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SHELL HOUSTON OPEN

March 31, 2017

Sung Kang

Humble, Texas

ROYCE THOMPSON: Sung, that was an incredible round out there for you. You set a new low 36-hole record for this tournament. And I mean, you know, you shot 60 earlier this year. This round has to feel pretty good.

SUNG KANG: Oh, yeah. I had a great round actually, little better than yesterday. I putted pretty good yesterday, putted really good today, plus I teed off the first off, and the greens are just pure, nobody really had them. The putter just kept making the putts and happened and happened and happened. It was a fun day.

Q. Where do back-to-back rounds like this come from? You played okay last week, solidly. Can you put your arms around why this happens in golf?
SUNG KANG: It's all about putting. Sometimes we have a bunch of putts in the first round. Second round doesn't go as much as the first round. Today I actually putted even better than yesterday, which is kind of rare. It rarely happens like this. Just happens, so I'll just take it.

Q. You caught a bit of a bad break on the last hole yesterday by not -- you said it was a spike mark threw your ball off. Being on the last hole, you had to think about that all night. Obviously didn't bother you --
SUNG KANG: Not really. I shot 65. I missed like --

Q. Could have been --
SUNG KANG: First round, who cares?

Q. Obviously it didn't bother you. You can't let that bother you.
SUNG KANG: No, I didn't think anything. I talked to my coach and, I don't know, just kind of talking about him.

Q. At any point in this round did you kind of think, man, this is pretty incredible right now?
SUNG KANG: Not really. I was 6-under par for 13, 14. Then I made one birdie on 16 and eagle 17, just happened, just really fast. I didn't really think about it.

Q. Is that kind of how you felt the whole day, just kind of kept rolling along, weren't thinking about what you were doing?
SUNG KANG: I felt something on the different last tee. I was talking to my caddie, Jason. This is the last hole. I want to play about ten more holes now because I'm ready to go.

Q. So what's been more impressive, what you did through 36 holes here or shooting 64 at Bethpage Black, which is a course record, or shooting a course record 60 at Monterey Peninsula?
SUNG KANG: I mean 60 at the Monterey Peninsula -- after we finished, I didn't know I thought 60 because we thought the course record was -- didn't even know what the par was. We thought we shot 61. My amateur partner, Ray Romano, said, "You almost shot 59." I was like, "Really? I don't think so." We checked the score, I shot 60.

Bethpage Black, last day, I laid good on the first round. I played pretty poorly second and third round and almost first up on Sunday, and I was about like 110 in FedEx, so I need to have a good round. Shooting at every flag and played really well and got to the second playoff. That was really a really good round for me because actually made me to get through the second FedExCup playoff.

And today -- I mean, normally after shooting low in the first round, it's kind of hard to shoot low again in the second round. So -- and I did it, which is kind of rarely happens. All three times I think pretty impressive. Those three rounds are really nice, I'd say.

Q. Obviously you've proven you can score very low. What's keeping you from taking that, making it more consistent and being one of the top players in the game?
SUNG KANG: Like my coach and I were trying -- so I always try to shoot -- I always hit it long and straight enough. I always have trouble with iron play and also putting. My putting was not bad last year. We've been working so hard on my iron play. It keeps getting better. I still was hitting irons so much better, but I didn't putt well through last week. My putting stats were like maybe 200 and some in rank and just was putting way better this week.

Q. That was my next question: Why, just happens?
SUNG KANG: Just happens. I just changed my putter and happened.

Q. Did change putters. Care to share that?
SUNG KANG: Yeah. One of my buddies, Sean "Moline." He just gave me -- last couple months he says, "You got to use this putter, this putter is going to work really good. If you want to succeed, you use that."

"I'll give it a try." That's what I told him last week. And this Monday he gave me the putter and rolled it. It was rolling pretty good actually starting on line a little bit better. I think that's why I'm having more confidence, starting more on line. I normally read the greens pretty good now. I can trust the line and just put the speed on, and it just goes in.

Q. First time you used it in competition was here?
SUNG KANG: Yup. I never use other than Titleist putter the last ten years. So I was kind of not feeling very good changing it. And then the guys -- my coach they're just pushing. "Use this putter, use this one." Working out great.

Q. How did you get connected with Ray Romano as your playing partner?
SUNG KANG: Just random. Just random.

Q. You keep in touch at all?
SUNG KANG: I saw him this year and, I mean, we'll play some golf when I'm in L.A. because I go to L.A. a lot in wintertime. I live in Dallas. The winter gets cold here. I go to L.A. a lot. I play some golf with him in L.A. in maybe December, whatever, before the season.

Q. Will he text you and say, "Hey, nice playing"?
SUNG KANG: Not the last couple days. He said, "Good playing" -- I don't remember.

