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BALLANTINE'S CHAMPIONSHIP

March 12, 2008

K.J. Choi

JEJU ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA

CALVIN KOH: KJ, thank you for joining us - are you looking forward to playing in front of the home crowd, and what are the expectations this week?
KJ CHOI: Every year I try to showcase my improved talent to my fans in Korea, starting with my win at the Sony Open. That was a very good win for me because it was great to win in front of my fans in Hawaii and was a great start to the year. This week the goal, like any other player, is to give the best performance that I can without putting too much pressure on myself. It's always good to be back in Korea and I just want to give the best performance that I can.
CALVIN KOH: How is the form coming into the Ballantine's Championship?
KJ CHOI: I'm recovering very fast. I arrived here a few days early so I am over any jet-lag and other physical conditions. Yesterday I felt I was around 60 percent rested and today feel more like 80 per cent of where I want to be. We have beautiful weather today, which is better than expected, but I think the wind will pick up this week, but I am well prepared for that and I don't think it will be a big problem - as long as the weather isn't too bad I think it will be a good week for me.

Q. Do you think you can improve on your World Ranking in the coming weeks?
KJ CHOI: Three years ago it I felt that if I could have got into the top ten in the world then it would be more than I expected. I have had two goals for a while: one was being in the top ten; the other was winning a Major. I have achieved one of those goals and I am still in pursuit of a Major. The fact that I have got to the top five in the world has not been something that I achieved on my own. I could not have done it without the help of the Lord, I could not have done it without him. If I can set new goals day by day and fill in the empty spots where I need to then I can improve, and not be too greedy then I think the Lord will help me to achieve my other dream to win a Major.
CALVIN KOH: Do you see yourself as a role model to fellow Koreans?
K.J. CHOI: I've never really told myself I wanted to become a role model. It's something that, you know, just a title that I was given, because I just worked hard at what I needed to do on a daily basis. It's something I've always set goals for myself. I've always promised myself that I'm going to try my best, and I think my other fellow players, Korean players, noticed it and notice how hard I worked to achieve my dreams, and I think they respect that from me.
I think, you know, I'm flattered with the fact that they consider me as a role model. It's really about working hard and setting your goals.

Q. How are you going to prepare for the Masters this year?
K.J. CHOI: There's a lot of things that need to happen in order for me to win a major, especially the Masters. You know, the balance of my swing has to be there. My short game has to be there. You know, you have to play well with your long irons and with the 4-iron and 5-iron. You know, the ball flight, the spin, just getting yourself adjusted to the fast greens, those are all very important aspects to win the Masters.
For many years playing in Asia and Korea, I've been accustomed too much to the green conditions here in Korea where the speed of the green is a lot different than Masters. But I feel like that, you know, I've improved one by one, and you know, I've seen a lot of solutions and I've seen that there's a lot at the end of the tunnel. The fact that I've finished third place in the Masters gives me maybe hope that I have a shot to win a major.
Looking at overall just the conditions, the course conditions of Augusta National, you know, I have to really be prepared to adjust myself to the fast greens and be able to hit the ball high enough so that I can stop the ball on the green. And other than that, there's a lot for me to improve on. I think the good news is that there's a possibility.

Q. What are your feelings playing with Anthony Kim tomorrow?
K.J. CHOI: Anthony Kim, he's got a very powerful swing. He hits the ball very far. He has a very good game, very exciting game. He's one of the players, you know, to look out for and he's got a very bright future. Also, he has a very good short game. He's one of those guys that was able to learn the game of golf systematically having grown up in the States, so I think you're going to see a very good match, a very good tournament this week watching him play.

Q. Any advice that you gave to Anthony Kim since the Deutsche Bank about caddies?
K.J. CHOI: What I advised Anthony Kim about caddying was what's important in a caddie is not communicate who is going to be a good caddie on the golf course, but someone who is actually able to know who you are as a player, as a person, and how you're feeling in the morning, what you're thinking.
Normally players want to look for caddies who are good on the golf course, but I think caddies who have a very balanced, healthy life off the golf course, someone who doesn't drink till late at night, coming in the morning with a hangover or things like that; someone who has a very balanced life, I think is a good caddie and that's what I told him.

Q. Can you talk about your caddie?
K.J. CHOI: It's good team work. He's been caddying for four or five years now and he's more like a big brother, uncle or father figure and has a very warm heart. He knows exactly what I'm thinking, when I'm tired, when I'm down on myself, he's always saying positive words, you know, don't worry, you've got a lot more tournaments to go and it's only the beginning of the year. When I'm not making birdies, he tells me things like golf is a game of par, don't worry about it, you have a lot of holes to go.
So he makes me very comfortable. He makes me think very positive and he looks in my eyes in the morning and knows whether I'm tired or not and when it's cold, you pulse out a sweater knowing that I need a sweater and he knows exactly what I'm thinking. I think that's a key for us to maintain a very healthy relationship for four or five years. I think that's helping my game tremendously.

Q. There's predictions that the weather is going to be raining over the weekend. They may not even get to finish four rounds here. What's your strategy for a week like this to improve your score?
K.J. CHOI: I think if you try to beat nature -- you have to accept nature as it is. If the wind is blowing hard, if you're too worried about that and if you try to score well given the conditions, I think you're just going to worsen your game. So if you try to beat nature, bad things are going to happen, so take it as it is.
I'm just going to pray that the weather is going to stay there for the next four days. You know, a lot of the good players around the world came a long distance, flew over to Korea to play this tournament and I just want to be a good host. I hope this week turns out to be a very nice week for everyone so that they all have a good experience, especially for the Korean players, this is a good opportunity for them to improve their level of their game.
Playing well in this tournament is going to open a lot of doorways to good opportunities. I just want the players to be able to experience that and hopefully all of the foreign players that came here to play this week will have a good experience here at the tournament.

Q. How do you want to be remembered as a player, to the fans?
K.J. CHOI: I want to be remembered as a player, as a golfer who worked hard on his game and who worked hard, who worked with a lot of effort, who had a passion for the game of golf with the love of golf; not someone who had, you know, how many wins. Results are not important for me. I just want to be remembered as someone who, you know, was a role model working hard.
When I retire I want to be more focused on my charity foundation. That's probably the ultimate goal is to help others through charity and through my K.J. Choi Foundation.

Q. Who do you think other than yourself has a good chance of winning this tournament?
K.J. CHOI: If all the players are out there worried about whether the other player is going to be playing better than him, I think that's the wrong approach. I think the right thought of mind is thinking about how you're going to overcome yourself, how are you going to adjust to the conditions here. You know, it's about how you set your own strategy for the week, not worrying about the other player. Just from experience, I think players who have won in the past have a good chance. I'll definitely try my best to win this week, and I hope everybody else plays well, too.

End of FastScripts

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