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BMW LADIES CHAMPIONSHIP

October 22, 2019

Busan, South Korea

THE MODERATOR: It is my honor to meet with you at the inaugural here at the BMW PGA Championship here at LPGA International Busan.

Let me very quickly introduce our panel of very talented players. We have Korea's Mi Jung Hur, who has two wins in 2019. Next to her is Brooke Henderson, nine-time LPGA Tour winner from Canada. We have Rolex Rankings No. 1 Jin Young Ko here in Korea. We have Danielle Kang, the winner of last week's tournament in Shanghai. We have Paula Creamer, ten-time LPGA Tour winner, and we have leading KLPGA player, Hye-Jin Choi.

A question for Jin Young and Danielle. Mi Jung, this has been an amazing season for you on the LPGA Tour. How special is this opportunity for you to be able to play in front of the Korean fans?

JIN YOUNG KO: You're right. I'm having a great season, and I'm especially pleased to be here at this BMW event as a BMW ambassador. I've had two wins at a BMW event when it was played before the KLPGA, so I have many good memories with BMW. It's always great to return to events in South Korea. We see a lot of fans. I'm going to try enjoy myself and also focus and also garner a win if I can.

THE MODERATOR: Danielle, congratulations again on your big win last week. I know you have a very personal connection here to Busan. It has to be great to be back. Can you share that story with our media, please.

DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, definitely is different coming back here. It's been a long time. It's a lot of memories, so kind of conflicted in how I feel, but I'm really honored to the fact that there's a BMW ladies championship in Korea. I didn't think that was something that was possible. Never dreamt of it. Thankful for the opportunity and I'm glad to be back here.

Q. You all have a special relationship with the City of Busan, so going into this event, can you share some of the thoughts going through your head, and can you elaborate on the special connection you have with Busan?
HYE-JIN CHOI: I think it's kind of weird and good for me at the same time. Busan is my hometown and when I was an amateur player, I represented Busan many occasions, and it's kind of weird for me that an LPGA Tour event is being held so close to home. So I guess I really want to do better, especially given the special connection.

DANIELLE KANG: Like Mi Jung said, especially for me, coming back here is a little bit different. I still have friends out here. It's a childhood memory growing up -- speaking Korean and the different dialects, but it feels a little bit different. I'm really excited to play.

At the same time, I'm conflicted just because there are a lot of things that are different for me now than what I'm used to, whether it's people around or things that I'm used to being able to visit this town. I'm very excited to come back. I don't get to come back here very often.

MI JUNG HUR: So my husband is from Busan, so I've been known to have a special connection with Busan and friends in Busan, and obviously my in-laws live in Busan. I will feel that extra pressure when I'm on course today, but I'm going to try to have as much fun as I can. For instance, yesterday, I invited some players for dinner. We had dinner together and also tomorrow we're planning to have dinner together. So as a person who has a special connection with Busan, I really hope the other players can make some good memories here, as well.

Q. So I have two questions. One is for Brooke. So the latest win was in June, and you have not been able to get a win since, and we're now towards the end of the season. Going into this, do you have any benchmark as to garnering any wins in this Asian Swing? How are you going into this event, what kind of mind-set?
BROOKE HENDERSON: Yeah, you know, had a really strong year, had early in the season. Haven't been able to break through the last couple months but feel like I put myself in contention a few times, and you know, the main focus for me over here on the Asian Swing is scoring average, trying to shoot low scores, and hopefully on the weekend, be in contention and hopefully something good can happen on Saturday, Sunday. But I love coming here to Korea. It's one of my favorite players, and having dinner last night with Jin Young was really fun and a really cool experience for me.

Q. You have many, many fans here in Korea. They really want to watch you play firsthand, and you've been invited to this event, so can you share with us what you think about Korea, Korean fans and coming to this event with such a big fan base?
PAULA CREAMER: Yes, I haven't been back to Korea for several years now. Getting the sponsor invite was really nice and very nice to have the opportunity to come back and see my fans. I remember the last time I was here, all the signs were Pink Panthers and all the paw prints every where.

