no shock. I guess it was more just seeing the actual timing of things. She of course finished tied for third at Evian, had a fabulous final round 64. So I guess Cody, what other kind of bows do we need to put on Evian or anything else? Nothing really, I mean, I just,

I think the more and more I think about it, and I know you guys discussed it on the Sunday live show from that, is just, I'm still in a state of wow at grace Kim for how she handles herself really with like four holes to play and then all through that playoff. Yeah, I just am like, wow, because I think everybody was like, we rolled out the red carpet for Gino. We thought if this is finally the time and here we go. And it's not like Gino played bad by any means. I mean, she birdied the playoff hole both times. She just, she got beat by an eagle and miraculous shots. And, you know, it's one of those, it's just weird. It's like going up in,

you know, I don't know, I'm trying to find the right analogy, but when you're playing a pickup basketball game and you're like, you know, draining every jumper, but somebody, you know, you run up against two guys that are just like throwing alley oops and like doing a bunch of crazy behind the back stuff. And you're like, what, what, what are we doing here, man? Like the score is the same. You guys look so much cooler than I do. That Grace Kim chip in specifically, it somehow that overshadows

her second shot in regulation into 18, which led to the tap in Eagle to Tai Gino. But yeah, those two shots in tandem are two of the more iconic shots I can think of on the LPGA tour in the last several, several years. I mean, just her playing that 18th hole, she goes eagle, birdie, eagle. So five under the three times she plays it there.

She had also birdied, Grace Kim did. She had birdied 15 and 16 before eagling 18 again to force the playoff. So when you talk about like taking her final six holes of the competition and her being seven under par for those six holes and her and needing every single one of those shots to win a major championship. Yeah, it just is a performance that I think the further away we get from it, like I hope it just rises in its excellence, right? Like it needs to be celebrated. It's like any...

And oh, but by the way, still 100% celebrated. And I know that history is not going to reflect this, but Gino shot a bogey free 67. She hit 11 of 13 fairways. She hit 16 of 18 greens. She had 30 putts, a bogey free 67 and got beat. That's not how the history books, of course, that's not how golf is played. I understand that. She ended up, I don't want to say she got beat, she lost, you know, she lost in the playoff. Grace Kim just went and kind of took it there. But you have Minji right there. Of course we touched on Lottie. You have some absolute killers percolating names that we haven't seen in a long time coming up down there. Leona finding form. Something's happened with this European summer. And she is a name when we talk about Lynx golf all the time

of like, yep, sign me up to watch Leona absolutely like strutting all over Porthgolf. I totally agree with that. And I think Leona, if, uh, if she was being candid might say, God bring on the biblical weather. Cause I think her, her mindset, her ability to grind, uh, you know, you saw it in her comments after, after the grind that was the KPMG women's at Frisco. She was one of the women to really embrace the difficulty of it. So yeah, good

call there. Another name, when things get difficult, she had her third straight major top 10 and that's Angel Yin. She shot a final round 63. That was good for a T5. She was T6 at Frisco. She was T9 at the US Women's Open. Her worst major result this year, Chevron, she was 13th. So you take her current form and then you add in the fact that she was T6 at Walton Heath two years ago at the AIG. She was T10 last year at the old course in the AIG. That's somebody I think we really need to pay attention to. But I feel like we're slipping a little bit in a preview mode, Cudi, which we said we were. I know, I know, I know, I know. But hey, you know, you want to shout out Angel Yin.

No, that's very well said. And I think really, you know, I'm happy to close the door on Evian and I'm happy to admit, just like the rest of you guys hand up, you know, I probably, I'm going to remove my hater blockers here a little bit. Evian kind of slaps. Okay. I don't know how we got here or what, you know, how it worked out like this. You're right. Every four to five years, you kind of just have a dud, but really for like, you know, the three out of the five, if you got bangers like this with the finish that that back nine sets up, yeah, sign me up there. And honestly, it looks absolutely beautiful. We gotta go check this place out. I know. I think that's one of those things.

Maybe this would be a couple's destination that we go to. And now we go to. And now we're doing it. All right. And mix and work. Anyway, not couples related at all. Big, we're turning to whales here. I'm very excited for this interview that we have. If you see us, Randy and I, we're going to be out there all week doing radio, doing our shows. He mentioned preview. We got a happy hour. We got Saturday night live shows. Our normal content, please say hi, say what's up. And if you're on the fence about going, it's not too late to grab your tickets.

