MASTERS TOURNAMENT

April 8, 2025

Michael Kim

Quick Quotes

Q. Talking to Sean Foley a little bit out there. What has he meant to you and your game as you've come back from some low lows?

MICHAEL KIM: Oh, I give him so much credit. Not just in the golf game, but just in life in general and kind of the mental part of golf, and which translates really well to just overall life, too. And I've leaned on him a lot over the years and hopefully will continue to do so for a long, long time. But, yeah, with regards to my golf game, he kind of, I was in a bunch of little pieces and he kind of collected it all and made it, made me kind of back whole, I guess.

Q. What were the technical aspects that you changed in your swing?

MICHAEL KIM: I think early on we wanted my hands to be more active. I had kind of gone into a deep dive of trying to kind of hood the face with a bowed left wrist, trying to hold on, trying to hit a cut. And there's just a complete 180 of how I used to swing the golf club when I was a kid and when I was in college. So we went back to more neutral, tried to give myself as much time to release it in the down swing and that's kind of been the foundation of what we're still working on.

Q. How old are you?

MICHAEL KIM: I'm 31.

Q. I ask because it's the 20th anniversary of Tiger's chip on 16. So you were 11. Do you remember where were you and then the first time you came out here did you try that shot?

MICHAEL KIM: I might be misremembering a little bit, but there's this little driving range that I was always at in Del Mar where I grew up there was a Golf Mart right there. I think I watched the chip of his go in there and I absolutely hit a few shots there the first time I went. I came in March, it wasn't at, it wasn't Masters week, so I think I like pretended to do a little celebration to copy his, copy what he did.

Q. You kind of put yourself out there on social media this year. Are you surprised that how engaged fans have gotten and especially in your journey to get here over the last basically 10 weeks?

MICHAEL KIM: I am surprised how actually positive it's been for me, and just my followers, I feel like. X or Twitter can be quite, there's a lot of stuff on there, but through the -- I've had my fair share of bad play and missed cuts, but it's been really a lot of positivity, which I'm super thankful of and, yeah, it's been great.

Q. What made you decide to go out there more and do that?

MICHAEL KIM: I think I was on the Korn Ferry Tour three, four years ago, I think I got bored a little bit, I saw Max Homa grow his brand or however you want to call that, into such a big thing. So I figured -- I didn't want to be kind of the same old like happy to be at Masters week showing a picture or post a picture and go with that. And I was totally open to being open about some of the ups and downs that not only I, but a lot of pro golfers go through during their career. I felt like I could share a bit more of the daily stuff and kind of the mental or swing stuff that I've been going through and everyone has, not everyone but a lot of people have enjoyed it, I think.

Q. What does it mean for you to be here given where you were a year ago and at the start of the year?

MICHAEL KIM: It's been awesome. I was never really planning on being here, but obviously had a really nice stretch to come back. I'm just really excited, a little bit of anxiousness there for sure, a little bit of anxiety, but can't wait to hopefully play well and come in future years as well.

Q. Was there one moment where it clicked or did it just take a couple of good results?

MICHAEL KIM: Back then? Oh, I think -- I've been telling people it's been more of a slow build more so than just like a one tip type thing. I had a good fall at the end of the fall last year and we've kind of tried to build on that. I think it's been more of a slow build than anything.

Q. Some players try to approach this as just another tournament week, how do you look at it and it must be hard to look at it as just another tournament?

MICHAEL KIM: Yeah, every kid has dreamed of playing here for ever since they picked up a golf club, so it's an incredible honor and opportunity to be out here playing the Tournament. That first time you drive down Magnolia Lane just never gets old. At the same time I'm super thankful and happy to be here, but I want to play well and I want to do well and hopefully contend on the weekend. So it's always a little bit of a balancing act, for sure.

Q. Do you embrace all the surroundings, does it make you play better?

MICHAEL KIM: I think you kind of have to. I think you're not fooling anyone trying to tell yourself or anyone that it's not that big of a deal out here. It's one of the biggest tournaments in golf, if not the biggest, so you can tell yourself that, but in my opinion it's, you can't fool anyone.

Q. What did you think when you pulled into the parking garage underneath the old range. Do they have players parking underground now?

MICHAEL KIM: No, maybe they have, but I've just been parking kind of where I parked over the last few times, yeah.