Subpar - Lydia Ko talks being on the brink of the Hall of Fame at 26 years old

Episode Date: February 14, 2024

On this week's episode of GOLF's Subpar, 2-time Major winner Lydia Ko joins Colt Knost and Drew Stoltz for an exclusive interview. The owner of 20 LPGA Tour victories talks what it's like being so close to the Hall of Fame at just 26 years old, winning the Grant Thornton Invitational alongside Jason Day and how special twice medaling at the Olympics has been for her. -- Genesis, proud sponsor of the Genesis Invitational and GOLF's Subpar. Make the Game Your own. The Genesis GV80. Learn more at Genesis.com -- Subscribe Now: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCt5ESUx6omMUsMoEKvMTzlA Shop The Birdie Juice Collection: https://fairwayjockey.com/collections/birdie-juice Follow Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golf_subpar/?hl=en Follow Twitter: https://twitter.com/golf_subpar?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

All right, here we go. Welcome back to Golf Subpar, Colt Nose, Drew Stoltz. Slees. It's actually a beautiful day out here in L.A. I'm at the Genesis Invitational. Tiger Woods making his return. But first, we need to talk about last week's W.M. Phoenix Open where Nick Taylor took down the Seagull in an incredible playoff. How about the kid coming through like that? Three bag with four to go, rattles off three, including the one on the 72nd and then buries the thing twice, pushing darkness at the end there. Hell of a finish. Sad that it ran up against the, Super Bowl, because I'm sure the rest of the world was probably tuned into that. But in terms of

finishes, man, that's about as good as you're going to get. Shout out to the Seagull, Charlie Hoffman, damn near pulling that thing out. I was pretty sure with four to go. I was like, dude, Charlie's going to win this thing. And damn, if Nick didn't come in there and just start making everything. You look back at his win in Canada last year, Cole. I mean, this dude just got a knack for the big moment. And he's going to be a beast in that President's Cup, I'm sure, later on this fall. Yeah, he's going to be on that squad. for Captain Mike Weir, but he is, man. He's clutch.

I thought it was over. And when he laid up from 250 there on 15, obviously everybody questioned that. Then he obviously knew what he was doing. End up making birdie, but the awesome birdie on 16, and then the put on 18, just falling into that right side, and then just walking it in in the playoff. It's his fourth PGA tour win.

He just continues to get better and better. The Seagull, 47 years young, almost getting it done. It would have been such a cool story. I mean, him being sponsored by WM to win that tournament. I know what it meant so much to him, but man, you got to give him credit, 64, 64 on the weekend. Dude, he played unbelievable. And even going into that playoff, he was sitting around. He was watching the closing.

I don't think he was warming up or doing much of anything. He comes back out there. It's a seed in the first playoff hole. Hits it close. Makes birdie. Nick does the same thing. Like, he didn't lose that golf tournament. He just got beat by Nick Taylor.

I mean, he did everything he needed to do. How about the distance that the goal is hitting it right now? Dude, he was taking that lake out of play. I didn't know that that kind of gaffir. was in the tank necessary for him. I mean, he hit it down there in that J.B. Holmes plaque range during his final hole of regulation, dude, Charlie looked damn, damn good, and he's going to be playing this week now out at Riv, which is awesome.

His golf swing looked good. He didn't look good. Let's be honest. Well, yeah, you know what I'm saying. It's all relative. But, man, that was cool watch, man. It was cool to be out there on the bag for Taylor Montgomery, but I'll tell you this. I'm very excited to be carrying a microphone this weekend out at the Genesis instead of a golf bag.

damn thing was heavy. 33 holes on Friday, 22 on Sunday. I'm exhausted. Let's get into that a little bit. We got some caddian to talk about. We got some WM fans to talk about. But in terms of the cadding, now that the week's over, just a complete shitburger of a week for you in terms of how long you had to go each

day. Are you happy you did it? Sad you did it. Where do you stand? No, I'm very happy, man. It was a lot of fun. It was cool to let Taylor let me have that opportunity. I had to work on him about the golf bag.

He had so much shit in there. It was absolutely ridiculous. I think I cleaned out 60 gloves, 40 hydration packets. I'm like, what are we doing carrying all this nonsense around in here? And then Taylor Made was nice enough to let me carry the smaller bag, which was a huge help considering we did have to go 33 holes there on Friday. But it was awesome, man. He was honestly right in the mix.

I believe on Sunday when we went out to finish our third round, he missed a six footer on 18. He would have been three back. I think it was in 12 going into Sunday. Struggled got up to a really rough start there on Sunday in the final round. He was four over three five. I had to take a couple of playables. It's, man, it's cool to be out there.

I had a great pairings all week. Kevin Stadler, Boe Haustler for the first two rounds. And then Shane Lowry and Joel Damon. By the way, Joel Damon is a goddamn rock star. The place everyone just loves this guy. They were going nuts every time he'd walk onto a tee. He has so many new fans. I mean, because of this Netflix whole swing.

It is really cool. It was fun going with those guys. He was a little under the weather on Sunday, which was unfortunate. But, man, the people love them some Joel Damon. How can he not? you don't like Joel Damon, then there's something wrong with you. Dude, I was walking in, I believe it was Tuesday night. It was finishing up out there.

I was walking into the family area, and it was pitch black. Getting ready for the pro-am draft party, that's what it was. Pitch black, raining. I just kind of ducked my head out for a minute, and I saw a group coming up 18 to the 18th green. I was like, what kind of idiots are out here playing a practice round right now? And I'm looking closer, and I see you lugging this staff bag. The thing was damn near carrying you, one strap, shoulder on, multiple balls on the green. It's like, oh, my God, that's cool.

