Lydia Ko on married life, celeb crushes, letter to self | Spill the Tee | Golf Channel (FULL SHOW)

well thanks for joining us for this latest episode of spill the tea Amy Rogers here with you alongside my good friend a face you'll recognize a voice you'll recognize very familiar always hosting golf Central Anna Jackson how you doing hello hello I'm very good thank you AB Rogers how are you I'm doing well well for those of you just joining us for this episode of spill the tea we'd like to talk about golf but not really about golf it's about all the things sort of around Golf and for this episode we have an exciting guest that's going to be joining us uh former world number one multiple major Champion Lydia Co is going to stop by and spend a little time with us uh we caught up with her just before she headed over for the Asia swing so uh a huge stretch coming up for her she's going to be defending not once but twice over this closing stretch of the season but before we get into our uh interview with Lydia Co Anna what have you been up to I haven't seen you since what solheim we were getting ready for solheim cup no yeah I think it was the week before solheim wasn't it what have I been doing well I don't know how to say this but I've been basking in the glory of Team Europe for the last uh you're wearing you're showing your the Sim cup the rder cup the junior soul and the junior Ridder cup it was a clean suite for Europe and I'm very proud but I understand you know we have an American audience so I'm not going to be that annoying gloating European English girl um but it was it was uh yeah what a couple of weeks we had I mean you were at the Soul cup and I was in studio uh kind of holding down holding down the base and you and car and Paige McKenzie were out there it looked I mean the course looked tough it looked like an amazing week though and that first tea probably one of the best first tees we've ever seen at the Sim yeah the stands were pretty amazing um you know when you're looking just straight up vertically and people are like camped out trying to get a spot I had gone down there on Sunday and it was totally full there was no room for anybody they were just standing waiting uh trying to get in as you probably saw from watching I mean it was a gorgeous golf course and as you had you know previewed in advance because you had already been there the views were amazing I mean second to none but it is so hilly I I just I don't know how to begin to describe to people how hard it was to get around this golf course I mean they had warnings for like steep slopes I mean that's not typical at most of these golf courses that we go to um so it was a grind I mean what what was the access like for the fans could they get around the course or where they just sort of dedicated Grand stands and the access sort of wasn't as good as it could be it was not ideal I mean it was definitely not what it could have been um you know and I've never had so many fans ask me for a ride on my golf cart cuz they were just out of breath I mean they were exhausted I mean these are like straight up the hill like I hope you did lots of training and cardio before you got there because like they were worn out I mean it was a grind if you wanted to get out there and really watch the golf and then it wasn't as tough for the players where they were around the fairways it wasn't as hilly um but it was still a tough walk and they talked about that too with the writer cup that it was really hilly the TV just doesn't do justice in trying to capture how challenging you know these weeks are just trying to get around I really liked what Megan Kang said actually when she was playing with Lexi Thompson she said that Lexi's just like a a a monster she's got these long legs and in during their match which I think they won she was like Lexi was like come on Megan keep up she was like yeah my little legs just aren't quite built like that around this course but she um but yeah it was the BR and most importantly any sangria any tapers that we need to know about I didn't have anything exciting unfortunately you know it's you have you're so well intentioned when you get over there I know and when I found out that they drive on the other side of the road like we do the United States I was like yes I can do this so I sign up I was like yes get me a rental car normally I don't do that and then I don't go anywhere because there's no time you know you're getting up in the dark you're leaving the golf course in the dark there's hardly any time to really like take in the experience um and then after this crazy long week I have this crazy time trying to get home you know and you have to get up get on the road early because you're going to get back late regardless just because of the time change so I'm up at 2: a.m. local time in Spain to get ready to go to the airport wheels up 2:45 in the morning get to the airport yeah it's like a blur you're in the dark it's so early and I was okay getting out of Malaga I get to Paris where my connection is and there's like a 25 minute delay and I was like that's not too bad you know they can make that up in the air like yeah we're going to be fine so my connect ction was in JFK and then from JFK home to Cincinnati so we end up landing in JFK and you're in like terminal 4 and have to go to terminal one I could have those reversed but you have to take a bus and you have to go back out through security back in through security transfer your bag and I have like 45 minutes to get from terminal one to terminal 4 I am literally running literally running with my carry like I am sweating profusely I've been up since 2:45 in the morning I've already been on a seven-hour flight and I'm in the line at the TSA pre-check and I am like yelling