CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 17, 2023

Amy Yang

Tiburon Golf Club

Flash Interview

Q. All right, here with Amy Yang after her second round here at CME Group Tour Championship. Amy, this is the third 9-under round we've seen this week. What is make is the court so scorable out there?

AMY YANG: I think because we had a lot of rain on -- was it Wednesday?

Q. Yeah.

AMY YANG: Yeah, so course is playing really soft. The balls have been, especially on the greens, stop really quick and we could go more aggressively to the pin.

I think that really gave a lot of us chance to go for it, yeah.

Q. For you, where were the birdie opportunities out there? On the greens? On the approach? How were you sinking the birdies?

AMY YANG: It was more -- most of them were from my shots, hitting it close. I had a chip-in today outside the green. That was really good. Yeah, been swinging really well, yeah.

Q. What hole was that chip-in on?

AMY YANG: No. 5, par-3.

Q. Par-3?

AMY YANG: Yeah.

Q. I see your back nine, looking at only two pars on the back nine, the rest were birdies. What was it about the back nine? How do you juice yourself up for that?

AMY YANG: I mean, it was just one of those rounds. Like I hit it really well out there and I kind of -- I don't know, sounds maybe a little strange, but I lost myself out there and just really like got into the game each shot.

I didn't even realize I shot 9-under today. Yeah, so...

Q. So, I mean, you made birdie on, 9, and then 10, 11, 12, 13, so after the fifth birdie did you realize something was going on?

AMY YANG: No, not at all.

Q. Just five birdies in a row. Casual. No big deal. What are the highlights, the keys from this round that you'll take into tomorrow?

AMY YANG: You know, I thought about it, but I played really well last two rounds, but we still have a lot of golf left, 36 holes. There will be a lot going on. I'm just going to stick to my game plan, which is just keep things simple and just trust it.

Q. I think last week you said the same thing when you went crazy low. Just didn't even realize it.

AMY YANG: Yeah.

Q. What are you feeling? What are you thinking out there, when you're in that sort of position, in that sort of zone?

AMY YANG: Really like recently what I learn from my coach is just evaluate the shot, whether I did the preparation well or not, and that really helped me to think, did I do my best this shot or not.

And that's what I tried to do each shot out there, other than what is going on on the leaderboard right now. I think that's it, yeah.

Q. Is this a new coach you're working with?

AMY YANG: No, I've been with him past two, three years.

Q. What's his name again?

AMY YANG: Paul Dewland.

Q. You have I don't know how many Top 10s in majors, quite a few. Here we are, this is a big event, too. What is it about these big events that you seem to rise to the challenge?

AMY YANG: I enjoy the challenge, you know. I enjoy the tough golf courses, and, you know, the tough settings.

I want to do well. I don't know. (Smiling.)

I think I've been just working on keeping things a lot of simple stuff, because I can't really get into like too much thinking out there. That will really affect negatively on my game, so...

Q. What's kept you working towards this to keep putting yourself in contention, giving yourself all these chances year after year?

AMY YANG: Yeah, I don't know, just never give up. Keep trying. No matter kind of result I get, just keep go for it.

Q. You mentioned it's important not to think out on the golf course. There is a ton of time out there. What do you think about between shots outside of the golf?

AMY YANG: I try to just talk a lot with my caddie or other players, talk about random things outside of golf, yeah.

Q. And you mentioned working on preparedness. When you first tracked that, what percentage of shots would you say you were fully prepared for versus where you are now?

AMY YANG: You know what? Like no matter how much I prepare, there is not going to be like perfect round out there. I understood that, and all I can do is just like do my best on each shot.

At some point there will be more second guess, third guess out there. Is this right? Am I doing it right?

But I've been doing really well, but I trust what I feel and saw and just stick to it.

Q. Do you work with a mental coach?

AMY YANG: Yes.

Q. Who do you work with?

AMY YANG: Paul Dewland.

Q. How long have you worked with Paul?

AMY YANG: I will say three seasons.

Q. How has he helped you the most?

AMY YANG: A lot, a lot. Yeah, I went through a lot of ups and downs, but he helped me keep calm even during the round, during the practice, and it's been really helping me a lot.

Q. What was the point that drove you to seek him out? Was there an event that happened where you said, okay, now I know I need to see a mental coach?

AMY YANG: Yeah, at one point I was really stressed about my golf game and really didn't know what to do. I thought maybe it's a good time to see a mental coach and listen to what he thinks.

Previously I worked are other mental coaches before and they were teaching me about stay positive and all this stuff. Paul was different. Paul was different.

Q. In what way?

AMY YANG: He would accept all the negative stuff and help me what things I can control and what things I cannot control.

Yeah, just even identify that really helps me back to present what I'm doing.

Q. What's the story behind your hat with the smiley face?

AMY YANG: So I don't have sponsor this year and I chose not to. I didn't want to wear a blank hat so I put a little smiley face on it, yeah.

Q. Why did you chose not to have a sponsor?

AMY YANG: I was injured couple years ago, I mean last year as well, and just I wanted to don't think about anything else other than golf, yeah.

Q. Like the pressure of having a sponsor?

AMY YANG: Yeah, sponsor, you know, you have things to do for them outings and stuff. I just, you know what? Let me just try without them. Do golf only, yeah.

Q. Interesting, thank you.

AMY YANG: Thank you.

Q. What was the injury that you were dealing with?

AMY YANG: There was a tennis elbow, yeah.

Q. Your...

AMY YANG: Left side. Took me a little more than a year to recover.

Q. Are you fully recovered now?

AMY YANG: I think so because I'm not taping right now.