I took a video of it, but it was so dark. It was hard to see, but I was like, oh, my God, if he has to carry this thing. Dude, I don't know if my boy's going to make it. That's going to be a lot of shit in that bag with all the rain gear, all your ring gear, umbrellas. I was feeling for you. But you gutted it out, dude. Kudos to you. Grade yourself on a one to ten.

Caddy-wise, where do you think you did? I mean, it's hard for me to grade myself. I think I did. Yeah, I think I did really good. We had a lot of fun. He really struggled off the tea, but grinded it out. I mean, his short game is unbelievable. He hit it in some absolutely crazy places.

I didn't even know some of those places existed at TPC Scottsdale. The one I tell everybody about is the 15th hole. Radrick's signing part five. A man hit at OB. I've never seen it all the years ago. I've never seen that happen before. You see a lot of people right on 15. You see them pitch it out from the desert and knocked the third on.

You don't see many over the fence into the little river or whatever the hell that is. Over there by Kierland. That takes not only some offline and open club phase, but you got to smash it to get it over that fence. I don't know that I've ever seen one. I've seen some way wide right there, but I haven't seen over the fence. No, we're joking with him on Sirius XM this morning.

I told him, I said I was going to the airport yesterday, and I think I saw your ball bouncing down the 101. I mean, that thing was so far right. Somebody at In-N-Out was ordering a double-double and a tailor-made just popped into their car. Oh, yeah, sweet. But it was so much fun. But seriously, I mean, I really thought he was going to go out there and have a great final round.

He came out Sunday morning and just striped. He was struggling with the driver all week, striped it on the holes we had left, hit a beauty off 18, hit in there six feet. I was like, oh, boy, this could be something good. Like, he could go low. I could, you know, possibly get a top 10, top five out of this thing. But just the rough start, took it on Playball on the first holemate's double and just never really got it going. I think Bertie three of the last five to get in and shoot two over, but ended up falling down to, I think, 38th. But man, all in all, it was awesome.

I would love to do it again for him. I would just hope the weather would be a little better and the bag be a little lighter. 18 holes a day is plenty. You had it right this morning on radio when he said, we had a great first through third rounds and then he had a bad day on the fourth. You had it right. You're talking like a caddy now, dude. We were going along great and then he made double.

That's it. That's how you do it. But like I said, it was awesome. I love the kid. He's got such a great attitude. I mean, I think a lot of guys, if they would have drove it the way he did, probably would have been packing in their locker up on Friday evening. But he fought it out, man.

And he had a chance to have a good finish, just to struggle a little bit. But it's fun to watch him play, man. He obviously took a little while out off the tee, but that short game is something special to watch. And he was great. Like, had me involved on every single shot. It was a lot of fun. Yeah, fun being in the mix out there. Kudos to you, playing the weekend.

Your first time out there. I'm getting – I know, look, a lot of the narrative around the week is, the fans, how rowdy it got. Look, I'm there, but I'm pretty disconnected from what actually happening on the golf course a lot of the time. We're going to get into it now, but you being out there on the grounds for the entire week. What did you think of kind of just the environment at the WM Phoenix Open? Yeah, look, I played six of them, I think, and now Caddy, and I'm always out there. It's a wild event, right?

It's supposed to be the craziest event on the PGA tour. It's so much fun. It's just unfortunate that people. a few people kind of ruin it for everyone. It got a little out of control. Like where I was, for the most part, like on Saturday when we played, we were on the front nine

before they shut the gates down and stopped selling booze. So I didn't get to seize all the craziness there on the back nine. Like when we came through there, I think because they shut off the booze, a lot of people left. And so I didn't have to, like,

with all that. The people were awesome that followed us. Like a lot of yelling, a lot of energy for Joel. So it was great. But there are those few. I mean, the guy jumping over the fence and going,

in the bunker on 16. I mean, that's just ridiculous. Like, that stuff just can't happen. I mean, I heard they've knocked over some fences or it's trying to steal beer when they cut it off. I mean, the lady fell out of off over the railing, some 20, 30 feet down below. She's just like, can we not just have a good time without being idiots? Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I'm getting a lot of messages from it. I've talked to players, some of whom said everything was fine. Some of them said we need to tighten this thing up. But I think like the overall consensus from the Thunderbird is like, look, nobody wants this thing to go better and go more smoothly than we do. Yes, we were absolutely dealt

a bad hand on Saturday, and that led to a lot of it. It wasn't the amount of people that we had through the gates, because we've had numbers like that on Saturdays before. It was that so much of that golf course was unusable from a standpoint of where people like to sit, where they like to gather all these slopes. You look at like the right side of 18. There's normally a ton of people up there. There was nobody there because it was unusable. It was just mud, and all that's coming from the rain, which we never really have to deal with. But then, you also have the any day passes that we sell. And a lot of those passes get used on a Thursday or a Friday typically. Well, this year, the weather was shit. So when did people show up? They all

showed up on Saturday. And it's the GA portion of the event that really, I mean, it leads to 95 plus percent of the problems. We have a zero tolerance policy with anything with the, like, heckling, if you get out of line. If you're saying stuff during people's back swing, that's a big issue for me. Like, do whatever you want. Just don't do it while they're hitting, right? And we toss more people out than ever. Like, we want this thing to run as smooth as humanly possible. I mean, as we speak, Colt, our president's Chance Cosby, our tournament chairman next year, Matt Mooney, are in LA right now, meeting with the players' advisory council, going over like, what can we do? How can we make this better? So I think things got a little out of hand on Saturday. We're going to make changes. We're

going to adjust it. We try to run the best tournament, the wildest tournament, but also keep it within the confines of like controlled chaos. And I think there were things within our control and some that were a little bit out of our control that led to what we got on Saturday. But at the same time, like, there's 200 plus thousand people out there. The amount of actual terrible incidents that took place are minimal. It's just the problem is all of those get filmed. All of those go straight to social media and they all get posted and go viral. And then it's like this entire place is a complete circus, which isn't the case.

