LOTTE CHAMPIONSHIP PRESENTED BY HOAKALEI

October 4, 2026

Auston Kim

Hoakalei Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, we are here with Auston Kim after her final round at the 2026 LOTTE Championship. Looking like a Top 5 finish and possibly a consecutive back to back Top 5 finish. What's the overall momentum you're feeling into the rest of season?

AUSTON KIM: Golf is feeling really fun. A lot of things are working out mechanically and mentally. When you're having fun and enjoying what you're doing it makes things a lot easier.

I feel like I have a lot of trust in my game right now. There is always, you know, the doubt and whatnot that every athlete goes through, but I feel like I've gotten a lot stronger this past month mentally and physically.

Overall I'm just feeling really good; feeling really confident. I just feel like I'm enjoying golf every single time I go out on to the course.

Q. Awesome. And you faced some adversity out there with the bogeys on 12 through 14 but finished strong with birdies on 16 and 18. How do you reset and still finish strong with a tremendous round here?

AUSTON KIM: Yeah, I feel like with how many rounds of golf that we play we always have ups and downs and we try to make those downs as short and quick as possible. Today like it lasted three holes which is kind of unfortunate and I hit like a couple really bad shots.

You know, if you hit bad shots in the wind here it's pretty penalizing. I couldn't recover after a couple of those bad ones. It's a bummer.

I think it's a good balance of feeling upset out on the course but being able to forgive yourself, especially when you want to do so well or you're in contention and feels like you're falling behind.

I tried not to think about that so much. It was going through my mind, but the most important part was to forgive and move on, go to the next shot, because that's the most important one.

I was able to recover after the three bogey with a good par; then solid 16 and solid 18 with birdies on both so very proud of that.

Q. You mentioned just feeling good and really confident in your game. What's your overall takeaways from this tournament?

AUSTON KIM: I've learned a lot about my swing and mechanics, like what works, what doesn't work. You know, every single week it's really important to try and take something with you to the next. I've learned a lot about my swing, myself, my game, my mental states, like everything this past month. It's been a very big learning month for me.

Like of course I'm pretty upset about those three holes, but I know that I'm getting closer and I know that I'm making progress toward achieving a big goal of mine, so it's okay to be upset about it.

I also know I'm moving toward progress and toward something so very happy about that.

Q. Last question from me: About a week off here before heading to Shanghai. What's the next week look like for you? How do you plan to relax and also keep going towards your goals?

AUSTON KIM: Yeah, I think it's good to reassess and be really honest with myself about my performance this past month. I've obviously played pretty solid golf the past two weeks, but I also want to think about what's holding me back a little bit and try to improve with those things heading into the last push of the season.

The next three events are always super fun. I love playing golf in Asia. Just continuing to enjoy but also being as honest as I can with myself, taking ownership of my game, and trying to figure out what I can do better each time that I tee it up.