HSBC WOMEN'S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP

March 2, 2022

Danielle Kang

Sentosa Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, everybody, welcome back to the Media Centre for the 2022 HSBC Women's World Championship. Happy to be back in Singapore. We'll start with Danielle Kang.

DANIELLE KANG: (Audio interruption) doing the physios and getting the mental training that I need, put me at ease on the golf more so than anything. We can't oversight the fact that my game has improved with Butch, Butch helping me out.

It takes a village. Even like my short game. And Pat, my short game coach, he flew out to come see me and check on a lot of little techniques here and there.

I feel like it's still progressing, and I'm still focused on the process of getting better. And this year as well, it's not just one or two tournaments, I have to be able to execute and be engaged and do it every shot, every round and feel the best that I can.

Today I failed. I played awful today.

THE MODERATOR: But it's okay to play awful in the Pro Am round day, right? Get it out of the way.

DANIELLE KANG: It doesn't matter to me if it's a Tuesday or a Saturday at this point. I still need to do what I need to do, whether it's execute the shot that's in front of me, be able to feel what I need to feel.

But I got to play with one of my favourite peoples. One of my favourite peoples is terrible grammar, but one of my favourite groups of people. I met them four years ago in Singapore, and I've played with them three out of the four. So it was really fun.

THE MODERATOR: Love it. Glad to see familiar faces out there again, right? I want to ask, if you don't mind, about -- you mentioned Micah, your mental coach. And you can see physical coaching and getting out there with Butch, and that's easy to understand, but what do you work on with a mental coach, and how important is that to you as you take what's a physical game and try to also match the mental side of it?

DANIELLE KANG: I think trying to -- I don't exactly know what he does. I'm not the expert. Same thing with Butch. I don't know what he says to me on the range that makes me hit the ball really well.

But on the mental side, I guess it's finding your own process and working on how you're going to approach the shot that's in front of you, understanding what's happened previously, the randomising or the chaos that's going to happen around you, whether it's a player hitting it out of bounds and coming back in, or a player making a big bomb when you don't need them to. Things like that, it does affect you and how you're going to put that -- acknowledge it and put it down and move forward and execute the next shot the best you can.

It's all circumstantial, right, and golf I feel is the most difficult game in that sense, where it's so mental a lot of the times. And I've done it a million times. I've hit a same shot a thousand times, but depending on the circumstances, and sometimes you just don't do it as well.

Some people could judge it harshly and say you choked or you suck, but same time, it's not that simple. There's a lot of aspects to it that comes with this golf game, and that's why people love it.

THE MODERATOR: Absolutely. You're now competing in your 8th HSBC Women's World Championship. What is so special about this event that keeps you wanting to return every year?

DANIELLE KANG: I hope that we have more tournaments in Asia, and hopefully we get higher purses and better field. Asian events are one of my favourite runs that we have on our schedule. Don't get me wrong, I love the West Coast swing, but this Asia swing, it's different. I know how much women's golf is important to Asia.

And the support that HSBC has shown to LPGA is incredible. We've been consistent here. We've been bringing the fans, the sponsors. It's just they treat us like royalties out here. Not only here, same thing with Thailand, Korea, Shanghai, all of them.

And I hope that -- for me it's that special because I am Korean and I love coming to Asia. It's a different culture. Seeing different things, eating different foods, getting out of our comfort zone and traveling to one of my favourite cities in the world. And I'm not actually just saying that because I'm in Singapore, this is one of the places that I would live in a heartbeat.

And coming out here, the first thing I did, I was off the -- what is it, 27-hour travel day, and I went straight to the golf because that place makes me happy.

And those are the things that I want people to experience, it's not just golf, but people around. Everyone here is so friendly, and the culture here I love. I love the diversity in this country. Transportation is done perfectly. Now we're on Orchard, Orchard Road or Orchard Street, I believe. And, I mean, you can shop if you want. You can go wherever you want to go. It's pretty cool.

THE MODERATOR: And it's nice to be able to get out again, right?

DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, last year I was a bit down because we were at a different hotel, and I was staring out into the city. I had the best view ever, and I'm not complaining, but I slept on the balcony a few times. Because I just wanted to get out. For me, it was torture to be in a country I love so much and not being able to get out.

I don't think I've spent much time in the hotel room this time.

THE MODERATOR: Nice. Nice change of pace. So you've been out for the Pro-Am, had your time with your HSBC friends. You've been out there for practice. How does the golf course look as we get ready for the tournament tomorrow?

DANIELLE KANG: The golf course is soft. We got some rain in the last few days, and I think we'll continue getting some rain. But it's soft, however. It's different. I haven't played this type of golf in a while. It's so grainy out here. And I chunked so many shots today. It's grain plus the dampness and the ground, etc.

