|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
THE OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 19, 2007K.J. ChoiCARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND NICK RODGER: Ladies and gentlemen, we have K.J. Choi, 2-under par after the opening round. Not an easy day, but you must be pleased with the good start to The Open Championship. K.J. CHOI: Yeah, today very good start at 4-under par. And after that windy. So still good feel and I'm one back shot at 15, right side of the bunker and I chip out and bogey. And 18 bogey. And good bogeys. So there's more resting and tomorrow is more better than today. Q. This morning you started in the worst of the weather in terms of the rain. Does that make starting the round more difficult when the weather is so bad or was it more the wind? K.J. CHOI: Yesterday I practiced in the rain, anticipating that there was going to be rain today. So I felt starting out today, when it started to rain, I didn't feel too concerned. I actually felt pretty comfortable because I had practiced in the rain yesterday. Today I just found my rhythm and had a good round. Q. Could you tell us a little bit about how helpful your caddie, Andy Prodger, is to you? Andy caddied at the Open Championship with Nick Faldo when he won. This week in particular is he good for you? K.J. CHOI: Yeah, I've won a lot of tournaments with Andy now. He just makes me very comfortable, helps me to really focus during my round. He's a very good friend. He's also like a big brother to me. I just feel very comfortable when we work together. Q. Andy doesn't say very much, and your English is improving, I'm wondering, can you communicate well? K.J. CHOI: Yeah, very well (laughter). I have no problem on the golf course, it's very comfortable. Q. You are top of the leaderboard and then dropped two strokes the last four holes, and Retief was also the top of the leaderboard and dropped three on 15 and 16. How difficult are the least last three holes? K.J. CHOI: Those last holes coming in, the tee shots are -- they put a lot of pressure on you on tee shots. There's a lot of wind. The wind picks up a little and then it dies down. So it's really difficult to get the control. The last two holes coming in you have water on both sides, so it really does put a lot of pressure on you. Q. You've been playing well this year. Is this an extension of playing well, or do you just like links golf? Is that a type of golf that you like? K.J. CHOI: This type of course fits my game because you need to hit a lot of fade shots. I haven't hit one draw today. This course requires for players to hit low fades, high fades and that's what I've done and I think it really suits my game. Q. Do you like the bumps? K.J. CHOI: Yeah. I like the fairway, there's some bounce on the left, some bounce the right, either way, very good. And very fair, this course. Q. At No. 12 today you used your putter from quite a way off the green and got up-and-down to save par. I was wondering if you could talk about that shot, that save and whether you had any other unusual links-type shots during the round that kind of tested your creativity? K.J. CHOI: Yeah, I've had a few par saves from out of the green today. I had probably like three putts from outside the green today on three holes. They were pretty successful. Just the speed from around the green to the hole, the speed tends to differ a little bit. But I think my putts were going in today. Q. Can you tell us when the first Open was that you watched on TV? And give us some idea of the interest back home for you this week? K.J. CHOI: I can't remember, sorry. Q. Can you give us some idea of the interest back home, how many people are watching? K.J. CHOI: Lots. I don't know, everyone watching the morning, afternoon still. And play and four Korean players are here, and couple of months very good in tournament, twice win U.S. PGA TOUR and here. And many people in Korea watching. Q. Could you walk us through your fast start, how you made the four birdies in the first six holes and got yourself up on top of the leaderboard? K.J. CHOI: The first hole I started off, there was a lot of rain coming down. I started off with a 3-wood and then hit a 6-iron high, a high shot, hit it to about 15 feet and birdied. But I think up to the 6th hole, the key point was hole No. 3 where there was water in the front, and if you spin the ball there was a chance of the ball rolling back to the water. But getting a birdie on that hole I think was the turning point of my good start today. Q. A couple of weeks ago when you won a title in the States you said your dream has always been to be the first Asian to win a Major. Are you confident with your form today that you could do it here? K.J. CHOI: At the AT & T National, early in the week I don't really try to get too ahead of myself. If I think to myself there's a chance, then things could go wrong. But I just like to take it one by one, hole-by-hole, just give it my best and just try to overcome any difficulties during the process. I think if I just stick to my routine at the end of the day -- at the end of the week, who knows, there might be good news for me. Q. What does K.J. stand for? K.J. CHOI: Kyoung-Ju, K-y-o-u-n-g, and J-u. The first time in 1998 at British Open, the first tee announce "Kung Choi," it's very difficult. My idea is next day Kyoung-Ju is very long, who is that? And the K initial and J initial, everybody understand K.J., so very simple name and Choi. And the next day, K.J. Choi from Korea, so easy. And then started in 1999 British Open. I think it's in my mind, yeah. End of FastScripts |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|