THE 150TH OPEN

July 14, 2022

Min Woo Lee

Mixed Zone

Q. (Indiscernible) particularly after the double bogey early?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah, after my shot out of the gorse, my caddie was a bit hesitant on the shot. And I thought he was okay. And he was, like, the gorse is pretty thick. And I was like, I should be okay. And after I hit, I said, welcome to The British Open.

No, it was a great recovery, great recovery. And the one thing I wasn't, haven't been good at is bouncing back from bad shots. So amazing 9-iron into the next hole and made a birdie there and kind of kicked off the round. It wasn't nerves or anything, just a bad drive to make a double.

Q. Why do you feel you're better at bouncing back now?

MIN WOO LEE: I don't know. I've got to review that today. But we knew that this week was going to be really tough. I think last week at the Scottish I didn't have that mentality of the grind. But this week, you know, it's going to be a long, tough week. So I took that early draw and took advantage of it.

Q. What were the conditions like out there? Which was the hardest part?

MIN WOO LEE: It was just, I mean it was firm. I think the hardest part was trying to lay up, trying to hit a shot 10 yards short of the green and letting it roll up, especially 16, 17, those holes coming in.

But and then the pins were in really tough positions. They were over hills and all that. Hopefully you're on your game and you can make birdies. But you can rack up a number there if you don't hit it that good.

Q. What time were you up this morning, and what time did you get here?

MIN WOO LEE: It was such a weird story. So I slept about 8:30, put my alarm as 4:30. I was watching Tiger in 2000 St Andrews, winning here before I slept. For some reason at 4:00 in the morning, I closed the laptop and it started playing when it was closed. So I don't know what was going on. It woke me up at 4:00. It was a good wake-up call, I guess.

But it was like Tiger holing a putt or something. It was funny. Left at 4:45 and just had a quick breakfast and got going. I was a bit late for my warm-up. But you can't wake up earlier than 4:00.

Q. Do you plan on getting your major back on this week?

MIN WOO LEE: It's a long way to go. But actually making a cut, I'll be happy with actually making a cut. I haven't made many cuts this week. And that's not the mentality. But I am just trying to find something right now. It's been a bit of a struggle this year. So I'm trying.

Q. Do you feel more comfortable at the major stage now that you've done (indiscernible) before?

MIN WOO LEE: I don't know what it is. I think just it being that grind. I really like it when crowds are out and on every hole and you just have to keep your head still. I mean, you can't let it blow like I have been doing. So something about the majors that I really enjoy.

Q. Today's conditions (indiscernible)?

MIN WOO LEE: It wasn't as windy but this firm, it was pretty close to this firm. So especially down the 18th hole, (indiscernible). There was a little reminiscence of that, but it's a whole different course.

Q. (No microphone.)

MIN WOO LEE: I hit a driver a little right, but I thought it was going to be pretty good. We were a bit wary about where it was going to end. I hit a 6-iron. I'm not sure where it landed. All day you can't even find a pitch mark -- but it landed short of the green, and just rolled off to the back.

I had to wait 10 minutes to hit the putt because the pin on the side, but I made sure I read that putt good and just rolled in like a 30-foot up the hill.

Q. What were you thinking (indiscernible) walking to the next tee, (indiscernible) 4-under at that stage?

MIN WOO LEE: The same thing, the last five, six holes can be tough. I told myself -- it was really good. I had a little bit of, when I won the Scottish Open, just that self-talk that I had and every shot mattered. So it could have gone a little bit worse on those last five, six holes, but I also stayed within, so it was good.

Q. (Indiscernible) the putt on 15, 16?

MIN WOO LEE: I just thought it was going to be a bit faster putt. Same as 17. I thought it was going to be faster. And then just left it like 6, 7 feet short, all of them. So it was a good putt on 16. And 17 was a bit of a, eh, but I was happy with how I went.

Q. (Indiscernible) did you play this course in a video game?

MIN WOO LEE: I don't know, I feel like I was too young to play more of the Tiger Woods 2000 kind of games. So I'm sure I have. But it was more Augusta, not here. But I played it backwards. So that's pretty cool. Not many people can say that. So I guess it helps a little bit.

Q. (No microphone.)

MIN WOO LEE: I haven't played the Backwoods enough. It was kind of like the same thing, wake up at 5:00 and go straight out without a warm-up. I actually rewatched it a couple days ago. So that's cool.

Q. (No microphone.)

MIN WOO LEE: Yes, it's another major. At St Andrews, it's an amazing event. Out of all the places I probably played here more than any other Open courses. So nothing too particular, but just being in town, I'm probably going to go out to have lunch and see people out there and just enjoy it. I got my girlfriend and my mom out here. So just a normal day for us.