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LPGA KEB HANABANK CHAMPIONSHIPOctober 11, 2016Brooke HendersonSung-hyun ParkLydia KoLexi ThompsonSo Yeon RyuIn Gee ChunIncheon, South Korea THE MODERATOR: Hi, everyone. Thank you very much for coming. I'm the manager for international PR at the LPGA. We have with us today the defending champion Lexi Thompson along with many of our other top players, so I'm going to start by everyone going down and saying a quick hello and what it feels like to be in Korea. BROOKE HENDERSON: Well, this is my first time to Korea, so I'm really enjoying it, getting to know the surrounding area a little bit. We had a Korean dinner last night, which was my first time, and just really looking forward to the week. LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, I'm really looking forward to this week. It's always nice to come back to Korea and play in front of the amazing fans here, and this golf course is in amazing shape for us again this year, so I'm really looking forward to the week. LYDIA KO: It's nice to be back in Korea, especially where it's a place that I'm born here in Korea, and the fans, like Lexi said, are awesome. It's probably the biggest crowds that we play in front of and maybe just outside of the majors. But the course is normally in really good conditions, and I love coming here, and just to see all the Korean fans getting excited to see us play, I think it makes us more excited to play some good golf. SUNG HYUN PARK: This was the first LPGA event I played last year, and even being the first LPGA event, I played very well and finished second place, so it's an event that I have high expectations and hopes for, so this week I'll do my best again, and hopefully many people will come out and cheer me on. ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Yeah, I'm really happy to be back here again. This is my second time, so I really like Korea a lot, so I like the food. Everything here is like great, and the course is great shape, also. THE MODERATOR: Lexi, you were the defending champion this year. Could you talk a bit about what it felt like winning last year and then returning this year. LEXI THOMPSON: Well, it felt great winning last year. I mean, it brings back a lot of amazing memories. This tournament is one of the best well-run events that we play in, and I always look forward to coming back here and playing in front of the fans, like I said earlier. But yeah, I kind of got a little sick earlier in the week last year, but ended up being a great week. Yeah, I mean, it's an honor to win this tournament, but to be back, it brings back a lot of great memories. Q. (Question on Player of the Year award.) LYDIA KO: Well, I think at the end of the day, to get the awards and everything that comes after, seeing me, they come literally after our rounds and after consecutively playing. Ariya has been playing such phenomenal golf. She's had five wins this season and just a bunch of top 10s, and she's been super consistent. At the end of the day, the Player of the Year really signifies that, and right now I think she's very deserving to be in that position. We still have a few more tournaments to go, and with so many great tournaments leading up, you just never know what's going to happen. I'm just going to try my best until the very end. I know it was a huge honor to get the Player of the Year last year, but all in all, I know that if I can keep playing consistent and keep shooting good scores, then I will have that chance to maybe be the Player of the Year again. But no, I think I need to just enjoy it. It's been pretty cool to be in that front-row seat and just trying to play the best I can. But I've just got to enjoy it, and I think I'm very fortunate to be in this position and have the chance to go for the Player of the Year again. Q. Sung Hyun, you're here this week to represent the KLPGA. You're the only person in this press conference representing the KLPGA. I know you have some aspirations to play on the LPGA Tour, and you've had a really tough schedule playing seven weeks in a row. I just want to know your condition now; are you tired? Are you feeling well? Give us your thoughts. SUNG HYUN PARK: That's right, so it's an honor. It's exciting but nervous at the same time to sit here and represent the KLPGA Tour on this press conference, and also as you mentioned, yes, I did take a week off after playing seven consecutive events. I feel like I'm in a much better place in terms of my condition. I think the one week off was a really good time to kind of take a step back and be able to enjoy the rest, and I also practiced a little bit on things that I feel like I was lacking. Hopefully this event again I'll play well and be able to represent the KLPGA and have good results. Q. This is almost at the end of the LPGA season. Can you give yourself an assessment how the season has gone so far this year? IN GEE CHUN: I finally win Evian Championship. I think winning Evian Championship this year was great. Obviously winning the first tournament as an LPGA member and also winning another major, I think that sort of proved that