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THE BARCLAYS

August 26, 2009

Yong-Eun Yang

JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY

Q. Is there a particular style of player that you think this course will favor?
Y.E. YANG: I wouldn't say there's a particular player that I could point out, but it's a windy course, and most of all, the greens are very challenging to say the least.
So a player who is good in his short game and can putt well, that player will have a good chance in winning this tournament.

Q. I was wondering if you could tell us about your time in the Korean military and what you did, how long you were in the military, were you a good shot? What all did they have you do?
Y.E. YANG: As you know, I grew up in Jeju Island, and so I was posted in that region. It's an island, and it's in the far south of Korea, so it probably has the least possibilities of any Korean entry, but still being an island there are a lot of ways to come in through the sea. I was stationed in the Korean marines at a post on the beach, and I worked two-day shifts on the beach.
And as for whether I was a good shot or not, in Korea, if you don't shoot properly, then you have to go through a grueling process of, I guess, extracurricular military activities. And since I didn't go through that, I do believe that I was a decent shot.

Q. Was it the regular army or an abbreviated service?
Y.E. YANG: It was an 18-month abbreviated service. As various structures of the Korean army, which is too hard to explain right now, but I did fulfill my military obligation in Korea.

Q. I'd like to ask what the last week has been like for you, and how long it took to comprehend and absorb the fact that you defeated Tiger Woods in a major? And also, have you seen Tiger since and have you interacted at all?
Y.E. YANG: It's been a whirlwind-type of week. The first day after, from Sunday to Monday right after the PGA Championship, I didn't get a lick of sleep. It's been a lot of international travel for a week. I can't compare it to being up in cloud nine, but it feels like I've been jet-lagged for a week now. I've gotten interview requests from the international and Korean requests, and I've only got about 20 hours of sleep the previous week. It all started the day of the final round where I didn't really get much sleep and since then until probably today, I haven't really slept that well. But it doesn't really feel that tiring.
A lot of people have recognized me, a lot more than they have pre-PGA Championship. And a lot of people in Dallas, where my hometown is now, where I call home, they recognize me, as well. A lot of people have come up and congratulated me and asked me for a lot of autographs. Same thing over here.
It really has not sunk in; it really has not dawned to me the magnitude that everybody has been telling me what big of a feat I have accomplished. It just seems that I have become more famous and that's about it.
On your question about whether or not I've interacted with Tiger again, the only thing that I really did was today before the Pro-Am, I just passed by him. We never even made eye contact. So that's about it.

Q. Your caddie was quoted as saying that you offered to pay off the debt on his house and I believe his car. I just wanted to know how that came about and whether that, in fact, happened.
Y.E. YANG: I'm not actually going to write off the debt by paying the debt myself, but AJ will have a hefty bonus at the end of the year, so probably he will cover all of his debt with that.
So in a way, it worked out for both of us.

Q. As a result of winning the PGA, you also made The Presidents Cup Team. I'm wondering at what point you found out that you had done two pretty incredible things on the same day and what your reaction so that is, being added to that illustrious roster.
Y.E. YANG: It was back early this year during the WGC CA Championship that they took my measurements just in case I qualified or get picked by Greg Norman.
During the start of the PGA Championship week, I was thinking about probably playing well, finishing a bit high, and probably get a captain's pick. That was just a remote possibility at that time. I thought about it. I wouldn't say I dreamt about, it, but I thought about it, because nothing's impossible, right. But, well, I won -- I accidentally won the PGA Championship and with that came the work of going up in the international ranks and getting on The Presidents Cup, this roster.
I found out right after I had my winner's press conference, and it felt really good. And I think about a couple of days later, I got a phone call directly from Greg Norman. He congratulated me, and he told me to keep on playing hard.
So, yeah, it felt good. It felt good and I'm very honored to be part of that team.

Q. Just be curious when you got back to Dallas, what's the strangest reaction that you have received out of the house, running into somebody, what they have done to you, said to you, something along those lines, in Dallas.
Y.E. YANG: I'm not sure if this is the most peculiar occasion, but on the next Tuesday of the championship week, I went over to the TaylorMade headquarters and I visited the office there, and TaylorMade gave me a grand tour of their office. I went to the marketing box, the customer service box, as well, and I went over to the production line, as well, and the people over there actually recognized me and started chanting, "Y.E., Y.E." There was a sales meeting at that time, as well, and they sort of pulled me to the tent and gave me a huge introduction and people started chanting my name. I felt like a rock star. And I thought that was a very eerie feeling, and it was great.
But to top that off, they had a golf course right adjacent to that place, and I went over there and I actually met George W. Bush, George Bush 43, and had about a 30-minute chat with George Bush. And since he's a Dallas native, as well, he has a place over there, as well, we sort of promised to have a round of golf sometime when our schedules were okay. And I told him that I would actually be willing to skip a tournament or two if he were willing to play golf with me. So I'm looking forward to that, as well.

Q. What exactly did you talk about during those 30 minutes? Seems like a long time.
Y.E. YANG: Well, there was translation involved, so it wasn't actually a full 30-minute conversation. (Laughter).
But in a nutshell, well, he came up to me very casually, like a next-door neighbor, started talking with me. He talked about -- he actually had a speech two weeks before that occasion where he went over to Jeju Island, my hometown, and gave a speech. So he talked about that, talked about what a coincidence it was, and he talked about how good friends and buddies that he was with Korea's current president, Mr. Lee, and he talked about Mr. Lee's humble past, etc.
He introduced myself to a lot of his friends over there, including his golf coach, and took a lot of pictures. He asked me whether it was really nerve-wracking to play with Tiger for 18 holes, especially on the 18th hole, and finally on the last, he said it must have been less nerve-wracking than his eight years in office.
Yeah, that was just a casual conversation. He made me feel really comfortable. I really enjoyed it.

Q. Which course was it?
Y.E. YANG: At Kingdom, right next to TaylorMade headquarters.

Q. Just following up, I actually was going to ask you how good Greg Norman's Korean was on that phone call, but has anyone -- or has the thought occurred to you in another way, you might be the bad guy ending one of the great records in all of sport, and is there a little bit of you that as a fan, not as a player, would have liked to have seen Tiger just have that record? And secondly, when you walked past him this morning at the Pro-Am, did you say anything to him, or he didn't see you, or did you see him?
Y.E. YANG: He didn't actually make any eye contact, so just breezed by. That was it. No comment whatsoever.
Well, I am a bit sorry to ruin the party. Yeah, in some ways, you could say that I was the party pooper to Tiger's long streak. I have the utmost respect for Tiger Woods, and I like him. I like him. He's cool. I like his swing. And there's a lot to learn from him, not just as a golf player but as a person, as well.
And as a golf fan, yeah, as a golf fan, I guess I am the bad guy a bit, and there is a little bit of I guess a sorry feeling. But then my bigger pro golfer ego and my actual occupation as being a professional golf player sort of supersedes that notion.
It's that notion, that feeling that always gets me to the golf course and makes me play my best golf, or try to play my best golf. It was one of those days when everything clicked for myself. So I know Tiger Woods -- like any player, especially the players that are close to me, we always agree that Tiger Woods has bettered the game of golf, and it's sort of made a lot of opportunities, provided a lot of opportunities for other golfers. And we are very lucky to have him at this time and we are very lucky to play in an era of golf where Tiger Woods is playing. We acknowledge that, we are thankful, and I thank him, as well. I'm a bit sorry, but if I had to do it again, I would still try and win.

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