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BOB HOPE CHRYSLER CLASSIC

January 16, 2007

Anthony Kim

LA QUINTA, CALIFORNIA

JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you, Anthony, for joining us for a few minutes at the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic. This is familiar ground for you because you spent several years here growing up and playing high school golf here, and so it's kind of close to home. Just talk about coming out this week as your second event, I know you didn't make the cut last week but that's fine, and being near home, and also you did very well at Q-School.
ANTHONY KIM: I'm just really happy to be here right now to have my card and to be able to play in a tournament that I grew up watching. It's going to be amazing.
I have to thank Mike Milthorpe for giving me a sponsor's exemption here and appreciate that and see what I can do with it.
It's awesome to play in front of friends and family. It's been a while since my parents and come out and watched and it's going to be exciting.

Q. Could you talk about what it felt like last week as opposed to what it felt like at Texas or Southern Farm Bureau last year?
ANTHONY KIM: There was not too much pressure on me last week because I had not played golf and I was rusty. I just went out there and free-wheeled it and didn't get a couple of break that is should have gone my way. But there's nothing you can do.
I just went out there to gain some more experience. Obviously when you're playing on sponsor exemptions with no status, you're going to have a little bit more pressure to play well or else you're not going to get anymore starts. Knowing I have the full year ahead of me it was a lot easier to play golf.

Q. So you take a month off, does that mean you didn't play after Q-School?
ANTHONY KIM: I played out here for three or four days before I went out to Hawaii but I just tried to stay away. The Q-School process was so grueling that I needed a break.

Q. You talked about playing in front of friends this week, you've played in a lot of friends this week, is that something, a lot of guys don't like to do that because they feel like maybe they are playing for their friends rather than concentrating on their game. Are you happy to have those people out here?
ANTHONY KIM: Absolutely. Any support you can get is awesome. I feed off of it, whether you know, it's making a couple birdies or just whatever it is, I think my friends support me and my family being here is going to be awesome.

Q. Could you give us a rundown of your early life in golf, how you started and where you began playing, your influences and when you knew you wanted to make it a life, so to speak?
ANTHONY KIM: Well, I guess I started playing golf when I was about two years old and my dad used to play quite a bit. So he took me out a couple of times. I played every sport growing up and my parents gave me the option of doing all those things.
It seems like a lot of kids these days get forced into sports but I played everything growing up. At about 15 years old, this is what I wanted to do. So my parents moved me out to La Quinta for a better place to play. And from then on it was just hard work to get to this point.

Q. What was the early courses that you played?
ANTHONY KIM: I played all the muni courses out there, Roosevelt, Griffith Park, Woodley, just all of the local municipals.

Q. You mentioned trying to get experience last week, and I'm sure every week is an experience situation, what are you getting out of the different tournaments you've played so far and just last week?
ANTHONY KIM: Just I'm length how to play the pro game. It's a little different in amateur golf than college golf. You have to use your head more than just your physical ability and obviously having the experience caddie like Ron Levin (ph) on the bag is helpful. I'm learning a lot about my game and about myself.

Q. You turned pro this summer and you could have gone back to Oklahoma for a year. I haven't mentioned Boise State once and I'm not going to. Does getting through Q-School and being out here as a full member, does that validate your thinking and your decision last summer of turning pro?
ANTHONY KIM: It does, but regardless whether I made it or not, it was the right decision for me, because that's what I felt in my heart was the right decision. Regardless what happened I was going to stand behind my decision. Obviously it worked out for the best, but like I said, regardless, it was the right call for me.

Q. Was that based on the fact that you just felt you had gotten as much out of college golf as you were going to or you were just ready to come out here and start playing for money?
ANTHONY KIM: It was a mixture of both. I think college golf is so much different than PGA golf and the way to prepare is so much different. Just being out here for three tournaments I've learned a lot more than I would in a year at Oklahoma. So it was the right decision for me.

Q. Do you have any goals for this week?
ANTHONY KIM: Same goal I have every week. It's to win and play my best. I know if I play well that I'm going to have a chance to win coming down the stretch. We'll just see how it goes.

Q. What's been some of the best advice you've received from some of the other pros in the time you've spent with him?
ANTHONY KIM: It would probably be just, you know, the guys I've played with that said that they know I can play and just believe in myself, and don't let what other people say give you any doubt.
I feel like I've always had a feeling going into any tournament that I can win the golf tournament if I play well and hang in there. Just little comments. I mean, there's other things that people have said but a lot of the guys have been pretty helpful out here.

Q. You say you used to come out and watch this tournament when you were -- you lived at PGA West, you just had to walk out your back door practically, is there anything in particular you remember or any players that you particularly went out and followed, or did you say: "Some day I'm going to be one of these dudes"?
ANTHONY KIM: I said that to myself. I remember watching Fred Funk the last day and there were guys on hole No. 3 of the Palmer, and they were all -- I think they were betting a hundred a guy who was going to hit it the closest, so I wanted to be a part of that.

Q. Is there anybody that has kind of taken you under their wing to help you out or anybody that you've known or you've approached for advice since you've been out?
ANTHONY KIM: Absolutely. I try to listen to everybody because obviously if they are out here, they are doing something right.
Playing golf with David Duval in the final round at the Southern Farm, my second event was awesome. I learned a lot from him; guys like Todd Hamilton who went to OU. There's been guys that haven't played on TOUR that have given me advice that I feel like I can learn from.
So it's been a lot of people helping me out.

Q. What kind of non-golf things have you had to learn since you've been a professional?
ANTHONY KIM: What to do in my downtime. I need to get on a workout program where I'm not sore after every workout. Because out here, you have six, seven hours to kill after every round.
At least at college events, you can hang out at the clubhouse or go hang out with your buddies but it's not like that out here. Everyone's kind of playing for their -- I mean, everyone is just out there grinding and doing it for themselves which is fine, but it's not like college golf. I just think that's the biggest learning curve for me is learning what to do with my downtime.

Q. Not a lot of people have experience are the Classic Club, but do you have experience at the other courses?
ANTHONY KIM: I've played the Palmer quite a few times. La Quinta, I played there two days ago for the first time. I haven't played Bermuda Dunes and I've played the Classic Club one time.
I don't think I have an advantage on anybody, but obviously being from the desert and knowing a couple of things that I do is going to help me.

Q. Do you know where Indio is?
ANTHONY KIM: Exactly. (Laughter).
JOAN vT ALEXANDER: Thank you and play well this week.

End of FastScripts

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