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KPMG WOMEN'S PGA CHAMPIONSHIPJune 26, 2018Danielle KangKildeer, Illinois THE MODERATOR: Happy to be here with our defending KPMG champion, Danielle Kang. We all remember Danielle birdied the 72nd hole last year at Olympia Fields to take a one-stroke victory over Brooke Henderson. She's competing in her 13th event of the LPGA season, finished second in Singapore and a fourth-place finish at the U.S. Women's Open and is playing in her eighth KPMG Women's PGA Championship. I saw the video you posted yesterday of pulling into your parking spot, seeing your face everywhere. We're a year later. Is it a bit of a surreal comeback for you here at KPMG? DANIELLE KANG: I don't know about the word surreal, but I love it. I'm everywhere, on the tickets. I'm on the pamphlets. I'm on the board as you drive in. My name is there. Pictures are everywhere. My favorite color is blue; it's everywhere. One of the players came up and goes, the vibe is really scary and I realize that you're the defending champion. But I love being back in Chicago. The golf course is super hard, and it reminds me a lot of Olympia Fields, and there's a lot of different type of shots you have to hit. So really excited. THE MODERATOR: You said you just walked of the golf course, and something we've heard so far today is that the finishing holes are particularly difficult. Do you maybe agree with that? DANIELLE KANG: Yes, there are a lot of water holes coming in. 15, long hole; 16 is a long hole, and you've got to -- it's like a 5-iron over the water but then the green is very -- like the width is very narrow. So not a lot of landing spots. And then 17, you've got that par-3 with the wind blowing into it and it's a long hole. If they ever tuck in that back, sometimes bogey might be a good score. And 18, it's like a wind left to right but it's a right-to-left hole. It's interesting, and I like it. It's a very challenging golf course. THE MODERATOR: So it sounds like it's a major-caliber golf course. DANIELLE KANG: Oh, 100 percent. I played yesterday nine holes, and I stood there, I go, I don't know what to do. But I felt like that at Olympia Fields, and my caddie and I worked out a lot of things. So I feel really good about it. THE MODERATOR: I'm going to take you back a year ago and say that the Danielle Kang that arrived at Olympia Fields is a different Danielle Kang that maybe what we have now. How have you changed over the last year? DANIELLE KANG: I think I'm pretty much the same except the fact that the only difference is I'm here to defend, and I think that's exciting. I haven't had something to defend on since the U.S. Amateur, and I'm just really excited to be back in this position. Not just winning it, but it's like, oh, I can go for back-to-back, and when I had that feel when I won the first U.S. Am, only thing I wanted to do was win that second one. I really like that feeling. I've just been looking forward to this event for the whole year, and I'm here. THE MODERATOR: Clearly it's a feeling that works for you because you've done it. DANIELLE KANG: I love it. I mean, it's just there's pressure, and I don't know, you're just the defending champion, and you know what it's like, you know what you've done, and I've just been preparing, and I'm here. Q. I know in the past sometimes you've reached out to other players to get insights about the course. Did you ask anybody about anything this week? DANIELLE KANG: Not particularly. A lot of people have voluntarily given me information about the golf course, but it kind of just went in one ear and out the other. Like I said to people, when I get to the golf course and I see it and then I talk to Trey or Justin -- I need to see the golf course before I could understand what they're talking about. But for me, majorly, I don't know anybody that's actually a member here. I don't know of the players are really from here, I think. A lot of my friends have played it because there was a Web.com tournament not too long ago and they just came out and played Kemper Lakes. They texted me, like D, it's a ball striker's golf course, and they've just been giving me positive feedback like that, or it's a lot of bunkers there and stuff like that. Q. It's been almost 30 years since there was a PGA played here when Payne Stewart won his first major. What would it be like to be the second player to win a PGA Championship here at Kemper Lakes and maybe sort of be linked with Payne in that little historical page? DANIELLE KANG: For me, I think winning in any venue at any time and being compared to the best, and any type of history that you make is just an honor, and it's just what we play for, and we practice, and we just ready for that moment. Any time that I get compared to a legend, whether it's Payne Stewart, to Annika, to Jim Furyk won it at Olympia, it's incredible that we just get to keep on living this legacy, and if I can be a part of it just by being here, I think that's amazing. Q. Danielle, you withdrew a couple weeks ago; how is your health? What happened, and how are you now? DANIELLE KANG: I pulled a muscle briefly, so I wasn't feeling that great already starting in the week. I didn't want to say that like then because I just wanted to come back to being 100 percent before I told people that I have not feeling well, but I was pretty worn out from the U.S. Open. You guys know how I play; it's so emotional. I'm so dramatic. But after the U.S. Open I'm so tired, and when I went home I couldn't sleep for some reason, so I couldn't get enough rest. I was exhausted, I was lagging, and then I got to the tournament late, and I still couldn't sleep. I pulled a muscle as soon as I hit it out of the rough, and it wasn't feeling good, and my caddie and I were talking and I kept trying to fight it, but there was just no point. I was like, you know what, I would rather just rest and give my body a break, go back to 100 percent and get ready to compete. So right on schedule. Q. You're 100 percent? DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, I'm