THE MODERATOR: I'm joined here in the media center T-Mobile Match Play presented by MGM rewards with Angel Yin. Welcome back. Happy to have you.
ANGEL YIN: Thank you. Thanks for having me.
Q. And just to start things off, how are you doing, how are feeling first tournament back?
ANGEL YIN: Feel good and walking. I'm upright, which is new. A lot taller than I thought I was going to be. So, it feels really good. Feels really good to be walking again on the golf course.
But I picked a really good week to be back because everything is on the side of a hill.
Q. Yes, you did.
ANGEL YIN: Full throttle.
Q. First tournament of 2024. You've had a few months here. What have you been working on?
ANGEL YIN: A lot of PS5. (Laughter.) Nothing. My mom was like, you should read a book and get educated. I was like, Nah, (making video game noises.)
That's pretty much it. And then once I started playing golf all I did was play golf and then I worked out quite a bit. Just because I was so excited to be upright I was just doing anything I possibly could. Swimming, rehab. That's been my main focus. Haven't really been doing that much. Haven't jumped off a plane yet, like Haley.
Q. How nice was it to have that break and reset? Probably not what you wanted, wasn't in the plan, but how nice is it to have a break away from golf a little bit?
ANGEL YIN: Yeah, really don't get breaks like that so it was like another COVID for me. Yeah, I actually really enjoyed it.
I was like really integrating into the life and the society of Orlando and felt like I was half retired with all my people that are in their 80s. All I did every day was wake up at noon and then go for a walk, eat, practice, swim, gym, go home, and look at my screen and then do it again.
I did that -- and then on Saturdays we'd get crazy and go to the farmer's market and get some raw milk to drink.
Q. Can you describe what you had going on medically?
ANGEL YIN: Medically, I think I took things too literal. People told me to break a leg and I went out and actually did it.
Q. How did you do that?
ANGEL YIN: I fell, because that's the only way to break a leg.
Q. Wanted to ask you in your time away have you been watching what's been going on and what Nelly has been doing?
ANGEL YIN: It's hard not to know what Nelly has been doing. First of all, I follow her on Instagram. Teammates, right? So it's been pretty incredible to win three in a row. She's been playing really well.
It's just really cool to see someone coming out of the season so dominant.
Q. What is it about her game that you can learn from when you watch her?
ANGEL YIN: I have to watch her this week because I've really only just looked at Spiderman and Hogwarts for two months.
Q. What is it about Nelly -- can you learn just by watching her?
ANGEL YIN: So what I assumed -- before when I watched her play, before I got injured, is that she was very accurate with her irons. I think that's something I really want to improve as well.
Distance-wise, I mean, I think I could get her. Now especially. I think I came back stronger. My doctor told me that if I break my bone it grows back stronger. I'm like hitting it really far, so I think he's right.
Q. You had a little bit of success here last year. Is that one of the reasons you chose to come back here or just medically ready to go?
ANGEL YIN: Well, it wasn't just this week. Obviously everyone wants to come back to Vegas because it's fun. I do.
The course, Shadow Creek, pretty legendary itself. Weather is similar to California, warm. But obviously two weeks from now it's a major, so this is now or never.
I don't really think I'm fully ready, but I have to take a chance to prep myself for the upcoming major which I think is pretty important to me.
Especially since this is an Olympic year.
Q. And how do you think it's going to be different here playing stroke play instead of match play for three days?
ANGEL YIN: It's funny, because I learned about the format yesterday. I didn't know about it. I was on the first hole, and like oh, the format is different. Matt, my agent told me about it.
I think it's a bit of an adjustment. In my mind I was like, oh, guaranteed three rounds, so guaranteed three rounds of competition under my belt. I think now I have to play relatively well to advance and advance even more.
Hopefully, if I get really lucky in my opinion, it won't just be -- I think I have to have a lot of luck and make it into the match play part.
Q. Having played out here before, what kind of scores do you think we'll see in stroke play?
ANGEL YIN: I have no concept of it because when we played match play a lot of people made a lot of birdies, and so if we were to balance that out could be anywhere from 6-under to 8-under opening round because that's how well we play during match play.
It will be interesting to see how people maybe play more conservative, less aggressive when they playing stroke play versus match play. Very interesting dynamic to see.
Q. Just...
ANGEL YIN: I finished Spiderman in like a week.
Q. You mentioned how difficult this course can be. In your opinion, what makes this course difficult if it is difficult for you?
ANGEL YIN: It's difficult because it's firm around the greens so you have to really know your landing spot.
But then if you land it on too far it can shoot through the green. Once you're in the back of the green it's really difficult to make an up and down.
Aside from that, the layout of the golf course is narrow and demanding on where you land it in the pockets. My friend who went to UNLV said you don't have to have the best iron day, but if you miss in the right area you'll be okay.
The miss that he says is probably like five yards. It's not much. You have to be very accurate. Sometimes even in the middle of the fairway you're standing on the side of the hill so you have to adjust to a lot of things. And it gets windy. So there is a lot. I could go on.
Q. Any other advice from your friend at UNLV?
ANGEL YIN: I think he just said, I think you'll know the course better than me because you're a pro. I was like, oh, wow, okay, that's really helpful.
Q. How do you personally approach match play different compared to stroke play?
ANGEL YIN: It's one hole at a time. Then you can just -- like with my condition right now I find it an big advantage because I can play really well on one hole and the next hole I can hit it off the planet.
But it's just one hole. Not going to get -- lose multiple strokes on it.
Q. Can you walk me through what your ramp-up period was for getting back into golf and how long you've been able to practice before this event?
ANGEL YIN: I started playing my first round a week and a half ago. That was when I first walked my 18.
Actually through that period I just been trying out golf shoes because I wanted to find the best to fit my foot.
Then I think I start putting -- how long have I started putting?
Two weeks been hitting balls two, three and a half weeks. I was hitting golf balls behind my doctor's back, so, yeah. If you really count it on paper it's been two weeks. If you don't, it's like two and a half.
So not that long. I've been really lucky every day improving a lot, so just going with it.
Q. What percent of your game do you feel like you're at right now?
ANGEL YIN: I'm actually thinking I'm hitting it better than before. Yeah, I think I'm hitting it better than before. Only difference is now the consistency because I get really tired and my foot, every day it's different and you don't really know how it's going to react.
So it's more about endurance for me this week, endurance and stamina. Isn't that the same thing?
Q. Pretty similar. You mentioned hitting the ball further. You were already one of the longer hitters out here. How far are you hitting it now?
ANGEL YIN: Half a club to a club longer in my irons, and my driver is probably -- like with a good shot, I think I probably can push 260 to 270 carry. I'm tooting my own horn. Biceps.
Yeah, no I was really shocked. I was playing someone and I was out driving them by 100 yards. Usually out drive them by 80. (Smiling.)
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