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MICHELOB ULTRA OPEN AT KINGSMILL

May 7, 2004

Christina Kim

WILLIAMSBURG, VIRGINIA

PAUL ROVNAK: Thank for coming joining us clubhouse leader. That also sounds nice right.

CHRISTINA KIM: Yeah.

PAUL ROVNAK: Playing really well this week. Tell us about your day; then we'll take questions.

CHRISTINA KIM: It's kind of funny today was not quite as solid day as yesterday seemed to me. I started on the front side for some reason I tend to have a little more trouble on the front side than the back, but I just played my heart out and just stayed patient. That was the key thing that I learned to do, especially for this course, because there are just lots of opportunities to make birdies. Lots of opportunities to make bogeys if you let it happen to you. And just -- I just went out and went out swinging and I didn't really pay too much attention to what my front side said. I gained a couple of strokes back from yesterday. I was 2-over yesterday in the front 9 and I was even par today. And just I don't know what happened on the back nine, I just started hitting shots closer and making putts.

PAUL ROVNAK: Questions.

Q. The first five holes sort of frustrating, one step forward, one step back, how important was that patience you talked about?

CHRISTINA KIM: It was rather frustrating because you have got -- coming into a hole where you have a wedge in on the first hole and you 3-putt from -- I mean, going uphill, it's kind of hard -- I don't know what happened. Yeah, it was extremely frustrating, but like you said, patience was very important to me and I just told myself, I mean, because I mean, there's 18 holes out here so there's no reason to let one shot get to your head. That's what I try to tell myself.

Q. You will play those first 9 any differently tomorrow?

CHRISTINA KIM: Hopefully I will play them better (laughs).

Q. Game-wise, any changes?

CHRISTINA KIM: Hard to say considering that the pins are going to mostly be in a lot tougher places. I am just going to focus a lot more on my tee shots because yesterday and today I was a little, I think I was little eschew with my tee shots. I don't remember how many fairways I hit on the front nine but didn't feel like that many, and this was some nasty rough out here so you want to try and stay in the short stuff as often as you can. That's probably my -- first and foremost, that's my goal out there. Hit the iron shots close. Make the putts.

Q. Is it easy to shake off 3-putting the first hole; is that something --

CHRISTINA KIM: I do it all the time. No (laughs).

For some reason a lot easier today than it has been lately. I was just really excited coming into this tournament. This is one of our premier events. They treat us -- I have been telling everyone so far, treat us like gods out here. It's kind of extremely overwhelming, last year my rookie season coming into this event because I mean, I am not trying to downplay any of the other events, but this is just a high caliber of professionalism with the volunteers, the spectators, just everything, you know, amazing course, it's wonderful community, and you know, I just came in really excited and try to keep my head up all take, and that was probably the most important -- one of the most important things as well. Just trying to stay positive.

Q. When the men play here it was a great course for control-type players; maybe not so good for power-type hitters. How aggressive do you play this place? Is it the kind of place, do you hit a lot of drivers? Do you go for a lot of shots here or do you kinds of respect it a little bit more and play for the green in regulation?

CHRISTINA KIM: I highly respect the course. But I do go aggressively at it. Every hole that I don't have iron in my hand, every hole except for the par 3s, I use driver with. For me I am an aggressive player, aggressive person. I just think that for some people they have been taught to play smart, or to you know, think really hard on you know, you want to have exact distance into the hole so you might want to lay up with this because you have a favorite shot. The way I see it shorter you have, the better it is. Number 11 I just bobbed a drive down there and I got like a 50-yard pitch shot to the green. All the par 5s, go for them in two because it's very easy to get on with a almost a fairway wood and just personally, I don't know, the guys -- I don't know how far the guys played it, though.

Q. 67.

CHRISTINA KIM: Really?

Q. Yeah.

CHRISTINA KIM: Yeah, it's a shorter course for the guys, if I am not mistaken.

Q. One of shortest they play?

CHRISTINA KIM: That sort of gives them reason to be able to use a lot.

Q. Finesse players tended to do real well. Obviously their lack of length off the tee wasn't that important?

CHRISTINA KIM: I think out here for some reason, they have got a couple of long par 4s out here and a lot of it is made up with the short par 5s and a couple of short par 3s. Par 4s especially if the wind picks up, they can be a little dragging. I just go after everything. I don't know how far that will take me this week.