to this Delta representa like ma'am I'm gonna miss my connection can you please help me please so she jumps me in front of like however many people she can but then I still have to wait to get through like the detectors and all of that and she's like well where is your gate and she's like it's basically at the end and she's like you're literally going to have to run oh I get there it's 8 minutes prior to takeoff but they've already closed the door because they closed the boarding door like 15 minutes prior oh God so I miss my connection in next flight is not for like six hours later and you're like all you want to do is get home it's already been like the longest day so it's like 1 o' in the afternoon the next one's not till 7 so I'm just hanging out in JFK I get some lunch and I end up seeing that there's this other flight not direct to Cincinnati but I can get through Detroit and I would get home sooner because as I'm waiting my flight has now been delayed three times to get out JFK and I'm like this is like snowballing and you know when they like keep delaying and you're like I might not get out of here at all i s out this airport yeah so I end up I change I go and connect in Detroit and then from Detroit to Cincinnati so like four flights I finally land around 10:30 my bag is I don't know where I just go to the Delta desk I can you just deliver it to my house whenever it shows up I just want to go home at this point so I get home it was like 26 hours door too just getting home from Soul life C wow wow you poor thing that is that's a good one that's up there that's up there with one of the best ones I get two hours or two week or two days at home two nights at home and then I went to Arkansas for uh the 3-day event there so it's been it's a been bit of a whirlwind I have to say the last few weeks yeah I know this is it it's it's obviously amazing to be at these events and it's like I thought you know how much I would have loved to have been in Italy but you know equally I was one of those sickos who got up at 1:30 in the morning and watched the first tea but at least the commute is only 10 yards from my bed to the lounge to watch these things there's no traveling back and forth so H you're a Survivor Amy Rogers you made it back well speaking of long commutes uh as we teased earlier we're going to catch up with Lydia co uh she was just getting ready to make uh her own crazy commute she had just been in Korea was in Arkansas and was getting ready to head back to Korea um embarking on the lpga's Asia swing so we're going to catch up with her kind of talk a little bit about her season uh defending coming up and what I was most excited about she talks about her life now as newlywed being a married woman and she also dishes on her celebrity crush all right well we are excited to have a special guest join us for this episode of spill the tea a guest that despite her crazy travel schedule a jet setting from Korea to Arkansas and back to Korea again kind enough to spend some time with us Lydia Cole thank you for joining our podcast oh thank you for having me speaking of all the travel how do you do it how do you juggle all the jet leg traveling all over the world what do you enjoy about uh just getting to travel the world yeah um I think it's uh kind of like a double-edge sword um you know I think it's very it's something that we're very grateful to be able to go and experience different cultures you know meet people from all around the world play on different types of golf courses have um lots of good food local food um but then you know by the end of the year or by this time I think uh most of the players are pretty excited uh to not be not fly um but at the same time you know we've got our Asia swing coming up um but you know it's obviously a little longer trip com like flying over but after once you're there you know from Shanghai to Korean to Malaysia it's not that bad of a trip and then to Japan um so I'm I'm really excited for it I've always loved traveling um I feel like uh you know there are ways to kind of get around jet lag um I I like like to fly at night so I land in the morning so I'm productive during the day and then tired enough to like so that I don't wake up because of jet lag but obviously a lot tougher when you're coming from Asia over uh back into the us but know it is part of our job and um you know yes it can get tiring but I think for most Parts I think we're very just lucky to be able to do what we do yeah the LPGA schedule sometimes can be absolutely brutal on you guys when it comes to travel Lydia how how do you sort of approach your travel do you dabble in a little bit of private jet I can't imagine you fly cattle class anywhere how do you uh how do you approach the quality of your travel because you are one of the best athletes in the world um I think you know people uh like think that we like fly um business all the time fly private jets but that's really um it's not as glamorous as what people think um you know I think I've gone on like two private jets maybe or once um like flights and that was for like a charity event um where it was like taking a bunch of us from one location to the to the event but other than that I don't think I've ever taken like a private plight flight to a tournament um sometimes when we go from small City to another small City like let's say Toledo to like Atlantic City not that that is back to back like you do wish like there was like you owned a little private plane and you could just go direct rather to go through like a different city but um you know it's uh like I said earlier it is part of like what we do and I think you know players obviously they have a different way they approach the schedule but for me I don't really like to play more than