THE MODERATOR: Describe your round for us.
TOM KIM: Really pleased to shoot under par today. This course definitely brings the best out of you just mentally, skill-wise as well. Did a really good job. Stayed grounded all day. Yeah, had a good fight.
THE MODERATOR: Made a nice run where you birdied 4, 5 and 7. Talk about those.
TOM KIM: Yeah, it was really big. I hit a really good tee shot on 4. Somehow just got in that bunker. Hit a really, really good 5-iron to three and a half, four feet. Kind of got the momentum on the back nine. Made another smelly 7-, 8-footer for birdie there. Just kind of kept the momentum going.
Really nice to hit that nice little 8-iron on 7, another 3-footer, which kind of takes the stress off.
Q. Obviously you've had a brief U.S. Open career, but you've played well in the first two, now you're playing well again. What is it about the U.S. Open that brings the best out of you?
TOM KIM: I think I just enjoy it. It's a tough test. I think what I really appreciate about it is got to be mentally tough. As good as you need to be skill set-wise, it's all mentally and physically you just got to be there all the time. I think that has kind of helped.
Q. You mentioned mental toughness. Is there anything that you go through before your rounds that help you to become locked in, in the zone?
TOM KIM: Yeah, I mean, I have my routine I do every night and every morning. Mindset and stuff. I'm really big on those type of things. I kind of get myself prepared. Once I get out here, it's all business.
Q. 15, the pin position looked really tough, from my perspective. How difficult was it playing for you guys today?
TOM KIM: You mean just 15?
Q. Just the pin position on 15.
TOM KIM: Yeah, it was a really tricky one. Obviously they moved the tee up, which is really generous, but they put a pin where it can go both ways. It feels like you don't really want to miss it right. But then if you hit it on the left side, like I did, I had a 35-, 40-footer. It's so fast. Jason hit a chip over the green.
It's really tough. As short as the club we're hitting, it's still not a gimme par or even sometimes bogey. Kind of interested in seeing how the afternoon plays it.
Q. If it gets baked out, how do you think that that impacts the strategy you had and players will have on that hole?
TOM KIM: Yeah, like I said, I think it all depends if it does get baked out. In the afternoon yesterday, it kind of stayed the same I felt like. I didn't really watch the morning wave play.
Yeah, it's going to be really, like I said, you might hit good shots and not get rewarded as much. You just got to be in it. I feel like that's what the mindset was. I feel like we've done a really good job. The next two days, that's how we're going to go about it.
Q. Tom, we've seen a diversity of playing styles do well at Pinehurst No. 2. Why do you think that might be?
TOM KIM: You know, I think because, if it stays firm for the guys who don't hit it through 330, can still kind of get it out there. I think the guys that hit at 340, I think it carries some areas where the shorter guys can't, and I think that is the difference.
If you can really just kind of plot your way around the golf course for shorter hitters, you can still have success and make less mistakes, take your advantage on the holes you can actually birdie.
For the bombers, I think, yes, you can carry some areas, but at the same time it narrows in. But at the same time, because, when you miss the fairway, there's so many off spots, the further down you hit sometimes, there's less of the small roots. I'm guessing that's what could play a difference.
Q. How do you think that, especially with the off the tees, seeing a diversity of clubs used, how do you think that plays into your hands as an accurate driver of the golf ball?
TOM KIM: I think it's a fun course to play, as mentally tough as it is, because there's just some holes where normally U.S. Open you think about long rough, long golf courses. But this week it's still kind of playing long, but there's no rough and there's just waste areas.
For me, like I've been doing a really good job of just kind of positioning myself consistently, doing the right things, missing in the right spots. I think that's what this golf course brings out of you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports