U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 1, 2021

Rebecca Lee-Bentham

The Olympic Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Really wondering about your return to golf, what prompted you to get back into it?

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: That's a very common question because I think a lot of people know that I stopped for a good -- it's been since 2016 since I competed on the LPGA tour. What's made me come back is, I think, coaching, seeing it from a different perspective. A lot of working with kids helped me and inspired me to enjoy the game more.

I feel like, now that I'm back at it, it's a different experience. I feel like I'm more grateful being out here and just trying to take the opportunity to learn. I think that's the coaching side of me. Yeah, just trying not to take any day for granted and just trying to get better each day is kind of my goal.

Q. How is it back inside the ropes at a major? What's the feel here?

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: It's awesome to be back at an LPGA event, and then obviously it's the U.S. Women's Open, which is even more grand. Just the way we get treated is like first class. It's such a fun week just rolling up getting a Lexus for the week is nice, staying in a nice hotel for the week, and then the food's amazing. The list goes on. What other event do you like roll up and get your Starbucks order handed to you?

Yeah, besides that, the golf course is great. The Olympic Club historically is known to host a lot of great events. It's a beautiful course. Conditions are tough, so it's going to be a fun challenge this week.

Q. When you were out of professional golf, did you ever imagine that you would be at a U.S. Women's Open?

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: That's a good question. When I was out of golf, I did watch a lot of the LPGA on TV and thought of things like, oh, I remember when I was out there. What it would be like if I was still out there. Honestly, it's weird. I never really missed it. I never really said I wish I was still there. I think that I really enjoyed coaching. I felt like I was really happy in that time and place. To be back is awesome. It's definitely not what I expected, but I'm trying to make the most of it.

Q. How long have you been preparing yourself for this week?

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: I just feel like I'm just telling myself that I've prepared my whole life for this week, so taking that perspective. I've been out on Tour before, drawing from that experience, and then just that new perspective of just trying to enjoy it is what I'm kind of taking into this week.

Q. Having said that, what was it like to be playing a practice round with Hyo Joo Kim and Sung Hyun Park, a couple of major champions in their right.

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: And Eun-Hee Ji. I played with three major champions today. I kind of did that on purpose. I saw the tee shot, and I thought why not? Why not play with the best in the world again? I'm all about the experiences that I get in life. Not often do you get to play with three major champions in one group. So take advantage of that. I know Eun-Hee from the past, but Hyo Joo and Sung Hyun Park are new since I've been away. Obviously, I've heard of them because they've dominated both in Korea and the U.S.

So just trying to learn from them, what they do differently, and try to draw from that.

Q. What are your impressions of the course so far? We're hearing a lot of stories about the rough, the elevated greens, the undulations to the fairways.

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: Yeah, all the players are like what is this? It's so hard. The rough is super deep. You lose your ball if you don't really keep an eye on it. I'm hoping there's a lot of spotters on each hole because you can think that you hit a decent drive, just be a foot in the rough and lose your ball.

A lot of girls are practicing hitting out of them. A lot of us have to literally chip out with a wedge and try to make up and down. It is very, very penalizing. It's all part of the fun challenge.

Q. Will that be your strategy going forward? If you happen to find the rough is to think, first of all, getting the ball back on the fairway instead of advancing it too much?

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: Yeah, it all depends on the lie. If it is a little bit better sitting up-ish or with the green, I feel like you can get a little more club on that. If it fits into the green deep, you can barely see it, that's kind of when you want to get it out in a position where you can make up and down.

Q. What do you find to be, or what do you think the most challenging aspect of the course will be for you?

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: For me personally?

Q. Yeah, for you.

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: I think for me, as long as I kind of find fairways and hit my driver decent, I think I'm someone that kind of relies on my short game heavily. So I feel like -- I think for all the players, I think, if you're hitting it in the fairway, you're making the course a lot easier than if you're hitting it in the rough. So that's, I think, key.

Q. What would you say your keys are to play well this week? Like if you could expand on that a little bit.

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: Personally, I think I want to just focus on my game because I sometimes get caught up in how other girls may hit it, if they're really long. Yeah, basically, if they're long, I would consider myself a little shorter player off the tee. So I've got to focus on my game, what I have to hit, not trying to power another iron, if I need to hit hybrid, just because other girls are hitting irons and stuff like that. Trusting my game, doing my best with picking good targets. I think that's really important out here.

Yeah, just staying in control of what I can control instead of worrying about other things.

Q. How cool is it to play an event with the equipment truck on site?

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: I know, right? We went in there today, and we were like this is crazy. Those guys have their own names on the locker so you can see Tiger Woods and Rory's. I don't know, they have it pretty good on the men's side. Not going to lie, a little jealous. Wish I was a guy sometimes. Every day I wish I was a guy, yes. (Laughter).

Q. I'll let you get back to what you're doing.

REBECCA LEE-BENTHAM: Eating food. We have a taste of San Fran. We have all these little stations of food. It's amazing.