EPSON TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

October 8, 2023

Auston Kim

LPGA International, Jones Course

Quick Quotes

Q. I'm here with Auston Kim. Auston, you just finished your round. What is going through your head right now? What are the emotions?

AUSTON KIM: I can't even describe...

It's been such a long year for me. Not just me, but for my family. My mom has been on the bag all year. My dad, my coach has been there 24/7. There have been a lot of rough times, a lot of tears.

Couple events ago I felt like I couldn't even make a cut again, but with the help of my dad and my sister, my entire family, I was able to get through that and push through.

Last week was really hard because I felt like my game was there. I had one really upsetting round and my putting just wasn't working second round, too.

To be able to break through that wall and know that I was knocking the entire time and just believing in myself 100%, -- oh, my God, I can't even describe the feeling.

All those hours I stayed working hard with my parents and with my mom on the bag all year, I'm really glad it came to fruition.

Q. Awesome to see it. You started off really fast out there.

AUSTON KIM: I did.

Q. After maybe especially that eagle, what was going through your mind? I mean, you held the lead for a lot of today. That is incredible.

AUSTON KIM: Yeah, after the eagle I was like, okay, there is a lot of golf left.

But I got a really good start. I mean, when I woke up this morning I knew there was a possibility of having a really slow start, maybe making a couple mistakes.

But I drew back from past experience in a tournament where I had the lead overnight. I started out really well there but I couldn't close. I just thought back to that and knew that I learned a lot of lessons in that second nine. I made a lot of the mistakes like on 10, 11, 12, 13, but I was able to refocus.

I did make a bogey on 11, but after that I knew I just had to stay patient because the putts weren't dropping all of a sudden.

I knew I made a lot of putts early on, so that was bound to happen. I just kept my wits about me and stayed as cool as I could.