Christina Kim at wining point
Christina Kim photo
• About her on-course temper tantrums: “I was told (by an LPGA official) I needed to improve my attitude and my language and start being a better role model. When the initial shock subsided, I was grateful for the pep talk. I had been oblivious to the fact that everyone on tour thought I was suffering from a case of permanent PMS.”• On body image: “I’m a professional athlete, but I suffer from all the same insecurities as any other woman, and it’s magnified by having so many eyeballs on me during a tournament. There have been many days when I don’t like my hair or makeup or the way my clothes fit, and it’s hard to play well when you’re unhappy with how you look.”
Christina Kim bikini
LPGA golfer Christina Kim bares a little bit of her soul in her first book, “Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star.” She gets a little personal and opens up the golf ropes for the world to see what life is like on the LPGA tour. She’s one of the loudest dressers and the more vocal players and among the Korean players, she stands out even more. Heck she was in the ESPN semi-nude athlete’s issue. She bares more in the book and it’s coming out in the next few weeks.
Some of the highlights from Christina Kim’s recently published book, “Swinging from My Heels: Confessions of an LPGA Star”:
• On her close friend and the world’s No. 1 female golfer,Lorena Ochoa: “I have little doubt she’ll retire after the 2012 season. That will give her ten years on tour, the minimum needed to qualify her for the Hall of Fame. She will be thirty-one then and eager to start popping out cute little Mexican babies. Lorena is like a comet passing by — you better enjoy her now, because she will be gone before you know it.”
• On the sexual orientation of players on tour: “Contrary to what many people think, we are not the Lesbians Playing Golf Association. By my count, there are no more than two dozen gay women playing the tour right now. Considering there are 230 active members, you’re only talking about 10 percent of the players … To every player I know the issue is just not that big a deal. There are no superfreaky homophobes out here or militant man haters … At most, a player’s sexuality may be an occasional practice-round conversation piece: ‘Hey did you hear that so and so likes girls?’ ‘Really? Huh. So did you hit an eight-iron or a nine?’ ”
• About the breakup with her longtime boyfriend and caddie: “Having a serious boyfriend gave me a richer, fuller life, but if I’m honest with myself, there were times when golf wasn’t my priority, and over the last few years I had been surpassed by a bunch of broads who don’t have more talent than I do but were definitely a lot more focused.”