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WGC HSBC CHAMPIONS

October 26, 2017

Wu Ashun

Shanghai, China

Q. CALVIN KOH: We congratulate Wu Ashun, what a great day you've had. Can you share thoughts on your performance in day one.
WU ASHUN: Well, I felt I had a pretty good day. Everything was smooth and I had no bogeys. I felt my card is very clean today to finish at 5-under, and it has been a great day for me.

Q. With such a great performance today, is there any target you have set for yourself this week?
WU ASHUN: It's very normal my performance today, and one of the motivations I got this year is we have the most Chinese golfers participating in this year's WGC, altogether we have seven China golfers here. Yesterday Zhang Xiaoning, the president from the CGA spoke to us Chinese golfers and helped motivate us to do better in this week's tournament.

The WGC-HSBC Champions has been in China for the past 13 years, and with that many Chinese golfers participating, anything is possible. So President Zhang advised us to stay relaxed and do our best. I'm sure our China golfers will have a much better performance in the upcoming days.

Q. Two years ago, you mentioned that soon there will be a China golfer winning the WGC here in China, and with such a great position that you are in now, is there any preparation mentally for yourself to win it all in this year's tournament?
WU ASHUN: I emphasised yesterday when President Zhang from the CGA did tell us that anything is possible. I believe that all of the China golfers participating this week, they are well prepared.

And being a China golfer, we definitely want to win this WGC-HSBC Champions here in China. Last year it came to be quite a disappointing experience, but usually when golfers have to take care of their tight schedule, sometimes they might not be too well prepared for the upcoming tournaments. But one example from our Gold Medalist, Li-Ning, sometimes you might not need to be as well prepared as to win a championship.

Q. Back in the day, we did chat about every time you came into the WGC-HSBC Champions, you did not have a good performance. But with such a great performance this time, has anything been changed compared to the past?
WU ASHUN: One of the most important things is to better arrange my time. As a professional golfer, many times we need to follow the Tour calendar and tour schedule. Sometimes we need to get our card. Even for this year, like the previous years, I have not been having too much time for preparation in this year's WGC-HSBC Champions. Just like three weeks ago, I was in Spain and actually I just returned to Shanghai early Tuesday morning.

So even this year, I do not feel that I have been really well prepared for this tournament. But in the future, if I could, I would definitely find time to take a break and to adjust myself ahead of time to get more well prepared for the tournament.

Q. Right now, Dou Zecheng and Xinjun Zhang has entered the PGA TOUR, so do you have any thoughts towards that?
WU ASHUN: I'm very happy for Dou Zecheng and Xinjun Zhang to put their footsteps into the PGA TOUR because it's not easy for them to participate in the Web.com, and then very soon got an opportunity to enter the PGA TOUR.

I have been working very hard on the Tour, as well, so I understand that it's not easy for Xinjun and Dou, definitely they have definitely experienced a lot of challenges and difficulties throughout the way. But with God's blessing, they are now the first China golfers to enter the PGA TOUR, and I'm very proud of them. Certainly they can motivate a lot more Chinese young golfers and also help promote the sport of golf in China.

But everybody wants to enter the PGA TOUR. It's just a matter of time, sooner or later. But I believe at the end, all of the Chinese golfers will be on the Tour.

Q. Usually players get to take maybe a day or two of rest time before entering the WGC-HSBC Champions, but you've been very busy for the past weeks. So how would you rate your status and body shape right now for the past two weeks until now?
WU ASHUN: I felt that the first half of my year in 2017, I wasn't playing that well. In the second half of 2017, I have to play more tournaments to fight for more points. I'm quite tired, especially with my participation in the national games in China, and then right after, following up in Europe. As I mentioned, I just returned to Shanghai earlier this week Tuesday morning, so I'm quite exhausted.

After some general body tests, I actually lost a couple of kilograms, too. So I feel I'm tired and exhausted. Like what I said before, next year, if it is possible for me, maybe I can follow in the footsteps like Li Haotong to really take a break before coming into the WGC-HSBC Champions.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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