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THE GREENBRIER CLASSIC

July 8, 2018

Kevin Na

White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia

JOHN BUSH: We'll get started. We'd like to welcome the 2018 champion of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier, Kevin Na. Kevin, congratulations on your second PGA TOUR victory. I know it's been a long time coming, 158 starts since you won at the Shriners. If we could just get some comments on being back in the winner's circle.

KEVIN NA: It's an amazing feeling. I've waited a long time for this. Lot of close calls, lot of disappointments. I wasn't sure if it was going to come again. I was hoping it would, sooner than later, but my game was starting to feel really good this year. It was a so-so year last year, and my game really started turning around this year, and I felt like it was going to come soon.

I was thinking I was going to win one before the year was over and here it is.

JOHN BUSH: And you move up to No. 18 in the FedExCup standings. Really setting you up well for the home stretch heading into the FedExCup playoffs.

KEVIN NA: Yeah, I mean, I always look at the FedExCup numbers. The goal is to get to the last tournament, the TOUR Championship. A win here, obviously, boosted me all the way to 18. I've got to keep playing well, keep doing well in the playoffs, and maybe another W in the playoffs, and I could take the FedExCup home.

JOHN BUSH: You made an emotional heartfelt message there on CBS. Comment on what it means to win and do it for your Korean fans.

KEVIN NA: I'm an American, but of Korean decent. I call myself Korean American. And I speak both languages fluently. I have fans from both the U.S. and Korea, and I felt like I didn't want to leave the Korean fans out. Just a nice thank you to the Korean fans in Korea that are watching, and my brother actually commentate's for the PGA TOUR, not a lot, but, you know, I think eight to ten tournaments a year. He used to do more, but I thanked him, and the SBS Golf that broadcasts in Korea, so I thanked them too.

Q. Your caddie, Kenny, walking out of the scoring trailer said a lot of people don't realize how much you've been through in the last couple years, I guess. Could you kind of talk about that?
KEVIN NA: Oh, I won't (laughing). Sorry, but obviously he's talking about something besides golf, and some people know, some people don't. Right now I just want to just live this moment right now.

Q. Then your putt on -- was it 13 where you gave the fist pump for the par putt, was that a pivotal moment for you?
KEVIN NA: 14 was it. Yes, it was. The hole before I hit a nice up-and-down. It was about a four-footer, and I felt pretty comfortable there. But 14, I'm actually staying -- I stayed in the house behind 14 green to a couple named Vince and Eva, they hosted me this week, friends of Kenny's. I hit a putt. I thought it had a chance of going in.

Kenny said, go. He thought I left it short, and it rolled out five feet past the hole, and he and I looked and we were shocked. Here I was, chance for a birdie, and then I thought I was going to have tap-in and now I had a five-footer. I had to collect myself and say, oh, my God, I've got to get myself together and make this par putt. And I felt like that was the key putt to an easy walk up 18.

Q. Of course the key stretch was 4 through 10. Talk about what you felt like through there, because it seemed, A, like you couldn't miss and all your shots were really crisp.
KEVIN NA: I mean, this golf course has changed from Friday. Saturday and Sunday played really hard. I mean, these greens were rock hard. Some of these pins you couldn't get to. But I hit some great shots, and the putter was just hot. I got over putts. And Kenny and I were agreeing on a lot of lines, and I started every one of them right online, and they were just pouring in. It was just one of those days that I felt great over the ball, and everything was going in.

Q. You hadn't been here since before the floods in 2016. Did you notice any differences in the course that may have been impacted by the natural weather events?
KEVIN NA: Definitely. They redid a lot of the greens, and the greens changed. The slopes, some of the bunkering had changed. I thought they did a fantastic job of changing some of the holes. When I played a practice round, Kenny and I talked about how I like the golf course even more with the changes.

Q. I know this is a little off the beaten path. You won the Scott Robertson back-to-back in Roanoke, not far from here in 2000, and 2001. I'm just curious if you could reflect on that what that did for your career as a junior?
KEVIN NA: The first year I won it, it was the first national TOUR I ever won in Roanoke. The next year I defended. I remember those -- I actually talked about this with Johnson Wagner, and obviously he went to Virginia Tech, and he watched me win my second Scott Robertson in Roanoke. He was in college.

He said he came out, his coach wanted some of his guys to go watch and look at some of the players to recruit. He wasn't trying to recruit me or anything, but he said his friends were out there having a beer, and they were cheering me on. I was fist pumping everywhere, and we actually talked about that tournament the first two rounds when I was paired with him.

Yeah, that was the start of my career. I think I was 15 when I first won a Scott Robertson, and I was 16 when I won the second Scott Robertson. Not far from here. I believe there is a tree planted with my name on it.

Q. Beginning of the day you began only one shot back. What was your mindset arriving at the practice range, getting ready, and then once you hit that first tee?
KEVIN NA: I tried not to think about winning. Obviously it seems like I've always tried too hard. I know it's -- I mean, how do you say you tried too hard? What is the difference the fine line between trying too hard and letting it happen? Definitely thinking about that trophy. I was definitely thinking about winning. But I was trying to stay in the moment. I felt really good. I felt relaxed, and I tried -- the front nine I didn't really look at the leaderboard. I mean, sometimes it's so big that it catches your eye. But I really didn't look at it.

Then the back nine I was seeing how many shots I had lead because sometimes your play changes. But I just felt great. I just felt relaxed.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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