ANA INSPIRATION

September 11, 2020

Christina Kim

Mission Hills Country Club

Quick Quotes

THE MODERATOR: You're one of the first ones to come in with a low score. What were some of the differences between yesterday and today for you.

CHRISTINA KIM: The lack of a lot of sleep, for starters. I had my alarm set for 3:30 this morning. I just needed a lot of time to wake up, to get ready, to just really get warmed up and everything like that, and then with the sun coming up after half past 6:00, I spent a lot of time in the dark before I could actually do anything productive with my golf game. But the course is in phenomenal shape. It's really, really fun and interesting to be able to play in the Bermudagrass since we normally play in the overseed, so you don't have as much of a worry about your ball running through the fairway, and take of that what you will. It's just an interesting change.

Personally I like the idea of having to -- having firm fairways where you can run it through and so you really have to put a premium on driving the ball. It's just really hard to get something like that with Bermudagrass. So I think everybody at the agronomy team out here has done a phenomenal job. The course is immaculate.

Q. You've been playing this tournament for a long time now. What were some of the differences that you saw when you first got here, and how did you prepare for something so different like a September ANA?

CHRISTINA KIM: First off, the biggest change is, like I say, the change in the grass, obviously with the Bermuda, the rough throughout is extremely penal just in a very different way, and you really have to know where to place the ball. I'd like to think that I have a little bit of an advantage over say like a rookie or something like that just because I've been here for so many years, I understand the concept of the Indio break. It's all just gravity at the end of the day, and just having some amazing memories out here. I have some of the best memories of my entire career are from here at the Dinah Shore course here at Mission Hills, and ANA, they just do everything -- every year you think it can't get any better, and every year they prove us wrong.

Q. You got a little bit of extra practice with the charity skins match. How was that for you and how much fun was it to re-see that?

CHRISTINA KIM: Well, I kind of felt like I hadn't reached my quota of poorly struck shots, so I'm very thankful that I was able to get a little bit of extra practice on Wednesday to just kind of let those guys fly. It was phenomenal, though, and the fact that ANA and Eisenhower Health, who are benefiting the donations and the charity fund that we had gotten put together, it was just awesome. And to have this be the first charity match of the LPGA Tour season of this caliber was just incredible.

To have someone like Angela Stanford who she's a Solheim Cup member, partner of mine, although we haven't played together, and to be able to get the opportunity to play against Amy Olson and Katherine Kirk, who by the way I didn't realize they were paired together in the Dow last year, so they were like, well, that might explain why we won. We know each other's games really, really well, and I'm like, I watched Angela for years, so in theory I should know her game. She was just carrying dead weight for the majority of the day.

It was phenomenal, though, and to be able to be a part of something that was groundbreaking and something that is going to have a wonderful impact on so many people is just phenomenal. And I think that we're in a time right now where we more than ever have to be extra vigilant about making sure we're wearing our masks, that we're taking care of one another, that we're staying away. You can send plenty of love without having to physically touch someone, so I think that the money that we were able to raise on Wednesday is going to help to further that cause.

Q. When you're in a position like this, how do you not let your mind wander to the outcome and jumping in the pond and all that fun stuff?

CHRISTINA KIM: Well, I've imagined jumping in the pond a million times, multiple times in the last five days just because it's so flipping hot out, and I was actually talking with a couple of friends over social media how they said they used to play here in high school golf and how they would hop the fence and jump into someone's pool and just finish their round soggy and soaking wet, and I was thinking that might be a viable option for me. At the end of the day I just try and focus on being in the present, and the way I see it, the future is never written, you right now are the pen and paper, so go ahead and scribble down what is going to eventually end up happening. You can't ever envision what's going to take place. I might not make it to Sunday for all I know. I mean, no guarantee I'll wake up tomorrow.

Q. I know that this tournament has a very special place in your heart; when you look at all the majors and all the big events, if you were to win this one, how meaningful would this particular one be?

CHRISTINA KIM: Well, it's hard to say. I mean, I've played here so many years, and I have missed it a couple of times in recent years, and that has hurt more than really any other major that I had missed. So to be able to be back here in Palm Springs, it just means so much to me. I have so many friends out here, I have so many incredible memories. I remember I think it was my rookie year on the Friday I hit the green in two with a 5-wood but we were on the back tee, and I didn't know that like nobody else went for the green, and I was just like -- after that, I told my dad, I was like, if we're not like 180 in to the front, your girl ain't going for it, I don't care, I'll go sand wedge-sand wedge if I have to. So there are a ton of amazing memories, and in years past I've played with some of the best amateurs who had been granted invitations to this, which is in a normal year the first major in golf. It's just such a special tournament, and for ANA to come in and really elevate it to a new level is just -- it's really hard to -- I've got goosebumps now. It's hard to envision, you know.

Q. What was the best shot you hit today?

CHRISTINA KIM: Best shot I hit today? There really weren't that many, if I'm being honest. I think my putt on No. 8, which was my 17th hole, I actually hit a putt like with the right line and the right speed, and I was like, come on, so that was pretty neat. And then -- I don't know, it's not rocket science, you know, it's just you get a number, you hit it and then you do your best and then the ball does whatever the ball chooses to do after that.