Q. Chan, did you see the weather forecast? I imagine you might have been happy that it did not rain.
CHAN KIM: Yeah. I mean, growing up here, we would always have the occasional showers. They come as fast as they go. I knew if it does rain, it wasn't going to hang around too long.
I wouldn't have minded it, but the course is in such great condition that I think either way, it would have played really well.
Q. I don't think I've seen the fairways nicer than they were today --
CHAN KIM: Yeah. They're fully grown in. The course, like I said, looks amazing. They're firm. The fairways are firm, so they're rolling out. But the greens are holding pretty well, and they're rolling really nice, too. Yeah, no complaints about how the course is playing.
Q. This was a really solid round. I believe no bogeys, correct?
CHAN KIM: That's correct.
Q. You had some scoring opportunities that you mostly took advantage of?
CHAN KIM: Yeah, yeah, I made a good save on 17, which kind of kept the momentum going. It didn't feel like a fast start, but I just kind of had to hang in there, and it was windy, so I knew the birdie opportunities would come, and if I could take advantage of those, I knew I would be okay.
Q. Last year kind of a bad break, almost getting the ace that would have qualified you. Did that make you feel even more motivated?
CHAN KIM: Yeah. Obviously I'd love to play well here. A win here would absolutely mean the world to me. Just watching -- I used to come to this tournament all the time when I was a kid. Actually, it's kind of funny I was paired with Aaron Baddeley because I actually watched him, I remember, like back in '06 or '05, so I was pretty excited about my pairing.
It would be really, really cool to win here, and it would be -- it would probably go down as my favorite win in my career.
Q. We talked before during the pro-am, and going 4-under on day one, that sits like top 20, 25. Talk about your day and how much confidence it gives you knowing that you went under today.
CHAN KIM: Yeah. I don't think it played particularly easy. I think the leaders are still at 6, maybe 7 now. But previous years you've seen some low scores out here, and they're still out there, but the wind does make it tricky.
I think that I stayed pretty patient out there today, and I think that was a very big key. I've been working really hard on my putting. The putting stats I'm sure everybody knows from last year hasn't been great. But I started working with Derek Uyeda, who's Xander's putting coach and Emiliano's putting coach, and it's helped a lot. The green reading is slowly starting to get there. I still need to touch up some stuff. But I feel more confident over the ball with the putter. We'll see where that leads me.
Q. How would you sum up your first full year on the PGA TOUR in 2024 and did you get a sense of building some momentum near the tail end?
CHAN KIM: Yeah, the first year was great. I had a great time, met a lot of great people. Obviously the PGA TOUR has treated us extremely well.
I did gain a lot of experience playing with a lot of the veterans throughout the year. It was my first time seeing a lot of those golf courses, so that made it a little tough. But knowing that this is year two and I've had my one loop around, I do feel a little bit more confident stepping on to golf courses and just knowing general idea of how guys are going to play and where to put it, where not to put it.
I'm excited for what this year holds.
Q. One change the TOUR made this year is it's only now top 100 that keep their card; is that on your mind at all in terms of something to chase?
CHAN KIM: Yeah, honestly, I think until you get your first win or get into those Signature Events, I think that's always going to be in the back of my mind. But you play well, and you shouldn't have to worry about it.
I totally understand why they made the change. At the end of the day, if I do my job right, I shouldn't have to worry about it.
Q. What needs to happen tomorrow to have a good round?
CHAN KIM: Stay patient again. I think that we played to really good targets today and made a lot of smart choices off the tee and took advantage when we needed to. Hopefully we can just kind of keep that going and keep a clear picture in my head of what I want the overall round to look like. That way we can set a nice game plan and just try and keep it going.
Q. Who's your caddie?
CHAN KIM: Kevin Techakanokboon. Everybody knows him as Tech.
Q. How did you meet him?
CHAN KIM: He's a good buddy of mine. We used to play golf together. One of the first times I saw him, gosh, must have been the Open Championship at Birkdale. He was caddying for Jay Chang at the time and we got paired together. He actually caddied for me in '21, I think, at the Korn Ferry TOUR finals when I got in, and then he kind of gave me a call and I was looking around for caddies, and I'm glad he did because I don't think I would really want anybody else on the bag.
Q. Do you still live in Gilbert?
CHAN KIM: I do, yeah.
Q. Is that near the burn center where they brought the people from here from the fireworks to get treatment?
CHAN KIM: The burn center is a bit away from me. I'm on the very southeast corner of Gilbert. It's closer to where I practice, which is Superstition Mountain. But it is in that general area, yes.
Q. When you heard about that, did it --
CHAN KIM: Yeah. It's a dangerous world we live in, I guess. You have the fires in California, and it's just -- you look at life in a different perspective. You just have to be careful with every move you make, not just for yourself but for others around you. But hopefully everybody is going to recover okay.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports