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SANDERSON FARMS CHAMPIONSHIP

September 18, 2019

Doug Ghim

Jackson, Mississippi

THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Doug Ghim here. Doug, making your second start here at the Sanderson Farms Championship.

Thoughts on being back here as a PGA TOUR member.

DOUG GHIM: Yeah, super excited for the opportunity. You know, obviously last year was very fortunate to get a sponsor invite into the event and was able to make the cut, so looking forward to being back out here.

Yeah, really excited about the opportunity again.

THE MODERATOR: Three Top 10s on the Korn Ferry Tour last season; obviously the clutch putt at the TOUR Championship. Where would you assess your game right now?

DOUG GHIM: It's competitive. It's not exactly where I would like it to be. I think I've been sharper before.

Obviously capable of putting up low numbers when I need to. Hopefully just continue to get a little sharper every week. You know, last week was a solid week. Felt like I had an opportunity to do something special, but just didn't have the weekend that I wanted to.

But feel like it's getting sharper each week, and looking forward to this week.

THE MODERATOR: Questions.

Q. Regarding Joaquin Niemann's win last week.)
DOUG GHIM: I mean, we keep seeing more and more guys win and playing well, so it just feels -- there is an added sense of relief from each kid when they see that on the TV and see their friends play well.

Like for me, watching Cameron Champ win here last year, watching Matt Wolff and Collin Morikawa both win tells me I also have the game. We played countless rounds together and I know I can compete with those guys.

I think it's just an added sense of relief that it is possible and we have the game. It's just a matter of being more consistent week in and week out, and, you know, actually executing the way we know how.

But the courses we play in college are getting harder and harder and sometimes we even play major championship venues when we play. Like our conference championship we played at Southern Hills like I think twice my four years at Texas, which obviously is a stern test of golf.

We get to play venues like that year in and year out. You get these players that are already ready to play at professional golf venues just as hard of golf. I think by the time they get out here it's nothing different and they're ready to go right off the bat.

Q. (Regarding full-field event.)
DOUG GHIM: Of course. I mean, definitely has a bigger feel to it. Obviously a little bit of a stronger field this year than there was last year.

But, again, it's still a PGA TOUR event regardless, whether it's an opposite-field event or a full-field event. There is obviously a lot of opportunity this week. A win goes a long way. You get basically the full 500 FedExCup points. Makes a big difference by the end of the season.

Just this whole fall in general is a big opportunity, especially for us rookies, to kind of get settled in and kind of cement our place within our category and hopefully get into a lot of events next spring and make the PLAYERS Championship and all that good stuff.

It's great this week is a full-field event. I think I can speak on behalf of all rookies and guys that come out of the Korn Ferry category that we're really excited about the opportunity to play well this week and the rest of this fall.

Q. One quick follow up. Are you a more goal-oriented person? You like to look at the finish line or take things one step at a time and let results take care of themselves?
DOUG GHIM: Yeah, obviously a little bit of both. I have a lot of goals I set for myself at the beginning of the PGA TOUR season this year -- and even at the beginning of the Korn Ferry season this year. And then obviously taking it one day at a time and trying to look at it big picture.

But each week is its own battle. Obviously I have a bunch of goals put in place for this season. Making it into the FedExCup Playoffs and hopefully like what Sungjae Im did, make it to the TOUR Championship and be at Eastlake, which would be amazing and kind of like a life-changing achievement.

Again, winning would be great. It's obviously a goal of everybody. Everyone comes out here to try and go win golf tournaments. Whether that will actually happen is obviously -- it's hard to say definitively for me at this point in time that that's a goal. It's obviously something I strive for and I'm going to work every week and try to put the work in so that I have as many opportunities as I can.

But at the end of the day, too, it's just trying to get settled in as a rookie and get used to everything as a member. Just try to get better every single day, and hopefully those goals will become a reality.

Q. (No microphone.)
DOUG GHIM: Well, we'll see. I won't say no, but hopefully not. Obviously the better I play the more weeks off I can take. No, I probably won't play (indiscernible.)

Q. What did the putt at the Korn Ferry Tour Championship do for you? What did it mean to you?
DOUG GHIM: Yeah, I mean, it was obviously a situation that I kind of hoped wasn't going to find myself in. Obviously I knew I e was capable of playing well enough to not have to go do that. I remember last season even going into both second stage and final stage, the goal was to get as far away from the cut line as possible so I didn't have to deal with that type of pressure.

Never really had to deal with that type of pressure before and didn't want to start last year. I was lucky enough to breeze through Q-School, but having that putt in Indiana, it was basically a big test just in every sense of the word. Whether I would get my card, whether I felt like I was mentally prepared to be able to deal with a lot of the pressure I was going to have to deal with out here.

To make that putt really told me that -- I mean, I wasn't comfortable at all. It was a scary putt to have. At the end of the day, I knew that this is an opportunity that most of the field, that week especially, didn't even get to have. It was a chance to go to the PGA TOUR tour, and tried to take that in stride as much as they could.

Basically went through my routine and told myself that I hit a bunch of putts like that before in my life. Wasn't any different. Just a right-edge putt. I was able to make the putt and obviously everything that ensued was amazing. The emotion, being able to celebrate with my family.

It gave me confidence. Like when I got to the Greenbrier, t was probably the most stress-free golf I've played in a while. I felt right a home; really comfortable out there. I mean, I wasn't nervous at all. I think it was just a big step for me mentally being able to deal with that type of pressure that I had never felt before. I think it's going to serve me well in the future.

Q. As someone that's played this course before, what challenges does it present to you?
DOUG GHIM: Well, I mean, last year we were lucky to not being be in the heat. This week obviously the weather is going to make bit of difference in the golf course. It's just hot, really humid. Not necessarily used to that, especially after kind of getting to cool off after Indiana. Indiana was pretty warm as well.

Yeah, last year I think it was actually cool and rainy pretty much the whole week. I had never seen this place in that type of weather before. I think the rough actually plays a big part in this golf course. Golf course is pretty straightforward; however, you need to be in the fairway to be able to attack. Certain greens are really shallow and firm and really hard to get the ball in the right spot if you're not coming out of the fairway.

I'm pretty sure that's why Cameron won last year. Just seemed like he was in a good spot to attack on every hole and obviously playing really well in every facet of his game. It was just too much for pretty much the rest of the field to handle.

If I can get the ball in the fairway this week, that will probably be the biggest challenge.

THE MODERATOR: All right, Doug, thanks for the time. Best of luck this week.

DOUG GHIM: Awesome. Thanks for having me.

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