U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 2, 2022

Minjee Lee

Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club

Quick Quotes

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Q. Minjee Lee, 4-under 67; obviously played well today. Can you speak a little bit about your round?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I mean, I was pretty solid all day. I made quite a few birdies out there. I also made a few bogeys, as well, but overall I think I putted really well. I had really good speed on the greens today.

I was striking it pretty good; just had a few loose shots here and there. Hopefully I can clean it up for tomorrow.

Q. What about the course fits your eye?

MINJEE LEE: I just think -- it's pretty generous off the tee, so if you can get it on the fairway then you're going to have a good look into the greens.

I've been feeling pretty good with my irons, so I think that's really important here. So it's a second-shot golf course, so I feel like that's really been a help this week so far.

Q. Were there any situations you got in around the greens where you hadn't had enough practice rounds and you sort of had to guess what to do, use your best judgment?

MINJEE LEE: Not guess, but I had one hole I was like past the hole and then there was -- I was past the low and I was like up on the high and then there was like a hill to get to the pin. So it was like downhill, then flat, and then uphill. That was a little bit of a guess.

But I think overall that was the only one that was a little bit tricky.

Q. Which hole was that?

MINJEE LEE: I made bogey. But it was on the front nine, so it was early. It was maybe 3 or -- it was not that long of a hole, but yeah.

Q. Did you have any pin positions that you thought you could be really aggressive with?

MINJEE LEE: I mean, the par-5s you can be pretty aggressive. Some of them you can get on for two. But most of them I was pitching it in, so they weren't too bad. But I feel like a lot of the holes you can't really be too aggressive because you bring so much into -- like so many of the dropoffs into play, all the bunkers.

I think today was the first day so I wasn't too -- I was just trying to play smart. I feel pretty conservatively I played today.

Q. How is your preparation different for a major week?

MINJEE LEE: I mean, I think I did a little bit more on the speed of the greens. Did a lot more lag putts. You're going to have putts that are long around here. Just to get the speed right I think is really important, so I think that's what I did most of.

Q. Where is your confidence level at coming in?

MINJEE LEE: I feel pretty good. Today I actually putted really well, and usually I hit it better than my putting. But I've been working really hard on all aspects of my game, so I feel like I'm pretty confident just in my ability right now.

Q. Would you take three par rounds from here or do you think you'll have to go much lower to have a chance?

MINJEE LEE: I think it depends on the weather, obviously. If the wind picks up, then yes, I would take it. But if it's like this or if it's very calm then I think the par-5s are still really gettable, so maybe I can pick up some ground there.

But there are quite a few -- it's sneaky tricky here, so there are a lot of sneaky, tricky holes here. I'll just keep that in mind and play.