But there are some bad apples out there that mess it up for everyone. So we're going to take some steps next year to hopefully tighten that up and have a little bit less of the bullshit that goes on. there. Yeah, 98% of the people are great. They're out there having a great time, having some cocktails yelling, which is great. I mean, like I said, when Joel walked on a T-box, it was just awesome every single time. The place went nuts. But you just got those ones that are trying to, you know, interrupt play, being rude and personal to the players. It's just, there's no place for it. I mean, when you piss Zach Johnson off, I mean, you've definitely done something wrong. He's the

nicest guy on the planet. He's not going to say anything to anyone. And you saw him trying to, you know, basically figure out who was heckling him and get up in their face. And there's just no place for that. I mean, what happened with Billy Horsesil, the guy yelling, I think it was Akshay's back swing. Like, that stuff just can't happen. Like, go out there, have fun, but respect the players, man. This is their job.

Yeah, and it's, like I said, it's mostly the general admission stuff. It's like, so many people show up with all their boys like, yo, we're going to 16. Well, unless you get out there at 4 in the morning, you ain't getting on to 16. So then they get out there, they can't get to 16. They're like, all right, let's go over to hole 6, or let's go over to whole 5 and make that our own little 16.

and they try to create that same sort of vibe where it used to be like, let's keep all that stuff confined to 16. You can do anything you want. That's kind of everybody knows that going in, but it's spilled over into other parts of the golf courses. And we're going to do, we're going to take some measures. We're already talking about it to try to tighten that up for the next year. So Saturday got a little bit loose.

All in all, given the weather, which is, I mean, dude, how many days a year do we get like that in Phoenix? Two, and they just happen to come during the Phoenix Open. And we created some challenges for the entire week. All in all, okay, but definitely we just want to make sure the players, the players are happy and that everyone is, like, safe. Those are basically the two rules. Keep the players happy because we need them to come back and want to play,

and we need there to not be any incidents, like, health-wise. And it shouldn't be that hard, but there's a couple of idiots out there that mess it up for everyone. But we want to stay the Phoenix open. We want to stay the rowdyest best party on the PJ tour. So we'll tighten up a couple of things going forward. Yeah, I know y'all will. You got a great leader in Chance Cosby.

It'll get better. We just need to, you know, like you said, get rid of the few bad apples out there. But the atmosphere is unbelievable. I know the players love it as long as it doesn't cross the line. Like, I mean, I was Shane Lowry. He's like, I told my buddy, he's like, they got to come over here next year. Like, I'll rent him a house and everything. It is just incredible to see him.

You and Shane said, how cool would a Rider Cup be? At TBC Scottsdale, I like that. I was like, it would be amazing. You'd have to push it back a little bit. But the atmosphere is just unmatched. It's really cool. I had a great week out there. Got to thank Taylor again for letting him let me caddy for him.

And then I made a lot of caddies jealous out there sleeves with my hat deal from local IQ. Got to thank those boys over there. That was really cool of them to do that for me. But what a great week. It's one of those ones, you know, it's so much fun. But honestly, you're kind of glad when it's over because it's exhausting. Yeah, dude. And apologies to everyone listening.

We're a day late on this. Part of that was because travel schedule. Part of that is because we're dying. My voice is a lot better to do. day than it was yesterday and we run into this every week. But it's a bucket list item, dude. I mean, I'm out there on 16, meeting tons of people throughout the week. We got people rolling in from Japan, Korea, and name it, like across the world. They're like, this has been a bucket list for me. I've always wanted to see 16 at the Phoenix Open. It's like we want it to remain that without it

getting too crazy and without driving players crazy and all that stuff. So if we can just eliminate the handful of idiots out there kind of messing it up for everyone, it'll continue to be the best party on grass. Yeah, it's so much fun, man. But we're on to the Genesis Invitational this week, so Louise, it's awesome to be out here at Riviera Country Club, loaded field, just 70 guys, 50-man cut, unless you're within 10 shots as a lead as well.

But the big news, Tiger Woods is back in his Sunday red clothing line. Just saw him actually walk by just a little bit ago. Looks pretty damn good. Walk looks good. He heard from guys on the ground. He played nine holes this morning. Swing looked pretty good. So I'm fired up for Tiger to be here.

is one of the best tournaments on the PG tour and it's going to be a great way. Yeah, I mean, just to have Tiger back, you know, I'm reading things and talking to people and we're talking about expectations. Can he finish in the top 20? Can he make the cut? Can he do whatever? I'm like, dude, who cares?

Like, he's playing and he's playing before the Masters. Hopefully we get to see him maybe a couple more times before the Master was like he's back playing and to like expect great golf out of him, having not played an official start since last year's Masters. Like, my expectations are very low for Tiger. I just hope that he plays this week. I would love to see him around for the weekend, which I think is very realistic.

And then hopefully we can see him a few more times because if we actually want him to play somewhat of a factor in these major championships, dude, you can't do it just showing up and playing those against the best players in the world that are polished, tight, playing every single week. It's just too heavy of a lift even for Tiger. Yep, I agree. Get a few tournaments in before Augusta, and he's going to be a problem around that place. But good to see him. Like I said, it's always good to be at the Genesis invitation. The Genesis is going to be sweet.

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The GV80's spacious cabin features customizable ambient lighting. Genesis, the proud sponsor of the Genesis Invitational. Make the game your own. The Genesis GV80, learn more at Genesis.com. It's a nice ride, bud. Very nice ride. They are beautiful. All the players are rolling around in their courtesy cars.