Q. You really cashed in on the par 5s today playing them 4-under par?

CHRISTINA KIM: Yes.

Q. Talk a little bit about the importance of that to your round today?

CHRISTINA KIM: The way I see it normally because I am not the longest out here, but I do have some distance. I'd like to think that I try and play every course to a par -- if it's a par 72 and there are four par 5s, I like to play as a par 68 and just try and shoot even par or better from there because I'd like to think that I can make birdie on every par 5 because you are going -- you are not going to have, you know, more than like a flip wedge into most of the par 5s that we can encounter out here. And so like today I went driver, 3-wood; driver, 5-wood; driver, 3-wood, just on the greens, and you know, just played you know, aggressively because I think par 5s are -- that's the intention to be played aggressively and to be taken advantage of.

PAUL ROVNAK: Take us over the score card. 3-putted No. 1. How far?

CHRISTINA KIM: Not very. I think I was probably about 20 feet or so. I hit my -- I hit my first putt like 15 feet past the hole. Then lipped out. (Laughs).

Went really faster -- kidding.

Bogeyed No. 1. And No. 3 I -- par 5, I just hit a pretty good drive just down the left center and had 224 to the pin, and I'd rather be long than short so I used my 3-wood and went past the flag by about 30 feet and off to the left and just 2-putted for my birdie.

No. 4, I hit into the junk into the rough on the right side. I tried to play a little -- tried to play smart on that hole, I don't do smart apparently (laughs), but I pushed my drive and from there I was -- I mean, the ball was like -- I was just -- I was basically standing right up trying to hit the ball out of the junk over there, and just hit it short, my third shot. I had to contend with a little knoll just short of the flag and I hit the downslope of it and jumped forward and missed my putt for par.

PAUL ROVNAK: How far was the par-putt?

CHRISTINA KIM: Probably about 15 feet or so. Little off the green.

No. 5, par 3, I believe I had -- I think it was 160 or 170 to the hole. I can't remember. It was either -- I think it was 160 to the hole. I used a 7-iron and I was about pin-high about, I'd say about eight or nine feet left of the flag and made the putt there.

No. 7, hit a good drive down the right-hand side, I was actually in the first cut of rough, and I was 209 to the flag, used a 5-wood, came up just short of the putting surface, and basically 2-putted from there for birdie.

No. 10, I went driver, and I believe I was 156 to the flag, used a 7-iron, hit it maybe about seven feet right of the flag, made my putt for birdie.

No. 11, I hit a really good drive down the left center of the fairway, and had like 50 yards into the flag and just chipped it to about two feet. Made my birdie there.

No. 15, I hit a good drive, used -- I was, gosh, 227 into that -- to the flag, into a slight breeze used a 3-wood, hit it left of -- just a little left of the green. I was maybe about 30 feet left of the flag, I'd say, 35 feet, just off the putting surface, and drained a putt from there from off the green for eagle.

No. 17 ---

PAUL ROVNAK: How far was the putt?

CHRISTINA KIM: 35 feet, I'd say.

No. 17, I was 166 to the flag. 6-iron not very well. But ended up like seven, eight feet directly at the flag just a little bit beyond and made the putt there. Then I bogeyed 18.

PAUL ROVNAK: What happened?

CHRISTINA KIM: I was like 90 yards to the green. I hit a really good drive, 96 yards to the flag, and my dad and I weren't sure if I would be able to get -- I chose my -- took a sand wedge out, my dad and I weren't sure if I'd get it there so I thought if I put a good firm solid hard swing at it would at least be putting and I hit it like 10 yards past the flag and it took a bad kick left and just trickled, ran all the way off the green into the rough. I had an amazing chip. Chipped it to probably two feet but then I missed it.

Q. According to this sheet they give us here, your drive on No. 11 would have been about 290 yards?

CHRISTINA KIM: I don't know. I guess. I was like 50 yards to the flag. I was 53 yards if I am not mistaken. I paced it off to -- I added the yardage it was 53 to the flag.

Q. They have got this listed as the hole being 34 six yards long.

CHRISTINA KIM: There's a downslope and I hit the downslope and I am not Michelle Wie, if that's what you are asking. (Laughs).

