GENESIS SCOTTISH OPEN

July 5, 2022

Min Woo Lee

The Renaissance Club

Press Conference

BRIONY CARLYON: Thank you all for being here. Delighted to be joined by our defending champion of the Genesis Scottish Open, Min Woo Lee, great to have you back here in Scotland. Just take us back to last year and it was obviously a momentous win for you being a first Rolex Series victory but also how excited you are to be back here with it being a co-sanctioned event with the PGA TOUR.

MIN WOO LEE: It's an awesome, obviously, alliance they brought together. Obviously I wish it was a year before, but hopefully I can recreate what I did last year. I played the front nine and I've seen a few changes. It's going to be tough if it stays this wind. I'm excited to be back and to play.

BRIONY CARLYON: Talk about your game coming into the week.

MIN WOO LEE: I'm happy to be back. I've been playing in America the past six months after being over earlier in the year. I feel like my game has improved from playing in America. Courses are tough over there and I've been playing really good and been able to lock in a little bit and feel like every week I'm learning something new. Last week in Ireland, the greens were really soft, so it was very different to America. It was a bit of an adjustment. Bit windy, something I'm not used to. Nice to see familiar faces and hope to play well.

Q. When you talk about the changes that have been made since last year, how they tried to improve this golf course, is that what you feel, every time you come back?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah, the first year I played it, I thought it was a really nice track. Second year I didn't think there was that many changes. I didn't really take it in that much.

But there was there was two winds we play, one wind was downwind and the other day it was into the wind. All week it's going to be one specific wind and if we do play that front nine, especially I've only played the front nine, but it's going to be tough. I mean, they put two bunkers, one bunker on 1 and right on 7 right in the middle of the fairway where everyone hits it. Hopefully the wind blows harder so I can hit it over, which it was like that today this morning. So it could play more of an advantage for longer hitters.

Q. As defending champion, how much of your focus is this week and how much is on next week across the water?

MIN WOO LEE: Sorry, say it -- I can't hear --

Q. It's the accent, sorry. I'm going to ask you, all your focus this week is on this tournament but how much also is your focus on next week across the water?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah, sure, the next few tournaments are really, really important to me. Obviously next week is a major and this week is defending. You know, it's a big event on The European Tour. The field's very strong and you just need to do well and for me, I need to do well, as well, the next two weeks. I'm looking forward to it. I mean, next week is obviously the important one but I take these two with really good care.

Q. When you went back the first time --

MIN WOO LEE: It's not a surprise. She nearly won two weeks ago at the PGA. I didn't -- it's not a surprise. She's hitting it so well and she's, you know, upping the stats in strokes gained, approach, and beating the girls in that field, that's probably the major stat that she needs to be good at. Doesn't look like she's slowing down and she's only looking forward.

So I mean, I think she can win another one, defend her title. Every tournament she plays, it looks like she's a favourite and she looks very good.

Q. Is it possible to get through a golf press conference these days without being asked about LIV?

MIN WOO LEE: Obviously not. I mean, I don't -- like I was saying to Bri, I haven't done a press conference in a long time, so I'm happy to be here on this seat.

Q. What's your take on it?

MIN WOO LEE: For me personally, my goal was to be on the PGA TOUR and get on the Presidents Cup team, and with that, I can't do that. At the end of the day I'm just trying to play the best golf I can and I'm happy where I am, playing Europe and playing America. So play well and it will handle itself. I'm really happy with where I am. I know I haven't been playing that good, so I need to focus on playing good.

Q. The Presidents Cup, won't have the players that have gone to LIV -- will that detract you playing from the Presidents Cup if half the players that should have been there can't play?

MIN WOO LEE: For me, I think some people might not want to play that event going to the LIV Tour, but I've just been pro for 3 1/2 years and I really enjoyed playing team events as an amateur and I want to get that feeling back. Every day it means something and every shot means something. Obviously the American side is going to be crazy good, like last year, every year, but it would be nice to play in a team environment again but no, it's attractive. I would love to -- I'm not sure about playing against America at their home side.

But being on a team and that camaraderie, I don't think anything beats that. I would love to be on that team.

Q. So what did the LIV teams, do they mean anything to anybody?

MIN WOO LEE: The teams?

Q. The LIV teams and what they are doing, the LIV people?

MIN WOO LEE: As in like individually? Like the teams?

BRIONY CARLYON: The four guys.

MIN WOO LEE: That's cool, I guess they are trying to make it somewhat like fun for the fans. I mean, like I said, personally, I haven't watched it. I just -- I've been playing nearly every week so I've been doing my best to play on the PGA TOUR and here. So it's not a Presidents Cup feel. For them it's every week. It's not like it's just one week and it happens every two years or every, you know, few years, like a Ryder Cup or a Presidents Cup. It means a lot more when you play those team events, when you have your country, when you're representing your country. I think it's a little different.

Q. Is there things that you would like to see differently being done on either the DP World Tour or the PGA TOUR?

MIN WOO LEE: No, I think -- I'm just a golfer. I mean, the guys that are actually changing the rules, they know what they are doing. I'm just trying to play golf really. I'm very simple. It's not like I've made millions and millions of bucks and I want to have more and bigger prize money. That would be nice but it's not like I want it to be -- I mean, I'm happy with where I am and what they are doing.

It's really good that the European Tour and the PGA TOUR have formed up to get ten guys on The European Tour, the top 10 guys next year getting their PGA TOUR card, I think that's awesome. I think a lot of the players will start seeing that as a pathway and playing through here first. We might get a lot more better fields and then you get on to the PGA TOUR. I think they have done really well.