U.S JUNIOR AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

July 28, 2023

Bryan Kim

Daniel Island Club (Ralston Creek Course)

Quick Quotes

Q. Talk about the way you played today. It looked like you were spot on.

BRYAN KIM: Right, so we got off to a little bit of a slow start. But Will started making some birdies, and I knew I had to keep up, so hitting the ball really solid. I only missed one or two greens this afternoon, and I'm seeing the lines really well on the greens.

With the rain on and off, the speed of the greens were a little hard to judge, but I felt good. I knew if I was confident in my line, I was very confident it would go in.

Q. It looked like at times all you had to do was step up to the ball and hit it.

BRYAN KIM: Exactly. I feel really good about my ball-striking right now. I talked to Justin about what I'm thinking, and then he says, go for it, and then I just pull it off.

Q. What's it mean to you right now to play for a national title?

BRYAN KIM: It means a lot. I didn't even imagine this last year after missing the cut, and the year before, but I knew my game this year was in a good spot. I didn't have the tournament results that I wanted earlier this summer, but I knew I was coming around, just working a lot on my game, and I felt like I was kind of due to play some good golf, so hopefully I can keep it up and maybe bring home the title.

Q. You got to 8 and 9 and you went birdie-birdie. It was about an eight-footer I think on 8, and then to me it looked like it was a left-to-right 15-footer on 9. Talk about those two.

BRYAN KIM: Yeah, so they made it drivable for us on 8, which was nice, so I told Justin, I don't see why we wouldn't go for it. So I just aimed right edge of the green, hit a good drive, and chipped it to about six or seven feet. Will hit a really good first putt. I knew I had to make it because I missed a short one earlier about the same length. But I was confident in my line, so I rolled that in.

Q. You made another one at 14 --

BRYAN KIM: Is that the -- 14 I two-putted from about 45 feet, hit the hole, and then Will had a good birdie.

Q. You guys were teammates on the East team; what was that like playing against a teammate and a friend?

BRYAN KIM: It means a lot. Will and I have gotten pretty close over the past few years, so it felt almost like a casual round, just like playing with buddies. We were really relaxed, and I think we had a good time.

Yeah, it's always awesome playing in such a big, big event but with good friends.

Q. Was there a little bit of chatter going back and forth?

BRYAN KIM: Yeah, we were talking it out the whole round, just like as casual as can be.