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SHOPRITE LPGA CLASSIC PRESENTED BY ACER


May 30, 2014


Christina Kim


GALLOWAY, NEW JERSEY

THE MODERATOR:  I'd like to welcome in Christina Kim, 7‑under today, Christina.  Fantastic round.  You said you felt good, you said everything was clicking.  Take us through the round today.
CHRISTINA KIM:  Well, I‑‑ I don't know.  I made a birdie somewhere.
THE MODERATOR:  You made a couple birdies.
CHRISTINA KIM:  Made a few, yeah, I'm sorry.
THE MODERATOR:  No bogeys.
CHRISTINA KIM:  No, no bogeys today.  No, I have a lot of great memories from this place, and I've been here so many damn times, I should know how to play out here.
Did I start on 1 or 10?  Started on 1.  Birdied No. 3.  I had like 200 yards to the flag, hit a 4‑iron, two‑putted from like 30 feet.
Then No. 4 is a par‑4.  I had 139, hit an 8‑iron to about 10 feet, made that putt.  On No. 5 I‑‑ let me look at my book.  I'm very sorry.  5 I'm guessing I hit the fairway, hit the green, made the putt.
THE MODERATOR:  Solid guess.
CHRISTINA KIM:  I did, yes.  No. 9, I hit the green in two, was just shy of the green actually and then two‑putted.  Had a big slope to the putt, so I was able to use my Aimpoint Express and fiddle with the green and was able to get it within pretty decent tap‑in range.
And then I birdied No. 11.  We had stood on the tee for about 20 minutes on the 11 because there's so much ‑‑ I don't know if it's heather or fescue, but the long grass, I know it's giving a lot of players a lot of trouble.  So there was a bit of trouble happening in the group in front of us.  So we stood on that tee for about 20 minutes.
And just hit a 5‑iron into the middle of the green and I rolled in a pretty good putt actually, it was probably like 35 feet, so it was one of the longest putts I've made since like the 90s.  (Laughs).  It's been a while.
A lot of the other putts were just stock standard, hit the greens within 15, 20 feet, made the putt.
No. 18 I was maybe five yards off the front of the green.  And you know, these greens are very tricky in that they're poa annua, so they're very soft on top, but they're firm underneath, so it's kind of hard if you want to try and hit a bump‑and‑run with a 7‑iron, which I was thinking, so I just thought I'll just smash a putter and then putt it to had probably about seven feet for birdie or so, and then it's either going in or it's not.  Just give it a good stroke, and heard it go down in the bottom of the cup, and the crowd roared.
THE MODERATOR:  You got a big ovation at the end.  And you said you feel very comfortable here and obviously the crowd loves you.  Talk about how special this event is and what makes it so special.
CHRISTINA KIM:  You know, we've been here for so many years.  ShopRite has been such a huge supporter of the LPGA for going on what, 37 or 8 years or something like that; a long time anyway, and Seaview has been a huge supporter of the LPGA as well, and I used to be represented by Layla and Tim when they were back working with Octagon before they decided to do their own endeavors.
I just have a lot of great memories out here, a lot of low scores out here, a lot of fun out here.  One of my first memories of the LPGA Tour I played with Betsy King at this tournament my rookie year, and it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life.  It's seared into my head.  You know, there's just so many positives, so many wonderful things here.  The people love us.
I remember coming last year after Superstorm Sandy had hit and just seeing how much work the golf course staff had put into the golf course just to get it to the caliber of an LPGA event.  And you always want to have hat's off to them.  Without them we wouldn't have these events.
THE MODERATOR:  Sure.  Now, you spoke a little bit outside about the new diet, the cooking.  You kind of have a whole new lifestyle.  You said it's made you more happy; you're enjoying yourself.  Give us the details on that.
CHRISTINA KIM:  Yeah.  I'm eating like a caveman.  It's not exactly a diet, it's more of a lifestyle, but I've been fighting tendonitis for about four years now and underwent some platelet spinning during the off season at the very beginning of this year and had to miss out the first two events of the season in Australia and the Bahamas, which I never miss events.  So it was devastating to me.
And after the Kraft I had gone and decided it was time to do something, you know.  I just did a little bit of research, spoke with some people, some people very close to me.  And I had during the off week before Hawaii I went and stayed with some people and had paleo food all week, and I thought it was just going to be like rabbit food and all this awful‑‑ I mean it's like you can have like these amazing, amazing dishes, which in the mornings I have this egg bake with spinach and tomatoes and homemade sausage that I make and this porridge.  It's like oatmeal but it's made out of nuts.  I have my own blender that I bring with me.  I have ramekins I have.  I bring a bag of spices with me every week, and I'm cooking every week, and I'm really experiencing a lot of joy from that.
I always tell a lot of my friends when they're feeling kind of stagnant, you need to find a release.  You need to find another hobby, and I was always talking the talk, but I never walked the walk, because it was golf, sleep, golf, sleep.
I turned 30 in March.  Life has just started.  I'm so thrilled, and I decided, let's see if we enjoy cooking, and I love the idea of preparing nourishment for others, and basically food is life, and I feel the differences now.
Even if five years down the road, I don't lose an ounce of weight, if I'm always meant to be a big girl, I'm going to be a big girl.  I know I can feel the inflammation has gone down tremendously in my body, and so I'm more happy; I'm more aware of what my body is doing, and I just live life with a lot more clarity now.  And I still babble.
THE MODERATOR:  Beautiful.  Questions for Christina.