good now. I just needed to sleep. I hibernated. I WD'd and I slept 18 hours, 20 hours, and 11 hours. Like I only got up to eat one meal a day. I was so tired from -- for some reason, I don't know why. But still, yeah, I'm good now. Q. And you were just talking about how you're an emotional player. Last year at this championship you did seem like you were pretty even keel, more so than normal. Did you feel that way? DANIELLE KANG: Oh, I was so emotional. I was so upset on 10 that I three-putted. I will never forget how upset I was that I dropped down the leaderboard because I three-putted from like 20 feet. Q. How did you get that back and not beat yourself up the rest of the way? DANIELLE KANG: That three-putt actually fixed my putting for the rest of the day because I was standing there, I go, how in the world did you three-putt from there, and then I'm thinking to myself, okay, let's learn from it, because I'm just raging at this point, and I go, what happened. And then I started thinking about what I could do to fix it, and I go, oh, yeah, that's what causes that, and then the next hole dropped a birdie, and I'm like, there it goes. Then the next hole, dropped a birdie. And I just kept pushing through. At that point I already just -- now I know what the rhythm feels like, and then I'm like, okay, now it's game on. I was just so frustrated. But yeah, those are the emotions that -- if somebody says does it affect you, I don't think it's ever affected me in a negative way, I just know how to control it. So I do get mad. I do get mad. I get really mad, but then I know how to sooth it on my own and try to bounce back from it. But I'm not a player that's going to be calm -- Q. You'll never be Inbee? DANIELLE KANG: I mean, she's just chill, like so chill. I think she's chill on and off the golf course, though. Q. Danielle, you mentioned being exhausted from the U.S. Open, and here we get here, Kemper Lakes. This area last week had four inches of rain. It's a long golf course, they're playing it a little over 6,700 yards. You're an aggressive player; you hit it longer than most. What kind of advantage can that be for you this week? DANIELLE KANG: No my caddie on the last playing in today, he told me, this is the furthest left you're going, and I challenge it and I go even more left, like I draw it around, and it's a dogleg left, and he's like, I will kill you if you do that. I go, well, I mean, I've just got to see how far I can push it. But aggressiveness, I think what my caddie does a really great job is he knows when to take me back and say, we're going to go to the middle. Him and I are talking a lot about what pins I can attack, and one of the advantages I do have is I'm very good at shaping shots and placing the ball where I wanted it to place and just giving myself birdie chances. So I think that's just my game plan. It's to stay aggressive when you have to stay aggressive, and even -- you're right, with drivers, there are a lot of holes where you can hit 3-woods and stuff like that, but I just send it and see where it ends up. If it goes in the fairway bunker, I have no problem out of there, so I'll just go into it, and middle of the green and try to make some putts. Q. Christina asked you about how you've changed and you were talking about personally. How have you changed as a golfer the last year? What kind of confidence did this win give you? DANIELLE KANG: I think -- well, a lot of people asked me how I've changed. I hope I didn't change as a person. But it just definitely gave me -- I always say it gave me more of a freedom. Before I was very frustrated and I was given by frustration just to get it out of the way, but now I'm just driven just to be in contention and just kind of enjoying the game again, and I like being the center of attention. I like having the crowds, I like being in that final group, and coming down the stretch, whether it's in Bahamas, Singapore, U.S. Open, I like being in that hunt, and I think it's just a different way of approaching the game instead of wanting to get something over and done with just because I'm so frustrated versus just actually enjoying playing, and I love playing. It's kind of nice. Q. In a field this talented and on a stage this big, how much of a tournament like this is mental and keeping that all in check, especially as the rounds go on? DANIELLE KANG: I think it's crucial to keep it -- yeah, your mental game is crucial during majors especially because you're going to make simple mistakes. Like I said at Olympia Fields, if you three-putt from 10 feet and you're in the lead, either you're going to break down or you're going to have to get yourself together, and how you do it is just you've got to figure that out. At even majors, each shot is so crucial. You take your mind off of one and you hit it in a place that you never want to, double is just around the corner. I think just mental exhaustion is pretty -- that's why I'm so tired after majors is you have to think so much about the shot, the grain, the lie, how it's going to come out, what kind of putt you're going to leave yourself, all of that. And then on top of that, if it doesn't work out, you have to be okay with it and then give yourself another chance instead of being down on yourself. I think mental game is very, very crucial for major championships. Q. Danielle, what was your first reaction when you heard that Brittany was going to play in Lexington next month? DANIELLE KANG: I thought that was awesome. I was jealous. I want to play. I want to play. I played a bit with my brother. I get shots, but still. I thought that was an amazing thing. I always liked see different types of golf and different opportunities. I think she'll have a lot of fun. I saw her in the locker room and I told her -- I screamed, I'm like, oh, my God, how exciting, you're going to have so much fun. She's like, yeah, and then I guess there was some talk about -- I don't know, you can't make everybody happy, right? There's always going to be critics, and I don't know what the bad critic was about, but I