SHRINERS CHILDREN'S OPEN

October 6, 2022

Tom Kim

TPC Summerlin

Quick Quotes

Q. Hi, Tom. 6-under 65 today. What was the key to such a great round today?

TOM KIM: I played really steady today. I didn't birdie two of the par-5s, didn't birdie 15. That was a little bit of -- it was a shame, but I played well on my par-4s and just kept giving myself chances and made a few good putts.

Q. Did you feel like you guys were feeding off each other? Si Woo was playing fantastic, and Max had the lead early on the front. Was it kind of feeding off each other?

TOM KIM: When your group kind of plays well, it's just kind of like it helps you play -- it gives you momentum when you don't really have some.

I feel like just being 1-under through my first six, five holes, I was losing a little pace, but made a really good birdie on 17. Obviously our group played really well today. So definitely, being kind of close to those guys, it was definitely a fun round.

Q. How was it with Max? Any Presidents Cup talk going on in the fairways there?

TOM KIM: No, not much, but it was fun because obviously I had my partner with me, my Saturday afternoon partner, and obviously playing with Max on Sunday. So it was -- we had so much fun.

Q. So this was your first 18 you've played here, correct? All the way around.

TOM KIM: Correct.

Q. Did you learn anything about the course that you can take over the next three days?

TOM KIM: I feel like just with distance control a little bit I can always learn. Like sometimes you might get some firm bounces, and you might get some soft bounces. So just kind of managing that and kind of knowing what clubs are going to release a little bit, what clubs are going to spin.

Definitely did learn a little bit about that, and just kind of hopefully manage it and keep it going for the next few days.

Q. I was curious, yesterday you mentioned you were here a year ago but obviously just -- were you here as a fan? Did you have tickets? Were you actually on the grounds watching the tournament like the rest of the fans, or what were you doing here last year?

TOM KIM: Last year I was here for the CJ CUP. I can't really remember --

Q. So you didn't come out to this event a year ago to watch?

TOM KIM: No, not to watch. I was in Vegas, and obviously because Sungjae had won it and being in Vegas, I think just kind of -- being in Vegas and just not having -- I didn't have status in the U.S. at that time. So I kind of wanted to tell myself if I ever get a card, it would be kind of fun to come back and play here.

Q. Do you like this style of golf course?

TOM KIM: I think everyone does a little bit. You get a lot of opportunities on par-5s, and you don't have a lot of long par-4s.

You do have some hard holes here, I'm not going to lie, but definitely there's a lot of birdie opportunities. Got to keep pressing.

Q. And were the greens about what you expected in terms of speed and break and all that stuff? Or did you learn something today?

TOM KIM: Yes. It did actually get faster on our final nine holes because obviously it kind of dried out a bit. There wasn't a lot of morning dew anymore. So I think I had a better putting round on the back nine, and I think that's because obviously the speed was kind of matching up.