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SONY OPEN IN HAWAIIJanuary 12, 2008K.J. ChoiHONOLULU, HAWAII DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome K.J. Choi back to the Sony Open in Hawai'i media center. K.J., you're becoming a regular here in the media center, another great round today, 4-under 66. If we can just get a couple general opening comments on the round. K.J. CHOI: I felt like my driver was working today. It felt good. Just switched to the new Nike SUMO 2 driver. I think that helped me a lot with the shots. I started out with birdies, felt like I was going to have a very good day. But during the middle of the round I faced a lot of difficult pin positions so it made it a little bit difficult, but I think my putting was there to hold up the round real nicely. Q. When did you switch to the driver, today or this week? K.J. CHOI: This week, Thursday -- Monday, sorry. Q. After Mercedes? K.J. CHOI: Yeah, after Mercedes. Q. How important was it - you had a two-shot lead over Kevin - to go birdie-birdie right away and build some separation? K.J. CHOI: You know, I really didn't think about trying to birdie every hole, but my irons, they were really good today. I was in rhythm, and because my irons were good, I kept hitting it short, close to the win, two, three feet, which eventually resulted in easy birdies. So I think that's what really got the momentum going. As I said before, I felt like it was going to be an easy round, but with the difficult pin positions, it wasn't actually an easy round. I faced a lot of difficulties, but I think with all the fans supporting me out there, I really felt comfortable. I felt a lot of support, and I think I was able to play with a lot of confidence. That's what got me going. Q. Have you always felt this much support at Waialae, or did it help having the lead? K.J. CHOI: You know, I think the fan base here is really increasing every year, especially since last year I finished fourth here, and winning those two tournaments at the Memorial and AT&T International, that really, I guess, increased the fan base. Even this morning I had my hometown friends from Wando, Korea, 11 of them actually flew in from Korea this morning just to watch me play today. I felt a lot of support. It's things like that that really make me happy and make me feel like I'm one with the fans. So I felt really good out there. Q. They just flew in today? K.J. CHOI: Yeah, this morning. They got in this morning. Q. How long a flight? K.J. CHOI: Eight hours. Two months ago we promised they could come to Sony. MICHAEL YIM: They booked their flights two months ago and promised they would come cheer him on today. Q. Why didn't they come Thursday? MICHAEL YIM: They work during the weekdays. Q. A lot of pressure to make the cut this week? K.J. CHOI: Yes. Q. Were those the matching K.J. Choi shirts? MICHAEL YIM: The yellow shirts, yeah, with K.J. Choi on them. Q. Has anyone ever flown from Australia to watch you? K.J. CHOI: (Laughing). Q. As well as you were hitting the ball, do you feel like 66 is the worst you could have shot? K.J. CHOI: You know, I'm not really concerned about the scores, what I shot. I'm more concerned about how I'm playing the rounds. I'm very satisfied with my shots, the way I'm shaping my shots. I'm hitting the shots the way I want to. I feel really good about my shots, and I think that's what matters. If I feel like I had a good round, hitting the shots the way I wanted to, but if it doesn't turn out to be a low score, I'm not disappointed because I know that I played well. Q. Can I ask another question about the friends? Not being familiar with the flight pattern, with the international time zone, what time did they leave to get here this morning? MICHAEL YIM: They would have had to leave at 8:00 in the evening. Korea is ahead -- Korea is 19 hours, so if they left Friday 8:00 p.m., they would have gotten here Saturday morning at 8:30 in the morning. Q. Did you have any swing change from last year, or what are you working on this week? K.J. CHOI: Since two years ago, Steve Bann and I have been working on making my swing, a one-piece swing, and that's helped my iron play a lot, which has increased my confidence. We've been also working on trying to get the wrist movement out of the -- taking the wrist movement out, which was always a problem. That's been able to give me more precise shots with my iron play. DOUG MILNE: Could you just run us through your birdies? K.J. CHOI: 1st hole, hit a driver, second shot 178 yards, 6-iron to three feet, birdie. No. 2, hit a 3-wood 150 yards, an 8-iron to ten feet, downhill. No. 9, hit a driver, 207-yard 5-iron, reached in two and two-putt, 20 feet. 11, bogey, hit a 5-iron 217 yards to the pin, and I missed the green and chipped to 20 feet short and two-putt. 14, hit a 3-wood, 150-yard 8-iron to two feet, birdie. 18, hit a driver, 267-yard 3-wood in the left-side bunker, maybe 60 feet, 70 feet, then the bunker shot to three feet, one putt. Q. You hit driver on 18? K.J. CHOI: Yeah. Q. Is that a hard shot for you knowing that you prefer to cut? K.J. CHOI: Yeah. Today I hit -- Kevin Na hit a draw shot and it spun a lot and it kept it in the fairway. I cut high shot in the soft landing in the fairway. Yesterday too much left side and too much club. Today is a little middle and then the follow through a little smooth and then keep high and then softly in perfect fairway. But 3-wood, a little cut shot and pull left with a cut. But I think better than right side. Miss right and guaranteed par. Left side in the fairway or bunker is guaranteed birdie. So I miss on the left side. Q. Have the friends ever come to another tournament? K.J. CHOI: Three years ago Masters, and sometimes U.S. Open, sometimes British Open. They are very good fans. Q. Were they at The Masters when you made your eagle on 11? K.J. CHOI: Yeah. That tournament is eight people from Houston, Korea, Japan, and all of them come. It was a very enjoyable tournament. Q. So you always put on a good show when they show up? K.J. CHOI: Oh, yeah. DOUG MILNE: K.J., thanks for coming in. End of FastScripts |
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