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CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 13, 2018

Minjee Lee

Naples, Florida

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the media center here at the season-ending CME Group Tour Championship. Happy to be here with world No. 5, Minjee Lee. Minjee is second in the reset points to for the Race to the CME Globe. She won the LPGA Volvik Championship; has 12 other top 10 finishes, including three runner-up finishes, and she's second or third on tour in birdies, rounds in the 60s, greens hit, rounds under par, top 10s, and scoring average.

Minjee, safe to say it's been really, really good year for you. Is this perhaps some of the best golf you've ever played in your life?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I mean, been a pretty solid year. Everything is a little bit better this year, so it's my best year yet.

THE MODERATOR: Did you work on anything during the off-season? What do you think maybe not changed, but what caused this to be the best year you've had in golf?

MINJEE LEE: I think pretty much all my experience in the last three years. I think I'm just a little bit more mature and settled in on the tour so I just know myself a little better and just how to handle things.

So I think, I mean, obviously in my practice and obviously all the external things as well. Yeah, I think I'm just a little more settled in.

THE MODERATOR: What have been some of highlights this year? Surely the win, but highlights on the golf course and maybe for you personally as you take a look back at the season.

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, in San Francisco I lost in a playoff, but just to get myself in that position I was really happy to be able to be in the playoff. I don't know. I just had a lot of great experiences having a lot of top 10s and a lot of Top 5 finishes this year.

Just all of them have been really solid, so I could take a lot of good experiences out of them.

THE MODERATOR: Open it up for questions.

Q. You say this is obviously been your best year. Do you look at the positives or do you look back and say, Boy, I left a lot of missed opportunities out there? Or both?
MINJEE LEE: I think probably a little bit of both, but probably more the positives than the negatives. Obviously we just take it as -- I take it as constructive criticism to myself. I would like to take the negatives or the things I didn't do so well and try and turn them into things I can do well in the future.

I think that that's the positive part of it.

Q. What do you think you take from having been so close to often and ratchet it up that one miniscule little bit to make this year a multiple-win season?
MINJEE LEE: You mean like next time?

Q. Yeah.
MINJEE LEE: I mean, I've had pretty close -- I mean, I've been pretty close a lot of times this year. I've been in contention quite a lot but haven't really been able to obviously win multiple times.

So I mean, I'm not sure. I think it depends on the situation. I think in that perspective I need to maybe be a little more comfortable in that position or just maybe play it differently. I mean, if I look back it could have been bit of nerves and a bit of lack of judgment.

So I think that's still the maturing part of my play. So probably like just mature a little bit more and just be a little more comfortable in that situation.

Q. Given your standing in the season-long race, have you allowed yourself to think about what could happen on Sunday?
MINJEE LEE: I mean, this is no different to any other tournament I play. I mean, I come into every tournament -- I mean, I'm always going to try my best and do my best. Regardless of the result, I'm going to take every shot as it comes. I'll put my 100% in each shot.

So I haven't really thought about the CME at the end of the week.

Q. Minjee, you have two of your competitors vying for No. 1 and doing it without swing coaches. Do you think they're the exception, or would you say more players are taking ownership of their swings and just going that route?
MINJEE LEE: I'm sure they've had coaches in their -- they've had coaching before, so maybe from the experiences they've had maybe they just know when they have an error in their swing and they can make changes very quickly.

I mean, everybody is different and has their own way of doing it. I've been with my coach for probably over ten years. It's just only little things I always look at and always go wrong with. I think that's the good part of having a coach. You can really pinpoint it straightaway.

Obviously if they can do it by themselves, that's good on them.

THE MODERATOR: I know your brother, Min Woo, is out there trying to make it on Web.com. Tell us about the dynamic between the two of you and the relationship, and having you both out there on your respective tours, what would that be like?

MINJEE LEE: I think it would be really cool. He wants to turn professional obviously. He got through the first two stages of Web.com qualifying school, so he'll do the final stage in December.

I spent a couple days when he was over last week. He's just so funny. I mean, he's totally different to me. He's just very bubbly and likes to go out and explore. You know, it's just really nice to have that little change sometimes.

It's not like I spend a lot of time with him, so it is good to be together when I can.

Q. (Indiscernible.)
MINJEE LEE: Probably couple weeks in the off-season. It's summer in Australia so he's playing the amateur events so I don't get to spend too much time with him. Whenever he comes to the States he stays at my place. Maybe couple weeks a year.

Q. Talk to us about Tiburon. Not sure if you've been out yet, but how does this golf course set up to you in your experience playing here the last few years?
MINJEE LEE: I just went out to play nine holes this morning, and I think it's the best condition I've seen it the last four years, three years I've played it.

Yeah, the greens are wonderful. They're rolling really, really good. Just the fairways and everything is in great condition. Yeah, I mean, it's the best I've seen it so far. Yeah, I mean, it's pretty wide off the tee shots, so I think that's not really an issue for the girls out here.

So it's going to be pretty similar in that way, but it's definitely a second-shot golf course. I think almost every course is. And I guess if your putter is hot you're going to have a good week.

Yeah, no, it's definitely -- it suits my eye. It'll be good.

THE MODERATOR: Wrap up with one final question. Going to ask this of everyone. You have a chance on Sunday to take home $1 million. No pressure. Besides giving me a little cut, what are you going to do with it?

MINJEE LEE: What am I going to do it? I'll do a lot of things with it. Yeah, definitely go out and have a good meal. A few. Maybe buy some presents for my family. Maybe go on a little holiday. Yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Where would liked to go on that holiday. Any Bucket list places?

MINJEE LEE: Oh, there is a lot of the bucket list places. South African; I want to go to Iceland. There are a lot of places.

THE MODERATOR: I can give you some tips on Iceland. I was there a couple weeks ago.

Q. Do you have any interest in watching the Phil-Tiger match?
MINJEE LEE: I think it's going to be a great match. Probably see it on TV. Isn't it in Thanksgiving week or something?

Q. So you will pay $19.99 to watch it?
MINJEE LEE: Maybe not. I didn't know that. (Laughter.) Maybe just follow it on Twitter or something.

Q. Even if you won $1 million?
MINJEE LEE: I'm not that interested in golf. I mean, I'm interested, but I'm not doing it in my off time.

Q. What would be the one fun indulgence you would buy yourself? What would be one over-the-top thing you would buy for yourself if you got $1 million?
MINJEE LEE: Maybe an AMG.

Q. Mercedes?
MINJEE LEE: Yep.

Q. Sibling question. Did your brother get into golf because of you? Was he following you? Were you both following someone else? How did you both get into it?
MINJEE LEE: Well, our whole family is a very big golfing family. My mom used to teach and my dad and my grandparents all played for fun.

My brother actually started before me, so I guess he was more interested than I was when we first started. But that's just sort of how we got into it, through my mom. Uh-huh.

Q. Do you think he gets referred to as Minjee's brother a lot? Do you get any sense that that's tough for him?
MINJEE LEE: Before he did, but now he doesn't. Not as much. Actually, it was funny. We went to some restaurant the other week and somebody just like recognized him. That's when I knew that now he's Min Woo Lee. Yeah.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Take two. Any final questions for Minjee? Thank you so much. Good luck this week.

MINJEE LEE: Thanks.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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