WILLIAMSBURG -- Professional golfers talk about "grinding" their way through a round, a tournament, a career.

They talk about going to "work" on the practice green or the driving range.

On the course, a near-reverential hush comes over the crowd before every shot. The players' jaws are set and small talk is kept to a minimum.

And these people play a game for a living. Shouldn't there be more happiness out there? Cartwheels aren't necessary, but a smile and a bit of laughter every now and then would be welcome.

"We're playing for a lot of money," said Allison Fouch, in her first full season on the LPGA tour. "We are trying to pay the bills. But if you take it too seriously, it can be a detriment.

"You work on the things you know are going to be successful and, in the meantime, you stop and smell the roses."

The LPGA's unofficial rose smeller has to be Christina Kim. She's hard to miss. She plays each day wearing her cap backward, has an abundance of talent and a personality that's even bigger than her golf game.

And that's saying something. Kim shot a 65 yesterday in the Michelob Ultra Open at Kingsmill's River Course, putting her in third place after three rounds, four strokes behind Annika Sorenstam.

Kim played the course. She played to the crowd. She played as if she were taking part in a game. At the age of 24, with $2.593 million in career winnings, why not enjoy life and the way you make a living?

"I could be doing a lot of other things," Kim said. "I could be in a cubicle making $8 an hour. I could be flipping burgers. And the people who do that, I say good for them.

"But look at my job. I put on sunscreen every day and get paid for that. Nothing can beat that, ever. How can I not enjoy myself? I'm just loving it."

Other golfers have told her to tone down her act. But it's not an act.

"I'm the youngest of three children, so I definitely do well with attention," Kim said, laughing. "I was always the loudest so my opinion could be heard and respected."

Other golfers have told her she needs to be more professional.

That launches Kim, who tends to say what's on her mind, into a long discourse about one of the greatest female golfers in the world -- "Not Annika, definitely not Annika," Kim said. -- who, at the Stanford International Pro-Am was walking 40 yards ahead of the other pro golfer and two amateurs.

"I deem that unprofessional because we're supposed to sit there and entertain clients," Kim said. "Everyone is allowed their opinion on what's professional, what's not, on what's ostentatious. Those people who sit there and say I'm too loud or whatever . . . it's more boo on them.

"I don't care what people think. I just go out and enjoy life."

Fouch is no Christina Kim. Few, in any profession, are.

But Fouch knows a good thing when she sees it. She spent three years on the Duramed Futures Tour, a level just below the LPGA. In 2006, she finished sixth on the money list.

"That was a bit of a heartbreaker because the top five get their card for out here," Fouch said of one avenue to exempt status on the LPGA tour.

Last year, Fouch was second on the Duramed money list, which put her on the big tour. Today, she starts 5 under par, tied for 16th and in contention for her best finish in an LPGA event.

The pleasure she takes in being here is palpable. As she stood on the final green yesterday, she could not keep the grin off her face as she engaged in a conversation with a fellow golfer.

"I love it. I absolutely love it," Fouch said. "I can't stop smiling."

That's not a bad way to go through life, especially when you play a game for a living.