LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY HOAKALEI

September 30, 2026

Hye-Jin Choi

Youmin Hwang

Tagiralani Luafalealo

Hyunjo Yoo

Hoakalei Country Club

Press Conference

MALLORY KINAHAN: Okay, welcome to the 2026 LOTTE Championship. We are pleased to be joined by Lani Luafalealo, and LOTTE sponsors Youmin Hwang, Hye-Jin Choi, and Hyunjo Yoo.

Youmin, how does it feel to be back here ass a defending champion, and what memories do you have from this event in 2025?

YOUMIN HWANG: (Through translation.) It is really great and happy to be back here again since I had a really great and amazing memories from -- great experience here in Hawai'i, Hoakalei tournament.

I can recall great and amazing memories from last year's competition. I had chance to go through the course yesterday and today and I had a chat with my caddie, and those chats and the surroundings here on the green recall my great experience that I had here in 2025.

MALLORY KINAHAN: Hye-Jin, this is your ninth time playing in the LOTTE Championship. What is it about this tournament that you and other players keep coming back here?

HYE-JIN CHOI: I think the location itself. This tournament is placing here in Hawai'i, so Hawai'i itself is very special and meaningful.

And I also am enjoying the surroundings and of course the environment of Hawai'i. As you can see this is my ninth time playing in this tournament, so you can tell that it's really an amazing tournament of course. Hawai'i as well.

MALLORY KINAHAN: And then Lani, you played in this event last year. Super close to home as well, so that's super exciting. What did you take from this tournament and learn from last year?

TAGIRALANI LUAFALEALO: I think last year was just, again, my first time in Tour so the pressure, the intimidation of the course, the atmosphere, the environment was totally different from what I was used to.

So I think I took the competition and the competitiveness from last year. That's what I learned.

MALLORY KINAHAN: And for Hyunjo Yoo, this is your fifth start on the LPGA Tour. How did it feel to be out there and surrounded by LPGA players?

HYUNJO YOO: So as a player who dreamed to be an LPGA player for so many years I would like to take this tournament and want to approach this tournament with the mindset of learning from other great players as well. I will try to show my great performance during the tournament.

MALLORY KINAHAN: This is going to be for anyone who wants to answer. LOTTE has a strong support for women's golf. What does LOTTE's continuous support and specifically this tournament mean for all of you?

HYE-JIN CHOI: I am very grateful for their support of course. From my amateur player age to now I've been with LOTTE for so many years, and I can tell you that LOTTE's support is really important and means a lot to all of our players.

We do have some great Korean golfers in LOTTE team and it make me motivated as well. As one team we want to show great performance and reward their support with a great game.

YOUMIN HWANG: So as you might know very well, LOTTE is sponsoring not only LPGA Tour but also KLPGA. As you might know, last year I was invited by LOTTE and I grabbed the trophy last year. It means a lot to me.

Thanks to their support I could be on the Tour of LPGA, so I think it's really great. Thank you very much for their support once again.

MALLORY KINAHAN: Awesome, we're going to open it up to the media at this time, if anyone has any questions in the media center.

I think we're all set. Thanks so much for your time.