You can get them on the website right now. You can tune in and watch it on NBC in the States, Sky Sports, of course, in the UK, or listen to us on AIG Women's Open Radio. Without further ado, here's Lydia Ko. Good morning, Lydia. Where are you calling in from? I'm in California right now. I'm going to leave for Evianna a little bit.

Very nice. So we are at the beginning of July now. So we're going to put this out on the run up to this year's AIG Women's Open, of course, at Royal Porth Call this year's AIG Women's Open, of course, at Royal Ports Call this year. Have you ever been to Wales? I have not. I've touched them all when in regards to the UK. But yeah, you know, this will be my first time and I'm excited. I heard there's a lot of sheep there. And that's what you hear in New Zealand, too. There's more sheep than people that's, you know, some of the things that, you know, people say. So I'm excited. You

know, maybe it will remind me a lot of home. Right. It's always cool to go to new places. No, absolutely. And this year, obviously coming in as the defending champion, and we're going to talk a lot about last summer, summer of Lydia basically, but really everything in and around St. Andrews last year. So having almost a year to look back on it now, what do you think?

Your third major championship, the home of golf, it's some pretty heavy stuff when you think about everything up leading up to that, and then you sprinkle on a gold medal on top. Yeah. I think of all the majors, if I had the doubt that maybe I possibly wasn't going to win one, was probably the women's open. So to now be a defending champion, it's pretty crazy.

Last year, that year that whole kind of August was, I mean, one of the best I guess, spans of my career, you know, winning the gold and getting into the Hall of Fame that way, that was kind of like a dream come true. And then a couple weeks later playing at St. Andrews for the second time. I think I was just on cloud nine that the I think the possibility in my head that I was gonna probably win the women's open that week was so slim that it really didn't even cross my mind until like the 70th hole. So, you know, I can't believe that it's already been a year in ways I wish I could go back and relive that moment. And my husband was actually making fun of my celebrations of both the Olympics and the Women's Open yesterday.

He was like, at the Women's Open, I was like, yeah. And then at the Olympics, I was like this. So he always makes fun of me and it's a way of us reliving it. But yeah, to say I'm a defending champ at the Women's Open, it's pretty surreal. Yeah, absolutely. You were very gracious and joined us on our live show right after you got done with a ton of pictures.

I think you were on your way to go get some food. We held you up from dinner, which I felt horrible about. But you brought it up. You and your relationship with your husband, you talked about him being a golf, not getting deep into it and trying to explore everything that there is. And you told us you were getting ready to go to Bandin. So how did the Bandin trip work out? That was awesome. I must say the wives played less golf than the husbands, which is funny because the wives were the actual tour pros. So yeah, it was so much fun and obviously on any trip, the company is what makes it

really the key thing. We had a great time with Gia and Akshay and I heard so many amazing things about Bandim, but I know that you have to kind of get lucky with the weather over there. And we picked some really good dates with some decent weather. So yeah, it was awesome. And I can definitely see why so many people go there

because it is really like a golf nuts paradise. Like the only thing you really do is eat good food and play amazing golf courses. And if both of them are something that you're really interested in, that's the place to go. Have you always, you know, obviously you love golf, but have you ever taken just like a golf trip

just to go have fun anywhere? No. That was the first time? Yeah, I mean, most of my times off or if I'm going on a trip somewhere, it definitely doesn't revolve around golf. My main priority when I go to certain places, do they have good food?

And can I bring my dog? And Bandon was great because we brought our dogs too, but that was one of the first times. And it was great because obviously we all love the game and obviously coming off from the Women's Open, I was like, oh, if it's this amount of wind, I got it. So it was like good experience. But yeah, I think Banden is hosting the US Women's Am this year.

So it's definitely a unique caliber of championship golf course. And I'm excited to see that too, because it's definitely a different style of course to when I won the Women's Am in Cleveland. Right. I don't, you know, everybody who goes to Bandin, the first thing that people ask them Right. Everybody who goes to band and the first thing that people ask them when they come back is rank the course. I'm not gonna put you in that situation. I think that would be unfair for me to do that to you,

but I'm very happy that you guys enjoyed yourself. You talked about tough conditions and last year in St. Andrews, I mean, it's one of the, I think we got every single possible condition you could think of. From starting the week out, you know, nice and sunny, but with very strong winds all the way through the weekend of rain coming down, blowing sideways, everybody bundled up with multiple layers, waterproofs on.

