THE LPGA DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP

October 22, 2020

Danielle Kang

Reynolds Lake Oconee

Quick Quotes

Q. Danielle, what a great first round here at Lake Oconee. How do you feel now that you have round one under your belt?

DANIELLE KANG: I think I know the golf course a little bit better. I've only played it once technically so it's still very new, but I just tried to work on some pace drills on the greens and figure out the type of grass around here, and I feel good about today.

Q. A lot of the players who have been shooting really low today didn't think they could shoot quite as low, and you are shooting the lowest of the low. What was the goal coming into today? How low did you think you could go?

DANIELLE KANG: I had no idea. When I get to a new golf course I don't really know the average scores or how it's going to play, especially to a golf course that I really don't know how they can set up.

So I just kind of had an open mind and see what I can do and how the greens would play for the first couple holes and how receptive they would be. Some golf courses they fluctuate per day, so I could play the practice round but today might have been different.

So I was just having no expectations.

Q. Was there any particular part of your game that worked exceptionally well today or did everything come together?

DANIELLE KANG: To be honest I made some putts today, which made me really happy.

Q. And may I ask when, if you did start to pick up any momentum, when did you start to pick up momentum today?

DANIELLE KANG: I think just working with my coach, Butch Harmon, having my swing be the way it is and being able to rely on my ball striking a lot has helped for that stability.

Just recently just like my friends have been helping me out with my putting and I saw another putting coach, so I think having putts drop for me just kept me going and kept the good feel -- I don't know. I'm trying. I'm trying.

Q. You played bogey free, seven birdies. Was there a particular birdie that stood out to you today?

DANIELLE KANG: Probably my first birdie just because it was at the awkward distance from seven-ish feet and I just haven't been performing very well on the greens. We joke around saying, I mean -- I don't know, like Maverick and David, David Lipsky and Pat Goss, the putting coach has just put a lot of time to get my mind off it.

So I think I that the first putt going in just made me feel a little bit better.

Q. You spent quite a lot of time today with Mike Whan. How do you feel about that interaction today?

DANIELLE KANG: He just has really positive vibes all the time. I think it was really fun to see him out there just to be a little bit different. Did a little interview with him. Think only the commissioner can pull me aside middle of the round and do things like that.

I thought it was very fun for us and for people at home and fans at home. Yeah, a little different.

Q. Last question I have is Mike mentioned that at this point we should just call it the Danielle Kang Championship. Thoughts on that? Because earlier this week you said that you're not thinking about this the same as the first Drive On. How does it feel to be playing really well at the second Drive On, possibly winning the second one?

DANIELLE KANG: Well, it's definitely good to have a good start on Thursday. Still got three more rounds left and I have a lot of work to do still. But I still kind of stand by my statement of it's two different tournaments, because normally be defending or you go back to your same golf course, same things like that.

Right now it's a new event in the same year, and I think it's just really exciting that the LPGA Drive On could happen during this time of break. It's been cool.

Q. We had a couple people today say the back nine might be one of the most challenging. You kind of made it look easy out there. Was it challenging to you? What were some of the challenging parts of this course?

DANIELLE KANG: There is definitely couple holes in the back nine that are dodgy. If you miss-hit a shot from the fairway you're just not going to have an easy up and down. I think just knowing where to miss it if you're going to miss it is a key.

Like per se like 15th hole, that's a really tough green. I just tried to give myself a putt, but no matter what kind of shot I see I to try and get it on the green. Not getting too greedy with the lines are I think the way to go.

Some holes are really forgivable. You have to take advantage of that. Some holes are just out there to get you. (Laughter.)

Q. You've said you didn't have that much practice heading into today. You got in Wednesday. You talked about it yesterday.

DANIELLE KANG: Tuesday.

Q. Tuesday. But now that you have a competitive round under you, what does this course remind you of or does it remind of anything else you might have played in any other LPGA Tour event?

DANIELLE KANG: Always thinking, too. I'm not sure. Maybe Kingsmill. Originally thought it was Kingsmill. The grass is different but layout itself, a lot of left to right shots, left to right holes. Tee-to-green is important, and so is Kingsmill. I think my first instinct was to go there.

Q. I am going to pass it off to Ophelia.

DANIELLE KANG: Hi, Ophelia.

OPHELIA BUNUEL: Hi, how are you?

DANIELLE KANG: Good. How are you?

OPHELIA BUNUEL: Okay. If you had to talk to yourself when you were ten years old like me, what advice would you give to yourself?

DANIELLE KANG: Just have fun.

OPHELIA BUNUEL: Thank you. Good luck this week.

DANIELLE KANG: Thank you. Thank you guys. Bye.