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NORTHERN TRUST OPENFebruary 17, 2015K.J. ChoiMike KimKim Kyung-MiKevin NaPACIFIC PALISADES, CALIFORNIA LAURA NEAL: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us today. We are pleased to be here at the Northern Trust Open, exciting tournament here at the Riviera Country Club, and an opportunity for us to talk about The Presidents Cup 2015. We will conduct the interviews and the Q&A in Korean and English. I would like to introduce Mike Kim who has joined us from Korea. He's our Tournament Director working with Matt Kamienski on site at Incheon City, Songdo IBD. Mike, I'd like to let you introduce our special guests and kick things off with a couple comments from each, and then we'll take questions from the media. MIKE KIM: Thank you, Laura. My name is Mike Kim. I'm the Senior Advisor and Tournament Director for the 2015 Presidents Cup. I am very, very pleased to be here to conduct this interview, and I do have some special guests here. As you well know, the International Team vice captain, K.J. Choi, and to his right, Kevin Na. And over on the far right, Ms.Kim Kyung‑Mi who is part of the Incheon City task force team that's been put together just for the preparation of The Presidents Cup. She flew in last night for this, and then she's flying out tonight, so she's a real trooper for this. It's a great opportunity to have some of you ask questions about the preparation of The Presidents Cup. We had last year in November 4 at the Blue House, which is the equivalent of the White House, the presidential palace in Korea last November, which in that event, with Commissioner Finchem and the captains, President Park of Korea, accepted the Honorary Chairman's position. And on the 5th, we had a captain's day out on the golf course with cap tin Nick Price, captain Jay Haas, as well as vice captain K.J. Choi. We're fully ahead, and how many days are we out, we're t‑minus 220 something? We're not too far off but we still have some time to prepare. Thought this would be a great opportunity for us to come in and have our officials from the Incheon City, which is the official host city, to answer some questions and give you an opportunity to find out for yourself some of the preparations that have been going on. So a lot to be done but a lot has been done, so we are ready to answer some of the questions. We are very pleased to have you all here. I'm going to turn the mic over to K.J. and then on to Kevin. K.J. CHOI: First, it's great to have all of you here. As you know, it was announced two years ago that The Presidents Cup was confirmed that The Presidents Cup was going to Korea. There's a lot of preparation that's going on and some of you may know that President Park and the government has taken a much more positive stance for golf, and this is the first time The Presidents Cup is going to Asia and it's the first time it's being staged in Korea. I've had a lot of players, both U.S., as well as the International Team members, starting to ask questions about the golf course; is it a long golf course; is it a difficult golf course; the city itself, where is it. So there are a lot of questions that have been asked, and I'm getting excited about The Presidents Cup. Win or lose, I think this is going to be a wonderful opportunity for the players. I think the players themselves are also preparing just as much as The Presidents Cup staff. I really do hope that this will be a very successful Presidents Cup, and thank you again for coming this morning. KEVIN NA: When I first heard about The Presidents Cup in Songdo Incheon, I was very excited. Even though I will be representing‑‑ hopefully I'll be representing the American Team, it's still in Korea where my heritage is, and I was very proud to hear that Korea was having The Presidents Cup. I had a lot of people ask me, even though I'm an American player about the city, because I played there before, played an event there and know the golf course; it seems like a lot of people were excited. I think it's a great opportunity for the PGA TOUR and The Presidents Cup and golf, to be more popular and bring more interest into golf in Korea. Golf is a very, very popular sport in Korea and it's growing more and more. We want the viewers to grow more and have more interest in the PGA TOUR and The Presidents Cup. So I think it's going to be a great Presidents Cup. I'm looking forward to it. I'm hoping to be a part of the team. I've spoken to Jay Haas a little bit about it, and I'd love to be a part where I can help both sides; as being fluent in Korean and English, I can help the team I think in many ways. So, looking forward to it. KIM KYUNG‑MI: First of all, I'm very happy to be here. I'm from the Incheon City task force team that was formed in January for The Presidents Cup, and we are currently working very closely with the team that's preparing for The Presidents Cup. And as you know, this will be a great opportunity, not only to showcase Incheon City, but also to popularize golf in Korea in general and we hope that this will be an opportunity to accelerate that pace to make golf much more of a popular sport in general. We certainly hope that we can continue to work toward that, and we are both working very hard to see the success of The Presidents Cup, and that's our No. 1 goal. Thank you. Q. This is a question for all of you, if anyone wants to tackle it. How important is it for the acceleration of the popularity of golf for the South Koreans to be represented on the team? Sang‑Moon, Seung‑Yul and K.J. have a little bit of work to do if they want to qualify on their own merits. If Kevin were to grace the U.S. Team, how big of a deal would that be? What kind of an impact would that make? K.J. CHOI: Well, I know that the record of some of the players for the Korean players that are currently playing on the PGA TOUR may not be up to par at the moment. We have some work cut out for us to do. But, you know, based on the 16 years that I've been on the PGA TOUR, I feel that that has given an opportunity for others to follow my path, and I