How do you get through weeks like that when you're out there competing at the highest level in contention and you're out there with a smile on your face? It seemed like nothing really could, nothing really mattered, nothing got to you. How do you have weeks like that? I mean, I think that's why a lot of players, whether it's the men or women, like to play the Scottish Open or maybe like an Irish Open the week before the British, just so that you kind of understand the weather a little bit. And obviously that's very different depending on whereabouts in the UK you play. But I think we had some pretty horrid weather in Scotland the week prior for the Scottish Open.

So I remember walking into the locker room that week and there were like girls sitting in the sauna, you know, clothes all, you know, hanging up in the locker room. And that's kind of what you expect over there. And I think if even though we are playing in the summer if you expect no seven days of Sun and you know in 20 in in like I guess 75 to 80 Fahrenheit then then maybe it's not you're gonna be in a bit of a you're in for a surprise for that week but no I feel like I've seen it all, you know, from umbrellas snapping to, you know, you feeling like you just walked in the shower with your rain gear. You know, I think because I've seen it all, it is, I just kind of have to laugh. And I remember

the first day, you know, it was so windy and on the range it was left to right and I hit a fade too that I hit a ball over the fencing of the driving range and my coach was like, I think you're close to hitting my rental car. So it was just like, but I was just laughing and you know, obviously I was at a very good mindset, you know, coming off the past couple of weeks, but I think I've just gotten to enjoy the women's open a lot more throughout these years. coming off the past couple of weeks. But I think I've just gotten to enjoy the Women's Open a lot more throughout these years. And I think that's where experience is a really big thing

is because if you're not expecting it and you're not experienced enough, you could feel like, oh, why did I get that gust? Like, why did I get so unlucky? But it's just part of it. And someone comes out a winner no matter how hard it is. So I feel like I've just kind of embraced it

a lot better now. That's so cool to hear. And you're right, it's funny that you show up places and you ask people, hey, so what do you think so far? And if it's anything to do with weather, usually you're like, well, that's kind of gonna be what it is, that's what you signed up for. I remember a couple of weeks ago when we were in Frisco, and obviously very windy, but very, very hot. And everybody talking about how windy it is. I'm like, the wind's not going

to go away. You're in North Texas. You just got to embrace it. Exactly. Yeah. I mean, there's things that we can control and the weather is the last time I checked something that I can't control even the weatherman gets it wrong at times. So yeah, it's just something that you have to play with and the unfortunate unfortunate thing is sometimes you're going to get a good draw and sometimes you're not. And that too is something that I really can't control. And if I'm just sitting there complaining about it, it's probably not gonna do me any good. Absolutely. So you talked about years of experience

and obviously playing all over Scotland and some tremendous venues for the AIG Women's Open now and a new investment from AIG and PIRSA that's way up. If you look back on it, what do you think of the evolution of the major championship and where it's at now because it's really cool to see, you know, them continue to grow and to introduce these classic venues and then to go to new ones that you don't really see as part of the men's rota?

Yeah, I mean, I think it's just in general, I think all of our major championships have just grown so much. And a lot of us, we end up talking about the purse a lot because that is probably the most significant thing you see. And it's life changing for sure. But I think as players, for us to have these opportunities to go and play these golf courses where it was, I guess, more known to be where the men's go play, where the men's open was, or where the men's US Open was. It's nice that we're kind of playing those championship golf courses too, because our games are so different. And even though we are playing the same course, I think we can showcase a different style of game

and how we go about these things. So to have people like, you know, the support from AIG and RNA to just keep growing the game, not only in the monetary standpoint, but you know, in globalizing it and giving us more opportunities and growing the game and that kind of diverse aspect is, is really, you know, something that we as players are very appreciative. And I think as us players know,

it's our duty and kind of our job to, you know, take all that support and showcase that and try and see how we can improve it for the next generations. And I feel like golf is on a high. And obviously we have a new commissioner starting, I think sometime this month too. So it's just, I think it's a very exciting time. And we're obviously grateful as a tour to have support

from these huge companies like AIG to just keep building on it. And I'm excited to see where it goes. And I hope that one day, even when I'm not playing and I'm a nine-year-old lady looking at golf channel to see, wow, it's great to see how much the game has changed and what kind of new golf courses that the players are playing then compared to what we're playing now. Yeah, absolutely.

