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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILLMay 10, 2008Christina KimWILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA DANA GROSS-RHODE: Alright. Christina, thank you for coming in. You had a great round today. Been your lowest round since the first part of the year. Back to back rounds in the 60s. You're in a great position heading into tomorrow. CHRISTINA KIM: I'm really excited with how I played today. You know, I stuck in there and even after, you know, it started drizzling or misting heavily on us, you know, it felt like we needed some windshield wipers on my eyes, just stay patient and waited for the birdies to come so it was a good day overall. Q. Christina, you felt pretty good about you played yesterday until that sort of, I guess, disaster at 18. CHRISTINA KIM: Crap. Q. You were pretty fired up I think after that. How did you sort of settle yourself down? CHRISTINA KIM: I got a facial and -- I did, I had a 6:30 appointment yesterday. I figured I needed to relax and get over of it. Yesterday I played phenomenal. I had 7 birdies. This is the kind of golf course we can go out and make birdie after birdie and avoid the others. Yesterday, I just got a little -- we were going at a great pace and yesterday kind of had, like a 15 minute wait standing on tee sitting there 6-under on the day and then just kind of went out, had a facial, had some dinner and then went to sleep. That was it. My memory is real short. Kind of went over a little bit. Q. Is it daunting to be chasing Annika of all people? CHRISTINA KIM: No. You know, I'm just chasing myself right now. I'm just going out there and enjoy myself more. More than anything, she's a phenomenal player. She's won 71 events in her career. She's done so much for the game of golf. Lot of people speculated that her time was up. You know, last year she had her back injury but, you know, she's played phenomenal golf. I'm just going out there to just enjoy myself and just see where the numbers end. If I end up beating Annika, that would be awesome. If I end up not, but still have a great tournament, awesome. That's all you can ask for. Q. Anything you feel you're doing particularly well the last couple of days? CHRISTINA KIM: Getting out of my own way. More than anything, I'm just sort of simplifying things, you know. I've spoken with my dad last -- after almost every round. He used to come out here every event and always was there and now he's at home. So, you know, I call him after every round, sort of go over things. He says you need to focus on this or your mentality, blah, blah, blah and I think my putting has helped because I sort of had a weird stink last week with the whipping winds and everything. I kind of lost my confidence. I said you know what, 18 feet, it's either going in or not. Don't think so much about it. Just freaking hit it. I'm trying to simplify everything. Getting out of my own way. Q. What did you say to your dad on your phone after 18 yesterday? CHRISTINA KIM: Well, he actually made me cry because he said, "I will love, you played phenomenal course." I was expecting like beep, and he was so, so positive and so encouraging. It broke my heart because, you know, he's been there for me since, you know, since day one. He's my biggest fan. Last thing I ever want to do is disappoint him. He was so -- he was happy. He was like, "You didn't play like crap, yah." So the fact he was so encouraging just broke my heart. But, you know, I spoke with him yesterday. "5-under tomorrow, maybe another 5-under, you never know, you might win or be in the Top-5 or something" and, you know, shot 5-under today. So I'm just -- I can't wait to call him and hopefully he won't say, "Freaking 3 putted from 20 feet" or something. Hopefully it will be another good conversation. Q. It seems like you have more fun than anybody and it's like they treat you like a rock star here and I'm sure probably everywhere you go, but you just kind of drink it all in, it seems like. Lot of people are uptight, whatever. You seem to be having a blast. CHRISTINA KIM: I'm the youngest of three children so I do well with attention. I don't know. It's true (laughter). That's just how I am. I don't know where it comes from. Definitely does not come from my parents because they're very -- you know, they're a little more old school, traditional Korean kind of -- my mother is always telling me, you know, cross your legs when you sit and be demure and everything. Maybe it's something with the California water growing up. My parents just kind of let me run rampant when I was young. Never gave me any boundaries. I mean, granted