I'm on the range here right now. It's a beautiful day watching these guys striping, except for Taylor's over here, grinding. Shocking, hitting drivers all over the place as usual. Luckily, they got a fence out there for the. kid you know what I mean? If he hits it over the fence, we got a problem. But this is one of the best events on the tour. Like I said, I'm fired up for this week.

I love this golf course, even though it beat my ass every time I played it. But it can be a lot of fun. And our guest this week is actually playing in the pro-am on Wednesday. We got one of the most badass women on the planet. Lydia Coe joins us on subpar. Here she is. All right. Our next guest here today will make everyone feel very insane.

about their life accomplishments. She became the number one golfer in the world at the ripe old age of 17. She's racked up 28 wins already as a professional, including two major titles, and is only one point shy of qualifying for the All-Fame at the age of 26. Lydia Coe is in the house. Lydia, good to be with you. Thanks for having me. Thank you so much for joining us. Great playing this past week at the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament. I know it's not the result you wanted, ended up losing in a playoff to Nellie Korda. But tell us a little bit about last week and what it's been like, you know, trying, obviously you need one point to get in the Hall of Fame, like Drew said, but what's it been like this past week playing with all that on the line?

Yeah, you know, I actually got my first win in over a year at Lake Nona at the tournament of champions. And it was just nice to be, you know, back in the winner circle. And to be at play the week after was definitely a good momentum and not feel like it was a, you know, one off, you know, to back off a win with, you know, a good round on the first day. And, you know, actually even going down the 15th, 16th hole, I didn't realize I was still in it. I hadn't really seen what the leaderboard was like. And, you know, I made a really good eagle on 17 to, you know, set myself a good opportunity. You know, obviously, you know, hard to, you know, lose in a playoff, you know, three putting. But in saying that Nellie,

played amazing. You know, she went Eagle Birdie to, you know, for us to both go in the playoff. So it was kind of, I think it was just a lot of great golf. You know, I, I obviously you wish that the results was, you know, my way around. But, you know, I felt like, you know, I didn't lose. And, you know, Nelly was just the better player at the end of the day. Yeah, we're not gambling guys here, Lydia, but if I were to place a wager, I'd probably put the money down on you getting into the Hall of Fame here very shortly, whether it's next week or however long from now. But with, you know, we're talking about it. You're aware of it. The media talks about it every single week. How hard is it to go out on a given week and,

like, not think about it? Because pretty much people are going to talk about it until it happens. To be honest, you know, it's been like talked about since, you know, 20, 22. I had such a good year. And now I was able to get five points just within that year. And like, being in the Hall of Fame was, you know, is obviously awesome and, you know, it's not many ladies are, you know, in the Hall of Fame. So to think that I could be potentially one of those names in there, it's a huge honor. But I actually feel more comfortable being one point away than two. I think when I was two points away, I felt like, you know, it was close, but still like

two winds away or two of something away. And but now that I'm just one point away, I feel like, you know, if I keep working on the right things, hopefully that opportunity will come again. What's your career been like for you? I mean, you're 26 years old. You're so young, but we've been watching you play golf at the professional level for 11 years. Like, that's just insane to me. But do you still love it, teaming up and competing as much as you did back when you were 15 and got your first win on the LPJ tour? Yeah. You know, I, I enjoy the journey. definitely had my own, you know, ups and downs. I've had spans where I hadn't won in like three years and then years where I won multiple times in a season. So I've been, I'm very grateful of my career and, you know, I came on tour at a younger age and, you know, I feel like by now I

should be at least in my 30s, being my 11th year on tour. But, you know, I've only 26. and golf has just given me a lot of opportunities and, you know, opportunities to meet just great people as well. So it's, uh, sometimes I want to pull my hair out because, you know, we all know what golf can do to us. But it's given me a lot. And I think it's helped me grow as not only an athlete, but a person. Yeah, and I mean, obviously, both of us played professional golf. We know what the life's like. It's not all glamorous, like a lot of people think it is.

For you personally, what's your least favorite part about professional golf? I think just like playing, like every day is like you face the result. And like every day you're under the scrutiny or like I guess it's just very result bias. Like, even if it's a practice day or a tournament day, I'm sure that is the case in other situations as well, but for golf, like, depending on how you around went, like, that is a complete evaluation of, you know, what your performance is like. There's no real lying about, like, how good it was and or how bad it was. And I think just sometimes being always in that position of being evaluated, I think is difficult.

And, you know, we all have, you know, our ups and downs. And we're trying to manage it, you know, make sure that the roller coaster is not, like, too high and low. But I think that is, to me, I think the most difficult part, not only physically, but mentally. Yeah, that's well said. And luckily for you, there haven't been a whole lot of lows on that roller coaster. But I want to ask you this question because there's just not many people in the world of golf that you can ask this to.

when you've won 28 times as a professional, what do the celebrations look like? Do you still get excited? Like, dude, I've done this 27 other times. Like, let's go home and go to bed. I mean, it's, I don't drink. So no alcohol is involved. Like, even my last win,

our team just got, like, Turkish food to go and had it at my house. But, yeah, I think every win, is special in its own way and even, like, to me, like, winning the silver and bronze medal at the Olympics, those were also like a win as well. So it's, I think, really hard to say, like, which win was more special, so I celebrated it a little bit differently. But now, for me, I think it's, like, who is there with me at that time, you know, whether it's my mom, like, my family members or my team, I think they are what makes that, a little bit more special and more celebratory,

but I'm not really the most fun, outgoing person. So I keep it very boring, I guess. That might be why you win so much, too. Yeah, exactly. If one of us went something, we party for a month. Oh, dude, I'm still celebrating stuff. But you mentioned the Olympics. You've got the silver medal in 16, the bronze in 21.

