Bae Looks to Repeat at Byron Nelson


Sang-Moon Bae surprised the golf world last year by winning the Byron Nelson Championship in Irving, Texas. The South Korean entered the final round at TPC Four Seasons Resort trailing 54-hole leader Keegan Bradley by a stroke.

But Bae's birdie on the 16th - along with Bradley's bogey on the 17th - gave him a two-shot lead that he wouldn't relinquish. Bae closed with a 13-under 267 on the par-70 course, edging Bradley by two.

The rest of last season was a mixed bag for Bae, now 27. In 26 starts he made 16 cuts, with two top-10 finishes and nine missed cuts. He earned $1,714,640 on the year, and finished 36th in the FedEx Cup standings.

In 15 events this season, Bae has made 10 cuts and logged three finishes in the top 25 of those events. He's also missed five cuts. So far he's earned $477,135 and has 312 points, ranking 102nd in the FedEx Cup race.

A month ago Bae moved from Los Angeles into an apartment in the Irving area, not five minutes from the site of his only PGA Tour victory. After his maiden win last year, Bae exclaimed, "I love this place. I would move to Dallas tomorrow."

Though it took about a year longer to fulfill that wish, Bae is happy he decided to relocate to the Lone Star State. "I really like it here," he said Tuesday. "Not really great weather, but I like the city, persons, everything."

As for his letdown following his breakthrough in last year's Byron Nelson -missing seven cuts in the 12 Tour events he played after the tournament, Bae admitted that the heightened expectations got to him.

"I had a little bit of pressure and a little stress, too, because I worked really hard, but results was not that good," he told reporters Tuesday. "But golf is not easy. Everybody has that problem, just working same way, so I'm just waiting and stay patient."

Bae, who also has three wins each on the Asian and Japanese tours as well as another two on the OneAsia Tour, will be in one of the marquee pairings with a couple of young shining stars for the first two rounds of the Nelson. He'll be teeing it up alongside 24-year-old - a two-time winner last year, and Dallas native son, Jordan Spieth.

The 20-year-old Spieth, the reigning PGA Tour Rookie of the Year who's currently ranked eighth in the world, will be the gallery favorite thanks to his local ties.

On Tuesday, Bae met with reporters for the following Q&A. Here's what he had to say. He'll be looking to become the first repeat champion since Tom Watson won three straight Byron Nelson titles from 1978-80.

MODERATOR: We will get started. We would like to welcome our defending champion, Sang-Moon Bae into the interview room. Welcome back.

SANG MOON BAE: Thank you.

Q. Talk about your win last year, what it did for your career and also your thoughts about trying to defend.

SANG MOON BAE: It was a really, really good experience last year. I won this tournament. But I couldn't play well after this win. So I'm trying hard, and keep on trying my best, but, you know, just playing hard, working hard, that's it.

Q. Talk about this season. You're making your 16th start, you're coming off a 68th place finish at the Players. Talk about your game coming into this week.

SANG MOON BAE: I shot a low score last week but couldn't play well on Saturday. I don't know why. I had the same conditions, same shot field, same putting field but I think I had a mental problem, not that big, but just a little bit. (Laughter.) I think I lose focus on the course. The course was pretty tough last week. But I play really good, confidence level is getting higher, too.

Q. Last year you said that you were thinking about moving here. Have you moved here? What were your thoughts on that?

SANG MOON BAE: I was in LA but I move in here month ago, probably. Yeah, month ago. Five minutes away. I really like it here. Not really great weather, but I like the city, persons, everything.

Q. You were talking about your play. Is it fair to say you have been frustrated with how the season has gone?

SANG MOON BAE: Yeah, I had a little bit of pressure and a little stress, too, because I worked really hard, but results was not that good. But golf is not easy. Everybody has that problem, just working same way, so I'm just waiting and stay patient. Just playing, just practice, stay patient.

Q. I've read about your technical swing and how sometimes people stop and other pros want to stop and watch you. Is it true you learned that from "You Tube" videos and your mother?

SANG MOON BAE: That was a really, really long time ago. Now I want to make such strong playing, more steady, more consistent. I shoot 66 Thursday of last week and 79 on Saturday. I think that it wasn't technique, it was course managing or a little more think, and mental. That's why I'm working on like, course managing more. Not swing, putting, everything is, yeah, difficult.

Q. Moon, you said you moved about five minutes away. Will this be your primary practice facility whenever you get fully up and running in Irving or Dallas, wherever your house is at?

SANG MOON BAE: Yeah, I move here month ago. So in month, I took trips out here, so I came out here four times, five times, that's all and I went to Craig Ranch golf course couple times. It was a really good practice area, too. So I like here.

Q. Did you find it difficult to stay motivated after winning last year? You obviously secured your card for a couple years. Was that one of the issues you were dealing with?

SANG MOON BAE: (Through interpreter) that's true. Back then winning was the goal, but after I won, I didn't have pressure, same pressure as last year. But since I have another goal, I am trying to focus for another goal that I have in my mind.

Q. Can you talk about last year and your start here, three 66s. Why did you feel so immediately comfortable on this course?

SANG MOON BAE: I like this course shape, pretty wide and I like this green, because a little easier than the other greens, because they are a little easier to read, not much grain, not much slope, some green is hilly but speed is perfect and good grass, so easy read. You know, we play every different grass each week, so I have a little problem every week, different grass every week. So it was a little hard, hard to putt.

Q. Just a question, Scotty Scheffler came in here, high school player, talking about his goal is to finish in the top 10 of this tournament this week. We've seen a lot of young players do very well on the PGA Tour in recent years. What is your thought if you had played on the PGA Tour as a teenager, how intimidating would that have been? What are your thoughts about so many young kids doing well out here?

SANG MOON BAE: PGA Tour was my dream, play on the Tour, you know? I really liked Tiger. He was my hero. I liked his swing, playing, everything, action. But I'm doing here, I'm here, pretty impressed. Every week I'm happy doing here, I'm learning, learning from every - each player and everywhere, the course. So many good players on the Tour. It's really, really competitive. That's why I have to work hard.

MODERATOR: Sang Moon Bae, thank you, sir.

The transcript for the above interview is courtesy of ASAP Sports.