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KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 2, 2017Danielle KangOlympia Fields, Illinois CHRISTINA LANCE: Welcome back to our final press conference from the KPMG women's PGA Championship, and it's my pleasure to introduce our 2017 Champion, Danielle Kang. 69,66, 68, 68 to take the title. Became the first to birdie 18 to take the win since Meg Mallon in 1991. You've put yourself in great company here. You're the fourth player from the U.S. to win this year and the season's first Rolex first-time winner. That's a really big trophy next to you. Has it sunk yet, Danielle? DANIELLE KANG: It hasn't fully sunk in yet but this trophy is really heavy. I'm really happy. This trophy, I won a big one, too. Big and heavy. It's a sturdy little guy. CHRISTINA LANCE: That's a good problem to have. So when you walked to 18, you have the nice approach shot in to give yourself two putts to win. You talked about feeling the nerves and using that as a push for you. How were you feeling as you stood over those putts on 18? DANIELLE KANG: The first putt, I was just more worried about, you know, getting that speed right, because it was kind of gusty. But the second putt, let me tell you, that was the hardest two-footer I've ever had to putt. I had to tell myself, "Danielle, you don't miss 2-footers, so just putt it." It was pretty nerve-wracking, but I just did it. CHRISTINA LANCE: And immediately we saw you call your mom over. You've already been Facetiming with your brother, and we know you're so close to your father that I'm sure he's incredibly proud of you, as well. What does it mean to have your mom there with you to share the moment? DANIELLE KANG: You know, she doesn't come out to many tournaments, actually. She always says, "I come out to important ones," like Bahamas, Hawai'i; it always falls into that category for some reason (laughter). She decided to come out to this one. I'm so blessed to have her with me, my first win, and for her to witness it, because she actually didn't get to watch me win the Ams. She wasn't there for that. But I'm sure that my dad was with me every step of the way like he usually is, and I just am so glad that my mom was just right outside the ropes asking me if I want -- you know, if I'm hungry. That's what moms are there for. It was pretty incredible. CHRISTINA LANCE: Well, she's proud of you, and we are, as well. Q. For those of us who never met him, tell us about your father. DANIELLE KANG: He is, wow, I'm speechless. He's just the kind of guy -- he doesn't talk much. However, when he does say something, it means a lot. And he's the kind of guy that is very positive, and anything is possible. So I always looked at him as like, he's magical, because he feels that I can do anything. And my mom believes in me, as much as he did. He's just such a confident guy, and he's like a rock to me, and he just makes me who I am. He just -- I don't know, I mean, I hope that I just resemble some parts of his qualities, so that I can say -- hopefully, I can say, I'm somewhat like my dad and somewhat like my mom. I just wish you could have met him. Q. If there's one story you could tell the world about him, what would it be? DANIELLE KANG: Oh, there's not just one. There's a lot. He's the one that gave me so much confidence in golf. And he bought me a TV because I made a 4-footer one time. He won -- actually, this is a funny story. We won the U.S. Amateur, and you get a ring. And he kept the first U.S. Amateur ring. And my mom, was like, "Okay, but where's mine? You don't get two." And on the second U.S. Amateur, we're walking down the 13th fairway, and that was our last hole. And he's pushing the cart, and he goes, "If I wear two, that would be a little ridiculous, right?" I go, "Dad, just give mom one." He goes, "Okay, we can give your mom one." I just loved him. Because first of all, it's not over yet. Second of all, he goes, "I think it would be a little too ridiculous to wear multiple rings. Let's just give it to your mom." I go, "Well, were you going to keep both of them?" He's just a funny guy like that. You can ask him anything, and he'll answer with true honesty. He's very a very honest and -- what do you call, just honorable man. Q. I noticed you sort of started laughing as you hit the approach on 13. Do you remember what was going through your mind there? Looked like you said something to your