It's fun to come back and I'm very thankful BMW for giving me the opportunity to come back and play in front of the Korean fans. They love their golf here and it's always nice to be able to play in front of everybody and this is such a beautiful place. I've only been to Seoul, so it's nice to be able to see other parts of Korea, as well, and so far, it's been definitely exceeding the expectations.

Q. So this is a question/request for Danielle. I understand that you lived in Busan until you were in elementary school, and you just mentioned that you have a Busan accent when you speak Korean. Can you invite the fans over in Korean for us?
DANIELLE KANG: (Speaking Korean. )

Q. I am sure considered going to the LPGA, and if you win this event, you will earn your TOUR card. Do you think you will rethink when you'll join the LPGA if you win?
HYE-JIN CHOI: Definitely I think if I win, I will reconsider. I think I've always wanted to join the LPGA. It's a matter of timing. I think that if I do win, I will definitely reconsider, and also given that I've given up the qualifying tournament to be in this event, I'll definitely consider if I win.

Q. My first question goes to Jin Young. You really started as a YouTuber. Is there any particular why you started doing broadcasts on YouTube, and do you have any plans to offer golf tips or golf lessons on your channel?
JIN YOUNG KO: Now that you mention it, it is a little embarrassing because the beginning was quite humble. I just really want -- I always really felt that there was more to show of myself on Tour, and for my fans, because I'm on Tour in the US, many of them are worried about how I'm doing and they are also curious about how I'm doing on Tour in the States.

That's why I kind of started my channel, and also, when I'm on Tour, I love sightseeing and I wanted to share that with my fans and how I'm living my life abroad. I've been planning my segments, short, ten-minute segments on the channel. Initially, I didn't really promote it, and still, I got a lot of subscribers.

Then after I won the Hyosung, I told everyone about it and I was really surprised at the level of interest. So I'm looking forward to what I can do on this channel, and it's really rewarding that so many people are interested. But of course, my priority is with golf.

My focus is to grow as a golfer, and also, I'll have more fun with the channel. I want to mention, though, that I enjoy myself. I take videos, but I have a separate crew that will edit and put the videos together for me.

Q. You had a win in a month, your last win came within a month of your previous win, and it seems that now you enjoy yourself more on the course. Does marriage have an impact on your game play?
MI JUNG HUR: After I won at Scotland, I did see an article saying that I tend to win every five years, and I remember feeling that that might just be a curse and I might have to wait another five years before I get another win. But I stayed put. I focused my work hard, and so I was able to garner a second win this time, like you said, in seven weeks.

You also asked about being married. My in-laws really know a lot about golf and they know that it's a really difficult game. They really try to take the pressure off me and try to encourage me to enjoy the game and I also enjoy myself, and I try not to get so stressed. When I have a bad day, it does affect my mood. So my goal for the remaining season is to be consistent and also try to enjoy myself as I'm doing now.

Q. To all the players about the golf course. The grass is much shorter. There are more bunkers and not sure if everybody has been on the course, but can you all comment on the course this year?
PAULA CREAMER: I've only played two holes, so I'm not very good at commentating, so I will pass it down.

DANIELLE KANG: I haven't played. I just got here.

BROOKE HENDERSON: I played nine holes this morning. I played the back nine and I think the most important thing is probably ball-striking, hitting it in the correct spots on the fairways. Giving yourself a good angle to the green and hitting it to the right spots on the green, because they are pretty large and slopey. I think ball-striking will be key. Usually that's the strength of my game, so hopefully that will work out this week.

Q. If you have to pick a favorite to win, could you pick one player each?
HYE JIN CHOI: I think perhaps one of the six of us here could win and I hope one of us wins. I think your question is really difficult. I think that given this is an event where we have world-class players, it would be hard to tell who wins. I think that a lot will depend on the condition of the individual player and also I think you need to have a bit of luck to win any event. I just hope one of us wins.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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