ANA INSPIRATION

September 8, 2020

Sung Hyun Park

Mission Hills Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome inside the virtual media center here at the ANA Inspiration. I am pleased to be here with LPGA Tour winner and Rolex Rankings No. 4 Sung Hyun Park. It's officially your first event here on the LPGA Tour, your first of the 2020 season. How excited are you to be returning this week?

SUNG HYUN PARK: It's really been a while since I've been on the LPGA Tour. I think I'm more nervous than excited to be back. It's been a while since I've been in a competitive environment, and I've got to keep that in mind playing while the four rounds this week.

THE MODERATOR: What was it like for you to have this break from the LPGA Tour? What are some of the things that you did over in Korea?

SUNG HYUN PARK: I've had an injury in my shoulder, and I've taken some time to recover from it. I haven't been practicing for a while, and that has been kind of hard and difficult for me. I think taking time off has helped. I feel that I'm all recovered now. I've only started practicing just a few weeks ago, but I hope to do well.

THE MODERATOR: Nothing like your first event back as a major championship. Obviously the injury must have led to the decision to start this week, but what have you been working on recently since you've picked up practicing again to get ready for this event in Palm Springs?

SUNG HYUN PARK: I think the most important part of my game is short game. When I don't practice my short game, is really shows a lot, and I've been working on that a lot.

THE MODERATOR: Mission Hills has hosted this event for many years. We were talking off camera that you haven't practiced yet, but there are definitely some big changes. You can't see the big grandstand, the big eucalyptus tree on 1 you can't see anymore. How are you preparing for this course with these kind of changes?

SUNG HYUN PARK: I got here three days ago, and yesterday I practiced 18 holes. It was about 45 degrees Celsius. It was pretty hot and difficult to do all 18 holes.

It is hot and dry, but the fairways are still soft, so I'll have to talk strategy-wise with my caddie David. There are definitely a lot of changes. Like you mentioned, there's no grandstand at all, which feels new.

THE MODERATOR: Speaking of David, this is your first event back with him in quite some time. What's that like to get back into the groove with someone as familiar as David?

SUNG HYUN PARK: It's been a while since I've seen him, and I definitely missed him. It was nice to see him again. We've been texting back and forth the whole time, and I also watched him on the bag with Lydia a couple weeks ago. I do want to tell him that I missed him, and it definitely is nice to see him again.

THE MODERATOR: Lydia always said that she was just borrowing him, that she'd give him back. Have you talked about the heat, about possibly taking a cart, or is David going to be walking?

SUNG HYUN PARK: So we did talk about this earlier, and David said he would do as I pleased, but he did mention that he wants to walk. We still need to discuss this, and I'll still have to think about it.

Q. I wanted to ask you how you hurt your shoulder.

SUNG HYUN PARK: I'm not sure when it all started. I think it's been about a year. I didn't feel much pain at first, but I felt that my swing was not working, so I visited my doctor and there was some problem with my muscle. They said that it's been stretched. I've been working on it for the past couple months and making sure that my muscle movements are getting better.

Q. Is it the left one or the right one?

SUNG HYUN PARK: Left.

Q. If you could talk about how you're handling the heat; do you have a strategy for the heat, and how does this compare to other extremely hot places like Thailand, Singapore?

SUNG HYUN PARK: I think compared to Thailand and Singapore, it's a lot less humid, but the sun is a lot hot. I think I drank about seven to eight bottles of water yesterday. I think the easiest way to keep cool is to stay hydrated and keep my umbrella handy.

Q. Do you enjoy the heat? Do you like playing in it?

SUNG HYUN PARK: I definitely prefer the heat over the cold.

Q. Now that you're back on Tour for the foreseeable future, I know you're going to be competing in the next couple of events. What are some of the goals that you have for the rest of 2020, even in the kind of year that is this year?

SUNG HYUN PARK: I don't hope to place too well in the first few tournaments of this year. I just hope to kind of get some momentum and play well in a competitive environment. There aren't that many tournaments this year, but I do hope to win at some point and finish the year on a high note.

Q. I know you said that you didn't play largely because of your shoulder, but did you have any concerns about coming back with COVID-19 and maybe what you'd read about the U.S. in Korea, and how did you decide it was cool to come back?

SUNG HYUN PARK: I think the corona situation is serious everywhere, even in Korea. I think my reason for not coming back on Tour was more because of my shoulder than because of corona. I think COVID is something that we'll have to see and fight off for probably even like the next one or two years.

THE MODERATOR: We've been asking everyone that comes in this, but if you got the chance to leap into Poppies Pond this weekend, what kind of jump would you do into the pond?

SUNG HYUN PARK: I'm not sure. I've definitely seen a lot of players do it before. I definitely want to do something cool. I can't think of anything right now, but I will probably think of something spontaneous with my caddie if I do win on Sunday.

THE MODERATOR: Do you think David has any ideas for you?

SUNG HYUN PARK: No, not sure.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much, Sung Hyun, and thank you for joining us here today.