THE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

June 13, 2022

Taichi Kho

Quick Quotes

Q. You must be pleased, a decent effort out there?

TAICHI KHO: Yeah, quite a good learning experience for me. First time playing links golf. I feel like I learned as the round went along and I feel like I played well. I feel like I learned today, so I'm setting myself up for success.

Each shot has it the own individual challenge. It's hard to gain momentum hitting fairways and greens. That's not quite possible sometimes. I felt like I did a good job managing myself and understanding how to focus out here.

Q. What were your expectations of links golf, how does it feel?

TAICHI KHO: I knew that I had to expect nothing pretty much, and just understand that anything could happen at any time. That really was the case. You go off a good stretch and all of a sudden you find yourself in some tough situations after good swings.

It's just all part of the game. I think for me being better at accepting the fact that anything can really happen. It was really enjoyable to play out there.

Q. What were your best holes?

TAICHI KHO: I had a good stretch from holes 6 to 9. Made three or four birdies. That was a really good start. It was a good start to my day. Yeah, just really fun making birdies out there.

Q. What's the difference between playing in Hong Kong and America? I take it high ball flight; is that the main thing?

TAICHI KHO: Yeah, exactly, like I was telling my coach, John who, is caddying for me this week, being in the states for a few years now, I hit the ball so high and pretty much hitting it as hard as you can off the tee.

Over here, you have to be artistic can how you play. There's no one shot that's a stock shot. I feel like every shot has its own challenge and anything like that you have to be really artistic and have the commitment to hit those different shots.

Q. First time in The Amateur Championship?

TAICHI KHO: Yeah.

Q. Going into tomorrow, you'll be looking at top 64 and ties go through, you fancy your chances tomorrow?

TAICHI KHO: For sure. Playing the other course tomorrow, I feel like I've got a good game plan and at the end of the day I just have to execute and I'll look forward to the opportunity.

Q. The finishing stretch, it's a tough track at the end. How did you find those last few holes?

TAICHI KHO: Going on from 14 onwards, it's a lot of stiff drives and you've got to really execute your shot. It's weird because it might look like a tough hole but if you execute you're going to give yourself chances. It comes down to how you approach it and how you execute and that could go either way. I did a good job in the last three holes of really getting my head down and focusing.

Q. What college are you at in the States?

TAICHI KHO: University of Notre Dame. I just graduated two years ago. I'm going back for another year, so I have another year of college left. I got a degree in marketing and I'm going to get a degree in non-improvement administration.