NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2020

Minjee Lee

Pinnacle Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome everyone to the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship presented by P&G.

This Thursday afternoon our second guest is Minjee Lee who is now Rolex Rankings No. 5 after many weeks of consistent play.

Minjee, you must've had different thoughts from before LPGA return to play. What were some of your thoughts before we returned, and what were some of your worries and what are your thoughts now?

MINJEE LEE: I was pretty excited when we first got that start date. I knew we had probably four or five events in a row when we were going to start.

So, yeah, pretty excited to get the year underway. I was probably a little worried about being a little bit rusty from not playing for such a long time. Once I got back I think my competitive side came out.

Yeah, had a good four weeks and we're at Arkansas this week, so hopefully have a good week this week, too.

THE MODERATOR: Yeah. So speaking on that, are you at all mentally or physically tired, or do you think you're just ready to keep going?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I think I'm a little bit tired probably physically and mentally. I haven't had this kind of long stretch in a while. Yeah, and especially with like the time changes and just the travel-wise, I probably haven't had sort of that in a while.

I think my body is kind of adjusting and my mind a little bit is adjusting as well. I feel good, but probably a little bit on the tired side.

THE MODERATOR: Yeah. Not sure if you checked lately, but your tied for statistical winner in terms of how many eagles you've had, and your eagles have all been pretty fun to watch. Have you rewatched any of your eagles?

MINJEE LEE: I watched the two in Marathon because I got tagged on Twitter. Yeah, no, it's always fun to see the ball go in the hole. No, it's just I think a little bit of luck and a little bit of skill.

THE MODERATOR: So follow-up to that. Some you said were planned more than others, and then others you said had a really good feel after you hit the shot.

Is it in the back of your mind now to make it a goal to keep getting more eagles?

MINJEE LEE: I think when you hit the shot you're trying to get it as close as possible, so if it happens to go in, that's a little bit of luck and a little bit of skill, like I said before.

But, yeah, it's always nice to have an eagle on the card, so...

THE MODERATOR: And so going back to that sort of physical or mental strain, how is it to be playing a three-round tournament this week and what are you looking forward to?

MINJEE LEE: It's pretty nice. I took Monday and Tuesday off so I've sort of recovered a little bit from the travel.

Yeah, no, I think you can probably play a little bit more aggressively just because it's a three-day event and one round shorter. The course seems to be in great condition. Probably a little bit on the softer side, so I think you can be pretty aggressive out there this week.

THE MODERATOR: And how about what's life been like in terms of communicating with your family? I know you're a huge family person and your brother also plays golf. What's that been like?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, we've always been pretty good with communication. I mean, we text, we have a family group chat, things like that. So I think you try to do your best when you're on the road to stay in contact.

Yeah, it's just been a little bit different just traveling on my own and things like that. No, it's been a good experience.

THE MODERATOR: And my last question is what are you most looking forward to not just this week, but the rest of the season? Taking some rest here and there?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I mean, we have a couple more majors to finish the year and obviously CME is a big event at the end of the year.

So I think we might have a little bit of a break in the middle where we're supposed to have our Asian events, sp maybe that time I can maybe rest a little bit and work more on my game.

But I'm really looking forward to the end of the year.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you so much Minjee and good luck this week.