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U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJune 16, 2009Anthony KimFARMINGDALE, NEW YORK BETH MURRISON: Good afternoon again at the 2009 U.S. Open at Bethpage. We're very pleased to have this afternoon with us Anthony Kim. You're playing in your third U.S. Open this year. First time at Bethpage. Can you give us some thoughts about Bethpage and being here this week. ANTHONY KIM: I played on Wednesday and caddied on Thursday in a made-for-TV event and got to see some of the course that I probably don't want to see in the tournament. If I could just keep the ball in the fairway. I know it's a long golf course. It all starts there. So if I drive it well, I should be in good shape. Q. Last year at the Ryder Cup you seemed to be thriving playing in front of large crowds. You'll see it here at Bethpage. What are your thoughts about playing in front of so many spectators? ANTHONY KIM: I'm excited. I know the gallery will be more rowdy than most events. And I've heard nothing but good things about if you play well, they'll be on your side and they can sure boo you out here. Hopefully I'll be on the right side of that. Q. Anthony, did you get a chance to watch any of the '02 Open from here, and if so, do you have any recollection of it? ANTHONY KIM: I didn't watch the '02 Open. I was probably doing something else. I was probably playing basketball or something like that. I know Tiger won. I saw a couple of the highlights this morning on SportsCenter. They ran some of the highlights. I saw the play was pretty difficult. He's playing in some rough. When he's swinging hard the rough is pretty nasty. I'll keep it in the fairway and see what happens. Q. I know it's just practice rounds and all that. Getting back to the galleries, have you noticed the crowd to be a little bit more talkative than typical galleries that you play in front of? ANTHONY KIM: I haven't played out here -- when we played, there was nobody out there. Q. Even in the practice rounds? ANTHONY KIM: Right. I actually decided to practice over at Trump in Bedminster. I have been out there. I got in just about 30 minutes ago. I'm going to go up and play nine holes this afternoon and play nine tomorrow, and hopefully I'll be ready. Q. You had such an awesome year last year. This year hasn't been quite as exciting for you. Is that mainly due to injury; anything you can pinpoint? ANTHONY KIM: You know, to be honest, it's not far off, and I said that early last year before I went off and won a couple tournaments. But it's not -- there's been one thing after another. But that's not the reason I'm not scoring well. I just haven't been as patient as I need to be on the golf course, and if there's anywhere that's going to test it, it's going to be at Bethpage. So I'm looking forward to getting back on track and there's no reason why I can't start that this week. Q. When you were watching the celebrity event and seeing the way the guys played, and the fairly good scores that they put up, and taking a look at the slightly wider fairways and slightly wider cuts of intermediate rough, and all the guys coming in here earlier saying the rough doesn't look that bad, do you feel that this might be comparatively a slightly easier U.S. Open than we're used to seeing, and do you think that maybe driving accuracy has kind of sort of decreased in importance in the U.S. Open, and that something else might have taken its place in terms of what they're testing out here? ANTHONY KIM: Well, I don't know. We're going to have to see on Sunday if it is easier. Because with all the U.S. Open course setups I've played, it's been playable on Thursdays and Wednesdays. But by the time it gets to Sunday, you can bounce a ball all the way up to your knee if you just drop it by your shoulder. I don't think that's going to be the case this year. But with the slightly larger fairways and the fact that the ball's not rolling out as much, that's definitely going to help scores. I saw Justin Timberlake hit a shot out of the rough with a 5-wood from 210, and a couple of skips and it stopped. And you wouldn't see that at Oakmont or even at Torrey Pines. So I know it's going to be a different test of golf. I don't know if it's going to be harder or easier. But definitely driving the ball is still very important, because when the hole's 520 or 530 yards, you have to get the ball in play, whether it's in the center of the fairway or right side. But if you're in the intermediate cut you're not getting to those greens anyway. So driving the ball is still very important. Q. Who did you caddie for? ANTHONY KIM: For Justin? Q. You did for Justin? ANTHONY KIM: Yes. Q. You won at Congressional last year; hosted an Open. The setup is so different, that there's no confidence built because you know you've won on a track that can host this kind of tournament? ANTHONY KIM: I didn't even know that Congressional held the Open. But -- Q. It will again. ANTHONY KIM: Now it gives me a little bit more confidence going into the week. So thank you. But I'm excited to hear that, because the course set up well for my eye. I know some of the setup was pretty similar now that I think about it. The greens held a little bit. But they were firm. It rained most of the week, and I don't know how the weather's going to be this week. But it's been similar the whole time I've been in this area. So I've been working really hard the last five, six days, and I put some new irons in my bag after Colonial. I put the Victory Reds in my bag finally and worked those in. So I'm very excited to get out there and test my golf game this week. Q. Do you know that Congressional is hosting in two years? ANTHONY KIM: No, I didn't. I like that. Q. What was it like being a caddie? Were you a good one? What was your highlight of the day that day? ANTHONY KIM: I wasn't a very good caddie. I did everything I could, though. I gave it 100 percent. I probably couldn't just stick to playing golf. But it was really an amazing experience, because everyone has a dream, every kid has a dream. And mine was to be like Michael Jordan. It was funny because at dinner Justin was talking about how he had two Michael Jordan posters. I saved up all my money every day to buy those shoes. Any new pair of shoes that he came out with. And anything with a Jordan logo, I wanted. So it was surreal. And I had met Michael before, but to be around guys that I had seen every single day on TV and seeing make important shots or throwing that pass to win the Super Bowl, it was pretty cool to be in that group, and just learn. I learned so much from being around those guys and how to be a professional, how to be more of a professional when you're out there. And even though they weren't in their element, they did a wonderful job, and there was so much that I could learn from those guys. Q. What was your best piece of caddying advice you gave? ANTHONY KIM: If we're in trouble, we're chipping out sideways. Q. Were you surprised by how well they did play during the event? ANTHONY KIM: I was. I didn't think -- I was hoping my guy would win, even though it's about everyone breaking 100. The competitive part of me still wanted Justin to win and beat those guys pretty badly, especially Ben, because he was talking a lot of trash. (Laughter) But all those guys are so competitive, that it was just a good day out there. Q. What's the most difficult course you've played? Would it be Oakmont? ANTHONY KIM: I think it is Oakmont. Well, for me to be honest it's THE PLAYERS Championship. That course just doesn't sit well with me. And I've never, I think my lowest round there is 69 or 70. I just have not played well there. As far as overall, if I'm playing really well, I think Oakmont would have been the toughest test, for sure. Q. The little bit you've been on this course, do you get the feeling that it suits your game if you are playing well? ANTHONY KIM: It does. When you play a long golf course, it takes quite a few people out of play, in my opinion. And that's not to say a guy -- who knew Corey Pavin would win? I don't know what golf course it was; Shinnecock. But the U.S. Open is for a guy who hits it straight, and he obviously does that. He works the ball well. But at the same time, with the new setups that Mike Davis is bringing to the table, you have to hit it a good ways. Torrey Pines played long and Oakmont played long. You would like to say the advantage is to the longer hitter. That's why I got my new trainer, and we're going to work out probably this afternoon to make sure I'm ready for this test here. BETH MURRISON: We look forward to watching you do so this week. Thank you so much. End of FastScripts |
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