Q. How long have you been working with your teacher and can you speak to his style of swing and what he teaches and how much fun he's making the game?
SUNG KANG: His name George Gankas. It's been seven months I've been working with him. And then I had some troubles with the driver, like hooking a lot, and then he teaches a lot of rotation things, the body rotation, so that takes the left out of the play for me and I gain a little bit of speed. That's why I have an advantage off the tee, hitting a little further than average and hitting a lot of fairways. But last fall I couldn't get that advantage. My iron play wasn't as good as my tee ball. Even when I put it in the fairway further down, I couldn't hit it close enough to the green. And then last couple months I've been starting hitting it closer, but my putting wasn't working.

This week I'm doing everything really good, driving it good, hitting it close enough and making some putts. And today I didn't hit it as good as yesterday, but I made a lot of putts from like 20, 25 feet.

Q. How many, would you guess?
SUNG KANG: Four, five today.

Q. 20, 25 feet?
SUNG KANG: Over 25 feet.

Q. Put yourself in Rickie Fowler's head. You shoot 64 yesterday and leading the tournament. One round, so what? He comes out and now he's 7 shots back. What does that do to you as a golfer? What does that do to his end?
SUNG KANG: I don't know. It's him. It's not me.

Q. What does it do to you?
SUNG KANG: This afternoon plays different from morning play. Wind is going to blow a little bit more, things a little bit firmer. Conditions not going to be as good as the morning.

It is very hard to go aggressive on it. Just play my game. If I play well, good. If I don't, I'm going to try to do my best. Try to catch something really doesn't work very often.

Q. I'm assuming this will be the biggest lead you'll ever have to protect in a PGA Tournament. Granted, the day is only half over. Who knows what it's going to be then. Have you led through two rounds anyplace?
SUNG KANG: Yeah, in Asia. Not on PGA TOUR. I don't think so. I don't remember.

Q. You left the Tour for awhile to go back to play the Asian Tour?
SUNG KANG: I played on PGA TOUR on '11, '12. I was Web.com in Asia, '13, '14, and '15. Got my card back in '16.

Q. Were you ever discouraged to the point where you thought this wasn't going to be your life?
SUNG KANG: Not really. I mean, like no, I always wanted to play golf on PGA TOUR. I'm just living my dream, having fun, really enjoying it. I actually love the game of golf so --

Q. Whatever, right, wherever you're playing, you're happy.
SUNG KANG: Yeah. Next ten more years.

Q. You're really loving it today. You mentioned putter change earlier this week on Monday. Was that instantaneous? Did it take a lot of practice for you to feel more confident? This is what I'm going with, this makes me better?
SUNG KANG: This is making me crazy. Keep asking about changing problem. I don't want to make my friend feeling good about changing the putter. I didn't practice that much with the putter. I didn't do anything different. Probably greens are just perfect here. I would have still putt like this with my old putter.

Q. What's the brand.
SUNG KANG: The new one? TaylorMade Spider.

Q. The old one was?
A Titleist Scotty Cameron. I've been using Titleist for like ten years. Never really used the other putters. They're like just --

Q. No technical reason you can give us for why this putter was all of a sudden magical, based on any of your physiology, anything you can put --
SUNG KANG: It's not putter. I'm just putting better this week.

Q. Over the last two years here, you've only had one round of par, that was over-par. Is there something about this course that suits your game or are you just playing really well this week?
SUNG KANG: I didn't know. I'm just -- as I said, after I changed -- my ball-striking stats got better. Last year my ball-striking wasn't as good as now. My ball-striking was outside of 100, and this year I'm inside of top 50, I think with driving and irons, things like that. All this changed everything the opposite. My putting and short game was better than my ball-striking. This year my ball-striking is way better than my putting, and it's a little bit backwards. This course there's a lot of water. Got to hit a lot of fairways. Hit good shots plus to making some putts. That's why I think I've been playing a lot better. Last year I hit it in the water a bunch of times out here.

Q. The Masters is now staring you in the face. Any thoughts on that?
SUNG KANG: Not really. I mean if I go, good. If I don't go, I don't really care. I care but not -- I'm not really going to go try to win. I keep playing like how.

Q. You didn't come in here saying I got to win this tournament so I can play the Masters?
SUNG KANG: It's not in my head. I'll go play. Whatever happens, happens.

Q. Two of the last three champions here qualified here on the last possible day. Makes an interesting thought.
SUNG KANG: Okay. Hopefully nobody really say that. Me, I don't want to know.

Q. Sorry.
ROYCE THOMPSON: Any more questions? Thanks for joining us, Sung.

SUNG KANG: Thanks, guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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