But the greens are always very, very pure out here. It's easy to read the grains. Easier. The conditions of the green or around the greens are always immaculate here. That's how the golf course is playing. A little soft, but I just shouldn't chunk it get. I have to get used to shallowing out the club out here.

Q. Hi, Danielle. Can I just find out what's the difference when you were here this year compared to last you? You mentioned you haven't spent a lot of time in the hotel room. What have you been up to, aside from practice and being on the golf course, in terms of sightseeing or whatever?

DANIELLE KANG: For me, I've got friends here. I went to see my friend who had a baby, and I went to see her son. I haven't gotten to see them in two years right now.

I went to the cloud forest. I walked around the streets. I went to eat peking duck. I'm just outside. People don't know that there's so many birds on Orchard. Is it Orchard Road Orchard Street? Road. Okay. So on that road at nighttime there's just so many birds, and it's so cool to hear. I just walk up and down the street. I love it.

THE MODERATOR: I can hear those birds inside my hotel room.

DANIELLE KANG: I love them.

THE MODERATOR: It is fun. It is a lot of fun. I saw videos on your Instagram of time out on the golf course in Vegas. What have you been working on? Did you spend time with Butch? What have you been working on during this break you've had?

DANIELLE KANG: We've been really focusing hard on the driver. My driver has been really inconsistent. Even at Boca Rio, I wasn't any good. I think I averaged 220 off the tee. The Titleist team has helped me fit a new driver, which is helpful. I think I've gained 6 kilos right now, 13 pounds about. So I think the shaft got a bit weaker for me, the consistency of the hit, the timing was a bit off.

So those were the things I worked on. My bunker shots haven't been great. Those are the things that you're good at, so then I haven't put that much time in. And I was trying to get comfortable in bunkers. I'm not that comfortable yet. It's always a work in progress.

THE MODERATOR: That's what we love about you. Always something fun going on. Looks like you've been keeping busy in Vegas. Got to go to some sporting events?

DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, I'm always out in Vegas. It's just the truth. There's so much to do. I go to concerts. I went and saw Silk Sonic. That's the new Bruno Mars show. I went and saw Luke Bryan. He was a gem.

And there's so much to do when your friends come and visit. Believe it or not I went and saw Jane park. I spent some time with her. Just during my off time, golf is golf, but I still want to be able to keep in touch with my friends and be able to see them as well. That's important to me.

THE MODERATOR: Love that.

Q. Hi. I just have a couple of questions on practice. Do you like practice?

DANIELLE KANG: Do I like to practice?

Q. Yeah.

DANIELLE KANG: Here or at home?

Q. Just generally.

DANIELLE KANG: I do.

Q. Okay. So what would be on a hard practice day, how many balls might you hit? Just a guess, estimate, on a hard?

DANIELLE KANG: On a hard day?

Q. On a tough day.

DANIELLE KANG: You know, that's a very wide range of question. It's because sometimes I could hit golf balls for about five hours. And that's aggressive. And other times I only hit golf balls for 30 minutes.

My duration of practice varies from two hours, you add in a round, it could be four hours, five hours, and it could turn into nine hours to ten hours.

But for me, I plan out my schedule out the week -- if that's what you're asking, I plan out the week of what I want to work on. So then I would -- like yesterday was my speed drill day and my wedge day. But I couldn't get the wedges done because it started pouring. Now I'll do the wedge combination today, and then I'll still have to do the putting, breaking putts today.

So I haven't focused on the ball striking here yet. But if I don't feel that I'm hitting it that well, then I'll add in ball striking, and I'll hit until I feel good.

Q. Last thing is, a lot of athletes in all sports, I spent some time with the badminton players today as well, they all talk about trying to find feel, always looking for feel.

DANIELLE KANG: Yeah, I don't want to leave unless I feel good.

Q. Sorry?

DANIELLE KANG: I wouldn't leave the range unless I feel good.

Q. Can you explain for you, what is feel? It's not an easy one, I know.

DANIELLE KANG: That's not an easy question. Feel is hard to explain. Sometimes you don't feel it. And that's something that I tried to change when you wake up. Doesn't matter how good I'm playing. Some days you wake up and you're like I'm not feeling it.

But I guess that's a state of mind. You know what to do, and you know what a good swing looks like, you know what you feel like you should do.

The feel could be the compression, it could be the grip, it could be how your club feels. Some people feel the slot. For me I guess it's the release because I release the club a lot at the impact. And if I don't feel that I could like trap the ball and hit that draw, then my feel is off, I guess.

But feel is really hard to explain. Because everyone's got a different feel.

Q. That's why I asked.

DANIELLE KANG: But you got to find your own feel and be able to acknowledge and reinvent that. And every day you have to come back and try and either have the feel or look for the feel. And that's what practice is about, I guess.

Q. Thank you.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks so much. Have a great week.