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ANA INSPIRATION

April 6, 2019

Danielle Kang

Rancho Mirage, California

Q. Sometimes when you're playing this golf course you feel more like a nine-round boxing match. On your back nine you hit some incredible shots out of the rough.
DANIELLE KANG: I did.

Q. How important were those shots?
DANIELLE KANG: To be honest, I was getting a little bit greedy. I wanted those putts to drop. I definitely hit some incredible shots coming in. Saved those pars, and each hole is very difficult out here. It's one of the toughest it's ever played in my opinion. I've been here I think eight years now.

The rough is incredibly long. Greens are firm and slick. It's tough. So those couple saves were huge.

Q. We saw you grabbing your shoulder a little bit. How is it feeling now?
DANIELLE KANG: The rough is thick. Someone asked me if I was okay. If you're hacking out of the rough, something is gonna pull a little bit. It's just a momentary just kind of ache. It was a shot I hit. It was deep.

But, yeah, it's okay. Just comes and goes sometimes, especially if I'm hitting out of the rough again. Yeah, I hit some great shots today; yesterday I played great in the wind, so excited.

Q. I don't know how much of a leaderboard watcher you are, but out there there was a sizable gap, but then that slowly started to come back. You mentioned your experience out here. You know how this golf course can bite you down the stretch. Given the fact of where you are right now and how you battled back today, how much are you looking forward to tomorrow?
DANIELLE KANG: I definitely saw the leaderboard and one of players, I saw somebody was at 10-under. I know I am at 5, but like I said, every hole you can't lose your focus. There is so much going on per hole. You miss a green by a yard you might not get an opportunity.

I knew that, and especially it's a final round of a major championship. I know there is a lot of people in the hunt. It's going to be exciting.

Q. What hole was where your shoulder...
DANIELLE KANG: 3.

Q. A twinge?
DANIELLE KANG: Just a little pull. Not anything major. You know when just kind of a muscle twitch happens. Could happen out of this rough. It's so thick. Doesn't affect the shot, it just hurts kind of -- it doesn't hurt. It's an aftermath ache. So if I'm in the rough again and I have to punch out again, just kind of rings and I go, Ohhh.

Q. When you have to focus on each hole like you do out here, does it almost help you keep all the extraneous stuff out, like what you're playing for tomorrow, what tomorrow could mean, any nervousness? Does it in some ways make it easier to lock it in?
DANIELLE KANG: To think about it or not think about it? What was the question?

Q. When each hole demands concentration and there are no kind of breathers, does it actually help you lock in on a day when you could have a lot of distractions mentally there is so much at stake tomorrow?
DANIELLE KANG: Okay. There are a lot of -- per hole you can't lose your focus, like I said previously. Everyone nows what they're playing for and that this is a major championship. Anyone that's in a hunt knows that they're in the running to win a major.

I definitely think about it. However, I try to stay in the process. There is not much I can do, but you can't help yourself if you're trying to hunt leaders down. Even last week at Kia I'm watching the leaderboard. Sometimes it motivates me. I just look at the putt in front of me and I see the score I need to hit and that's what I need to do.

I don't see it as a distraction. Just try to motivate yourself, I guess.

Q. How much does having been through this and won help you tomorrow?
DANIELLE KANG: It's hard to win. It's really hard to win a golf tournament. Even last week I played great. Made a lot of the mistakes Thursday and Friday, but made a great run on Saturday and Sunday. People were very focused on the bogey on the 18th hole and I finished T second, and people go, Oh, I know you 're bummed out with the 18th.

Honestly, it's hard to win a golf tournament. There is so many players. People are playing great. Nasa played amazing. But it helps that I know I've won a major before. Putting that all aside, I just want to stick with the process like I normally do. Kind of get out of the routine normally because you want to force things so much because everything is so magnified because it is a major.

Mostly my caddie and I are having fun out here.

Q. How do you feel about the way you played today? What did you like about what you did?
DANIELLE KANG: I hit the ball incredible today. My putting speed was great. Sometimes putts just don't drop, but I had some great saves.

Just solid golf.

Q. How long was your putt on 18, the first one?
DANIELLE KANG: I'm not sure.

Q. You were up above the hole.
DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, I was just trying to hit it as close as possible. Almost went in. Yeah, I'm focusing more on my process, on how I approach a putt. Been putting great. No one said it's easy. It's hard to even make a six-footer out here. It's sliding two cups out left, two cups out right.

Q. An advice from Butch? Have you been in contact?
DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, talk to him every day. He just says, Better today, better tomorrow. You're hitting the ball great. This is how I want you to play golf is what he said.

Q. Through the Gretskys, have you had a chance to play much, if any golf, with Dustin?
DANIELLE KANG: I went to Butch because of Dustin, so...

Q. Is there anything that you can learn from hanging out with Dustin or anything you think you've ripped off from him?
DANIELLE KANG: I think you can learn from any golfer, any player, not necessarily one specific golfer. I learned that there are a lot of different types of golfers and different ways of thinking and approaching your shot.

There are no right ways. I just try to find my own formula and utilize the tools I have and make my game better.

Q. I think that could be hard to do in an era where it seems like everyone wants to be long or focus on who is long or say that people who are long have an advantage. Is that what you are meaning, there is more that one way to skin the cats out here?
DANIELLE KANG: I don't know. I hit it pretty far, so...

Q. I know you do. I know you do.
DANIELLE KANG: Got to take every advantage you get. If I could reach a par-5 in two because I made par, I would rather have a driver, 3-wood than a driver 4-iron, or I'd rather have a driver, 4-iron than a driver, 3-wood. Pretty sure Lexi had 9-iron in yesterday.

People would rather have a 9-iron in than a 3-wood, right? Depends who you ask, but I'm sure that people that aren't long have amazing short games. Everyone has their quirks.

Q. Yeah. When did you notice Ko's lead starting to dwindle?
DANIELLE KANG: Not really. It's only Saturday. I do watch the leaderboard on how many birdies are out there. In the beginning I was getting a little bit impatient because everyone was playing very well. The first few holes there was no winds and people were just playing some birdies.

I was thinking to myself, Okay, there are birdies out there. Sooner or later I look at the leaderboard, I'm 3-under and I'm Top 5. I go, Okay, wasn't so hard. Just stay patient. It tells me what the golf course is playing like if I watch the leaderboard.

Q. When was the last time you imagined jumping into Poppy's Pond?
DANIELLE KANG: Um...

Q. Have you ever?
DANIELLE KANG: I don't really imagine that far ahead. I remember Abby Wambach jumping in there. She wanted me to chip it on the last hole and she said, If you chip it I'm jumping in. That was awesome.

Q. When was that?
DANIELLE KANG: Two years ago. We are one shot -- wait. We had to make an eagle to win and I had to chip from the front, and Abby, gosh, Abby is so motivational. She goes, We need a birdie, we need birdie, and then we made birdie. Then 18 she goes, Girl, we got to chip this in.

Q. This is the pro-am?
DANIELLE KANG: This is the pro-am, but I've never been more nervous. You got to chip this in. I said, Okay, and then I chipped it in. She ran with the ball and she jumped in Poppy's Pond.

Q. Did you join her?
DANIELLE KANG: No.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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