caddie. DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, so I kept consistently pulling my shots a little bit, and he would tell me, "Hey, Danielle, I need you to hit this 126." I go, "Okay." And the minute I hit it, I go, "That's 126 just left." And I kept saying left, I kept ending up on the left side. And finally, we were talking about how we want the pins to end up on the left side so I could hit it close. And then on 13, the pin was on the left side, and I aim right and I go, "Oh, let's just play a cut." And I go, what are you doing? And it just -- so I ended up on the right side. I go, that is the one time you should be pulling. It was kind of funny. Q. And then the other thing, did you have some sort of problem with your ball on the fourth green? I noticed you called a rules official over. DANIELLE KANG: Yes, there was a pebble stuck in my ball, and he said that it's a removable object or -- he said, you could take it out as cleaning the ball. But I'm like, "There's a pebble sticking out of my ball," I said. He said, "You can take it out, but it doesn't consider as a cut or replacing the ball." So I said, "Okay, I guess I'm putting with a Pebble in my ball." It is what it is. Q. Just the putting today, was pretty remarkable. Not only a lot of birdies, but you had a really clutch par putt down the stretch. Talk about, you know, what the feeling was and why the putting worked so well. DANIELLE KANG: Honestly the front nine I was having a little bit of difficulty trying to make the birdie putts. I gave myself a lot of opportunity, and on the back nine, I 3-putted the first hole, the 10th hole, and that was actually the turning point for me. Because I didn't realize I was hitting my putts that firm, and I was kind of upset about it. So I told -- but my caddie was like, don't worry about it. You're putting great and you're rolling it great and I said, "You know what, if I'm going to 3-putt from 20 feet, might as well learn from it. Let just not hit it as hard. My lines are great. I'm rolling it great. So just back off a little bit." And then the next hole, I stuck to my line, stuck to my routine and then I just took a little speed off, and then after that, just kept on going in. Q. No. 16, take us through that hole, a crucial one as it turned out, and help us with the distance on that putt, your par save. DANIELLE KANG: I don't know how long that was. How long was it? Do you know? Q. We were guessing it was 15? DANIELLE KANG: Oh, it was way longer than that. It was only 21? It looked like a 50-footer to me. Q. Take us through that hole, if you could. DANIELLE KANG: Okay. Well, I didn't realize that it was going to be that fast of a chip. So I kind of misjudged the read and the speed. Hence, why you have a 25-footer left to come back as a par putt. But when you're rolling the ball that well, you have this confidence that whatever you look at, you've just got to stick to it and roll and know you're going to make it. And I wasn't actually stressed about it. I saw my line and my speed readjusted itself after No. 10, and after that, I just knew it was in. So ball left the putter face, and I'm like, that's in the center of the cup. Q. How has winning after going through some struggles and challenges, maybe made this more meaningful, than had you come out as a rookie and won right away? DANIELLE KANG: I don't know what it would have felt like to win right away as a rookie. However, if I could wish anything, I would wish that my dad saw me win. But I think that it's been a really difficult road for me for the past four or five years, and it's life, though. You have to like pick yourself up and you have to keep working hard at it, and then believe in what you're doing, and not letting yourself down. And I just know that he's here for it. What are the odds that my first win is a major. I'm pretty sure he had something to do with it. It's just incredible. But I know that he was there, because I felt -- I felt him with me every day, and I still do. Over the last putt, for some reason, I remembered him telling me, "I'll buy you a TV if you make this 4-footer at the U.S. Am." (Tearing up) I remembered it. So I wasn't even worried about the putt. I was just remembering what he said to me, and it didn't really matter. CHRISTINA LANCE: Thank you for that. DANIELLE KANG: Sorry. CHRISTINA LANCE: This is you. We thank you. Q. I'm just curious how you slept last night, fairly high-strung person. And what did you do this