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LPGA KEB HANABANK CHAMPIONSHIP

October 14, 2018

In Gee Chun

Incheon, South Korea

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the media center here at Sky 72 Ocean Course.

Here I have In Gee Chun, winner of the LPGA KEB HanaBank Championship. She started the day two strokes behind the lead, and completed the fourth round two strokes ahead of the field, and a back-to-back win after her win at the UL International Crown.

You must be feeling a lot of emotions right now. How sweet was this victory today?

IN GEE CHUN: When my win was finalized, all the difficult struggles that I have gone through the past years kind of went before me, and all the faces of the people who kept on believing in me went by, and so I teared up constantly.

So I'm going to try hard not to cry during this media interview but I'm exhilarated. I'm so happy.

THE MODERATOR: You have two previous wins, and both of them majors. This is your first non-major victory. Can you talk about some of the difficulties that you had over the past couple of seasons, and who helped you over come them.

IN GEE CHUN: I think naturally for some reason, I thought this my third win would also be a major. Of course, that doesn't mean that I didn't focus or I didn't want to win at other events. I wanted to win and I did focus at these other events.

Looking back at the quote, unquote, difficult times, I think it wasn't just one particular moment. I think it was those small negative thoughts and feelings that started to creep up, and sometimes those thoughts and feelings would push me down further.

I think my family, my management team, all the people who care for me and support me, I think it was a really difficult time for them because of me. I'm just really happy to be able to win and to pay them back with this sort of good result.

THE MODERATOR: All week, you said that so many people told you that last week's win was a turning point, and you just trusted that, and look at the result of just being able to trust in what people told you and in yourself. Did you not believe that it was a turning point, and are you surprised at the end result?

IN GEE CHUN: So I think the exact response to that question was that I really wanted it to be a turning point when so many people are telling me that it was going to be a turning point.

As I mentioned earlier during the past seasons, the difficulty or the struggle didn't come because of one event or one moment. I had these negative thoughts and feelings just really creeping up and gradually building within me.

So when people last week after the UL International Crown told me it was going to be a turning point, I think that if I had a healthy kind of attitude, I would have said thank you. But to be honest, I was skeptical because I was thinking I had so much negativity built up in me and I didn't know how that could change in an instant.

But then I started thinking and that I should trust the genuine belief that the people that care about me have in me. I really tried to believe in that. Throughout, even at the last hole, I tried to believe what people said to me and then I tried to believe in myself.

Q. For those of us who do not live here, we kind of consider you a national treasure here in Korea. Do you think that about yourself, and do you think the Korean people think that about you?
IN GEE CHUN: Frankly, I don't think I see myself as such a treasure. I have always been grateful for the love and support, but during the difficult period, I couldn't really allow myself to see and feel the kind of support and love that the fans give me, but I think that this week I was able to really absorb the love and the support that the people give me, and so I felt very fortunate and loved this week.

Q. And back to the golf for a second. This looked to be as good a ball-striking week as you have had, maybe ever. Is that a good assessment?
IN GEE CHUN: I really wanted to do well coming into this event, and I was actually more frustrated the way I was striking the ball. So I think that what was key in my win this week was that I tried not to be affected by the play of the other players, and I really tried to focus and stick to my style.

I told myself, you know, I have never really won because I had a good ball-striking week. It was never about that. So I think that ball-striking aside, I was able to win this week because I was really focused on playing my own game.

Q. Just now in your response in Korean, you said, quote, unquote, in a literal translation, that your mind was not healthy. Can you be a little bit more specific and does that have anything to do with what people were posting on the Internet?
IN GEE CHUN: I would be lying if I said that those comments on the Internet did not bother me. I was 20,21, when I first joined the Tour and I won the major, so I suddenly got a lot of attention and love, and it was really surprising and amazing for me at the time. Because if you would type my name on the portal, the Google of Korea, you would get all these unrelated articles and search results. But after I won, I would type in my name and I would be able to see in realtime what people were saying. They were supporting me.

But then after I started not doing so well, and I started to check on these comments, of course I tried to tell myself the people were posting these comments because they really wanted me to do well. But there were comments that were there that were quite vicious that were very hard to take as a person and as a woman.

I really wanted to rise above that and not care about those comments, but I have to say, some of them lingered in my mind and they really pierced my heart.

And on top of that, I was really frustrated with myself for responding or reacting to those comments on line, and so I think that there was a factor there that pushed me down, and I didn't want to get back up again. I was kind of scared because I didn't know how I would act in front of people again, but then I didn't want to act like somebody else. I always wanted to be true to myself and I wanted to be a genuine person.