We talk about the growth and one thing that sticks out to me is that we've been very lucky that me and Randy, this is going to be our fourth year now doing radio with RNA. So we've gone over to the last four AIG Women's Open. We absolutely love it. It's our favorite event of the year to go over. And how many kids that are out there? And specifically little girls, of course, but little boys. And I think we're at an age now where there's finally kids, little girls specifically, and me as a father of three little girls, you ask them who their favorite golfer is and the very first thing that they say, two of them say

Lydia and one of them says Nellie. And I think if I think back to when I was a kid and even some of my other friends, if you ask their little girls who their favorite golfer is, they're probably going to say Rory or Tiger or somebody else. And I think, you know, you being one of them, there's incredible role models that are in the women's game now, not saying that there wasn't before, but actually have the platforms and the spotlights put on them to help grow and foster the next generation to grow women's golf as a whole, not just as a professional level, but to get more people into the game, excited about the game, and then the trickle down effects of it, people in business excited to invest in the game. Exactly. Yeah. I feel like it's, you know, obviously the exposure is massive,

you know, you know, whether it's our network coverage or just TV time or just different, I guess, tools for more exposure. It has definitely grown, but I think it's like a seesaw. If it's tilted one way where it's a one-way transaction almost, I think then it's a very black and white kind of a way on growing the game. I think it can only take you so far, but I think we're so fortunate with, you know, many of our, you know, main partners, but also, you know, the subs

and even the local communities and those, and all of it combined is, you know, what makes a difference. And I agree with you. I think I've been seeing more junior girls and boys at events that come out with one of their parents on the weekend. And it's just so awesome to see

because I think golf was known for kind of the middle age fan. And it's not a bad thing, but it's just, I think we're having a much diverse demographic and age group of young fans and it's been awesome to see. Even if some of them say, oh, I missed school today for you. I'm like, good job. Maybe not on the academic side, but it's just awesome to see.

For them to be inspired and hope that one day they'll be in our shoes. It's really, I think one of the best parts of my job is to kind of see that. Yeah. Talking about seeing them out there, you have been playing high level competitive golf for a long time. Do you take time to reflect on that and think about back to what, you know, 12, 13, 14, Lydia taking over the world, what that was actually like?

You know, I actually saw like a swing video of me when I was like eight or something. And I was like, wow, that was better than now. The swing looks better than now. But you know, it's, time flies. Obviously, even this past year, I can't believe it's almost a year since the Olympics and the European swing. It just goes by really fast.

Golf has always been a huge part of my life. And I think now as I'm getting older, obviously, it's a bit more balanced. I'm now a mom to a four-legged furry dog, a wife. And it's just my, I guess, perspective on life is a little bit wider, but, you know, golf is and will always be probably one of the biggest parts of my life. And it's given me a lot. And I think while when you're competing, it's really hard to take it all in because the now is the most important, right? Like if I'm now I'm playing in the ABN championship, like that event is the most important, you

know, at that week and at that moment in time. But I think when I won the Olympics, the LPGA made a video from my first win at the 2012 Canadian Women's Open to that moment. And it kind of brought tears to my eyes. It's weird because you look at yourself and it brings tears to your eyes. I don't wanna be that soapy, but it's, I think while you're doing it, you know, I

like, I don't realize all of the emotions that have happened in between all those scenes, whether it's good or bad, but it was really a moment for me to reflect and kind of go through that. And I think that's why I just said, I'm really proud of myself, regardless of what happens from now on, because I was able to overcome my own adversities and everybody has them. And I feel like I've had my fair share of what felt like lows to me.

And for me to think that, oh, maybe I'm never gonna you know even shoot under par consistently anymore to being a gold medalist and winning at St. Andrews for the women's open it's it doesn't feel like it's the same person it's like I it's like I have different personalities and my other twin one and then my you know so it's just mean, it's crazy to think back, but I think it was really important for me to look back through those moments,

and that also inspires and motivates me now to be the best I am, you know, at this present time. Does it help to have, you know, you've basically had the same team around you your entire career, and that's rooted's rooted in family but to be there to you know celebrate the successes but also have the faith and confidence in them when it is hard that we're in this together and they're your number one support system and then obviously you add your husband into that now you've you've went about things like a family.

And I know you're the one that's out there and you're the one that has to hit the shots. But does that help a little bit when you do find yourself in those moments? Yeah. I mean, it's funny because it's a little bit of a gray line when it comes to working with family. But at the same time, I think I wouldn't be here without them today. Honestly, you know, that rolls off my tongue as if I don't mean it, but it honestly is the truth. They've been through the thick and thin, you know, with me and I think even though

it may hurt to me the most and that's how I may feel when things aren't going well. I think the people around you struggle a lot too because in ways you know they think oh I wish I could do more and you know my sister still draws a line on my golf ball and she says the weeks that I don't putt well she thinks to herself oh maybe it's because I didn't draw the line good enough and you know those are things because I didn't draw the line good enough. And those are things that I didn't know until actually quite recently.