How important is the Olympics to you? Because obviously, it's kind of new for the game of golf. It happened way back in the day, but for us, it's very new. And obviously, we celebrate major championships and really focus on those. But for the Olympics, how important is that? Yeah, I think when golf was announced to be back in the Olympics for the first time in over 100 years for the 16 Rio Olympics, I think my biggest goal was to make sure that I was there and to be able to represent my country. And at that time, I was the number one ranked player in the world.

so I am the woman's side. So I felt like I was playing with a lot of expectations. So there was just a lot going on in Rio, but in Tokyo, I actually think I was able to just enjoy the experience a little bit more and kind of take in, you know, what it actually is like to play in the Olympics. I joke all the time that I might not be a great athlete, but I am an Olympian. And I am very proud to, you know, have represented New Zealand in the last two Olympics. And I'm excited and hopeful to be able to represent New Zealand again in Paris.

Who's the coolest athlete outside of golf you've gotten to meet in your two Olympic experiences? No, I actually didn't stay in the village both times. So I think it to meet a lot of athletes. I, you know, walk by, you know, a few, like in the one guy. that I was there. But for me, I think just the really coolest bit was in Rio because other athletes could come and watch us play. I think over 20 New Zealand Olympians came and watched me play on the final day. And a couple of them had actually won gold medals in their sports. So I remember them actually coming with their gold medal to come watch me play. And I think on those final few holes when I saw them like all around, you know, with our team uniform and our flag. I think that was just the coolest part of like being in the Olympic, like Olympian club. That's awesome.

What a cool experience. I know you're probably looking forward to this year in Paris. On the PGA tour recently, Nick Dunlap won as an amateur and everybody made a massive deal out of it. You know he's 20 years old, blah, blah, blah, blah. You won't on the LPGA when you were 15. So when you saw him do this, were you kind of like, huh, that's kind of cute. Well, I actually don't like follow like a lot of golf,

but I had actually seen him play at, you know, other, you know, events before. And it was that week was the same as our first week back. So I was actually watching his highlight. I really love his swing. And, you know, I felt like even though he may have been, like the underdog, you know, the guy that obviously could like make history, but like wasn't really expected to win. But the way like he finished and even, you know, the up and down he made on the last to win by one, I thought was really cool. And, you know, a win is special. You could be

on tour for more than 10 years and your win comes like on your 11th or, you know, you're thinking of retiring and then your first one comes in. So it's just, I think it doesn't matter how old you are. I think it's special. And obviously that was, you know, a ticket and maybe an opportunity for him to turn pros. So I think he's definitely a player to watch. Definitely a player to watch. He's got a few more to go to catch up to where you were by the age of 20. But Lydia, go back to that Grant Thornton that you got to play and you and Jason Day ended up winning the deal. You know, there's been a lot of talks for a while now, like combining PGA Tour, LPGA Tour players, getting an event like that. I know you had a great experience, of course, because you won, but in your opinion, would you

like to see more of that, less of that, the same? What's your take on all that? I honestly loved it. I went to the golf course on Tuesday, and just to see some of the players that I literally had seen on like PGA Tour Highlands was just really cool. I had personally never played or met Jason before. So I was very nervous to meet him, but, you know, everybody that knew him, like said, he's just like the nicest guy. So, like, that made me feel a little bit more comfortable, but I was nervous during our practice round. And honestly, I came off that round thinking, like, oh, my God, I made, like, such a mess, you know, I just embarrassed myself. But he was, you know, such a good sport and, you know,

asked me so many questions to make me feel more comfortable. And now I think because of the way he approached, you know, me and the partnership, I thought it, like, made my experience more fun and comfortable. And, you know, he was just so awesome to play with. And, you know, every single player that I played with was just so, like, great. that I think I became a bigger fan of golf in general,

and I became a bigger fan of like our tour players as well, like go and playing alongside the men. So I really do hope that this, you know, not only this invitational, but maybe some other opportunities, you know, come along. It might not be in my generation, but I think this is just great for golfed for, you know, the best golfers to come together and kind of showcase the talent.

Yeah, I think events like, this are definitely going to help grow the game. I mean, a lot more money is being put into the women's game, which is great to see. So the LPJ is definitely on the way up. But you live in like Nona. A lot of PJA tour players, a lot of LPGA tour players live in the Orlando area. Are you one that do you play a lot in your off weeks? And if so, who do you normally play with at home? Yeah, you know, I'm very lucky that, you know, we have a bunch of tour players here. on the LPGA side, you know, I'll play with Lindy Duncan or Leona McGuire, NASA Hatoka. And for us, it's not like, we'll randomly book T-Times and go, like, hey, do you want to play?

So I think that's a great thing about, like, all of us kind of living in the area is that we're just flexible and we're all kind of around. So we can kind of go with the flow. And, you know, in the men's, I'll play with Ben-Anne. and he stripes it. So sometimes kind of unbelievable to hit the ball that far and that high and that straight. So I really love playing with him. Look, when I was out on tour, like my favorite day was Tuesday to get out there with the guys and have some action, do some gambling during the practice rounds.

Out on the LPJ tour, is there any games during the Tuesday practice rounds? I've actually seen other players do it, whether it's like a birdie game, you know, in nine holes. And I've seen girls, like, and I have played some, you know, during off weeks. But I think it's, like, pretty seldom, like, during tournament week. But I have seen other players do it or even, like, amongst the caddies as well. But for me, I'm kind of, like, okay, I'll play around, like, 12 to 2 or, like, somewhere in the afternoon. So it's, like, kind of, like, hard for me to, like, schedule something in advance with somebody else.

You and Sleaves would be great playing partners. He doesn't play before you. Perfect. Go up 2.30, play six or seven. Probably get a good feel for it. You know what I mean? It's not getting exhausted before we go out there. Lydia, I got one more like serious question for you.