if I shot 80 I would not be like I am now but no, it's just -- how can -- how can I not enjoy myself? Look at my job. I go out there and have to put sun screen on everyday and get paid for that nothing can beat that, ever. I'm just loving it. Q. Do you kind of feed off that positive energy from the crowd? CHRISTINA KIM: Yeah, except when I hear people say, "Come on, Christina." That's just, for some reason, it's something like saying baseball or football or to a boy, but, you know, I can't turn around and say, "Stop encouraging me" or, "Stop being nice." That's just one term when people say, "Come on, Christina" or, "Let's get it going." I'm like I'm trying, you know but -- yeah, I like to think I feed off of it. I do notice that I have a hard time dealing with playing with someone that is a crowd favorite. That's not me. Like sometimes when I'm in Mexico and if I'm playing with Lorena and got the mariachi, everything going. It's kind of being the youngest of three, the attention is not coming my way. It's a little tough. Q. So you get jealous? CHRISTINA KIM: That's the best way to put it. I'm like a five year old petulant girl. I want all the attention. Q. Does that throw you off your game? CHRISTINA KIM: At times. Q. Like you want to stop and tell a joke until they like you, too? CHRISTINA KIM: Yeah. Sometimes it does but it's something that I'm trying to mature out of, you know. I'd like to think that 24, not that old, even though it doesn't seem like it on Tour anymore. In fact, I mean Al, we met when I was a rookie, like six years out here. It's like damn, you know. Q. How time goes? CHRISTINA KIM: Seriously. It's ridiculous. I still have a lot of maturing to do which hopefully will only help me -- take me further in my career. Q. Is it harder for you to be bubbly and engaged with the crowd on Sunday when you're playing for big checks? CHRISTINA KIM: I'll tell you tomorrow. I don't know. I mean both of my wins, I was, you know, through the -- I was through the roof, couldn't have been happier, you know. Granted, that tends to happen when you hit in the middle of the fairway and hitting it right at the flag where you don't have to think as much, you know, because when you have to think it just sucks, you know. You have try and everything. When it comes effortlessly, then, you know, you can expend energy and enjoy things outside the ropes. I'll tell you tomorrow. Q. Given the way you scored last week, did you feel like you would be here in this position this week? CHRISTINA KIM: Last week was a fluke. I have no idea what the hell happened last week. That was 40 miles an hour winds. When you're standing over a foot and a half long putt and blowing so hard you can't ground your putter and, you know, going like 3-wood, 4-iron -- last week was a challenge, I think, and I'm just glad that, you know -- I'm quite happy I made the cut. It's a very difficult golf course. They've hosted U.S. Women's Open there back in the '80s. I can definitely see why. Tulsa is great. But just the weather that we had sort of -- I like to think it hardened me a little bit but, yeah. There's no reason not to expect to be at the top because any given day, any given shot, you know, it can switch just like that. Just hope for the best and hopefully you'll do okay. I'm not really surprised I'm here. I've had good success at times here on this golf course myself. A lot of good memories. Lot of good people, too. Q. Well, given the way you started on Thursday, how important were the birdies on 7 and 9 finishing up? CHRISTINA KIM: What? Q. You were here, we saw you. CHRISTINA KIM: I'm sorry, 7 and 9. Q. End of your first round you were kind of waffling around. CHRISTINA KIM: Well, you know, again, it's just one of those things where you got to get over it and just, you know, chuck it up to experience and just focus on the positives but, you know, yes, 7 -- 7 is a par 3? Q. You birdied 7 and 9 to finish your round. CHRISTINA KIM: I'm kind of out of it right now. Q. That's fine. CHRISTINA KIM: Yeah. Q. Was that any kind of a springboard for yesterday and today, just the way you finished up on Thursday? CHRISTINA KIM: Okay. I don't know. I don't know (laughter). That's like two days ago. That's so long ago. Q. I think that's a no. CHRISTINA KIM: I'm sorry. Like I said, I'm trying to simplify things, trying to create reasoning and, you know, the effort thing, not today, not right now. I'm sorry. Q. There are golfers that talk about grinding it out, grinding it out. Did you ever feel like you were grinding it out? CHRISTINA KIM: Yeah. When it started misting on us and it was -- you know, I had to put my Sunderland rain jacket on and