 Right off the bat tell
us about your family and where you are
from. Well I was born in
Aurora, IL and we moved about seven
years ago to Torrance, CA mainly for
better golf weather. When did
you start playing? When I was
seven and a half. My Dad saw all the
Koreans in the US Open and so I kinda
took up golf. I had been doing figure
skating but that took a great deal of
time. And also everything is so strict
in that sport. All the practice before
school and your career is so short.
Golf you can play all your life. I
still loved figure skating but I had
to pick one thing and I loved golf
too. I made a choice. So tell us
about your family. Well my Dad
is a high school math teacher, my mom
stays home and I have a younger
brother who is ten. Pets?
Nope no pets. Don't like pets. I like
horses though. Really? Expensive
pet though. Are you a "favorites" kind
of person?" No, I'll have one
here and there. My favorite color is
red and I'll mark my golf ball red,
but I will not wear red. It has been
bad luck for me. I used to be involved
with the Tiger Wood Foundation and we
wore Nike clothes. I did wear red at
the Junior Worlds that year but I shot
a big number so red is not part of my
clothing any more Tell us about
tournament golf for you. What do you
like about it? Obviously when I
play well I really enjoy it. But most
of all it's the competition each day.
Every day you have different
situations, different shots you have
to hit. Sometimes you'll have a bad
situation and you have to deal with
it. Somtimes you are in a perfect
situation and you ruin it. One thing I
have have learned over the years is
that it's not just the results that
matter but more the path you took to
get there. You can't win all of them
and you have to accept it and work the
process. I have heard people say "well
I really tried out there" and I
ask "well were you not trying out
there before?" (Laugh) But you can try
too much too. Sometimes that causes
things not to work out. If you
feel it's all process, does that mean
you do not get frustrated? . Well
of course I get frustrated, but you
have to deal with it. But the better
you deal with it, the better your
results will be. Tell us about
your practice style. Do you have a
regimen you follow? That my Mom
takes care of. I try to even out the
time on the range, on my short game,
and my putting. It may not happen that
way every day, but within a week it's
all evened out. Does Mom track
all that and how about on the golf
course? She tracks that
somewhere I am sure but not on the
golf course. She does not follow me so
I keep all my stats for my coaches.
They always ask. Do you have
coaches? Yes I have a swing
coach, mental coach, and a physical
coach. I have a regular workout
routine and I see my physical coach
every two months in Palm Springs. Its
all golf related workouts. Does
your mental coach have you working on
anything? Well I just started
that. I have very stubborn about that
since I don't like people telling me
how to think. (laughs) He helps me
stay in the process and away from the
results. Bob Rotella talks about
confidence, composure, and
concentration. How would assess
yourself on those three? Well
composure would be the best and
confidence would be the weakest. I
don't really doubt myself, but there
is a slight edge that I could
definitely be better. Which part
of your game do you think is the best?
Probably short game, getting
up and down. One of the biggest pluses
in my game is making crucial par
putts. Luck and skill in the
game? How would you break it down?
70% skill, 30% luck. You
cannot be lucky all the time. You need
the skill to back it up. Any
special practice before a tournament?
If I know the course I will
work on certain areas of my game that
I know I will need. That's about all.
Preshot routine? It's
pretty quick. If you're not looking
you might miss it. It is something I
am working on but I keep it simple,
yardage, club, target, go. Do
you think about winning a tournament
on the course? Or how you are doing
overall? Not really. I mean the
last day I make sure to keep myself in
a position to win. Last year was tough
and I strugglesd more. I made AJGA All
American but 2nd team. That motivated
me to get back to 1st team, to work
harder. I need to get back to the
level where I was, to refocus and not
let it go back down again. DO
you have any goals posted on the wall?
well I want to get to the LPGA
and be a top player there. In junior
golf I want to be competitive every
week. But how I'm going to get there?
I don't know. Have you done any
team sports? Yes, some soccer
but not now. Except Canon Cup and high
school golf. I like doing those, they
are fun. But not year round. College
golf will be good too because you
count the individual scores.
Well that's all we have. Thanks for
your time. No problem, thank
you. I enjoyed this. |
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