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THE HONDA CLASSIC

March 8, 2009

Yong-Eun Yang

PALM BEACH GARDENS, FLORIDA

DOUG MILNE: We would like to welcome the 2009 Honda Classic Honda champion Y.E. Yang to the interview room. Thank you for joining us. And congratulations on the wonderful victory. Much deserved. With the win, you pick up 500 FedExCup points, moving up to 9th and moving you into next week's World Golf Championships CA Championship. Just your thoughts on winning and thoughts on the day.
Y.E. YANG: Starting out this morning, I told myself that in order for me to win today, I needed to stay patient and know how to wait. I think my plan worked today, because I tried to stay as patient as I could.
This win is the biggest win of my career. It definitely takes over the HSBC Champions win in 2006.

Q. Just talk about your emotions on 18. Obviously you were overcome out there. Just your emotions now and what were you thinking when you became so emotional out there?
Y.E. YANG: Ever since I won the HSBC Champions, there were a lot of expectations, from people around me, and even on myself that I had. For the past two years, it was actually kind of frustrating for me. I wasn't able to win for two years. My performances were just not that great. My World Rankings had fallen down.
I just felt bad for my sponsors, TaylorMade and Le Coq Sportif in Korea. I wanted to show them that I was the top player that they expected of me.
But winning today, I feel very relieved. All of the pressure is off my shoulders, and the way that -- what I did when I clapped all of the fans after I won, I did that out of pure emotions. I felt like they were supporting me and I just wanted to thank them. That's what I felt.

Q. The first putt on 18, the 50-footer, Quigley had just come through and 3-putted from a similar -- a similar spot. Were you aware of that, and how nervous were you standing over such a long putt, when clearly, nobody wants a putt that long to decide a golf tournament?
Y.E. YANG: Yeah, that putt was not an easy putt. It was actually pretty intimidating.
Looking at the green conditions on that hole, I just asked myself, what do I need to do to 2-putt this? You know, the grass was leaning towards the water. It was a downhill putt. It was very hard to determine the speed.
I asked myself, how strong do I have to hit it? But once I made the decision, it was simple; just execute.

Q. Were you aware that people were closing in on you, that the lead, four shots, whatever it was, almost disappeared?
Y.E. YANG: Yeah, I actually saw the leaderboard. It was back on hole No. 12. I noticed that there was a three-shot difference, and then it went down to a two-shot difference, and then when I birdied again, I made it three shots again.
I knew that there were still six difficult holes left. I knew that I had to just keep on maintaining my pace. I knew that, you know, I could bogey, but I also knew that other players could bogey, too, because these are all difficult holes.
So I just tried to take each hole one at a time.

Q. How old were you when you were in the military, and what did you do?
Y.E. YANG: I went into the Army when I was 21, served for a year and a half. My role was guarding the naval; the sea.

Q. What was your rank?
Y.E. YANG: Three stripes. Not high. (Laughter) I was a guard.

Q. How different are you now than the player that will go to the Masters this time?
Y.E. YANG: The player that I was back in 2007 when I went to the Masters for the first time, I was just another player. I had a picture frame on my wall in my house with all of the past winners of the Masters, their faces, and at that point, I was just a player looking at that picture frame every day, hoping that some day, my face would go on there.
From that player now, I think I'm a lot more mature. I think my dreams are now bigger, now that I've won here. My expectations are higher, and I think I can do a better job.

Q. You've been known for winning the HSBC and beating Tiger, and now winning this, which you call a bigger deal than winning the HSBC, do you see the irony that you'll be seeing Tiger next week and a lot more down the road?
Y.E. YANG: I'm just thankful that I'm able to play in tournaments that Tiger played. When I first came to the PGA TOUR, there were so many good players out here; not only Tiger. It was just an honor for me to be able to compete against them. To be able to face Tiger again and again, is an honor for me.

Q. How long have you lived in California, and how much English do you speak?
Y.E. YANG: Twenty months in California, and I think my English is just good enough just to get around. (Laughter).

