U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

May 31, 2022

Minjee Lee

Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the interview area here at the United States Women's U.S. Open presented by ProMedica. We have Minjee Lee here. She's fourth in the world golf rankings. Minjee, coming off a win at the Founders Cup, how will you try to carry that momentum into this week?

MINJEE LEE: Well, I played last week in Vegas and I didn't do that well, but still really excited to get started here at the Women's Open.

THE MODERATOR: Does your preparation change at all, this being a major week?

MINJEE LEE: No, it hasn't in particular. I played ten yesterday and I played eight holes just then. Got to see all the golf course now.

I've just been doing the same prep as I would any other tournament.

Q. I was talking to Lydia earlier and she mentioned that the relationship that you guys have is like siblings, coming from the same part of the world and growing up playing junior golf and where you are now. Can you speak to your relationship with Lydia?

MINJEE LEE: I actually just played eight holes with her. No, it's really nice. I've known her for forever. It's like we're sisters. She's just the same Lydia since -- she's changed a lot, but I've known her since she was really young, so we're like the OGs from Australia and New Zealand, so it is really nice.

Q. Can you talk a little bit about your impression of the golf course here at Pine Needles?

MINJEE LEE: So far I've seen a lot of great things. A lot of short and long holes, so a mixture of everything. I think it's going to be really exciting. Come the weekend, I think it's going to be really tough, depending on how hard they make the firmness of the greens. I'm really excited for the week.

Q. Obviously a $10 million purse has made a lot of headlines this week. Talk about what that means for the women's game and is that something the players are talking about?

MINJEE LEE: I mean, I think we're always talking about prize increases and anything to elevate the women's game even higher. I think that is what we try to keep doing. Just for the prize money to go up each year, I think it's just a huge step in the right direction, and I think it's only going to get better and better.

Q. Coming into a major week like this, is there anything specific you're working on for your game?

MINJEE LEE: I think just seeing the whole course now, there's a lot -- there's really big greens, so a lot of the lag putting will be important for me, and just chipping around the greens.

There's a little bit of grain, so just got to be careful of that, and obviously ball-striking is going to be huge around here. Try and get everything dialed in.

Q. Your brother Min Woo is playing in his first U.S. Open later this year, next month. Have you two made a wager on who's going to have the best finish?

MINJEE LEE: No, but I think he's more concentrated on playing at Memorial this week than anything, but I know he's really excited. I think he posted on Instagram a couple weeks -- last week or a couple days ago about it, so I know he's really excited.

Q. Have you given him any advice on a big event?

MINJEE LEE: No, but he's played two majors now, so I'm sure he knows what it's all about.