Q. Roundabout way, yes.

CHRISTINA KIM: (Laughs).

Q. You said something yesterday that this course was difficult on your calves to walk on. Do you have any concerns about conditioning playing on the weekend and your chances of competing for the win?

CHRISTINA KIM: No, I don't think so actually. I think more than anything it was just yesterday having come off last week's event which was in Atlanta where it had a lot of precipitation, it was really rather soggy but the course has firmed up quite a bit in the last couple of days so it's not nearly as bad as it was. I mean, yesterday it was still wearing on me from last week, and I hopped in the jacuzzi last night and I feel good. Feel a little refreshed.

Q. You have mentioned Atlanta and you had the first round, I think it was the first round lead there. In retrospect how do you feel you handled that experience and how will that or should that benefit you?

CHRISTINA KIM: I don't know, I am thinking positive. Last week I held the lead for one round. This week I am holding it for two, you know, if I am lucky I will be able to maintain that for the next couple of days. I think coming into last -- last week having after the first round leading, I had a lot on my mind, and I was like oh, my gosh, I am leading, I have got to play so well, you know next three days this and that, and I just put a lot of pressure on myself coming into the second round and I think that tomorrow, mind you, I am saying this now, but tomorrow I'd like to think that I am not going to put so much pressure on myself, I am just going to go out there and have fun because I mean, in the end, that's what ends up determining who the winner is, I think, aside from skill-wise is just making sure that you enjoy yourself and have fun.

Q. Is this surface a break-through of sorts today because you did stay low and is your confidence a lot higher now today?

CHRISTINA KIM: I don't know. I really don't want to say that. I am just you know, the way I see it I try and take every shot one at a time and I think I was just fortunate to be able to mingle them all in together within a 48-hour period. I struggled a lot out here last year. I missed the cut, but I don't even know, I was probably whoa, I don't remember how many I missed the cut by last year. I just thought about that because the thing is this is such an important event to us, we took this from the men or something like that, whatever, and coming out here, it just, this is just one of the best events of the year, I really just wanted to play well throughout all four days. Just, I don't know. Just trying.

Q. 9-under won this tournament last year. Are you surprised at the scores so far?

CHRISTINA KIM: Kind of hard so say. I think that it's playing -- I don't want to say that it's playing easier than last year, because I remember I -- I don't really remember much of last year, greens were really firm last year though, that I am pretty sure I can recall. But we have got great players and every year the way I see it, the caliber of players are just you know, rising, in every year, so I think that last year was the inaugural event, our girls first look at it. I guess a lot of the players since they already had a chance to see it, it's maybe just -- mentally it's a little easier on you.

Q. There's a lot in your background about your relationship with your dad. Talk a little bit about Sunday being Mother's Day, about the impact that your mother has had on your athletic career and that sort of thing?

CHRISTINA KIM: Well, my mom, she was, I'd like to think -- she was more or less a player in the shadows. She took care of a lot of things at home. She made sure that we were all -- we all had clothes on our back, food in our bellies, we all had our brains in our head, and she was -- I think she was a lot less --she wasn't there as much as my dad has been because my dad has been -- my dad and I are basically joined at the hip right now, and I think that may mom just sort of knows that she needs to because I can only take -- I mean, God knows, I love my parents to death, you know, but there's only so much parenting I guess one person can take, you know what I mean. My dad and I were so you know, we're very connected. My mother and I have a wonderful relationship but she's actually back at home with my brother right now and so it's actually -- it's a little heartbreaking to know that Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday and nobody will be able to spend it with her. She's just been, you know, she's been like I said, or less someone in the shadows.

Q. If I can ask what are your plans to for her for Mother's Day, send flowers or card or?

CHRISTINA KIM: Oh, yeah, I am going definitely send flowers, probably going to ---

PAUL ROVNAK: Better do it fast.

CHRISTINA KIM: That's what brothers are for. He's going to pick them up. I think I am going to have my brother pick out some jewelry from both of us. I am really not quite sure, heck, I don't know maybe I might even fly her up here come Sunday. But I am not quite sure right now.

PAUL ROVNAK: Thank you.

End of FastScripts.

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