|
|||
|
|||
|
 |
|
|
U.S. WOMEN'S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIPAugust 12, 1999Jimin KangASHEVILLE, NORTH CAROLINA RHONDA GLENN: Congratulations, Jimin. This is the first time you've played in the U.S. Women's Amateur. Before we proceed, I wanted to ask you -- you had marked on here that you were a reinstated amateur. JIMIN KANG: Yes. Q. Did you turn pro? JIMIN KANG: No, no. RHONDA GLENN: That's what that means. I thought you were pretty young to be a pro. JIMIN KANG: I'm okay to turn professional because I'm 19. RHONDA GLENN: How do you feel about your match today? Now you're in the semifinals. JIMIN KANG: It's hard to say. It's so awesome. I played really good today; so I'm really excited to go to the semifinals. RHONDA GLENN: What do you think was the turning point in the match for you? JIMIN KANG: What do you mean? RHONDA GLENN: When did you begin to feel that you might win and that things really started to go well for you? JIMIN KANG: I tried not to think about it, because I didn't know what was going to happen every single hole. See, if I can get a par, but she can get a birdie, birdie, birdie. Then I'm just losing; so I try to not think about it and try to hit every single shot one at a time, the best that I can. That's all that I did. RHONDA GLENN: What country are you a citizen of? JIMIN KANG: Korea. Q. You went 3-up right out of the gate. What happened? JIMIN KANG: I think it was three holes. I was like: Whoa. Q. What happened in those three holes? JIMIN KANG: Well, 1st hole was easy birdie. I chipped it, and then like really, really close. Q. How close were you? JIMIN KANG: I think it was like three feet -- I think it was two feet. Q. Did you drive down the bottom of the hill or were you up top? JIMIN KANG: I was up top of the 1st hole. It was like this, (indicating three feet). Q. And what happened on the 2nd hole? JIMIN KANG: 2nd hole, I got a par; she chipped in over the green and then chipped on. Q. And then the 3rd hole? JIMIN KANG: 3rd hole. Oh, she went over the green, and then she chipped it, and then she missed her putt. And then I missed a birdie putt and made the par putt. Q. Is it harder or easier to stay focused when you get out of the gate like that and you're 3-up? Is it hard to keep going? JIMIN KANG: Yes, it is. Q. Because it came so easy, right? First three holes you're 3-up. JIMIN KANG: Yes, it is true. Q. What did you do to keep concentrating throughout the match? JIMIN KANG: My mom kept saying: One at a time. Don't think about the 3-up. I was like: Okay. Q. Your mom is caddying for you, right? JIMIN KANG: 36 holes -- well, less than that. I think it was 34 holes. RHONDA GLENN: May I ask your mother's age? JIMIN KANG: She is 44. RHONDA GLENN: Has she caddied for you before this week? JIMIN KANG: She did last week, too. North and South. RHONDA GLENN: Are you paying her? JIMIN KANG: Well, she is the best caddie. RHONDA GLENN: She is the best caddie? JIMIN KANG: Actually, she only can do is carry the bag and just try and make me calm down. That's all she did. Whenever I ask her: Mom, what do you think? Is that this way or this way? She says: I don't know. Just do whatever you want. (Laughter.) Q. You beat a really good player in this match. Are you surprised? JIMIN KANG: Well, you know, I met her before, and I've played her before in 1997; so, I knew her. It was kind of fun to play again. Q. Here? What happened in '97? JIMIN KANG: It was at the Rolex Junior Championship. Q. Who won? JIMIN KANG: I think it was Young-A Yang. RHONDA GLENN: When did you come to live in the United States? JIMIN KANG: About three -- well, it's close to four years now. RHONDA GLENN: And why did you do that? JIMIN KANG: Well, in my country, you cannot do like studying and golfing, both, together. But when you come in the United States, you can study first and then golf is second for just activity; right. So my parents are like, well, if you are -- keep staying in Korea, you have to -- well I'm golfer, which means like all I can do is golfing, not studying. So like you have to choose between one of those. So my parents said: It's not fair. You're a teenager, and you need to get some education. Let's go to America so you can get an education first and then play golf later. So that's why I came here. RHONDA GLENN: Did you play on the Korean team? JIMIN KANG: I wasn't old enough. Q. And were you 14 when you came here? Is that what you said earlier? JIMIN KANG: It was 1997. I was 15. Q. Do you feel like you're playing real well? JIMIN KANG: Well, so far I did. Q. Do you think you're playing well, though? Sometimes you win matches and you don't play real well, but do you think you're playing good? JIMIN KANG: I want to complain about lots of stuff, but I'm not going to do it. It's not going to make them feel better; so I'm just going to keep quite quiet. Q. How many birdies did you have in this match? JIMIN KANG: I think I had only two. Q. Only two? JIMIN KANG: I didn't keep the score. Sorry 1st hole I birdied and No. 4. Q. Did you win the 4th hole as well or did she birdie also? JIMIN KANG: She birdied it. Q. Any thoughts on tomorrow, what your philosophy will be? What's your game plan? JIMIN KANG: Same as today. One at a time. Try my best. That's all. We'll see tomorrow. RHONDA GLENN: Thank you very much. End of FastScripts…. |
|
||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
About ASAP Sports •
FastScripts Archive •
Recent Interviews •
Captioning •
Upcoming Events •
Contact Us
FastScripts | Events Covered | Our Clients | Other Services | ASAP in the News | Site Map | Job Opportunities | Links |
|
ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297
|