Christina Kim smiles as she talks to reporters after her practice round Tuesday at LCC.

Christina Kim’s long, rocky road

Posted: June 20, 2015 2:21 am

Christina Kim admitted Tuesday what a lot of other LPGA players sort of imply, that among the five major championships of women’s golf, the U.S. Open is THE major.

“You know how you say you like all your kids equally?’’ Kim asked media members after a practice round for the Women’s Open at Lancaster Country Club.

“You don’t mean it,’’ she added, before saying winning the Open would be, “something that I’d put above even winning a gold medal at the Olympics.’’

Of Kim’s revelations, this is among the mildest. She plays golf in pigtails, a Kangol hat worn backwards and Wayfarer sunglasses, making her a distinct visual presence on the LPGA Tour.

Kim is also known for a colorful, wide-open personality, laid out in her 2010 book, Swinging From My Heels, Confessions of an LPGA Star, written with Sports Illustrated golf writer Alan Shipnuck.

The book dealt with lesbianism on the LPGA Tour (Kim is heterosexual), her former romantic relationship with a tour caddie, the economics and ongoing soap opera of the tour, and her own battles with depression.

She has admitted considering suicide, famously and specifically in a post to her own blog (thechristinakim) titled, “I guess it’s time to address the elephant in the room,”

“I would be driving down a winding road, and suddenly feel the desire to wrench the steering wheel into an oncoming car, or over the railing, bracing myself against the free fall drop before the hunk of metal I’m driving (most likely a rental car) hits the ground, rolling over and over, until the car and I are a crumpled mess on the floor.”

Golf has never been a refuge.

“Golf is one of the reasons I went through it,’’ she said Tuesday.

There have been treatment and therapy and progress. Her golf hasn’t been great – she’s 60th in the world, and has missed the last two cuts – but that’s just OK.

“I’ve been in a good place for about a year and a half,’’ she said.”I see golf as something I do, not that I am.’’