I want to get to ask you some personal stuff as well. But this also feels kind of weird to ask somebody given your age right now. But given all you've accomplished, you could still have 20 plus more years of world-class golf ahead of you if you choose. Do you have ambitions to do that and to play that long? to be honest no i think when i was younger i said i want to retire when i'm 30 and now that i'm inching closer to 30 i'm like four years is still a long time from now um i'm honestly taking it by the day and taking it by the week and you know when that happens you're almost like at the middle of the year and then you're done with the majors and all that so i don't really have like a

certain, I think, date when I want to retire. And I think for every single player, I think until that moment comes, you really don't know. Like, I could say 30 or like 28, but who knows, I could play to like 35. And that's the beauty of golf is that as long as we're, like, healthy and fit, we can really do this for a long time. And age is, like, maybe not as relevant as in sports, like,

swimming or other other sports. So yeah, I think, you know, it's very, I don't really know when, but I do feel like I've definitely passed the halfway point in my career. All right, some big news here from Subpar. We have officially launched our own YouTube page. Make sure to subscribe at Golf underscore Subpar on YouTube. Check out this week's video. Like, subscribe, do all the stuff.

Colt, we've got some cool behind the scene stuff coming. give you a little outside look at some of the stuff outside the studio. So please like, please subscribe. You're the best listeners in the game. We love you. Back to the show. We all know Lydia Coe, the golfer, but what's like an off week or maybe like during the off season? You put the clubs away for a little bit. What does Lydia Coe enjoy doing? I love eating. Nice. Same. Yeah, I love eating and that's why I work out so I can eat. sometimes my goals of like how I want my physique to be does not match with what I'm putting in my body so my trainer has a much more difficult task but yeah I honestly like I think in my time off I don't

really like to travel that much try and be at home as much as I can and no I love cooking and just just being home and kind of not having to wake up to an alarm and just, you know, not get paranoid that I'm going to make it to like a 730 tea time or something and just kind of go with the flow. I like it. A lot of good answers. Should we get to the E9? All right. I want to ask you this just because you said you feel like you're past the halfway point.

There will be a time where golf probably isn't, you know, your primary focus in life. If the game of, if you woke up tomorrow and the game of golf ceased to exist and you got to pick your dream job, what would you want to do? Oh, like two things maybe. One, a chef and two would be a lawyer. Oh, ooh. Okay, well, you didn't go to college and that requires a lot of college. Yeah, I think like very opposite side of the spectrum.

I think like a chef is like I love, I'm always interested in like the culinary world. So I think like I've seen chefs and I'm friends with a couple of chefs. that I'm like, wow, like, it's like art. And to be other, like, make it, make the food, you know, not only beautiful, but, like, match to other, like, so many people's palettes, I think is incredible because for me, it's just, it's difficult even to make it, like, taste good for me and my husband. So I think a chef and lawyer, I don't know, there's, like, something about, like,

you know, the law and it could be just, like, you know a TV series that I've seen that makes it like look cool but uh I think those two are really cool do you have a specialty dish um it would be just something in Korean um my mom cooks a lot of Korean food at home so that's what I'm used to cooking and um I think my husband has kind of got uh has been unfortunate at times in being uh the uh the guinea pig to my my experiments, but he's been such a good sport and says, like, it's good most of the times. So, yeah, just something Korean, I think. Smart man.

Yeah, smart man. Very wise. All right. Let's get to the nine, Lydia, this is fun, nine fun questions to get to know you just a little better. And we ask this to everyone, you can be anybody else for a day. Anyone in the history of time, you get to walk in their shoes for a day, who would it be? Oh, anybody in that shape?

Wow. I would want to be my mom. Okay. That's a first. She, like, she pretty much does everything. For me,

she sacrificed a lot and put in a lot of time. Like for me and my career, you know, apart from literally hitting the golf ball, like she does everything. So I think I would love to just be in this, in her shoes. and actually, like, kind of understand the things that I've, like, taken for granted as just being the daughter and understand, like, what it's like, like, just being in her shoes and having to deal with me.

Beautiful. Love that. That's awesome. First-time answer. We've had mom as an answer on here. All right. I like that. I referenced to Grant Thornton earlier with Jason Day, which you guys want.

But he does have a new look since the last time you two played together. Give us a breakdown. The Lydia Co. Breakdown. of Jason Day's new sense of fashion? I think he looks younger. He looks younger. Obviously, he's worn like kind of the, like, ephleisure wear the last few years with multiple different companies.

So it's definitely a different look. But I think he looks fashionable. And I think we've all seen how much golf fashion has changed over the years. So it's really cool that he's, you know, rocking that. look and I mean I'm pretty sure Jason can pull off like most things. He lost the beard too. I don't recommend that. A little younger.

Colt's about to do it too. Maybe it's fine. It looks really young. Yeah. Yeah, a little baby face under there we've forgotten about. All right. Next one. Best nickname anyone has ever given you.

A shrimp. Who gave you shrimp? Um, well, that was actually from my teammates. teammates at my province in New Zealand. We're under North Harbor and we would go into provincials and all that. And I was the youngest one and the smallest one. So they called me shrimp. And then as I got like a little bigger, they said maybe we need like call you king prawn or something. King prong. Prong. TP. I heard Sean Foley called you baby goat. Yes. Yeah. I don't know. I don't know if I deserve that, but Sean has always, you know, been so supportive and sweet and he'll still

like text me that occasionally. So very honored, especially from, you know, somebody like him. That's a good one. I like Baby Goat's good. Baby Goets good, especially coming from Sean. All right, Lydia, according to virtually every human we've ever spoken to about you, you're the nicest human in the history of the world. But if you had to name one bad thing about you or your worst personality trait? What would you say it is? Me? I don't think I'm not that nice. I can name so many ladies on tour

that's way nicer than me. I mean, like, look at Brooke Henderson. She's like a walking angel. Me, I can name like a lot of things bad about myself. I think I have a short temper and I kind of take word for word when somebody is like saying like something negative about me. So yeah, I'm not the most like open-minded, a hard person. We have everyone around you fooled then. Yeah.