believe the level of play is at a level that they can compete at the highest level. There have been other players that have come to me and said that it's great that The Presidents Cup is coming to Korea and is being played in Asia. Regardless whether the Korean players actually make the International Team or not, I think that's really not something that's an issue. The fact that The Presidents Cup is going to Korea is giving an opportunity and motivation to those junior golfers that are up‑and‑coming and they will have an opportunity to see that, well, some day they can make The Presidents Cup team, and that it's giving them a goal to reach for. KEVIN NA: I agree. Regardless whether a Korean player makes the team or not, I think it will great for Asia and great for interest in golf in Asia. But at the same time by playing well or getting a captain's pick, I think the Korean fans can relate more because there's someone out there this they know personally and they have seen become a worldwide player and I think they can relate more that way and it will create more of a buzz for the fans. I personally really hope that one of the guys make the team and draws more attention. It also gives‑‑ I mean, obviously Matsuyama is one of the Asian players, looks like if he keeps up his good play, he'll make it. But if they have another Korean player represent the team, I think a lot of kids will come and watch; and they will dream about playing The Presidents Cup and they will watch and they will find out about what the PGA TOUR is like. They will look into more, like, if you become a good golfer, you can play on this world stage. You can go to the U.S. and play with the best players in the world, guys you've seen on TV. Even myself, Riviera was the first tournament I ever watched as a 10‑year‑old when my father brought me on, and I've dreamed about playing out here. And here I am, I've played this tournament every year in my career in 12 years, and it becomes reality. I think having a Korean player on the team would really help The Presidents Cup, and I really hope that one of the players, whether it's K.J., or Sang‑Moon Bae or Seong‑Yul Noh or any other Korean player has a great year and can capitalize on this great opportunity; and even myself, I represent the American Team, having a Korean heritage, I hope to be a part of that team, also. KIM KYUNG‑MI: To compare The Presidents Cup as equivalent to the Olympics of golf, it's just happened that it's also being played in our city, Incheon City in Songdo, IBD. I know that this Presidents Cup being played in Korea gives some of the junior golfers, someone who wants to take on golf that opportunity, truly a motivating factor for them. But rather than just watch it on television of such magnitude and far places on television. But rather, when you have an event of such like The Presidents Cup being played in your backyard, in your home country, in your city and an opportunity for a gallery to go and watch, this has to be an opportunity to ignite the interest level and make them aware of the sport itself. It makes it a little more closer, come much closer to your heart. I really do believe that this will be a huge motivating factor and hopefully this will lead to the popularity in general for golf. Q. What would it mean for to you play your way on to the International Team, and is that one of your goals or motivations for the year? K.J. CHOI: Well, when you consider my age, it is kind of difficult to get inside the Top‑50, which would be kind of a save zone to make the International Team. And you know, I didn't really realize how difficult that would be until I fell out of the Top‑50 and the age that I am now. But you know, some people may talk about what would be the best time to perhaps retire from golf. But when I hear things like that, I don't know whether I could actually make the team on my own merit. But whether that, in fact, is the case or not, I really would like to make the International Team. I hope that that I would actually make the team on my own merit, but perhaps that gives motivating factors to the International Team that will help the International Team. But, you know, if I cannot in any way support and help the International Team to win, I would not want to be in the way in any way whatsoever. But I believe that the support that I get from all the people in Korea, as well as all the Korean Americans that are living here in the States, as well as all the golf fans that have given me support over the years. I know it's difficult, but I think for me to give something back and respond to their support, would be really to try to give my best effort to try to make the team. Q. How do you pick the members? What's the criteria? MIKE KIM: For the International Team, it's based on the World Ranking. You take the U.S. Team as well as the Europeans on the International Team, other than the U.S. internationals. There are two captain's picks and it should be announced September 8 this year, which will be after the Deutsche Bank Championship. Q. Where does making The Presidents Cup team, where does it rank in terms of your priorities and goals this year? KEVIN NA: It's got to be right behind the Majors. Obviously the majors in golf is the No. 1 win or achievement you can have, and I think being part of a Presidents Cup or Ryder Cup Team is something that you want to be a part of before your career is over. And especially The Presidents Cup being in Korea this year with where my heritage is, I'd love to be a part of it. I'm worked hard towards it. I had a great season last year where I was very close to that number. Obviously I've got one more year for me to rack up some points. I know the points are doubled this year and the Majors are even I think triple the points. I'm in all four Majors, so I'm hoping I can get some good results in Majors or get some points and have a chance to be a part of The Presidents Cup. LAURA NEAL: Thank you all for joining us today. We appreciate it. Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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