AUGUSTA NATIONAL WOMEN'S AMATEUR

March 31, 2021

Auston Kim

Quick Quotes

Q. You want to talk about the way the course played? The scores are skewing kind of high. What's your thought on why that is?

AUSTON KIM: This course is actually really hard. I was just talking with my dad. I think today was a real confidence boosting round. Greens are really fast. Fairways are pretty tight. It was very windy later on in the round. I'm just really happy with how I played and excited for tomorrow.

Q. What is it that you feel you did well today?

AUSTON KIM: Well, at one point, I was 3-over. I think just staying patient. When I woke up this morning, I said I wanted to be strong, patient and smart, so that really paid off.

Q. Seven pars today?

AUSTON KIM: Seven, yeah (laughter).

Q. I think I counted seven. Did it feel as much of a roller coaster as it looks on the scorecard at least?

AUSTON KIM: Yeah, it was definitely up and down today. I started with a birdie. I was happy to start out with a birdie, and then kept making mistakes, got up to 3 over. I just told myself there's a lot of golf left, so I want to make sure I take care with every stroke. Also, if I have birdie opportunities, knocking them close and putting good pace on them and visualizing them go in.

Q. When you compare the field out here this week to like Women's Amateur or Women's Open, how does it compare?

AUSTON KIM: It's pretty similar, but I think a lot of the girls here are very tenacious. They're strong, so the field is competitive. A lot of girls are going to play good rounds, and I just have to focus on myself and make sure that I play my best and don't really worry about anything else because it's a hard golf course.

I want to make sure that I keep all the mental power that I can get.

Q. This is your first year competing here?

AUSTON KIM: Yes.

Q. Do you remember where you were two years ago in that final round? Did you watch the final round?

AUSTON KIM: I did. I did. It was really awesome. I played with Maria [Fassi] and Jennifer [Kupcho] before, both super great girls. Maria hits it super far. I mean, it's very good to hit it super far on this course. I've been hitting it pretty well, so I just want to make sure that I take my good keys and good things into tomorrow.

Q. What happened after that in terms of you trying to wanting to be here, and what did you go through to get here?

AUSTON KIM: With the WAGR requirement, I think I just wanted to make sure to play my best every single tournament, focus on the things that I can control, just play good golf, keeping it simple. Hit a shot, try to get it into the hole as soon as possible.