THE LPGA DRIVE ON CHAMPIONSHIP

October 24, 2020

Katherine Kirk

Reynolds Lake Oconee

Quick Quotes

Q. Katherine, what a great third round. Going to tee off later tomorrow. May I ask the course conditions? How are you feeling about the course conditions?

KATHERINE KIRK: Course is in amazing shape. I think maybe it was a little trickier to score today, like harder to make get it close and have a lot of birdie opportunities. Our group certainly kind of had some moments of struggles and moments of brilliance.

But the golf course is fabulous, so, yeah, can't fault that at all.

Q. How does that work when some groups, you feel the synergy working and some groups it's different? How did you feel about your group today?

KATHERINE KIRK: Yeah, I always love playing and Mel and May, and golf is just a funny game. You can get off to a good start and then kind of struggle.

Yeah, we just had moments of everything today, all three of us. So I don't think we were all on the same page at any point. It was like, okay, let's get something going here, and it all happened at different times. I guess that's the beauty of being a veteran player is that I know to be patient and just kind of grind it out.

Q. Speaking of being patient, you were stagnant holes 1 through three 8, all pars. Started doing some birdies and more up and down movement there. When did the momentum kick in for you today?

KATHERINE KIRK: I don't know if I could say I ever had the momentum. I did make a great par putt on 15 which was kind of nice.

Q. How long?

KATHERINE KIRK: I'm going to say it was probably close to 16 feet. Yeah, that was kind of nice. I really struggled on 12 and then 14, so to bogey 15, I would've been probably a little heated after that, so it was good thing it went in.

I was able to birdie 16, which was a total bonus, because that was like 20-something feet.

Like I said, I know in this game you just got to be patient until the very last hole. Thankfully today I was.

Q. You've been hitting it so well and you credited a little bit of that to your PXG equipment yesterday. Apart from equipment, what part of your game do you think -- have you been working on any part more than others?

KATHERINE KIRK: Yeah, I got to give my coaches credit. Dana Dahlquist out in California and Josh Cook. I mean, I honestly wouldn't be here without them. 2015 and '16 were rough years for me and I almost gave the game up, so full credit to them.

They this got me on the right track. Mechanically I was just going down the wrong path. Thankfully, yeah, got some good instruction and it's just taken a little while to kind of implement. And I'm still not there. That is the crazy part.

They're going, Hey, we're asking for a foot but we're okay with an inch. Golf is just goofy like that.

Yeah, always trying to exaggerate and get better. Always learning. So I thankful that I've got a good team of people that are patient with me and supported me through the ups and downs.

Q. Speaking about just good vibes, this environment is also really nice not just the people out there on the boats honking and supporting us, but also little kids running around. I think they waved to Lydia Ko and her group on hole 8. How is it playing here in Georgia and Lake Oconee, especially around this community where every someone just so glad that we're here?

KATHERINE KIRK: Yeah, you can definitely feel the southern hospitality here. Considering this is our very first time here it's amazing. Maybe Mike Whan kind of gave them a heads up to come out and cheer for us. Who knows?

But, yeah, fun to see this many people out on their boats and like you said, coming out from their houses and just staking a chair on the out-of-bounds lines.

I think I saw maybe a two and a half year old out there waving and yelled out hi. Reminded me of my nephew. It's neat that there are young kids out here too that want to come watch.

Maybe, yeah, who knows, we're inspiring the next generation here too in Georgia.

Q. And my last question is you have been in contention seems like all year. Going into the last round tomorrow what are you going to tell yourself? What is your goal for tomorrow?

KATHERINE KIRK: Obviously I've got to get off to a good start if I'm going to have a chance. Ally is playing great. I'm super happy for her. Obviously, yeah, she's going to carry some good confidence into tomorrow and probably be hard to beat.

But I think any time you're within six shots you've got a small chance. It'll take, like I said, a good start and pedal to the metal.