MARATHON CLASSIC PRESENTED BY DANA

August 7, 2020

Danielle Kang

Quick Quotes

Q. Danielle, red hot today. Picked up right where you went off at the end of the round yesterday. Front nine was spectacular. A little bit shaky on the incoming nine. Not really shaky, but a little different. What was the difference between the front and back for you?

DANIELLE KANG: Just wasn't hitting as many fairways, so it's definitely harder to hold the green on the back nine.

Around the greens are a little bit -- they just kind of jump out of the rough, so it's harder to hit it closer.

Yeah, front nine was a bit softer and I (indiscernible) a lot of shots, back the nine I was just having trouble because I couldn't find the fairway as easy.

Q. Strange, because you've been doing that so well for so long. The birdie on 18, your third shot. That was a quite a spectacular bunker shot. You got a little aid from the flag stick there.

It's an awkward lie. How do you go about those?

DANIELLE KANG: To be honest, where my foot was on the lip of a bunker and I didn't really feel much of any sand, so all I could do was just trust that there was sand under the ball, and I tried to just pop it up.

It was actually less sand than I anticipated where it kind of jumped again. Thank God it hit the pin, but it was right at it, which was good.

I think it would've sat regardless because it was on an up angle. Yeah, it was just a good putt coming in, and I needed that birdie.

Q. So after the one bogey today and the inward nine being a little flat, would you say you were mentally tired or physically tired at all from last week or still doing okay?

DANIELLE KANG: No. I'm doing perfectly fine.

Q. And you'll be ready for tomorrow?

DANIELLE KANG: Yeah.

Q. Danielle, you still had a really good round today. My first question is yesterday you played in the morning and today a bit later. How did the course change accordingly?

DANIELLE KANG: I think the greens and the golf course firmed up a little bit more than yesterday. Definitely more run-outs. And that's the most that I could notice. And the greens got a little bit bumpier towards the end of the day, so a lot of girls my group started kind of missing putts more than -- yesterday was really, really soft and all in the morning, so that's what I kind of noticed the difference.

Q. Okay. And you've been playing four-round golf for a really long time. This is the first four-round event after a long hiatus. Did you even have to think about that for the mental aspect at all, or were you like, yeah, four rounds, let's go?

DANIELLE KANG: I usually like four-round tournaments. Those are my favorites, so I'm really excited to play four rounds. And I love 72 holes. The more holes the better. That's how I always think. I'm excited for the weekend.

Q. You might play with Lydia and Jodi tomorrow.

DANIELLE KANG: Uh-huh.

Q. What are you thinking about in terms of that?

DANIELLE KANG: I think it's going to be a really good match and battle over the weekend. Jodi has been playing really well. I played with her in the final round last week, and Lydia has been playing really well, too. Posted a couple really good scores last week. She shot 7-under, 6-under two days in a row, so excited to play with them this weekend.

Q. And whether it's family or yourself or maybe even from Ollie, what are some of the words you want to be hearing right now?

DANIELLE KANG: Got a lot of golf left. That's I think what with I want to hear. More so than anything, I think I got to tune up the driver for tomorrow, and it's going to be a good thing.

Q. Lastly just a fun question. What happened to the long pants and what are you thinking about outfit-wise tomorrow?

DANIELLE KANG: What happened to the long pants? Oh, because I've been in pants every day?

Q. Yeah.

DANIELLE KANG: Well, it's been cold or I've been teeing off in the morning. It was freezing last week, so I wore the joggers, but today was hot, so I wore shots today. Depending on the weather tomorrow, maybe long pants.

Q. Just curious, the front nine and the back nine here, we saw a lot of low scores on the front nine. After you played it a few times, do you gauge there is more birdieable holes on the front or back?

DANIELLE KANG: Not really sure. There is two reachable par-5s coming in on the back nine, so I can't really say that back nine is less scorable than the front nine. There is couple of wedge shots, short iron holes on the back nine, so I don't know. I think they're pretty equal. Yeah. I don't know.

Q. 36 holes; you've only shot one bogey this entire time. How have you been able to avoid some of the problem areas?

DANIELLE KANG: I been playing good golf and trying to minimize mistakes as much as possible. Unfortunately, I just couldn't get away with that drive on No. 17. Green is tough. It was really firm. It rolled out. That chip, I thought I hit it well.

The bunker was softer than I anticipated. I kind of miss-interpreted a lot of the shots, but I executed, so...

Yeah, I haven't made many bogeys, but hopefully I'll make more birdies tomorrow and it'll be a good Sunday.

Q. I've heard a couple golfers say that the course has been firming up. Greens are a little faster today. If that continues into the weekend, how much of an advantage is it that you are already in third and just a couple strokes off the lead rather than having to make up a lot of ground?

DANIELLE KANG: I think just getting to know the golf course throughout the weekend -- and the golf course conditions change every day. It's an outdoor sport. Depending on winds, shots change, the hole changes.

I think it'll be an exciting weekend. I think the weather is supposed to be nice, which is good.

Q. I mean, is it easier for you to play with the lead, or do you like trying to come from behind?

DANIELLE KANG: You never want to be that far off the lead regardless of where you want to be. I think you have to take into consideration what position you're at and just play from there.

If I was seven shots back, then I got to -- I would still stay aggressive as I am two shots back. I think that's the player that I am. So I can't really say that -- can't really speak for other people, but I've made some good comebacks on Sundays where I finished second last year. I was a few shots off the lead.

But, yeah, I think it'll be a good weekend. Just two shots off the lead. It'll be fun.

Q. Obviously still a lot of golf left. I think I saw something in your last six tournaments the worst you finished is fifth or sixth. There was a long period of time off in there. How were you able to sort of stay so sharp coming off a very long layoff?

DANIELLE KANG: Practice. You just got to keep practicing and keep up the hard work, keep tuning up every aspect of your game and never take any time for granted.

You have to be ready no matter -- could have started in June to July to maybe October. My entire goal during the off time was to be ready whenever is started, so...

Q. As you mentioned, you have a lot of golf left and I hope you have a great weekend. Thank you so much.

DANIELLE KANG: Thank you.