BANK OF HOPE LPGA MATCH-PLAY

May 24, 2023

Angel Yin

Shadow Creek

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, Angel, you took the lead on the second hole of the day and never looked back. Just what was the first day of the match play like for you?

ANGEL YIN: It was fun. I got some new clubs -- just one, not some. I just got one new club in the bag for this golf course. This golf course is really difficult in my opinion. It's such a special golf course.

Let's say you're a long hitter and good ball-striker. Doesn't really give you that big of an advantage. So the field from like position 1 to 64, everyone is equal. It's like equal playing battlefield out here, so that's why this course is -- anything can happen. You can be up and then all of a sudden be tied right away.

So, yeah, it was really fun just playing out there. And, yeah, Jaravee did good too actually. She came back with par and birdie, so it was good.

Q. What was the mindset kind of gearing up for this event? You've had a string of good performances lately. What was it like to finally put it in use in match play instead of a usual stroke play event?

ANGEL YIN: Different, I guess. Testing my game and mental game differently each week, so that's really fun.

Q. Take me through some of the highlights out there. What were some of the holes that stood out to you the most?

ANGEL YIN: I guess the freshest memory right now is second to last hole. I pulled my drive left. It's a dogleg to the right and there is water next to the green. I pulled it really far left, it was in the rough, and then I like blocked it out in the right and it went in the water.

Ended up making bogey, tying the hole. The pin position was actually really difficult, so I got away with that one. I got really lucky. Jaravee was having a really good run coming back.

But, yeah, so that was a really good one because I made like, I don't know, like maybe like a 7-footer or something like that downhill.

I haven't been making putts today like in the last -- coming in on the back nine. Then, yeah, that was pretty good.

Q. All right. So can you talk about mindset when you're 6-up at the turn, how you continue to keep the pedal down or start to feel sorry for the person you're playing? How do you balance?

ANGEL YIN: You can't really -- like it's hard to say, but you can't feel sorry for the other person, especially on this golf course. Jaravee came back two holes in a row. That's tough. Once like she got some momentum, it's easy. It's anyone's game out here, and when I got to beat 6 & 5, no one felt sorry for me other than me.

Match play is just different. You can't let go of that pedal once you have it, because if you do, you're going to get a taste of that.

Q. So do you feel like she turned her game up after the turn or...

ANGEL YIN: I mean, she was always playing her game. She was just playing steady. It wasn't like she was playing bad. This course is just very difficult. Few bad breaks and I got lucky breaks and few good shots here and there.

It wasn't like I played lights out and I was 6-up. I was just playing my steady game and it was just a little bit, a little bit.

And then I just knew it can flip any moment and I just had to finish it out. That's just how match play is in my opinion.

Q. One more from me. The club that you added to the bag, what was it?

ANGEL YIN: I changed out my driver to a TaylorMade Mini Driver. It's going the distance. It's not as long as my drive. Further than my 3-woods rolling out, so it's actually working perfectly.

Funny, with this golf course you don't really need this much distance. I feel conservative play is more beneficial than being aggressive, and the distances that I had was just almost in between from last year's experience to this year.

I was just thinking, and then all of a sudden like two days before driving over I was like, oh, my gosh, I have this Mini Drive I got in my bag at Chevron. It came out that week in Chevron and I got it from Glen. I was like, oh, I think this is the week to put it in.

I played like nine holes with it and I was like, this is it. I played in the pro-am with it and I was like, this is going in the bag.