Yeah. There's nothing. There's nothing. Has said anything different. All right. Next one. You won the Canadian Open on the LPGA tour twice as an amateur. You would have won 300 grand each time, but instead it went to the person that finished second.

So I want to know who gave you the better thank you gift, M.B. Park or Karen Iker? Um, neither. Oh, bad form, ladies. Neither. But I actually didn't play with, I didn't play with neither one of them, I think, in the final round of both. of those championships. And obviously I'm just literally a 15, 16-year-old kid. Like, it's going there just to get the experience

of playing alongside these ladies. But after I've been on tour, MB's just, MB's been great. I've played her team event that she held in Korea. And Kareen and her husband and her family are great too. So I've got no complaints. But, I mean, it's kind of like, I don't know who exactly came second to Nick Dunlap, but like, I don't know if he, that player would have also done something. It's just, it's an unusual situation. Well, they should because you made them over 150 grand more.

And Christian Bezadenhoot actually finished second to Nick Dunlap, so I'm going to make sure he takes care of Nick for that. Because that was 1.5 mil. Yeah. That's a watch or something. Yeah, you got to get something. They're probably not going to give it to you. now given the trajectory that you've been on but i feel like something was warranted at the time uh all right next one from me lydia have you ever seen an athlete give a member of the media the interview yips

the way you did with jerry fultz back in 2022 um no and honestly i didn't think it would like startle him like that and um it was i mean i don't know like you know as an athlete i think you know you know i think you ever want to be like shown as you're injured like if you're actually not injured like if you're um i think just being transparent is like the best way to go and i wasn't injured and i just needed some stretching and um you know some you know adjustments because of that time of the month and i honestly think like that is what every female athlete has to deal with and um you know some it hits people like to like, I guess, different intensities, but to me, like, it got me. And I just was being honest.

And I honestly didn't think it would catch him that off guard. And I felt bad to Jerry because he's, you know, he's great. He's just a great person and awesome at what he does. And I was like, oh, I was just telling the truth. Jerry is one of the best. He is, I mean, I've never seen a speechless before. That was an awesome moment. Yeah, honestly.

That's all we asked for. You got it, Jer. It was fantastic. All right, next one. We've seen several ladies tee it up on the PGA tour. Lexi Thompson recently did it in Vegas. If you could pick one PGA tour event to tee it up in, which one would it be? Oh, I would have said the CJ Cup originally if it was in Korea.

Because when it was played there, it was actually played in J.G. Island, which is where my family my parents are from, so it would have literally been like a home, hometown like event in front of the Korean golf bands, which we all know, you know, Koreans love golf. And I think that would have been probably the coolest thing, but I know for a fact that I would probably very, very highly likely not make it to the weekend, but it just be an awesome experience just even teed up. So that's something you would entertain if the opportunity was there? Probably not.

But I am actually playing the Pro-M at the Genesis Invitational in a couple of weeks. And I am nervous for that, just even for the Pro-M. And I am excited and kind of nervous what pro I'm going to be paired out with. Oh, that's awesome. And it's Riviera, one of the best golf courses in the world. You'll love it. Yeah, I've never been there, and I'm super excited to go. And I was hoping, like, maybe I can play with, like, Ben or Jason, like, somebody that I know.

But, like, whoever it is, you know, I'm excited to be able to, like, see and actually watch and learn as well. There is a chance this Tiger fella might be playing. That'd be pretty fun, except he tees off at, like, 6.30 in the pro amps each morning. Yeah, I think I'd be too nervous for that. I might I actually think I might have to take something for my nerves before teeing it up if I was playing it. That's awesome.

Yep, that's a big, big arena there. All right, my last one, Lydia. We used to ask this to everyone, but I'm bringing it back in your honor. Let's say there's a movie being made about the life of Lydia Coe. What actress would you like to play you? Oh, wow.

Oh, really like the Korean American actress and Graves Anatomy Sandra O

yeah yeah you're talking about I don't know the last thing I'm in like other series as well

and just because I'm obviously Korean descent and like that's her roots as well I think that would be

you know really cool for somebody like her to play me and my my just very everyday life.

That's awesome. You can work on that when you go out to L.A. Yeah. All right. Last one. You mentioned you live in Orlando at Lake Nona. Do you think the people that you bought the house from gave you such a good deal because they wanted to get the hell away from a person that lives right down the road from your name, Frank Nabilo?

You know, when I actually first moved, I did realize that Frank and Salina was. We're literally three houses down. And our street is awesome. You know, we have Australian neighbors and then obviously Frank, who's from New Zealand. So, you know, I'm glad that they sold this house to us. And I said our street is the best street in Lake Nona. So I'm accompanied by legends. Okay.

See, I did not want this to go this way at all. I was like you to hate all over Frank Nogne. What kind of neighbor is, Frank? You know, I've actually never seen him on a golf course, and I'm only seen him on a tennis court, you know, because I'll go work out, or I played some tennis during COVID, and he plays a lot of tennis.

But they're great. They invited me over, and I had dinner at their place, and it's just awesome that, you know, they're, like, Kiwis living on the same street in Orlando, though, which is literally one of the furthest cities from New Zealand, you know, within the United States. He is, he's not that big a deal in New Zealand, is he? He is.

Just say no, just say no, we'll clip this. He is, you know, golf is, like, growing a lot in New Zealand, and I think COVID was actually one of the peak times where it did, like, keep developing and, like, just the general amount of membership increased as well. But before then, they weren't really like that many, like, names, especially in golf, because New Zealand is more known for, like, rugby and cricket and netball and other, like, water sports or athletics. But Frank is definitely a name that we all know.