three four weeks in a row so I'm trying to be smart on like what makes sense logistically and also like when I can have the breaks and that I come fresh for the next stretch Yeah you mentioned the Asia swing and having to play a few weeks uh over there I always remember from these Asia swings the crazy photo calls that they do which we don't do over here in the United States where they get a bunch of players together and I've seen you guys dressed up in some like pretty interesting outfits what's like the weirdest craziest photo call that you've been a part of over the years um I think one of the most standouts were um it was a long time ago maybe like nine eight years ago in Singapore I did one and they had like set up almost like a band and there was like a drum like set of drums and like a guitar and a singer and um maybe I did the drums yeah we were like out on the golf course at Sarah pong on the sent the golf club and we're doing it and like I've seen that photo like gone through um that b of stand out and then also at that event I think they did like a fashion show Runway um so I remember doing one there and actually like a Korean traditional hum book fashion show um for uh the event that we used to have in Korea as well so I think some go like very traditional like obviously in Korea you know celebrating and showcasing um you know the traditional clothes that they used to wear in the day um and then some are just like wild ideas I'm not really sure where it came from but um it is really cool obviously like you wouldn't want to be doing that every week um it's most time it's like the same people that do like press conferences or protocols so to do that like every week for some like let say like Lilia who's number one she'd probably be like um requested to do it and I think if she had to do something like that every week that would be pretty draining but every now and then it's it's like a pretty cool I guess marketing approach um and if it can showcase like the local clothing or culture I think it's it's a really cool way to like for the tour and the city or country to kind of connect yeah I can imagine sometimes you look around and you think come on guys who's who's making us do this why why are we doing this but they are we absolutely love them and and good for you guys for being such a good sport um you mentioned part of the beauty of travel Lydia is the food and exploring all the different culinary cultures I know you are a little bit of a foodie especially when it comes to Korea sort of what are your go-to evening travel dinners that are an absolute staple every week um you know I'm very fortunate that for most weeks I travel with my Mom especially in domestic events and um so that's why we try and stay it like a residence in or you know those hotels with like a kitchenet um so like she will cook like Korean food for most parts and like she'll travel with like the that she made at home um so sometimes even before you open the suitcase you can smell the kimchi from the outside um so like that my mom cooks is great um I think when I first came on tour I was like very like stubborn in the sense like I wanted Korean food for breakfast like lunch obviously was at dining and then dinner would be Korean food but now um I don't know like since like I've moved out and I've had to Branch off and like do my own stuff um I've kind of like gotten to appreciate like and like explore that it doesn't have to be one way um so I enjoy like having avocado toast or like I'll make my own overnight oats and so it's just I think I've kind of um opened up my genre and interest of of food um so yeah I think like two years ago if you asked me I'd be like okay where's the nearest Korean restaurant I'm going there but now I might like say oh let's go have Thai food or Italian food or like where's the best pizza place as your mom passed down any of her famous signature recipes to you yes um she's like told me uh there's this um kind of soup that's my husband's favorite soup um so she gave me the recipe and we've made it at at um at home a couple times and my husband says like when at the time he told me mine was better but he actually said later actually my mom's is better so that's a very wise husband I don't blame him he was um but my mom's an amazing cook I'm lucky that I able to have like her like home cooking speaking of your husband how is married life we're so happy for you congratulations how's the first sort of six months been of of the journey it's been good um you know not much has changed because you know going into the year I thought okay maybe I'll play like 20ish events which was um what I played last year but I think I'm going to play Closer to like 22 or 23 because I've played some other events on other tours um so I haven't played like necessarily any less so that we've got to spend more time together um obviously didn't play the first event of the year at my home Club um just so that we could have those kind of like that 8ish Days of our honeymoon um and just enjoy us time but I guess like when the season starts like it's it's busy and you're constantly on the go and you know if you have a week off it's more like four or five days off because you need to travel again so um it's it's been fun um I guess like for me I think sometimes I feel bad because I'm the one that's always leaving and you know and my husband always the one that's like staying behind and um but he's such a great Sport and a super understanding of what I do and I said I don't think I could personally meet a golfer because I don't think I could understand all that traveling um and especially if both of us are traveling but he he really accommodates to like my schedu which I'm very um appreciative of I know June sometimes does get to