But I am pretty hard on myself. And I know that I have a tendency to get really hard and hard and not fun to be around when things are tough for me. And for them to always be there to go on like, what do you want to eat? When do you want to do this? It's like, it always revolves around the player. And you know, I think as much as some weeks I go, oh man,

I wish I did this by myself. You know, I know that, you know, my life's a lot easier and there's things that I am a hundred percent taken for granted by them being here. But they make me the player I am today. And I honestly couldn't do it without them. And who knows, might have retired a while ago if it wasn't for them. But my family, they mean a lot to me. And it's not only from since I was a pro,

but even from the junior days. And obviously since my husband has come into my life, he's brought a different kind of support system as well. Though he beat me seven up a few weeks ago. Yeah, I know. And I told, and I jokingly told him, I was like, hey, you don't do anything for my confidence if you beat me seven up. And he was like, oh, I didn't think of it that way.

But it's just, you know, I'm just obviously very grateful to have just amazing people around me and even my coaches right now and my caddy and just my trainers. Like, these are the people that I kind of want to go to the finish line with because They're they obviously guide me to become the best golfer I am but also just make me feel like I should be a better human being and and you know It's you don't always have those kind of people around you. It's very well said When do you think the transition to? I'm just a golfer. I'm gonna be the best golfer, and obviously that's still first and foremost what you want to be, but thinking about you and your life more holistically. When did that switch?

Honestly, meeting my husband, that was like probably the big thing. I remember, you know, because we were in a long distance relationship, and sometimes, you know, we didn't like he did an internship in Israel and I didn't see him for like seven, eight weeks. And you kind of think, is he going to like, am I ever going to see my boyfriend again? And then he comes back and, you know, I take the next week off and like I see other players posting swing videos and I'm thinking at the back of my mind, oh, maybe I should be hitting balls too. But I think he made me realize that there's more to life than golf.

And obviously my family and I, we've been so invested in my career that that's what it kind of revolved around. And I think that has what has brought me to the positions that I was in and give me a lot of opportunities. But also I think that's why I was so hard on myself because if I didn't play good golf then I was a crappier human being. But it doesn't really make a difference in that way.

You just feel it emotionally at that point in time. But meeting him, I think, just opened my eyes to saying that, oh, you know what? Like, Lydia Ko is a golfer, but at the end of the day, she's a human being, and I'm no different to anybody else, and I think he really taught me that. I've gotten to enjoy golf more on a different outlook through him, like going on golf trips to Bandin

after the one was open. Do you guys have any other trips planned or things that you've talked about? Well, he is coming to Roporth Crawl with me again. It's more I was thinking whether he should play golf while he's over there too. But we don't have one yet. We are going on a trip with GA and Akshay again to Hawaii and Hawaii with the good weather. I'm pretty sure there's a lot of golf involved there too. So yeah, it's, I mean, it's fun. When I play the Evian and the Women's Open,

I've played five majors in my seven starts in that span. So, it's great to kind of get into a rhythm of things, but it's also gonna be nice to kind of take a little bit of a breather as well after the Women's Open. But no, I'm excited, regardless of the result, I'm excited to, it's always, you know, a pretty special feeling to play as a defending champion. And especially for the women's open. So I'm excited for that. And Evian's where I had my first major win.

So France has been very good to me. Europe has been very good to me. So now I'm excited to go there and finish that strong and maybe talk about some more golf after that. Absolutely. It's funny thinking about Porthol and this year's AIG Women's Open. I didn't realize this, of course, stuff that the RNA helped me out with, but it's the largest women's sporting event in Wales, which is pretty cool to think about. And especially like when you think about future things and the growth of women's athletics and everything as a whole. But also I know last year I was so impressed at St. Andrews just because of how everything that went around the championship and a lot of that is how everything that went around the championship and a lot of that is, you know, things set up for players, things set up for media, things set up for fans and spectator villages and

everything else. But I didn't realize that they got voted like the best tour event last year on the LPGA Tour season. Yes. Yeah. And you're- The Rolex Awards. Yeah. And you're talking about, you know, saunas and everything else, and I'm like, wow, like, investment not just is purse and venue, but also everything else that goes around and is involved with it.