So these were some of the issues I struggled with, and I think going forward, I would like to do my part in sort of changing that kind of environment or culture. So for instance, I think it would be a much warmer environment if we were able to provide more support and more affection to our fellow players, as well.

Q. You made a lot of birdies today but how important was the par on 12 and how proud were you of yourself?
IN GEE CHUN: On the first two days, I had double-bogeys. On the third day, I had a bogey and today in the final round, did I bogey on No. 10. So at that point, I told myself, there will be no more bogeys in this round.

So I had a little personal goal to nail a chip-in shot every week, and at the UL International Crown, every time I attempted to chip-in, it didn't go in, so every day, I was telling myself, I had to make two chip-in shots this week.

In the first round at No. 4, I did a chip-in shot, so I counted that and I knew that at 12, I would have to nail the chip-in shot again to fulfill my only personal quota.

After I nailed that, I was very confident, and while I was making the shot, I kind of had a feeling that it was going to go in.

Q. You've taken 272 shots this week. Can you give us a guess of how many high-fives you've done?
IN GEE CHUN: How can I count? I have no idea (laughing).

Q. What were some of the comments that people were saying?
IN GEE CHUN: So in April, I cut my hair, and, in fact, it was kind of a style I really wanted to do for a long time, and I simply wanted to look better. If it could kind of refresh me, that was an added bonus, but I didn't think too much of it. But as a result of that haircut, I, in fact, became -- I found myself in a more difficult position because there was a lot of rumours.

You know, I cut my hair without giving it much thought, and all of these rumours that I broke up with my boyfriend and I was never engaged, but somebody would say my engagement got broken off. And then there was a comment that my parents forced me to cut my hair.

It was really difficult for me to swallow these comments about people who have been there for me and continued to believe in me. I really hated the idea of them being part of that rumor and being talked about. Looking back, none of these things are really huge things, but it was really building up within me, and I think I had a strong reaction to these small sort of comments.

It came to the point where I really hit bottom and I really didn't want to get up, and I knew that I was not in an emotionally mentally healthy place.

Then in August, that's when my birthday is, I heard that my grandmother was hurt and I wanted to go see her and I wanted her to congratulate me. So I got up early in the morning to go see her, and she was in the ICU and I could only see her for half an hour. But for the 29 minutes, for 29 minutes, she didn't recognize me, and the last minute, just before I was ready to leave, she held my hand and she said, you know, you have to be healthy.

It was that moment that I felt she was speaking to me; that I have to be healthy emotionally and physically, so that's when I really thought that I really wanted to go back to the basics and really needed to work on making myself more healthy emotionally.

So at that point I started not looking at the comments or feedback that were not helpful to me, and I started to focus on the kind of genuine support that people were giving me.

Q. If you look at your Instagram account, it seems that you're doing a variety of actives to get your game back, or just to have a good time. You've been on a yacht. It seems like you're learning ice hockey. I would like to know if these activities have helped you to get into better form. And second, what does your grandmother mean to you, and how is her health? If the latter question is too difficult to answer, you don't have to.
IN GEE CHUN: I just want through my Instagram to show a different side of me. I am a 25-year-old Korean professional golfer named Chun In-gee, but I use the Instagram as a space to share with my followers what I enjoy apart from golf, but that in no way means that golf takes the back seat.

You know, some players, they have Instagram accounts and they fill the accounts with swings and things about golf. I simply choose to use Instagram as a space to share with my followers my life or me as a person, aside from golf, and I think in all the pictures that you see on my Instagram account, those were moments where I felt happiness and those were moments that I wanted to share with others.

As for the second part of your question, when I was young, our family was not well off, so both of my parents worked. I would spend all my days with my grandma, and she would cook me breakfast and we would start off the day and I just spent time with her, a lot. I think for everybody, family is really precious and valuable, and so my grandma is very dear to me. It's very heartbreaking I think for anybody if your family is sick, and especially when somebody so dear to you cannot remember you, it is quite heartbreaking.

In fact, my grandma, it used to be part of her daily life to watch me play, and I really, really wanted a win so I can tell her I won, and I wanted to tell her that I loved her. I think perhaps in some ways not having a win, because of that kind of yearning, not having a win, was a little bit more difficult, but I'm really happy today that I was able to win and that I can tell her, and I'm sure that she's happy for me at the hospital.

THE MODERATOR: How will you celebrate your win?

IN GEE CHUN: So I didn't know either, but apparently in Korea today, it's what's called Wine Day, and we got a voucher from the Paradise Hotel where we're staying, so I swapped that with a bottle of wine. So I think I'll enjoy a good bottle of wine with my family today.

THE MODERATOR: Congratulations and good luck the rest of the season.

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