winning at the U.S. Women's Open last year in 2015 wasn't a fluke, and I felt that I had an opportunity to prove to everybody that I belonged by winning the Evian major championship. Q. Brooke, I believe this is your third event in Asia in a row; tell us, how do you feel strength-wise? Are you tired? Are you good to go? Give us your assessment of your condition. BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good, not tired or anything. I feel like my game has just continued to improve, a T10 at Evian to T4 in China and then T3 last year in Taiwan, so I feel like I'm just continuing to get a little bit better every single week, which is really exciting. I've been to Asia a couple times, but this is really our true first experience here for my sister and I, and we're just trying to take it all in and enjoy the surroundings and the culture. Q. This is a question for Sung Hyun. I know there's been a lot of speculation about whether you're going to go to the LPGA Tour next year. To most of us you've been delaying that decision, and we haven't heard your decision one way or the other. Is it possible for you to let us know whether you've made that decision today? SUNG HYUN PARK: As most of you know, that's a really tough decision for me, and so I'd like to say that I haven't really necessarily made that decision just yet. I'm also in the middle of kind of working on an agreement with a management company that I'll work with in the future, so I'm sure they will come in due course and we'll be able to -- once the management is completed in terms of having a management company, then we'll be able to make that decision rather quickly. Q. Lexi, I think this year you had a chance to play with Sung Hyun Park a couple of times, and more so recently we saw In Gee Chun making the transition to the LPGA Tour this year coming off the performances last year, and although she has not made the decision yet, it's well expected that Sung Hyun would make the transition to the LPGA Tour next year. Give us your thoughts on your playing with Sung Hyun and kind of give us your assessment as a player and what you can expect in the future. LEXI THOMPSON: Yeah, I've played with her quite a few times, just played with her in the Hanwha Classic about a month ago, and her game is unbelievable, very long off the tee, has a nice high ball flight, stops it basically from everywhere that you put her. But overall just a very strong game, no weaknesses, has a great short game, long off the tee, and amazing iron play. She'll do great on either Tour that she chooses, so best of luck to her. Q. Lydia, the last time you played in this tournament you were actually ranked No. 2 and then you became the No. 1 player on October 25th. Since then many things happened. You've won a lot of different tournaments and you went to the Olympics and you've become the No. 1 player, Player of the Year. Give us your assessment of the last year or so and how things have worked for you. LYDIA KO: I mean, he knows the dates better than me. I think I got my 10th LPGA win in Taiwan last year, and that was the week after this event. Obviously a lot of exciting things have happened since then, Player of the Year, got to win my second major championship and then got to compete in the Olympics. I think obviously there has been some weeks where I wish it could have been better, but overall I think this has been an amazing journey, amazing past year. It almost goes by so fast. This is coming to the end of my third year on Tour, and I can remember my first year as if it was yesterday. It's been exciting, and I feel very fortunate to have this experience, playing alongside these top players. It's been great. Obviously I've been working to get more consistent, and I think consistency is probably the biggest thing playing on Tour for the whole season. I think we can always -- even though you're playing good and I'm still the No. 1 player, I feel like there are still parts of the game that I feel like could improve. Q. Ariya, could you talk a bit, you emphasized how it's very important to be happy on the course, it's very important to be happy while you're playing golf. What are you going to do this week to make sure that you keep that happy mindset as you play this week? ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Actually when I got here, I'm already happy already. I think the key for this week, just like have fun with my caddie, enjoy all the spectators here and all the great food here. I think all that can make me really happy this week. Q. Ariya, as you know, in Korea we have a huge following and many fans about women's golf, as you see. Many people wonder, first of all, how far can you hit your driver? I know that you don't tend to hit your drivers very much, but where does that come from? How can you hit it so far and how far you hit it, and then what role does it have on your game overall? ARIYA JUTANUGARN: I think I can hit driver like 270. No, because sometimes it hits the tree first, so it's short. Where? All my fat. It comes from here, how I can hit it so far. I think it's helped me a lot because like sometimes I don't feel