It's really, it's really cool to see. Yeah, I mean, it's a whole experience. And you know, it's not just the experience for the players, but you know, whether it's for the volunteers, or the media and the fans. And I think one of the best things about playing in the UK is how much the fans love seeing us there. And they, I feel like, are very true golf fans. You don't hear as many mashed potatoes after a drive or a hole-in-one when you've hit a

tee shut off on a par 4. But I think whether it's rainy, sunny, or they've got their umbrellas up on the grand stand, I feel like they're truly there just because they love the game and they're excited for the world's best to be there. And I think that's what makes the event so special. But, you know, I think when you see, you know, a lot of the British players, a lot of them are from mostly, you know, England, Scotland, and obviously Ireland. So maybe having the Women's Open there is going to, you know, give more dreams, you know, to the Welsh players and say that I would like to play my national open in my country someday.

And I think that's why this is a clear example of how important these kind of opportunities and exposures are, because it's really not just affecting us, but the generations behind. Yeah, absolutely. Who knows who's going to come up next, for sure. I was thinking I was going through, you know, RNA does a bunch of events throughout the year, but really, the women's Asian Pacific amateur next year is back in New Zealand. It's at Royal Wellington. And thinking of, oh, okay, well, where's the next Lydia? Who are we gonna see here? And what are their pathways gonna look like future and trying to follow these great young stars

as they work their way through up? Amateur and college, if they choose that route, and professional, it's really cool to see. But also, just like you, it's crazy the amount of youth that's out there now that are really good and putting themselves in incredible positions to succeed. It doesn't really matter. They show up at major championships and they're like, yep, I can compete here. There's no, it appears to be like no nerves at all.

Exactly. I mean, I played with Astrist Teli at the HGV Tournament of Champions this year and I was like, you should be playing with me, not like for the celebrity division. So yeah, it's, I mean, it's so impressive, you know, the obviously technology is huge. Unsure how good of a golfer I'd be with balladaballs and persimmon drivers. But, you know, all of those definitely help. But, you know, the amount of effort, you know, athletes are putting in in the gym, you know, we're doing work with their mental coaches, and their swing coaches, I think it used to be like, more like, okay, how do I get my swing to a certain point? And then it's

just trying to play the best golf I can. But I think it's just become, you know, more of a huge teamwork and there's more players, athletes are putting more time into different aspects of their game. And I think that's why it's honestly been so impressive. And just because you're a rookie, you really can't count them out. And yeah, it's hard even though I'm not old, but I've just been around, you know, for 12 years and I've kind of been, I feel like this is the third generation that I've been in and just to see how much the game has grown, how much, you know, how difficult it is to actually win.

And that's why the year that Nellie had, I mean, I had an amazing year, but the year that Nellie had last year, that was just unreal. So it's just, I mean, it's pretty cool to see. It keeps us on our toes. And that's why I'm still out here practicing, you know, trying to hit my nice butter cuts. But yeah, it's, it's such a, it's an amazing sport. You can really do this for as long as you want, as long as you're healthy. So it's, I think you can take advantage of that. And, you know, I don't honestly don't know how long I'm gonna be around for,

but I think it's something that's always gonna be a big part of me. Yeah, absolutely. And I know, you know, I'm not gonna ask that question because that's the new question that everybody asks Lydia, which is silly because if you think of things that you said, you know, 10, 15 years ago, and now people are trying to hold you like very much accountable for them. You know, at the time that was very true, but now let Lydia play as long as Lydia wants to play. We still got two more majors to get. Exactly. I mean, I think while I'm playing, I still want to play and compete at the highest

level. I don't want to leave the game because I don't enjoy it anymore. And I mean, there's 100% there are days I come off the golf course, I'm like, why am I still doing this? But, you know, I still want to get better. And I've got a great team around me that really is helping me with that process. Now, whether I actually do the grand slam or not, I think that's a secondary thing. But I think it's always good to have a goal to go towards too, because I just don't want to play for the sake of playing.

But golf is hard. Someday, I literally want to pull out all my hair. And then some days just like a walk in the park. But I think that's why we all play this crazy game. And now I'm crazy enough to have done it for this long. And people will still see me around for sure. But we'll only know when that time comes, right? Absolutely, very well said. Lydia, thank you so much. You're a gold medal defending champion.

Everybody, please, if you're interested, get out to the AIG Women's Open at Rural Porth Call this year. We're gonna have a ton of more information for those, and we're gonna give away some tickets too, which I'm very excited about. But Hall of Fame member Lydia Ko, thank you for your time. Thank you for having me and see you in Wales.

Yeah.