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MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 10, 2011

Kyung-Tae Kim

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA

Q. Great round. You had a great run of four birdies, didn't you?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: 10 and 11 were playing tough. I just was kinds of a little unlucky on the 11th hole. So felt more comfortable coming to the 12th hole.

Q. What were the circumstances on the 11th?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: 11th, second shot, I pulled it a little bit, but the ball it should have gone more left, but it just went pretty much straight. If the ball goes five meters farther water, five meters left, water. So I was really, really lucky. I made a par there. But it was very lucky.
Going to 12 I felt more comfortable.

Q. How long was the putt on 12?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: About three and a half feet.

Q. 13?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: 13, about 27 feet.

Q. Was it a 2-putt?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: No, I was short. I was almost inside the hazard. I tried to hit it and it was like 20, about 30 feet left and I made it. About 27 feet.

Q. 14?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: About 12 feet.

Q. 15, were you on in two on 15?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: I tried the eagle putt from about 15 feet and barely missed it.

Q. You were playing with a marker today the first group out, was the pressure off? Did that help you relax at all today?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: I felt more comfortable and he was a really good player, he played really well. So I felt really more comfortable going with the marker.

Q. How much does this round do for your confidence heading into the season?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: What do you mean by that?

Q. Having a great round here at the Masters as far as the rest of the season goes, that must build a lot of confidence.
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Today I had the best score for the year. I played like three or four tournaments already and like yesterday I didn't play very well, but today I felt more confident that I can go through all the year.

Q. How many times have you played in the States before?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: I played at Northern Trust and the Accenture and I played at Doral. I played three tournaments, this is the fourth.

Q. And but this year was the first time you've been over here playing or no?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: No, what do you mean?

Q. Those tournaments, were those the first that you played in the States?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Yes.

Q. When I talked to you guys on Friday I don't know if you remember or not I told you that you would probably make the cut, but you didn't really know until late. Can you talk about the and sigh teen what you did Friday night while you were waiting for that?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Well, we were watching TV, we were focusing on like how hard Ernie Els is doing it. If he makes the birdie putt on the 18th hole, he would be 41st. And then -- and Robert Allenby, we were watching those two players how they were doing. But Ernie missed the putt here so we felt like we would make it.

Q. Were you anxious about it? Nervous about it?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Oh, very much. Actually the first time we felt we could make it easily, but then it went more than 10-under, the 10-under, so you forgot about the 10 shot rule. We were waiting, waiting, we were watching like even par or 2-over scores, but like the people just keep coming up, like McDowell, he made triple bogey and he birdie and birdie again. And I was like, oh my God, we can't relax here.

Q. Who all was with you when you were watching TV?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Mother and father and their friends, we were all watching together.

Q. So you had a house full of people. You're renting a house here somewhere?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Yeah, we're renting a house.

Q. One thing I notice about your game and talked to a couple other people, you're not the longest hitter out there. Is that something that you feel that you have to add some distance to really be able to compete out here?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Well I tried it before to make more distance, but I lost accuracy. So and it's good to hit it farther, but I don't think I'm going to try anymore because I think more accuracy is more like important thing than like hitting longer.

Q. As long as you're hitting your long irons well, what the heck.
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Yeah.

Q. Did you, even with the language barrier and everything, did you feel comfortable during your stay in the States?
KYUNG-TAE KIM: Well this is the third time playing overseas other than The Open and something like that. I feel more comfortable, it gets a little better. I'm understanding a little bit much better. But I'm kind of coping with it. I'm getting there.

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