travel with you what is it like being able to share some of these experiences together and have him with you out on the road yeah I think um maybe Palace veres was the first time where he was there the whole week um because uh it was in between like his jobs um so like before then you know like it see me last year he'd come like on Saturday uh after work finished on Friday and then you know just see the weekend and that would happen for you know a couple of the other events he went to but no it was kind of the first week that he was there like he knows like okay I play a PR on a Wednesday um you know there's te tea times it's just like a whole schedule like what my day is like and like what I do on like a Monday to practice and um yeah it's just I think it would have been I think he said it was like different like he uh didn't realize like you know how much like time and effort like not only me but like how like all the players um put in and um I think just sometimes even though you're around it like unless you're there to experience it like you can't really gauge exactly what goes on um and like especially on a Monday or Tuesday where it's closed ropes and it's just really the players with their caddies and and coaches and like I think like to a lot of people golf is like fun right it's like what they do in their off time that they're like oh five hours at the golf course that's Paradise but it's like it's yeah it's yes like we're um like be out there and do that but it's like it's five hours or maybe six seven or maybe four hours of like players grinding you know getting used to the golf course like getting their game ready so it's it's like I think the perspective is different um but it's uh I think he understands it and um he's very supportive and I think uh like when he's at a tournament it's like he's okay what can I do and um you know he's just he's my number one supporter so yeah I'm very lucky it sounds like you two are an absolute perfect fit together and he sounds so supportive but you know the first year of marriage you do find out things about each other maybe you didn't know before or annoying habits for example I learned my husband likes to leave wet towels on the bed or puts things on top of the dishwasher instead of in the dishwasher are there any little Annoying habits that you've learned about June in the first year of marriage um I don't think so I mean like um luckily we had a transition before we got married where we got to like spend time together and like get our um apartment ready and and all that so it's just um like it wasn't like day one of marriage and it's like surprise like I do this um so I don't lucky know you're not like whoa like taken back from anything um I'm not like the super like clean kind of style and he's definitely not that either and like he might leave like you know a CL hanger like on the bed but like it doesn't really bother me because like if it bothers me then I'm just going to like put it like in the closet or or like whatever so I think we're very similar um in the sense and you know I don't think I haven't found anything like weird yet um but maybe it is because it's the honeymoon everything looks good just wait Lydia you're gonna find something just wait all right before we let you go we want to have a little fun we got a few questions here we like to do with each of our guests we're going to get you to really spill the tea on these uh few quick questions here to have some fun all right first one if you just had one meal you could eat for the rest of your life what would it be oh um pork ribs with my mom's like Jang sauce all right delicious good choice uh Lydia who do you text the most uh the husband makes sense all right how about the one celebrity all right how about the one celebrity or athlete that you would get to meet that would make you geek out the most and maybe you've met them already um I would love to meet uh Tom Hardy oh bit of a CB Crush there yes yes how does June about this is he aware very yeah I think Tom Hardy and Roger feder are my like two um crushes very two very contrasting individuals very different but it's just the person that I like not not the doesn't have to be like the physical looks have you uh have you ever listened to Tom Hardy reading Bedtime Stories on on uh podcasts it's very soothing video when you go to bed tonight well I'm gonna do that and J is gonna be like what are you yeah that British he's gonna end up learning the weird thing about her instead of the other way around um couple more do you ever Google yourself Lydia and what do you think for what pops up um I don't really Google myself but um I have done it before but it's not like an every every third Wednesday I but I have and I think it was more um like I changed something or like I didn't play as well I wanted to kind of see like how if like people were not saying nice things about me I don't want to know about the good stuff but like sometimes yeah all right what's the one thing you can't live without on the road on the road um my cell phone um because like a lot of the times I am not able to like travel with my husband and um like that's the thing that like keeps me connected so thank God I live in this um era where like FaceTime and like you know there's different ways to like message I don't think I could be where like 20 30 years ago where even caddies could not even talk to their players uh because there was no cell phone to be like hey I'm running 10 minutes late how did we survive I don't know how people did it I have absolutely no idea and and just finally Lydia it was really special I thought in 2020 you put on Instagram you wrote a letter to your 15-year-old self when things you know really started to take off and the world was at your feet and