Lauren Kim wears two bracelets on her left wrist when she plays on the LPGA Tour. During the end of her rookie season in September of 2017, she received the first of the two golden bracelets inscribed with “Live What You Love.” It’s been a message Kim has turned to in her process of mentally adjusting to be a professional.
The love of golf has been difficult for Kim in 2019, coming out to start the season missing the cut at every event until the Pure Silk Championship.
After the T27 in Virginia that kept her in the reshuffle, Kim had felt that swing changes from the offseason were finally coming together. She focused on widening her base to increase her power.
Her first made cut on the season was followed by two missed cuts, including the second one badly at Meijer. Her host mom in Grand Rapids, Lauren Walker, shared key advice for Kim.
“I had a great host family, Mary told me to keep your head up and keep going. To have a host family say that is truly inspiring.”
Kim, inspired by the Walker’s words, turned to an audiobook from Dr. Rob Rotella, The Golfer’s Mind, for further insight on adjusting her mental game. She decided at Walmart to minizine her overthinking.
“Rotella mentions, to just almost become one with the course. You feel the shot, but you pull the trigger.”
The simplified approach of focusing on what was the front, what was the pin, and just going, led to Kim’s best career finish at Walmart. Her T13 result featured a 14-shot improvement from her final round at Meijer to the first round in Arkansas.
Kim’s mental adjustment bore fruit and continued to do so at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic this week.
The Stanford graduate broke her career best round of 66 on Sunday, carding a 65 for a (-16), her best LPGA tournament finish to par of her career.
She reflected afterwards on the biggest reason for her success over her past eight rounds.
“Having a short-term memory, about good shots but also bad shots, and living really really in the present moment.”
It’s what everyone says, but it’s the hardest thing to do.”
The second bracelet’s inscription of “Enjoy the Journey”, which she added from a Pro-Am party this season, has reflected her understanding of one of golf’s most difficult lessons to learn.
Kim will continue enjoying the journey next week at the Marathon Classic presented by Dana.
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