Q.  You said tendonitis.  Where, in your knees?
CHRISTINA KIM:  No.  I had basically tennis elbow.  And I had it starting at the end of 2010, went from tendonitis to tendonosis, from tendonosis to tendonopathy, and then I had an MRI done in December of last year and found a small tear in my lateral epicondylitis‑‑ I'm not sure.
And so the platelet spinning was done by the director of our medical staff, Top Tier Sports Med, Dr.Bruce Thomas did it.  And it was‑‑ it's one of the best decisions I've ever made in my life.  It hurt as all hell, but there were no knives, which I'm very thankful for, and I was able to use my own platelets.  So I was using my own body to heal, and it's been remarkable.
I've gone several months now without any pain, and you know, I'm utilizing our trailer, which I think is huge.  I used to never go in there, but now I'm in there all the time with the physios.  You used to go in there when you were hurt and you had a blister or needed a Band‑Aid or whatever.  Now I'm realizing that I need to go in there and be preventative.  Took me 30 years to figure that out.

Q.  And you enjoy this game so much, but the wins haven't really been as plentiful as I'm sure you would like.  What's been your attitude‑‑ I know you've been hurt, but what's been your attitude the last couple of years about golf and wanting to do a little more on the course?
CHRISTINA KIM:  Well, from 2010, every year it's been different till now.  So I mean 2011, I went through pretty severe bout of depression that I didn't really talk about until‑‑ was it '13 that I brought it up?  I can't even remember.
'11 and '12 I'd gone through a pretty severe bout of depression, attempts at my own life, and just realized‑‑ you know, it took me a long time to realize that golf is just a game.  Golf does not define who I am as a person, you know.  You know, I'm kind and I'm giving and I'm caring and I worry about others, but I'm also an athlete.  You can't use that, but I'm also‑‑ I can be a jerk at times as well.
But you know, it's been very frustrating, but you know, I came in this season knowing that I had a tear in one of my tendons, and if I hadn't gone in to get the MRI, if I hadn't gone and seen the doctor, I would not‑‑ maybe‑‑ I wouldn't even be teeing it up right now.  I mean it could have been a full tear.
It's already almost the beginning of June, and I could have been sitting out for over a year.  So I'm just thankful to have tee times.  I'm just thankful for all the shots I have and the support and love I get from my family and my friends, and you know, it's just golf.
THE MODERATOR:  Any other questions?  All right.  Get you out of here.  Nice job today.
CHRISTINA KIM:  Thank you very much.  Thank you guys.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports




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