comfortable to hit driver. I still can hit 2-iron and 3-wood. On some par-5s I still can reach with the second shot. Q. In Gee, this week you mathematically clinched the Rookie of the Year award, so congratulations. What does that award mean to you, and what did you learn about yourself throughout your rookie year on the LPGA? IN GEE CHUN: You know, it was always my dream to play against the best players and along with the best players at the highest state, so I'm very glad that that's what I'm doing today. Being a Rookie of the Year is a huge honor for me, being able to put my name next to some of the greatest players of all time such as Karrie Webb and Annika Sorenstam, and I'm very happy to put my name next to them. I think it's a great bonus to me that I won the Rookie of the Year. Q. Ariya, you delivered the first LPGA win to Thailand, and you were the first player to win and you were competing for the most part with Lydia Ko in a lot of different categories, and I think with that comes huge expectations of you from the people in the nation of Thailand. Are you confident that you can deliver this to Thailand, and give us your thoughts on that. ARIYA JUTANUGARN: Before I can't because I feel a lot of expectation, but right now I just feel like when I play golf, I just want to play and don't have expectation. But of course I want to bring the trophy. I want to bring the win to Thailand. I want to make them happy and proud of me. Q. Brooke and Ariya, you guys both now won the first major as an LPGA member, and we just want to know how your country reacted to your major. BROOKE HENDERSON: Well, Canada was extremely supportive of the major win, and really I have a lot of fans back home that kind of go crazy even if I make the cut most weeks. It's pretty cool to have that support back home, and when I play the Canadian Open or events in Canada, I definitely feel the love and they come out to watch, whether I'm in the first tee-off time in the morning or closer to the leaders. It's always a lot of fun to go back home and celebrate with them, but the major win was definitely a big week for the whole nation. ARIYA JUTANUGARN: It seemed like they got really excited about it and really happy. Right now they support me in like every tournament. It's not only me, but they're supporting and cheering all the Thai players. Q. In Gee, you came back and played on the Korean LPGA Tour this past week at the Hitejinro Championship. We understand that's your main sponsor. You had a relatively good finish and tied for fourth, but you also said that this was a good week for me because I found a little bit of problem in my swing. Can you tell us a little bit about that? IN GEE CHUN: Finishing fourth I thought I did pretty well. Given my Evian Championship, I think a lot of people had high expectations for me to come back and play well. I think I had a good tournament, but I also had some disappointing shots here and there, but regardless of that, many people came out and really cheered me on, so it was really good to see. You know, I'll continue to work through those problems this week. I haven't had an opportunity to go out and play the round yet, so tomorrow when I play in the pro-am, that will be the first time I'll be out on the golf course. But I think I have some things that I identified that I'll continue to work on to have a better result this week. Q. Lexi, the LPGA Tour is really only on North American soil six months of the year. The rest of the time you're playing in Asia, North America and Europe. How important do you think this international swing is to the prosperity of the Tour? Is it something the players struggle with, or do you really enjoy being on the road? LEXI THOMPSON: Well, the LPGA Tour, it's such a global tour right now. We do travel a lot overseas, and we have a lot of international players, but it's all about the talent that we bring to the table. Doesn't matter where we're from. But I think it's great for our Tour. Yes, I mean, we probably struggle with a little bit of the jet lag traveling to these tournaments, but I think it's great for growing our Tour, as well. We're gaining a lot of tournaments in the U.S., too, so that's what we really want. But we enjoy coming over here. We have a great fan base over here, and that's what we want to see. Q. So Yeon, most fans know that you are consistent and consistently playing well every week, but it is a bit disappointing obviously to yourself and the rest of the fans in Korea that you haven't won a tournament this year. Tell us a little bit about that, and I've also heard that you kind of focused yourself on one thing mentally and trained yourself coming into the tournament. What's the key point this week, and just give us your assessment for the season. SO YEON RYU: (Answer in Korean.) Q. Brooke, can you just say who you think is going to win this tournament, just your pick? THE MODERATOR: I think they all believe that they will win this tournament, so I think we will just wrap with that note. Thanks very much, everyone. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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