KROGER QUEEN CITY CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY P&G

September 8, 2022

Gina Kim

Kenwood Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Gina Kim. 4-under day for you to start with a 68. Take me through what was working well on day one.

GINA KIM: You know, I think obviously course management has been pretty consistent for me, even for past events. It's just that my putter was pretty cold back then.

But today, you know, I think I felt really comfortable with my putter and I was just sinking putts in from everywhere.

It gave me a lot of confidence and took a lot of pressure off me, so I think I was able to play freely today.

Q. What was it like with the changes in the course that were made? With all the rain the crew was able to kind of turn this course around in 24 hours.

GINA KIM: Yeah, you know, I mean, like a huge shout out to the superintendent crew because, I mean, the amount of rain that I just managed to see on Tuesday, because I got in here late on Monday, it was a lot of rain.

Honestly, I wasn't quite sure if we would be able to play today normally. But just not being able to play a full practice round, I only played six holes here, and I just had to tell myself, you know what? We're going to go out there and wing it, and it worked out great.

I'm going with that mindset the rest of the week.

Q. Just going to wing it.

GINA KIM: Yeah.

Q. What was it like getting to the holes that you really hadn't seen before? You were flying blind.

GINA KIM: No, I mean, I was able to walk the course.

Q. Okay.

GINA KIM: Obviously on the cart path, but my caddie, Mark, was able to look at it beforehand. I took his advice seriously and I trusted what he had to say.

So I stayed committed to my lines and kept keeping the same game plan from the front nine as well.

Q. Coming in from the Epson Tour event last week, you have stated that you are looking to lock up your card for next year through the Ascensus Race For the Card. We were just talking about that kind of mindset, that as a rookie wanting to keep your status by any means possible. When did that mindset kind of click for you?

GINA KIM: You know, I think after I won on the Epson and it shot me up into the top 10. I realized this is something I probably should take seriously. Obviously as a rookie your first priority is to get good status for next season.

So with that in mind, I've been trying to go back and forth on both tours, but also just maintain my ranking up there for now. Try to take some pressure off myself when I come out here.

So I think it's been working well. Today I felt like I had a great time. I wasn't really under pressure, I don't think so.

So it turned out great.

Q. I was going to say, what is that like to kind of have a less amount of pressure when you're out here, being able to be aggressive when you can be aggressive?

GINA KIM: Yeah, you know, I saw how well Lucy has been doing and obviously she locked up her card. You know, I told myself, I'm not that far away from her situation honestly.

So with her being a very positive example, I told myself, you know what? Let's go out there and have some fun. Be smart, but obviously play aggressive, freely, and hopefully maybe make a putt or two.

That was the day today.

Q. One round of play under your belt. What will you take from today as you head into tomorrow?

GINA KIM: Keep the same game plan. Obviously it worked today, so it should hopefully work out tomorrow. You know, obviously just having fun and taking the pressure off myself. I think that that's key for me.