you wrote to yourself soak up every experience and enure every feeling good and bad does the Lydia of 2023 do that is she true to her word I I'd like to say so um I think sometimes like you know even though we're not like celebrities um we are in the public eye like especially when we're at a tournament um and with social media and everything like that and I think sometimes like like when I realize that oh I'm pretending to smile or I'm pretending to be something that I'm not um I think it's like I get those kind of self-awareness wakeup calls and I think that makes me almost take a step back and be like hey you know what it's okay to not be okay and I think it's okay to be honest to your to your emotions and I'm very lucky that my mom my sister my dad and my brother-in-law and my husband like they're all there to like see me for who I am and like ask me the right questions that like make me be very honest and I think that's like sometimes like when you are like that there's like you're not sure if like being vulnerable is not a good thing but I think it is a good thing because you know we're all H you know I'm just a human that comes is from Korea and that grew up in that's playing is called Golf and it doesn't make me any more special than than anybody else so I think being honest with myself I think is important and that's the way I can protect myself and it is something that I'm continuously going to work on um so yeah well L Co we think you are pretty special and we appreciate you spending some time with us always being so authentic so real and answering all of our silly questions so thank you for stopping by in the midst of your busy travel schedule thank you that was great I always love catching up with Lydia Co I mean she's just one of the most open honest forthright players I mean she just tells you what it what it is like it is and like she said you know just recognizing at those moments when she feels like she's not being authentic and not being herself I mean kudos to her for figuring that out at such a young age yeah I just I'm always just blown away by Lydia Co you know sort of personality wise and and how she comes across she reminds me a lot like rosang just very down toe so incredibly normal so grateful for opportunities of you know when she logged on and she said well thanks for having me on the podcast and I'm like you've been world number one since you know you've been 17 you are a a prodigy in this game but her whole mindset is is just so so understated and that always is just what amazes me about Lydia Co she hasn't changed since the day she came out on tour and and here she is now a married woman and I love that she's found happiness and yeah she hasn't had the best season of her career but you know she's made up for it in other ways personally and for someone like that I think that is just so important and and yeah she was fantastic and she had a bit of a cold so even kudos to her kudos kudos to her for still spending some time with us well another Prodigy who has made some headlines uh in recent weeks Lexi Thompson we've seen her kind of uh find a spark here uh late in the season we saw it a little bit there at solheim cup and she's been riding some momentum uh late into the year and now this big announcement she's going to be just the seventh woman to play in a PGA Tour event teeing it up at the Shriners out in Las Vegas what are your thoughts on this move I think my first thoughts like most people's thoughts was does she want to do this she's not playing that well and you know it's such a big stage playing on the PGA tour and play against the men and and you know you really want to try and step up and perform and do it for the women and I know and actually you're absolutely right since the solheim cup that has triggered a fire inside of her and it's sort of turned her season around she lives for those events so you know she's an absolute bomber she's going to be hitting it as far as the best of them you know in terms of lpj golfers but I think she's really excited about it and one thing I really love about Lexi is that she's all about sort of inspiring young women and girls and as much as as much the success she's had professionally I think that is a huge Focus for her going forward she's still so young herself but I think she's out there to show girls no matter how big your dream is you can go and do it so you know good for her Lexi's been such a role model for so many American players for so many years now and and this is just a a next step in that chapter so go on girl make the cut that's what I say yes that would be fantastic to see because we've seen a lot of the the women you know tea it up but haven't been able to make it to the weekend so that would be awesome and I feel like this is a nice little like teaser preview of what we're going to get to see at the end of the season finally getting this grant Thorton Invitational underway with a lot of the guys and girls teeing it up together um which will be awesome I'm super excited for this new yeah is she playing with um I think she's playing with Ricky Now isn't she I think was playing with Jessica cord who's obviously taking a step back having a baby so yeah what a Duo that is that's cool I know that'll be awesome all right well it was fun catching up with you as always Miss Anna Jackson as always my friend thank you so much thank you to our lovely listeners as well we'll see you very soon yeah be sure to check out all episodes of spilled the tea catch up on some of our prior episodes wherever you get your podcast or head on over to YouTube and you can watch us not just listen but you can see our lovely faces as well or visit uh nbcsports.com all right that does it for us Anna great to see you we'll see you down the road