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U.S. AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 25, 2005

Anthony Kim

ARDMORE, PENNSYLVANIA

CRAIG SMITH: Anthony Kim, the last of the Walker Cuppers standing. Let's go backwards. Take me to the winning hole, take me to the 19th hole, and then we'll work our way back.

ANTHONY KIM: Well, he's been hitting well all day and putting well all day. I expected him to make a good run at birdie, which he did. And I was just expecting him to make a 3 and I was going to have to make a 3 to move on to the next hole. Fortunately for me he missed and I made it.

CRAIG SMITH: How far and what did you hit in? Take me through the hole, you hit what from the tee and how far in.

ANTHONY KIM: I hit 2 iron off the tee and he hit before me. He hit the second shot before me. He hit it out to about 25 feet past the hole. So I was looking at his ball and just spinning left off his ball. I hit a full lob wedge from 90 yards pin high to about 12, 13 feet. I had a tricky little putt, but I got a good read from my caddie and hit it right in the middle.

CRAIG SMITH: The first hole and the last hole were the only two times you were ahead all day.

ANTHONY KIM: Well, I guess that first hole was good to me. It was a grind out there. I tried to stay positive, but he was just beating on me and hitting it so well. And I just had to keep grinding. I got my last four up and down, and you know, that was basically it. If I don't get one of those up and down, the match is basically over. So I feel really fortunate.

CRAIG SMITH: This match is sort of a microcosm of your week so far in that it's been a struggle every time you've been out there. You shot 77 your first round of stroke play; made a birdie on the last hole of your second round. Are you living on the edge?

ANTHONY KIM: I guess I'm living on the edge. You know, I haven't really hit it well all week, and today was the first or this round was the first round I felt confident with my putter. When you get that going, the iron shots start to come, and there are glimpses of better ball striking out there this round, so I'm excited for tomorrow.

CRAIG SMITH: You're the last one carrying a USA Walker Cup back bag.

ANTHONY KIM: Well, I saw that Brian Harman lost when I was on hole No. 14, and I thought it was pretty important for me to keep that trend going, so really happy to be here.

Q. You went all square on 14 and then hit two balls out of bounds immediately on 15. What was going through your mind at that point?

ANTHONY KIM: Well, I'm not really sure. Obviously nothing, because I hit a little bit of a pull and felt like I got a bad bounce and it went on to the road. Tried to pound the next one, which probably wasn't smart; followed that.

So, you know, it's just one hole, that's the good thing about match play. Probably in a stroke play event I take a better line and try not to go as far left, but it's match play and it's one hole, so just try to move on to the next couple.

Q. And that you did. You know better than I what you did on those next holes so why don't you tell us about them, because you were pretty pleased I think.

ANTHONY KIM: I was. That was probably the best part of my week so far. On 16, I hit 2 iron and I had 206 yards to the hole in the rough. I hit a 7 iron over the green, and I got back to my ball, and it was on a downslope in the thick rough and I couldn't even see it. I went to go look at the hole and I walked back to my ball and I couldn't see my ball again. I took a full swing and just hoped, and made probably an 8 footer for par.

Then had a pretty dicey lie on 17. Chipped that up to about a foot and a half, and made that for par. He actually made a 20 footer down the slope for par there, which was a big putt.

And 18, I got up and down from probably about 35 yards short of the hole.

Q. I bet there were a number of people in the gallery on hole 16 that thought you were going to putt it back in the fairway as opposed to going for the green?

ANTHONY KIM: You know, that was in the back of my mind, but at that point, that late in the game, I can't give him an opening because he's a good ball striker. And so basically I just tried to give myself an opportunity to make a par out there by the green.

Q. With all of those up and downs, does the thought of losing ever cross your mind, or did you think you could come back?

ANTHONY KIM: Obviously, it's going to cross your mind. But you don't want to think like that. You want to think positive and it did cross my mind. But you work so hard and the practice should pay off, and why not here.

Q. If you're Jay Choi right now driving home, are you saying, "How the hell did I lose that match?"

ANTHONY KIM: That's a tough question. I think so, because some of the up and downs I made coming down the stretch were pretty big and they were from some tough spots. He hit it better than me all day.

If anyone that didn't know golf really well was watching that match, they wouldn't believe that I had actually won that match.

Q. The other thing is, obviously you talked about that you had not been hitting the ball as well as you'd like to this week so far, and maybe over the last four holes, you've actually started putting it back together again. Do you think that that, and the experience that you have, do you think it's beneficial that you've gotten yourself through; there's a lot of luck involved in winning this type of event versus a stroke play event? Do you think it's beneficial now going into the quarterfinals and further?

ANTHONY KIM: Absolutely. A win is a win, but a hard fought win, you can build on. And basically, that's just the way I'm going to look at it. I fought hard and I got a couple good breaks. Jay played well and fortunately, I won.

Q. What did you do between the Walker Cup and this week? You were playing pretty well at the Walker Cup, and then you say you were not hitting it as well as you would have liked. Did you take time off?

ANTHONY KIM: I did. I got back, I was so drained from the Walker Cup, what an experience, and so I just tried to go back home and hang out with my friends and played a minimal amount of golf. I was hoping that I would still keep that same form.

End of FastScripts.

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