Q. Another solid round for you, put yourself right in contention. Characterize the conditions you faced today and how those compare to yesterday.
TOM KIM: Yeah, I feel like our wave kind of got a little bit more wind than the group that's going to go out now. It played tough out there today. Obviously this course is very penalizing, and when the wind is up like this, you've got to play really, really solid. I feel like I put myself in a lot of good positions, scrambled really well and grinded it out. Pleased with the first two days.
Q. How would you characterize the start to your season? Where do you feel like you're at with your game?
TOM KIM: It's definitely going the right direction. I haven't felt like I've played terrible, it was kind of just cleaning up the little things, and it's definitely trending the right way.
Q. What are some little things you've been looking at?
TOM KIM: Just like around the greens, I felt like probably on the greens haven't been as solid as it used to be compared to my long game. I feel like this week has been -- obviously I've had a lot of lip-outs, but at the same time I'm stroking it really well, and that's the most important part, and mentally getting into that process of that's all I can do.
Q. What's it been like having Paul on the bag? Obviously that's a recent change.
TOM KIM: Yeah, super nice. Pauly has been great. Obviously him and I being both a believer, that helps a lot. With his experience and me wanting to be able to lean on someone who in tough situations I can kind of talk through is really big for me, and it's been fun.
Q. When it's windy like this, what part of your game do you have to be more -- I don't know if the word is careful or aware of in these conditions?
TOM KIM: I think everything. I think it's because obviously the golf course, it's hard itself, but when it's starting to blow like this, it gets really tough.
I think mentally you've just got to be sharp. You have to be able to commit to what you're trying to do. You're going to have moments where it feels like it's gusting this way and it's not, and I think the big thing for me has been being able to commit to my process and letting it happen.
Q. What were the most one or two daunting shots for you today?
TOM KIM: Probably the two shots on 15 and 17. The par-3 -- it was 137 today but I hit an 8-iron that was pin high, and seeing the ball go up in the air, I was just hoping it was dry. The thing is you can't just hit it long and have an easy chip. If you hit it long you've got to judge downwind, downhill now. Those two were pretty dicey.
Q. 15, a few guys put it in the stands on the left. Is it forcing you to aim right, way right of the pin?
TOM KIM: Oh, yeah, I aimed -- unless you happen to slice it with 30 miles an hour right-to-left wind, it's really hard to do. Anything that started straight right side of the green was going to get to the hole.
Q. You had a birdie on 10 to start your day. Talk about how that carried some momentum throughout the day and how that played today.
TOM KIM: Yeah, obviously the first hole of the day, you kind of like to get a few swings in before you get to 10 because if you hit a good drive it's a really good opportunity. To start off with a birdie kind of makes the rest of the round kind of smooth. Did a good job of that.
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