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RBC HERITAGE

April 21, 2019

Cheng-Tsung Pan

Hilton Head, South Carolina

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JOHN BUSH: We'd like to welcome the 2019 RBC Heritage Champion, C.T. Pan, into the interview room.

C.T., congratulations on your first PGA Tour victory. Take us through today's round and what led to the win.

C.T. PAN: Last night I look at the hole locations and I told myself, I just need to make -- shoot even par or under through first four holes and I'll be all set. Because I look at the pins from 5th -- from No. 5 to No. 13 and they all pretty approachable. And that's how I made birdie on No. 5, 9, 10 and 12 and put myself up on the leaderboard. And 15 honestly I feel like I got lucky there, because I hit four really bad shots and I walk away with a bogey only. Made another birdie on 16, helped me a lot. 18 I thought I made it. And I was really happy it was good enough for the W.

JOHN BUSH: You move up to No. 26 in the FedExCup standings. Talk about how this sets you up for the rest of the season.

C.T. PAN: This W sets me up very well. I can tell you that. 500 FedExCup points and being able to play The TOUR Championship is always my goal every year. And last two years I got close and close but I wasn't able to play at East Lake. But hopefully at this year I'll do something special, just like this win, to secure it.

Q. Last year you had a good chance at Wyndham the final day and you didn't quite get it done. What did you learn from that that helped you today?
C.T. PAN: It definitely help me a lot. Everybody knows that Wyndham I pushing my drive and end up OB. I made a double there to lose my chance for W. And it definitely change my perception on the last couple of holes down the stretch of what I should do.

And this -- the last three holes I would say I played really well here, a lot of good shots just because I told myself I need to focus on the details, the little things, and just stay in present. And that really helps me a lot. And that's something I didn't do at Wyndham.

And also it's really hard out here, everyone is so good. And even if you do everything right there's a chance that you don't win. So I was just very happy that I got it done and secure a W.

Q. Yesterday's round was really all over the place.
C.T. PAN: Yes.

Q. How did you kind of resettle yourself overnight to come in with a good frame of mind about today's round?
C.T. PAN: I mean I would say yesterday my wife is not happy about my round. It was too colorful for her.

But after the round I just feel I didn't hit it as good. My first two rounds I hit it really much better. So I went to the range, early this morning, I got here at 9:00 to do some putting drills and just hit more balls and just make sure my foundation is good, fundamental stuff all set, all dialed. And that really helped me today. I just feel more comfortable on the tee shots and approach shots and that really helped me down the stretch.

Q. Can you tell us the story about how that you almost did not come to the tournament this week?
C.T. PAN: Yeah, so this week I'm having my first AJGA events in Houston. It's a very big deal for me. That's why my wife, unfortunately, she's not here, because she's there in Houston handling stuff. And we also brought ten kids from Taiwan, like given exemption to participate in my AJGA events. One of the girls we brought from Taiwan, she won the tournament. So this is one of the best weekends that I've ever had.

And the reason why -- because I try really hard to kind of skip this week, see if I can play well the first three months and hopefully I can skip this week and spend my time with the kids at my AJGA events location. And obviously I didn't play well the first three months so that's why I'm here. And my wife told me to be here. She's right again.

Q. You had Matt Kuchar in the clubhouse a couple of groups ahead of you posted a score. Behind you the final group being Poulter not very good all day, and Dustin kind of crumbled midway through the back nine. How much were you aware of what was going on behind you and in front of you, and how much did you pay attention to the scoreboard coming home?
C.T. PAN: Honestly I pay -- I did not pay much attention. I look at the leaderboard three or four times on 16, 17, 15, even. I didn't even look at who shot -- I didn't know Matt Kuchar shot 11-under. I just knew I need to shoot 13-under to secure a W. And that was my goal. After 15 holes I need to make two more birdies coming in to win this event.

And that's just something I'm trying to do. I always set my short-term goal to help me to focus on the present, just to live in the moments, I guess, yeah.

Q. There's a stat out there that now the last seven winners of this tournament have all come from behind. Were you aware of that stat yesterday and did it give you any additional confidence?
C.T. PAN: It's funny, yeah, I saw that on the Golf Channel this morning. I'm only two shots behind, does that mean anything to me? Does that mean I cannot win this week?