take it off and in between shots and trying to get used to the weather and then you get wet and the wind would come and then you freeze and then you think you're getting tight, the ball is not going to go as far. That's effort. That's why I was grinding because effort. Once that stopped, lifted. Definitely, you know, making that tight little corner from 8 even into 9 considering what I did yesterday, 10 into the wind, you know, the wind switched so there was a little bit of grinding out there. But it wasn't -- it wasn't as bad as it definitely could have been. There's a lot less thinking in golf than what could have been out there, I guess. God, that sounds so stupid. Q. I don't think the scores are in but apparently Annika went into the water at 18. CHRISTINA KIM: Shut up. Q. If it's down to three, four strokes going into tomorrow, does that put a little extra hitch in your giddy-up? CHRISTINA KIM: Well, anything can happen. Like, you know, like you said, Annika just hit into the water, if she did or where she ended up. You know, this kind of golf course it could switch like that. Let's take No. 15, for example. You know, somebody could hit it on in 2 and end up making eagle, someone else tries to go for it and hit the short right into the hazard. There could go three, four shots swing right there. Yeah. I'm not going to sit here and, you know, sort of relish in someone else's, you know, failures but if someone had -- hit a poor shot, I'm not going to be like "Oh, oh." It might make the trip ahead of me a little bit easier. That sucks, really. It's no fun to be there. DANA GROSS-RHODE: Any other questions? Q. Did anyone ever say to you, "Christina, you're playing golf, you've got to tone your act down"? CHRISTINA KIM: Told I am unprofessional by a player I will not name. No. Yeah, I've been told that I've been unprofessional before. Everyone is allowed their own opinion. I think that someone who, let's say in the Stanford Pro-Am international this year, you know, someone who was walking 40 yards ahead of the other professional and the two amateurs, who, you know, is one of the best players in the world -- not Annika, it definitely wasn't Annika. Didn't watch her at all so I don't know if it was her. But, you know, I deem that unprofessional because we're put in a position where even though it's still a full field, official money, LPGA event, we're still supposed to sit there and entertain clients. There was a lack of that, in my opinion, from what I witnessed.couple times. You know, everyone is allowed their own opinion of what's professional, what's not, what's ostentatious. Those people that sit there and exert effort to say that I am too loud or whatever, you know, they have to exert effort to think that. It's more boo on them. No, everyone is allowed their own opinion. It's all good. Q. You don't plan on toning things down. CHRISTINA KIM: I haven't for the last six years. I don't see it anywhere on the horizon right now. But anything is possible. Q. Would you like to see more golfers like yourself out there or would that be -- CHRISTINA KIM: No, that would take attention away from me (laughter). I think the place we are in terms of, you know, the way players are is we're in such a great place right now. You know, we're one of the few sports organizations that's really taking off and excelling even though we have a dwindling economy. That's what they say. I don't necessarily believe that. You know, I think we're in a phenomenal place and if everyone were, say, like a Christina Kim or like a Paula Creamer or a Cristie Kerr, Annika, if everyone was like that, everyone was rowdy and this and that, it would still -- we'd all be great blogs. I think the variety that we have, you know, does nothing but sort of accentuate how great our Tour is. We're better than the guys anyway even if we are all just (indicating). That's what I've heard. Not personal opinion, hearsay. Q. By "so much better than the guys", what do you mean? CHRISTINA KIM: I've been told the ladies are so much more gracious from, say, spectators who have been coming here for the last however long, or they've been able to compare us. Pro-Am participants. They seem to enjoy spending time with the ladies more. I don't know. That's not what I believe because I've only watched one event for the guys. It's different when you're outside the ropes so I don't know. Nothing against the guys, though, okay? Don't like take words out and say I say the guys suck. No. No. Just different. Boys and girls. DANA GROSS-RHODE: Anything else for Christina? Great round. Good luck tomorrow. End of FastScripts |
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