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U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIPJuly 9, 2010Christina KimPITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA CHRISTINA KIM: It was an interesting day out there. I think I only hit maybe 10 greens. I'm not entirely sure. (Indiscernible). But, you know, I started really working with my 56-degree -- oh, I hit 11 greens, yay -- yeah, I was working with my 56-degree as opposed to my 60 degree, especially with the thickness and heaviness of the rough that we had this week. It's actually been working magically. My dad's been telling me to do that for about nine years now. I've been refusing, so he will be happy to hear that. Q. On the good shots out of the rough or out of the sand... CHRISTINA KIM: Pretty much anything, yeah. I used my 60-degree once only because I had a skyscraper that I had to hit out of -- from out of a greenside bunker. That was the only bogey I made where I missed a green. But, you know, I'm striking the ball well. Ball is going forward. I'm finding it every time afterwards. Putting has been a huge improvement in the last couple of weeks. I took a lesson -- excuse me, I had a lesson with Ron Stockton a week ago Monday. You know, I've been completely in a different world standing over a putt. You know, as opposed to, you know, trying -- obviously seeing the line and wanting it to go in. I'm able to stay within the confines of my body and surrounding the ball as opposed to expecting it to go in the holes by sheer will. Now I feel like I have the ability and the strokes to make it go into the hole now. Q. Is that your first lesson with him, or... CHRISTINA KIM: That's the only lesson I've ever had with him. He managed to squeeze me in for an hour a week ago Monday? I was going to try and take Monday off, and he said, Hey, I've got an hour, so if you've got time wing by the golf course. So I came in flip-flops and a halter top. It was amazing, you know. We had a lot of laughs and a lot of fun. I kind of joked that hadn't done a junior clinic in about seven years, because I asked some of the most obvious questions, I think. But, you now, it was instrumental in me. Obviously last week, I was fortunate to have a great week last week, even though I didn't necessarily. I was able to take that momentum into this week. You know, yeah, so I'm feeling very good about my putting, just it's a different type of good. When I played Solheim Cup, you know, my putting always works. I don't know why. When I had my two wins earlier in my career, you know, it was a different type of good. This is one of those -- I'm a really good streaky putter. This is one of those things where I feel just solid standing over a putt nowadays. Q. Where was the lesson? CHRISTINA KIM: Last week at the site of the Jamie Farr Owens Corning Classic. The Monday of the tournament week, so a week ago, like 11, 12 days ago. Q. Anything physical, or mostly mental stuff as far as putting? CHRISTINA KIM: A little bit of physical. He had me feel like I kept keeping the putter, you know, moving toward the target, having the shaft moving toward the target. Because I am a very risky putter. I don't have tendencies; I am very risky. There's no way around it. So he's got me getting the shaft moving more towards -- constantly moving forward, you know. So I feel like I'm kind of shoving everything. But, you know, they're actually going on the line now. Q. The wedge changed. Obviously for years and years pros didn't have anything over a 56 and they did fine. It's been so commonplace for pros to rely on 60. Could you elaborate a little bit little more on why you reverted to the 52? CHRISTINA KIM: It was a 56. Not the 52, yeah. Q. Oh, 56. Okay. CHRISTINA KIM: Um, well, I don't know. It worked. (Laughing) I think, you know, it's a mixture of the fact that the 56 has more bounce than most of the other wedges that you have in your bag. It's got a little bit more weight. Obviously when there's more bounce there there's more material there. So there's going to be a little bit more heaviness on the bottom which will help you get it through the grass a little bit better. But, um, I don't know. I just feel like -- my 60-degree kind of feels like it's made out of like marshmallow. There's very little feel to it. Thankfully I haven't -- so far, you know, knock on wood -- haven't missed any greens where I have like two yards to work with. I've been able to miss it in the right places to give me, you know, a 10-, 15-yard something run or whatever it may be out of the rough or something like that. Q. Like the shot on 17, the pitch on 17 to get the birdie? CHRISTINA KIM: Yeah. Yeah, that was (indiscernible.) I thought it was going to run out a little more. But, yeah, that was my 56, yeah. So it was interesting, because I played on a Tuesday afternoon -- excuse me, um, it was Monday afternoon and Wednesday afternoon, and then I played yesterday in the afternoon. And truly seeing how different the course plays, you know, by a difference of six, seven hours, it really is astounding. I kept thinking, you know, We're coming toward -- you know, we were past high noon, so it should be running out more, and we were still able to get a little bit of bite on the ball, which is fascinating and not what I was necessarily playing for. Q. (Indiscernible.) CHRISTINA KIM: Um, well, I still have my 60-degree with me. I still have it. Having shorter putts in. Results. You know, I mean, I'm standing over the shots and I'm still like, you know, old mindset of, Don't fly this past the flag just because it's got less loft so it's gonna carry further. But I feel like just the weight of the rough interacts with the face of my wedge. Just because it's so thick and heavy, it slows it down or something. So I'm able to get a lot of the same yardage with my 56-degree as I would normally feel with my 60. Q. (Indiscernible.) CHRISTINA KIM: Oh, I'm talking about right here right now. I mean, I have no idea what I'm going to do when I get to France. That's like so two weeks away. I'm just enjoying the moment right here, right now. Q. How slow was it today? Was it like yesterday? CHRISTINA KIM: Well, you know, it is an amazing challenge of a golf course. I think there were very few players who have come across a course like this in their entire lives. I haven't. I have been fortunate to play some great courses, but the this is another type of beast. It was definitely slow out there, but I don't think it was as slow as yesterday afternoon. It felt like it took like about four or five weeks to finish a round. (Laughing.) Yeah, I mean, it was pretty slow. (Recording distorted.) I mean, we were waiting on quite a few holes. The players just tried to maintain some pace of play. So it was very slow. That's how it is here. It's just a such a challenge, it's a complete challenge of every type of shot that you have in your bag. It's very, very tough mentally, as well. That's part of the challenge. You're not going to have a lot of three-and-a-half-hour U.S. Opens, doesn't matter where you go. That's not the way it is. It's a mental challenge; it's a physical challenge, you know, everything. Q. Five-and-a-half hours seems to be the norm. CHRISTINA KIM: For the morning, yes. For the morning. It was slower yesterday afternoon by far. I think we were closer to six hours yesterday in the afternoon. Yeah. Because I remember Paula Creamer and I have exact opposite tee times in terms of times, and she finished -- I don't think she actually even finished by the time my ball was in the air. So, you know, time-wise it's right around five-and-a-half. So it's definitely slow out there. It's gonna be a grind. But, you know, it's the Open. What do you expect? Q. (Indiscernible.) CHRISTINA KIM: Oh, I'm dinking around with my putter. We've done that. I know we have done that in a few tournaments in the LPGA. I know I've done that a few times. But it is a rarity, you know, especially -- you would never think you would do that in the U.S. Open. But, you know, that's the lay of the land. You've got some pretty incredible holes coming in. But, man, you know, especially 17 can result in anything from a 2 to a 7. End of FastScripts |
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