But like you said, there were almost 20 people within four shots of the lead -- within four shots range. And this course it's easy to make an eagle, not easy to make an eagle, but you can make an eagle and somebody makes a bogey, and that's three shots difference that can change a lot of things out there. And that's why this is a really good course, I believe.

Yes, going back to your question, I am aware of that. So it was funny, I told myself I'm only two shots behind, not three.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about how you came to play golf? Your mother caddied back home?
C.T. PAN: Yeah, my mom, she's a caddie. And my dad also work at a golf course where I practice at. And that's how I know golf, basically because my parents, they work there. Just one day my dad told me and my brother -- we all kind of learned golf together at the same time. He told us that he believed this sport has a really good potential in the future. And obviously I didn't know anything back then. And it was right time when with Tiger, it was '96, I believe, when Tiger coming up like crazy. He's still crazy.

But, yes, my family is a big part of my golf career. And my mom, she's still working in the golf club still. So I just miss a lot of my family this W.

JOHN BUSH: I know before we go to the next question, this victory really means a lot in your dad's memory, too.

C.T. PAN: Yes, I mean I can remember all the late night watching Masters or watching PGA Tour events, watching Tiger Woods winning. And my dad would tell me, hey, I want you one day to do that for me. And dad, finally, we've done it.

Q. You now have ticket to Augusta. You're wearing your ticket to Augusta next year to play in the Masters.
C.T. PAN: Yeah, my wife -- I mean my wife and I watched Tiger winning last Sunday and she was like, hey, I'm not patient at all, so you better get me there as soon as possible. And she doesn't want to caddie for me anymore in the tournaments. She only wants to caddie for the Par-3 events. So now I can fulfill my promise.

Q. Take us through, you talked about those first four holes and how that was critical when you looked at the pin sheet. Take us through those first four holes and what freed you up after that?
C.T. PAN: Those four holes just -- first hole is always tough, the first tee shots. You know you're in contention. And it's always hard to -- having good start is very important to win this tournaments.

Last night I look at the hole locations and they were kind of tough. No. 1 is front right, downwind. It's hard to stop the ball.

No. 2 is all the way back right and that's hard to make a birdie. If you hit a good driver there's a chance.

No. 3 is a long hole.

And No. 4 is greens, island green, secured by water. I made a double there yesterday so I did not have a good memory there.

And that's why I told myself just play your best, shoot even par or under and then of course it will get eventually easier and No. 5 is a par 5, which I did well, made birdie there. And No. 9, No. 10 and No. 12.

Q. I know you have a vision of that first PGA Tour win and what the setting will be like and you probably imagine it out on 18. For you you're standing on the range by yourself kind of and somebody tells you, hey, you won. And you raised your arms in celebration. But was that kind of surreal for it to happen in that setting, not quite exactly what you envisioned or expected?
C.T. PAN: It's very surreal, for sure. And I just didn't envision my win like this. And I was ready for the playoff, too. So hard to convince myself that actually I had a shot at winning. I just tried to get myself ready, get prepared for the worst outcome, I guess, for the playoff. And finally the media guys told me I won.

And even being right here right now it's very hard for me to believe I won a tournament, PGA Tour event, because it's very hard to win every week.

Q. What kind of headlines and reaction does this get back in Taiwan? You've had a major winner there in Yani Tseng, is this bigger than anything Yani has done?
C.T. PAN: From what I remember the last PGA Tour winner from Taiwan was 30 years ago. So I'm sure this will be, hopefully, big news, back home. But no matter what, I think this is very big news in my career or in the people, the places, the golf course I practice at, the people that have supported me in my golf career. I think this is a great news for them back home. It will be a big celebration, hopefully.

Q. You mentioned getting to The TOUR Championship is one of your biggest goals. Can you talk about how much it would mean to be part of that Presidents Cup team this year in Australia?
C.T. PAN: Oh, yeah, that's right. We've still got some time. It would be my biggest honor to play under Captain Els. I definitely want to do my part to win the Presidents Cup. And back home in Taiwan, I mean, we don't have a Ryder Cup in Asia. And I just feel it's kind of unfortunate for the golf fans back home in Asia. And I think the Presidents Cup will be something like that. And it will inspire more kids to play golf or inspire more people to follow golf.

JOHN BUSH: Congratulations, once again, to RBC Heritage Champion, C.T. Pan.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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