And I'm, I love that he's my neighbor, even though, like, I might see him more often on TV, than actually in real life. That's awesome. Well, Lydia, this has been great. Thank you so much for join us. Congrats on all the success. And go get that last point you need to get in the Hall of Fame. Thank you.

I'll try my best. Thanks again for having me. Thank you, Lydia. All right, that was Lydia Coe joining us on golf subpar. Just one point away from making the Hall of Fame. And she's only 26 years old. Incredible. Look like she was going to do it just recently and just missed out losing in that

playoff. But man, what an unbelievable player. Yeah, and shout out to her for actually coming on and doing this interview. We'd had this set up, and it was the day after that playoff lost, the Nelly quarter where she potentially could have earned her way into the Hall of Fame right there, and it didn't happen, and then she still agreed to come on. So props are for doing that. I mean, when you really break it down and look at her age,

like one of the only players in the world that can make Nick Dunlap look like a late bloomer, it's been unreal, and I thought talking to her about, what are your ambitions, how late do you want to play, you know, what do you chase after you potentially achieve? the Hall of Fame at such a young age, man. She also was thrust into the spotlight at such a young age goal, and one of the few, I would say, that's handled it extremely, extremely well. That ain't easy when you're living in a fishbowl at that age, and all of a sudden you got money and the whole world opens up to you. Even a guy like myself, I might have made some bad decisions with that.

I'd tell you, the worst break she got was Frank Mablo being one of her neighbors. I couldn't move so fast. Get the hell out of there. But I love the nickname, too. She said her favorite one was shrimp. I like baby goat, what Sean Foley called her. I think that's hilarious. But really cool to sit down and talk with her and learn a lot more about the LPGA as well. Yeah, yeah. It's fun to have her on.

We don't get to have a ton of LPGA girls on, but when we do it's fun, especially when you get one of the best in the world in Lydia Co. And she's going to continue to be that. And I know there's a little delay on her getting that last point into the Hall of Fame, but that thing's coming sooner than later. Yeah, I'm fairly confident. If I can bet it right now, I'm going to go ahead and bet, yes, she's going to make the all of fame.

Well, hopefully it pays off better than your Super Bowl bet. God, I'm terrible, dude. Because he took the Niners. I was on the Chiefs. I guess 2824. I was close, but the under just hit for some guys. Some guys got a push out of a 47. A lot of people had it in 47 and a half.

That was dirty. I had Niners and over and got the greasiest push in the history on the 47, but I still remain like winless for the last. I mean, dude, I cannot win a single thing. I'm such an idiot. Like I said, I'll never bet against Patrick Mahomes again as an underdog. I go and do it. I am also, as terrible as I've been betting, it's sad to see football go.

We've got a long stretch before that college football season starts up, man. It's tragic, man. But what a game. Now, that first half was so boring. And then the second half in overtime, unbelievable. Finally, an exciting Super Bowl. That was a lot of fun. Sorry, your bet didn't pay out.

But let's see if we can get some winners this week at the Genesis Invitational. Like I said, a loaded field, just 70 guys. Surprise, surprise. Scotty Schaeffler is the favorite. But he's coming off a rough week, we're only made a half million last week. Yeah, it's tough. I don't know about that gas money, that suburban.

That thing guzzles. You know what I mean? And, I mean, he putted pretty well early in the week, but, I mean, he had three short misses there on the back nine on the final round, or else he might have won that thing for the third time in a row, dude. It's just a joke how good he is, T.G. Green right now. All right, well, let's get to some picks.

I'm going to go with a guy as my favorite, who I know loves this place. He's an L.A. guy has had a really nice record here in the few times he's played. And he's going off at 18 to 1, coming off a nice week off, where he probably got some rest and have to deal with playing all those holes in a short amount of time. Give me Colin Morcow at 18-1. Yeah, I like that. And I think there is something to the guys that didn't play this past week. That was a grind of a week physically for all of them.

I'm picking a guy that also didn't play last week. And I might sound like a broken record because I'm going to keep picking this guy as long as his odds are where they are. 20 to 1. Ludwig Oberg, by the way, is how you pronounce his name. Last two starts. Ninth at Farmers, runner up at Pebble. I don't need to go over the same things. He drives it like a god.

He irons it great. He does everything good. It's a perfect big yard for him and in good form right now. And fresh. Give me Ludwig. What yard isn't good for him? None. There are zero yards that I will pick and say I don't like this for Ludwig.

yeah unbelievable the guy is an absolute stud um pretty good idea for joe scoffer to pick that bag up that was smart that was very smart all right for my dark horse 60 to one probably one of my top five favorite players on the pGA tour he's hilarious i love following him give me the man see wu kim just a beautiful beautiful beautiful just such a beautiful specimen you can't not love see who The world needs more of Siwu. I like that pick. Good odds, too. I'm going to go a little further down the board, Colt, to a new Scottsdale resident.

He's going off at 90 to 1. He had a sixth at the farmers, 14th at Pebble. He's a Southern California kid on top of all that, putting the hell out of the ball right now. Off to a pretty good start, but I think his time is coming, whether it's this week or later this year. I think he's going to pick one off. Give me Bo Hoster, the Big Boe, the Bo Show. Bo Show. We were paired with him last week, first two days.

Good golfer. He's a good golfer of the ball. It is coming. He can roll his rock. These greens can get a little tricky if they get bumpy. But, yeah, Bow's first win is coming. I like that pick a lot. And I like this tournament a lot.

I can't wait for the Genesis Invitational to get going. But we're out of here, Sleaze. We'll talk to you on next week's subpar.