THE 152ND OPEN

July 18, 2024

Tom Kim

Mixed Zone

Q. Tough conditions out there. How would you rate it on a list of 1 to 10 in terms of toughness?

TOM KIM: Probably a 7. Obviously the course is hard itself, but when you get 25 mile an hour winds, it's really tough. There's just certain things that are outside your control. Like on 16 you hit a really good shot and a hybrid that goes normally 235 goes 310 yards. There's so many things you can't control.

But that's the beauty of The Open. There's so many things you have to be smart about, and you have to try to predict bounces. I'm actually kind of looking forward to seeing how the scores are going to be in the afternoon.

We actually got rain the first few holes, which is playing really hard, but we'll see.

Q. You guys play a lot of wind out there on the PGA TOUR, but it changes here.

TOM KIM: Yeah, it does. It's just different when there's so many shots on the fairway where me -- like whether Bryson or Ludvig, let's say we're one foot apart from each other, you can get a good lie and be able to hit the green and I might need to chip out. So, the fescue here is very luck oriented depending on the breaks you get.

Like I said, that's the beauty of it. You can hit a good shot that gets penalised or hit a bad shot and you're able to score.

Q. Were you surprised at all by the strength and the direction of the wind?

TOM KIM: A little bit. I knew it was going to be a little windy. The first few holes were straight in our faces with rain and wind. It played really hard out there.

We'll see if the wind stays up and if the rain keeps doing what we did on the front nine because I think I'm plus 5, but I was kind of in the same situation where the cut might be -- I feel like it was way harder than it was last year. If the cut line stays where it's supposed to be and you have a good day tomorrow, you can keep moving up.

That's the beauty of the British Open. Like I did last year, I was 70th, 80th after the first day and worked my way to 2nd. So we'll see.

Q. When the conditions are that bad, it's the three of you against the course. When Bryson hit that eagle, did you feel for him? Did you give him a little fist pump? It was quite a nice moment for us to watch anyway.

TOM KIM: No, because I hit a really good shot that went in the water, so I couldn't really think about someone else's putt.

Q. How much have you played with Bryson?

TOM KIM: I've played with him an a few times. I saw him a few times back at home.