morning to sort of prepare? DANIELLE KANG: I did not sleep, at all. You do know me; I'm very high-strung. I was so excited for today to come, and I wanted to tee off so badly, that I imagined playing the golf course so many times in my mind that I couldn't stop thinking about Olympia Fields. I never sleep with the TV on, never sleep with music on, but I had to turn something on so I can get my mind off. And I probably went to bed around 1:00 A.M., and I never wake up early without an alarm. Woke up at 6:00 A.M., ready to go. And I go, "You need to go back to bed: I took a nap again. This morning, it's the same as usual. I read a book, and I had some time, just stretch and did my usual routine to tee off. Nothing different. Q. And then I know that after your dad died, you kept a journey and you would write notes to him? DANIELLE KANG: Every day. Q. Are you still doing that? DANIELLE KANG: Every day. Q. Can I ask what you've shared with him this week? DANIELLE KANG: I didn't write much this week. I just said, "hal su-issda" (Korean), meaning like, "we can do it." And he used to tell me, like, "You trust me." And I kept saying that to him, "Just trust me, I got it." I said, "Just keep watching. I got it." And I said that to him this morning, too. Q. As a pianist, what handicap do you think you would be on? DANIELLE KANG: Huh? Q. You're a pianist, right? DANIELLE KANG: Oh, yeah, yeah. Q. What handicap do you think you would be on? DANIELLE KANG: What handicap? Q. How well do you play? DANIELLE KANG: Like on a piano? I'd say I was under par. I'm not anymore. I mean, I don't know, solid 3. Q. So a scratch amateur. DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, I would be a good single-digit amateur on the piano. Q. What's the most difficult piece you can play? DANIELLE KANG: I don't know the names. We just have Mozart, Vivaldi just all sitting at home. I'm Asian; you're going to have a piano in the house, right. Not just one, multiples, and we all have those little classical music books. But I don't know the names of it. But I don't play as well as my brother, though, and he plays this one piece incredibly, and I'm still trying to learn it, and I think Bach wrote it. Not 100 percent sure. Q. And how often do you practice these days? DANIELLE KANG: Not that often. I play it once in a while when I walk by it in the morning or at night. When I'm at home, I play quite often. But not -- I wouldn't sit there and practice and grind. I kind of want to relax, and my dog's barking at me. It's just a lot of hassle. Q. We know you've talked to your brother already. What kind of messages did you have on your phone when you pulled it out, and have you heard from anyone interesting? DANIELLE KANG: I haven't unclicked it yet, but it's just -- I (controlling through countless messages on cell phone). I haven't gone out of it yet. I haven't read any of these quite yet. It's incredible, and I really am sorry to all these people. I will get back to you as soon as possible. I haven't seen taken a single picture with my phone yet. It's still going. It's still going (still scrolling message alerts) and only reason I could have answered my brother, because he kept calling, so I just got it when he was calling. But yeah, I'm guessing that -- oh, Dustin. Dustin said, "That's how you're supposed to play." (Laughter). Q. Johnson, right? DANIELLE KANG: Yeah. CHRISTINA LANCE: From one Major winner to another. DANIELLE KANG: He said, "That's how you're supposed to play, congrats." He said he's proud. And Wayne Gretzky texted me, as well; Caitlyn Jenner, all the players out here, a lot of support, Janet Gretzky, Marcus Allen. It just keeps going. I'm not sure. I didn't know I knew this many people. Brody Jenner. He said he's so f'ing proud of me." CHRISTINA LANCE: It's got to be a good feeling for you. Anything further for our champion? Q. What's the Jon Lovitz? He was on television. DANIELLE KANG: I love Jon. Was he Tweeting? Q. Yes. How do you know him? DANIELLE KANG: Sherwood. I know everybody from Sherwood. Yeah, John's a funny guy. When I used to practice, he just sits by when I'm on the range. He just sits there and goes, "Just breathe, like eating a French fry." I go, "You don't make sense." But no, he's a great guy. CHRISTINA LANCE: Thank you very, very much to our newest Major Champion, Danielle Kang. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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