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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 15, 2014Gunn YangJOHNS CREEK, GEORGIA PETE KOWALSKI: Like to welcome our second 2014 U.S. Amateur semifinalist, Gunn Yang, who is a 2-up winner over Cameron young. Let's talk quickly, I'll just ask you a question to start. He got 2-up on you early, right? GUNN YANG: Yes. PETE KOWALSKI: How did you come back and how did you get ahead? GUNN YANG: Well, I was 1-down after 12 holes, and then I was just trying to, I couldn't focus because he won that hole and I was 1-down and there was only like six more holes to go. I couldn't focus but somehow I made a putt on the fourth hole -- I mean, 13th hole to make the par, which was about like 12 feet long and we halved that hole. So I was like, okay, I think I can still do it. And then next hole, I didn't hit the shot very well from the fairway, but it was still on the green. Made a 2-putt to win the hole. And then that was all-square after that. Next hole, Cameron hit it closer than me, but I made a like 20, 30 -foot putt to make a birdie. And then that was 1-up right after. And next hole, I hit a 7-iron from the fairway and I actually pushed it and then it was still like near the green. I was just trying to do the bump-and-run with the 9-iron. It went too long, missed the putt and he got that hole. It was just amazing how he made an up-and-down from a really tough lie. Next hole, Cameron just missed -- he hit it too long with his putter and he just made a 3-putt. It was an easy 2-putt for me, so I won that one. Next hole, it was a crazy drive, because I hit the wall right in front of the fairway, and then it just bounced. I don't know where it actually went. But it was -- actually it went hard and it was about like 135. So I was so happy with that. PETE KOWALSKI: What hole was that. GUNN YANG: It was the 18th hole. Q. You kind of made your move again on the last four or five holes like you did yesterday. How exhausting is that? You guys had a back and forth match all over that front nine. There was only one halve on the front nine. GUNN YANG: Yeah, I want to finish the match like around the 12th hole or something like that, really. I do it because the last couple days, I played the full 18 every day. So I mean, this course is all about the last five holes I think, because it can change the match around just right away. And then you can still win the match, or we can go to extra holes and see how it goes. But I've never went the extra holes, but I mean, the last five holes, I think it's the most important holes out here. Q. How much was it a confidence booster, knowing going into those last five holes, you beat the No. 1 ranked player yesterday; did that give you extra momentum going into today mentally? GUNN YANG: Yes, it did, because I was 1-down after the 12th hole and then I made a huge putt. Actually I think that was a huge putt on the 13th, because it was a 12-footer for par and to halve the hole and that actually turned my momentum on again. Then the next hole, I won the hole with a 2-putt. Cameron hit into the right bunker with his second shot and he hit it out, it wasn't that close to the hole. He missed it. So I mean, I was all-square after that. So I mean, it was huge, really huge. Q. You seem to be closing out your matches well. You closed out yesterday particularly strong and today you closed out very solidly to wrap the matches up. What are you taking away from this? GUNN YANG: I'm not sure really. I'm just trying to focus on my game and execute every single shot and see how it goes. That's what I think, because I'm not the kind of guy who sticks with the numbers all the time, like I need to make par and I need to make birdie or something like that. I'm just trying to keep my best shot and see what happens right after. Q. You mentioned yesterday that you are an aggressive player; is that going to be your strategy going forward from here? GUNN YANG: Maybe, because I mean, whenever I play too passive, then it's just not -- sometimes it goes wrong. Like for example, like the 13th hole, if I hit like 3-iron to just lay up on the left side, then sometimes it ended up in the bunker. Sometimes, I mean most of the time, I would say, it's in the bad area. So I mean, I think that just makes me a more aggressive player, you know, just trying to putt the driver in the -- just hit the driver well and just put it in the fairway close to the hole. Q. You really only returned to full-time golf about seven or eight months ago like we talked about yesterday. How is your health and how do you feel? Obviously getting around for six consecutive days, it's a grind. GUNN YANG: Well, obviously my back still gets tight. I mean, it's never -- there's no pain radiating down to my foot or anything. But just really gets tight, so I need to be careful of that all the time. I need to stretch it out. I need to go to the pool and just chill a bit. Yeah, that's what I normally do and that's how I do it for this job. Q. Coach Donovan said -- I guess you talked to him yesterday and he said he would fly out if you got one more step; are you going to hold him to that? GUNN YANG: I don't know, maybe he just wants to come out and see how I play I guess, because the college season is going to start soon. So maybe he just wants to check my game before the first game for the -- first collegiate game. Yeah, that's what I think. PETE KOWALSKI: You've advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur. That's pretty good stuff. GUNN YANG: Pretty darned good. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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