LIV GOLF PROMOTIONS

December 11, 2024

Jazz Janewattananond

Taichi Kho

Sampson-Zunhe Zheng

Riyadh Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. Jazz, what are your thoughts heading into this week and how do you feel your game is coming into LIV Golf Promotions?

JAZZ JANEWATTANANOND: Game has been improving since the middle of this year, so trending in the right direction. Just not sure if it's fast enough for this week.

But playing for only one spot, it's kind of different anyway. You kind of need a miracle. One of us is going to get it, but it depends on who.

TAICHI KHO: Yeah, I'm excited for this week. I think it's a really good opportunity, and again, with it only being one spot, the goal is to play great, not just average or good or mediocre. I think the mindset is quite aggressive out there and to be able to access all my best stuff is a goal this week.

The game is feeling good, and I feel like I took some time away from the middle of this year and it's really helped me clear some things in my mind, so really motivated and a lot of clarity heading into this week?

SAMPSON-YUNHE ZHENG: Yeah, I think my game is trending in the right direction, as well. Obviously with only one spot for grabs, like Taichi said, you've got to play great this week and have the mentality to win. I'm sure everybody out there has the same goal.

Q. What would a win at the end of this week mean to you and a place on LIV Golf 2025?

SAMPSON-YUNHE ZHENG: It would mean the world. To play golf with some of the best players in the world next year is a great opportunity.

TAICHI KHO: Yeah, it would feel pretty good. I think it's a great opportunity, and to play against the best players in the world is something that I really dreamed of as a little kid. The opportunity is there now, and I really do want to take it, and yeah, I think having that opportunity next year is going to be life-changing.

JAZZ JANEWATTANANOND: Yeah, definitely would be life-changing from playing on the Asian Tour to playing on LIV. That one spot will definitely change one life, the position where you are in the world right now to where you're going to be next year.

We're playing for a lot. One spot is just going to change so much.

Q. Taichi, LIV Golf as you know made its debut in Hong Kong last year. Can you talk us through that week from a fan's perspective what, it meant for Hong Kong and then the excitement for LIV Golf coming back in March next year?

TAICHI KHO: Yeah, LIV Golf Hong Kong was received incredibly well last year. I guess culturally in Asia it's not a format or an atmosphere you see too much, but for LIV Golf to bring this new kind of environment and new energy into golf was something everyone was really excited about, and also people didn't really know what to expect, so the reception from the event was incredible. People really thought of it as a really memorable event and something that they really want to see going forward, as well.

I think it's great that LIV Golf is returning to Hong Kong next year, and I definitely want to be a part of it, as well.

Q. Sampson, last year you were an amateur, I think, when you played Promotions. I think you turned pro in June. How has the transition been to becoming a pro golfer?

SAMPSON-YUNHE ZHENG: There definitely has been some difficulties, but I think college golf definitely prepared me well. It was nice that I was able to have some early success. Yeah, just want to continue building on top of that and hopefully play well enough to get that spot this week.

Q. For all three of you, is there any benefit at all to have already gone through this process once and kind of knowing the format? The scores are reset after the first two rounds.

JAZZ JANEWATTANANOND: Definitely it will help, but unfortunately I only made it to the first round last year, I didn't make the cut on the first round. From what experience I gained from last year, I'll use it this year, but you definitely know what you're walking into this year.

TAICHI KHO: Yeah, I agree. It's a really unique format that you don't really see anywhere else in the world for tournament golf. Last year I didn't really know what to expect, and some of the thoughts and feelings you have out there are quite unique in a way that I don't really feel those in a regular tournament, so using that experience from that week and knowing what to expect this time is going to help me out there.

SAMPSON-YUNHE ZHENG: Yeah, I agree, as well. I think the format is really unique and every day you have to bring your best. So from start to finish you have to just give everything you've got and just fire away.

Q. Is there a challenge from a mindset standpoint when the scores are reset versus a usual tournament where you're building on your score? Mentally is there a challenge there at all?

JAZZ JANEWATTANANOND: You can't really put any brakes on anyway, so you kind of have to go all out, even if the scores reset. 67 guys on the first day and then it's top 20, so you kind of need to go all out anyway. Even though you're kind of feeling like you're wasting shots out there, you kind of have to go all out.