Q. How old were you when you realized you could be a touring pro and not just a teaching pro?
Y.E. YANG: I started golf when I was 19 years old back around 1991. After three years, I realized that there was this thing called a tour pro. Prior to that, I had only played a hundred rounds of golf, and after three years, I went down to New Zealand just to try to play as much golf as possible.
I stayed there for three months. And during those three months, I must have played about a hundred rounds. That's when I really felt like my golf was improving and that I would like to try to be a touring pro, so when I went back to Korea, I went to a country club that I knew and became like a learning (teaching) pro.

Q. After you beat Tiger, you fell down in the rankings pretty far. What happened?
Y.E. YANG: You know, when I won the HSBC Champions, at that time, it was such a big tournament, that I just won, and at that point, when I was invited to the Masters, up to that point, my dream was to play in the Masters. When I got invited, I had actually realized my dream.
After that, I think the passion for -- I lost a sense -- I did have a goal. I think my passion for the game went down a little bit. I took things for granted.
But after winning today, I realize that there's a bigger goal out there. I would like to see myself achieve bigger things. So that's how different I am.
I think I put a lot of pressure on myself those two years after I won the HSBC. Now that I found myself playing in the bigger, global tournaments like the World Golf Championships, PGA TOUR events, the majors, I think playing head-to-head against all of the top players, and just feeling the pressure, I think I just tried to play too much, too well, and I think that actually had a negative effect and I wasn't able to perform that well.

Q. This week, Jiyai Shin won the HSBC in Singapore, the Korean team shut out China in the World Baseball Classic, and now your victory. How do you think this victory will rank back home compared to those other sporting events?
Y.E. YANG: Yeah, as a matter of fact, before I came out to the course today, I was checking the Internet, and I did notice that Jiyai Shin had won. She had come back from behind and shot 6-under to win. I also saw that Korea, our baseball team, won.
So I said to myself: Hey, if they can do it, if she came back from behind to win -- when I was playing out there, I said, I'm actually three shots ahead. I'd better do this.
So I just tried to maintain my confidence, and that was the key point.

Q. Were you able to enjoy the round as it went along?
Y.E. YANG: Up until the last four holes, I had fun. (Laughter) But those four holes, I think was longer than my entire golfing career. (Laughter).

Q. On the third shot at 18, right after you hit the shot, TV cameras showed you make this grimace or make a face. I was just wondering the thoughts that accompanied the grimace on the shot.
Y.E. YANG: I was angry at myself, because the ball went further left than what I had intended, so I was very angry at myself.

Q. You use the initials Y.E. when you're playing here; is that to make it easier on American reporters and American fans?
Y.E. YANG: Yeah, like K.J. (laughter).

Q. Where do you get your fun personality from? Is it from your parents or growing up? I think there's a perception among Americans that Koreans, especially golfers, are very stoic. You seem to be having such a good time out there. Where do you get that from?
Y.E. YANG: I don't know, I think I just try to be myself. I try to be true to my feelings. When I hit a bad shot or when I'm angry, I show it. When I am happy or hit a good shot, I show it. I'm just different from other Korean players, I guess. But my basic mentality is I'm out here playing golf, let's just try to enjoy it.

Q. Can you talk about your communication with your caddie today?
Y.E. YANG: We don't have deep, deep conversations, but golf is simple. Reading the wind, club selections, I think those are basic communications, so there's going to be no difficulty in that.
DOUG MILNE: Real quick, if you would go through your birdies.
Y.E. YANG: 3, driver, 3-wood and 55 yards to the green with a wedge and maybe 25 feet and straight putt.
Next hole, No. 4 is 5-wood and then next shot is 106,52-degree wedge and maybe ten foot, straight line, birdie.
Next, par 3, 190, 194, 5-iron and maybe four foot.
No. 8, driver, miss a little bit right. 168 to the pin, 6-iron to 22 feet.
Next, No. 12, driver 149 and maybe eight-foot straight putt.
DOUG MILNE: Congratulations and best of luck to you moving forward.

End of FastScripts

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