JOHN DEERE CLASSIC

July 8, 2021

Doug Ghim

TPC Deere Run

Quick Quotes

Q. You've been up there a few times before, but two shots off the lead, you're in good position and you're in a somewhat hometown event.

DOUG GHIM: Yeah, I mean, obviously to get the chance -- we don't have many chances to play in my home state, so always relish the opportunity to be here. My time was cut short the last time I was here. I ended up getting pretty bad food poisoning. Have been circling this one on the calendar for a while. I wanted to make amends for not being able to finish the tournament.

Yeah, it was a good start. A little too early to be talking about the lead or anything, but scores always are low here and just going to have to keep the pedal down.

Q. This is the kind of tournament you can't start out hot, you've got to go low right from the start, right?

DOUG GHIM: Golf is a funny game. You just kind of have to play, try to make your birdies when you can. If you push too hard, you're going to shoot yourself out of the tournament, as well. It's not like I was trying to go out there and shoot 59, although there have been years where that has happened.

At the end of the day, the guy who's going to be as consistent as possible when we get to the back nine on Sunday is going to be the one that's going to be hard to beat. As great as it would be to start with 9- or 10-under, if you chip away at it with four solid rounds, you're also going to be right there.

Yeah, again, it's a scorable golf course, but you've still got to play the game the right way.

Q. It looks like you've had a pretty good year. What's it like from your perspective?

DOUG GHIM: It's been good. I've had a lot of opportunities to make it a really good year. I've had a lot of growing pains, but considering from where I started from last year, it's been a huge improvement. I've learned a lot. I've gotten a lot more comfortable out here, and it's starting to show.

I've learned a lot about my -- the individual parts of my game, too, so I feel like I'm a lot better than I was when I first started, and just really excited about the progression.

There's a lot of young names that I know and have played against that are doing really well now, so I'm just really excited to start finding my own path, and hopefully I'll be right up there with them very soon.

Q. Is that the biggest thing you've learned about yourself, more than the game itself?

DOUG GHIM: I don't understand the question.

Q. In terms of mental game, how to play out here, so to speak?

DOUG GHIM: Yeah. I mean, a lot of it is just like stuff that doesn't even happen on the course and trying to manage expectations and all that. I always knew that I could play well. I always knew that I could be in contention and have a chance to win tournaments. It was just a matter of trying to figure out the right balance of trying to hold myself to a higher standard but also be realistic at the same time.

It's very easy to want to skip many flights of stairs of the progression when you watch other guys who are younger than you or even the same age that I've played against for a long time and see them do well. It makes me really want to do well, as well.

But at the same time I have to grow as much as I can and understand that my time is coming, and I just have to be as patient as I can, much like this tournament itself. A lot of guys are going to go low, and there probably will be a day where it doesn't come as easy, and there will be seasons where it won't come as easy. I just kind of have to be as patient as possible, surround myself with the best people possible, and just keep chugging away at it one tournament at a time, one hole at a time. Five, ten years from now, who knows where I'll be.

Q. You had a lot of airtime at THE PLAYERS. I'm wondering, I'm sure it must have been a good learning experience. What did you take away from that one?

DOUG GHIM: Yeah, of course. To be able to -- that was the first time as a professional golfer playing with someone that won the tournament, whether it was Korn Ferry or the European Tour or the PGA TOUR. For it to be one of the best players in the world and to get a front row seat to that was pretty cool.

I just remember dealing with the nerves for the first time. Obviously I haven't had -- I've had multiple opportunities to maybe have an outside chance of winning tournaments, but none other bigger than THE PLAYERS Championship.

So to be in that position against a player like that, against many other players that are that caliber on a golf course like that was daunting. I think the thing I took away from it was just that I knew I could do it, and I didn't realize how badly I wanted it until I walked off the 18th green.

As much as I think I could have fared better if I could have the chance again, I think the learning curve that I got from it is more valuable than me maybe just barely getting by and playing a little bit better. So the fact that it was painful for me was probably a good thing, and hopefully I'll be in that position very soon.