told her, hey, you know what, at the end of the day, you're going to learn how I feel when I play with you. I'm literally 60 behind you. So unless -- she hits it far, so if she does play with a far hitting -- I'm like, I hope you know how it feels, but have fun, though. I'm like, I have driver, 5-iron sometimes; you have driver, 9-iron. Now maybe you'll appreciate us a little bit, Brittany. She's like, oh, my dear Lord. Q. How closely will you follow that? DANIELLE KANG: I'm not sure. I don't even know when the tournament is. When is it? Q. Same week as the men's British Open. DANIELLE KANG: I'll watch it. Q. Does it make you think, maybe I should try that before I'm through? DANIELLE KANG: Of course. I'm always open to trying new things. I mean, why not? I mean, I don't -- some people were saying, well, would you guys let a PGA TOUR player on your Tour? I'm like, I don't know, why not? Come play. I don't know, who cares, just have fun. It's just one tournament. At the end of the day, we play like 34 a year. What does it matter what happened in 2013 in August? I can't think that far back. Live in the moment, have fun. If you have the opportunity and if you've ever given yourself the opportunity, I think that's an amazing thing. Q. The club here has nicknamed holes 16, 17 and 18 the Gauntlet. Do you feel that the player that wins this week will probably have played the Gauntlet holes maybe the best over the four days? DANIELLE KANG: What's a gauntlet? Q. The Gauntlet is the nickname of the last three holes. They're kind of tough with water and sand, and they've nicknamed it the Gauntlet. I was wondering if 16 through 18 could be the key to the championship, surviving the Gauntlet. DANIELLE KANG: Are you asking me the key from 16 through 18 -- Q. Might the key to winning be the player that plays those last three holes the best? DANIELLE KANG: I don't think so. I mean, we play 72 holes, and you're just naming the 12 holes. So out of the 60 other ones, they've still got to play that, and that's pretty stressful. I think you've just got to play good golf from day one, first hole, to the 72nd hole. But you're right, the 72nd hole is very tough. Sometimes it comes down to the last hole. But I don't really -- I don't know. I mean, mistakes happen whether it's the easiest hole or the hardest hole. As long as it's got a fairway and a green. Q. I have a follow on that. So when you're reviewing a tournament that you've just finished, do you look at how you played the seventh hole on Thursday and a mistake you might have made there and give it as much weight as maybe a putt you missed on the last hole that everybody is going to remember? Rory a few weeks ago said, like I don't get this idea of you win or lose the tournament on the last nine holes. He said something similar to you, like it's a 72-hole event, they all matter. I'm wondering how you see a Thursday mistake in the grand scheme of things when most people might be just focusing on that Sunday mishap. DANIELLE KANG: I mean, someone told me yesterday the key to happiness is not to ever look in the past when something bad happens, right? I mean, if it happened, it happened, but you can learn from it. But I don't think you have to be afraid of the mistake that you made. If I pulled it and it went in the hazard, then maybe I'll just aim in the hazard and play a slice. I mean, it depends -- someone goes, don't do that again. I go, I can't help it if I do. I'm human. But I'm going to do the best I can to avoid the mistake. But I think thinking of the mistakes -- I don't know, since I was young, when I stood on the tee and someone goes, don't tell me the hazard, don't tell me the OB. I go, why, there's OB there, there's hazard there. You can already see it. Just play the center. There's a fairway, too. So I think if you're afraid of it, you're going to probably make the same mistake again because of the fear, but I think it's just -- you're going to have to kind of move on. If you make a mistake, that's where the mental game comes in. We talked earlier about mental mistakes at majors, and you're going to make mistakes and you're going to have to learn to get over it as quick as possible but learn from it, as well. Yeah. THE MODERATOR: I just read a nice piece that came out in Golf World about you, and you mentioned you work with UNICEF and that a lot of it came out of what happened last year. Tell us about your new partnership with UNICEF and what you're doing with them. DANIELLE KANG: So well we have a long -- UNICEF is something I've been dreaming of since I was a kid, and there's a long back story to that. But I approached them after I won the KPMG. I got a conference, and I met with them, and they're just such a wonderful company that I've wanted to be a part of the organizations that they support, the children's lives all around the world, and they're so efficient, and they've just been around for so long that I have so much to learn. At the end of the day, I told them that I don't want to be just an ambassador, I don't want to be just the face of UNICEF. Like I want people to think of it as a part of my brand. If you see me, you think of Adidas. You see me, and I want them to think of UNICEF. If I can raise awareness, then that's just what I wanted to do. It's something that I need to get better at, as well, and I'm very blessed with the things that I have in my life, but we just kind of forget how blessed we are, and we just kind of have to be aware of what's going on around the world. I met with some kids down in San Francisco after. We're going to try to do -- they're going to set me up to go to like a mission or to visit certain areas, and I have adopted some kids out of World Vision when I was 14, all that kind of things, and if there's anything I can do to make one life difference, I just think I did something, and golf has given me the opportunity to do that. I'm really appreciative and honored that they took me on. I'm really excited. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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