TAICHI KHO: I think it's refreshing because the goal out there is to play great every day, and sometimes when there's a cut line or you're in the middle of the pack there's some different distracting thoughts that come into your mind, but this week it's really clear: You just have to play great. It's refreshing in my mind in that this format allows me to be aggressive out there, just play passionately, and I feel like that's going to be to my advantage this week.

SAMPSON-YUNHE ZHENG: Yeah, these guys pretty much said it all, but every day you've got to bring your best and try and make as many birdies as you can but that also makes the thinking process a little bit earlier that if you're between a decision, most of the time it's just to be aggressive.

Q. Obviously we have the team aspect here at LIV; how much would it appeal to that if you were able to get on a team, just the whole team format and the competition?

JAZZ JANEWATTANANOND: I mean, it would be nice to be part of something. Golf is a pretty lonely sport. You're out here all year by yourself. You're friends with everyone else, but you don't really train together, practice together all the time. Being part of a team will definitely improve you, and if you're beating someone better than you, obviously everyone on LIV is really good, so if you practice and train with someone better, you're going to get even better.

I've seen some guys who got to LIV and now I see them and their level of playing is so much better than before they got on LIV.

TAICHI KHO: Yeah, I think the team format really appeals to me. I played my college golf at Notre Dame, and being on a team really helped my game and really helped my game as a person and as a player, so I think being surrounded by people better than you or people that have done more than you is something that really motivates me and something that I can really learn from.

It's definitely a format that really appeals to me. It's something that I want to be a part of. Yeah, whoever team that we land on if we get this spot, it's definitely a big opportunity.

SAMPSON-YUNHE ZHENG: Yeah, as a young player up and coming, there's definitely so much to learn from the guys who have played professional golf 10 or 20 years on LIV Golf, and to be a part of that, it's going to be an invaluable experience for me, as well.

Q. You all had the chance to play last week in the PIF Saudi International. Jazz, I think you shot 65 the last day, Sampson 64, Taichi 68. I wonder how much of an advantage that will give you this week and whether you actually felt you were learning more about the course and attacking it more over the last four days.

JAZZ JANEWATTANANOND: Playing a course back-to-back is always a little different. It feels like we don't really get to do that often, but it definitely helps from the standpoint where we already played and some players haven't got to play last week. We definitely have an advantage there. But at the end of the day we go out there and we have to hit the shots. It's all out there in front of you anyway no matter what, this golf course. Even if you play it for the first time you can still compete with the guys who played last week.

TAICHI KHO: Yeah, similar point, but I also think even if -- at least for me, I do a practice round or two practice rounds per week. Even though I have the strategy in place for each week, I think as the tournament goes along, I also learn more and more about the golf course. By the time I get to day four, I feel like I know the most about the golf course, and this time we have the benefit of playing the same course two weeks in a row.

I feel like my knowledge of the game plan and spots to hit it and where to be aggressive and where not to be I feel like is definitely to our advantage, and this level of detail that I know about the golf course almost feels like a home course because we have been here two weeks now, so I definitely think it's a big advantage.

SAMPSON-YUNHE ZHENG: Yeah, I think having played the course six times already, I was able to take the last few days off a little bit just conditioning my body, so in terms of that there's definitely a little bit of an advantage.

I think once I go out there tomorrow because I've played the course so much, it's more doing and less thinking. Everything is just clear-cut and right in front of you.

Q. I know it's probably been covered, but the sudden-death format of the top 20 and ties from the first round and how that impacts your game from last week where obviously you're looking at a cut over two rounds compared to you've got one shot to go at it.

JAZZ JANEWATTANANOND: I mean, it's kind of like go big or go home. Even if you don't have your best stuff on the golf course that day, you just have to grind it out and just do your best, try to get to the next round because you don't need to win on the first day, you just need to try to get to that top 20 spots and just recuperate and go from there.

TAICHI KHO: Like I said before, it's a fun format because the objective is clear and you just go out there and play your best. I think it's refreshing, really. It's a format that we don't really see anywhere else, and to have it this week for such a big opportunity, it raises the stakes, and I really enjoy that.

SAMPSON-YUNHE ZHENG: Yeah, I think, like you said, it's a different format from last week, and I think because it's a qualifier, everybody is going to be playing more aggressive.

I think the common goal is to win, so I truly believe that the player who wants it the most at the end of the day is going to end up getting a spot.