AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 2, 2022

Minjee Lee

Press Conference

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Minjee Lee, thank you so much for joining us and welcome to the AIG Women's Open.

What are your first impressions of walking into the championship this week, and have you had a chance to get out and look at the Muirfield links?

MINJEE LEE: I played nine holes, the back nine yesterday. So it was a little bit less windier yesterday afternoon. Got to look at the back nine, and I'll play the front nine today.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: It's obviously been a phenomenal year for Australian golf, with you winning the U.S. Women's Open and Cam winning The Open. What do you put that down to, do you think, for this period and how well you're all going?

MINJEE LEE: I think just a lot of hard work has come together. We've worked so hard for our goals and our dreams to come true, and I think for Cam, I think it's been a whole lot of hard work and a lot of long hours into his skills and abilities his game. I think it's almost the same for everybody, and it's the same for me, too.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Would you be hoping for an Australian double on this side of the world?

MINJEE LEE: Oh, it would be pretty cool, yeah.

Q. When you were growing up, were there golf courses that you thought: I really want to play a tournament there one day? Did you think about golf courses that way?

MINJEE LEE: Not really. But I probably thought maybe Pebble Beach at some point. I've only saw the golf course, I haven't really played it yet. I think Pebble was one and probably St Andrews.

Q. Why those courses?

MINJEE LEE: I think because they had a lot of events, and I watched it on TV. And growing up, I kind of was like, oh, that would be really cool to play there and just a lot of prestigious events, and obviously a lot of prestigious winners as well.

Q. Do you feel like that's a thing that is different between the men's and women's game? It feels like you guys are looking for courses that you want to host your championships at, like this one?

MINJEE LEE: I think it's a little bit different for the men and the women because the men have always had a little bit more of the historic venues, and we have sort of just come in to play those.

Obviously it's a great opportunity for us to be on these venues. But I think in terms of what you're saying, I think it's a little bit different.

Q. What did you take out of last week playing at Dundonald that you feel can help you this week?

MINJEE LEE: I think just getting into the rhythm of playing on links-style courses. It wasn't quite that windy at Dundonald, so I'm not sure how windy it's going to be here. But I feel like Muirfield is maybe a little bit more traditional like links golf.

Like Dundonald felt like it had a lot more slope here and there. I think just a tiny bit different style of the actual design of the courses.

Q. This is obviously a special port of East Lothian for your family already, given Min Woo won across the wall. How exciting is it for it to have a family double on courses next door to each other?

MINJEE LEE: I mean, yeah, it would be pretty cool. Yeah, Min Woo won at Renaissance, and I'm really looking forward to this week. I think it's going to be a great championship. It's at a great venue, so I'm pretty excited.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: You have an excellent record in this championship, I think you have had three top 10 finishes in the last four years. Do you feel is this a championship that you really want to win now that you've had so many good performances and what do you think you need to do to get that?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, definitely. It's the British Open. I really love playing at links golf courses. It's just -- I just really love like the hard conditions that we get and just how much creativity we have to sort of -- we sort of have to think about around these types of courses. It could be really cool and it would be a great honour to be able to win the British.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Do you feel like having grown up in Perth, that's prepared you for links golf with all the wind and links-style courses that are there?

MINJEE LEE: Probably not the style of course, but obviously the wind. I didn't grow up on a very hardpan golf club, so the grass is totally different.

But definitely the wind I think maybe just for the control of the golf ball, I think it has helped me out in the past years.

Q. This is an historic occasion. How special was it to come through those gates for the first time? What's the welcome been like, and did you attend the function last night?

MINJEE LEE: I'm sorry, I can't really hear very well.

Q. Coming through the gates for the first time, what's the welcome been like here and did you attend the function in the clubhouse last night?

MINJEE LEE: I didn't go to the function last night. But it was just really nice to walk down into the entrance of the golf club. I think you can sort of see everything when you're walking in, so it's pretty special.

Q. Are you a good wind player?

MINJEE LEE: I think I have my moments. Like sometimes obviously it just depends on how well you keep your ball under the wind or through the wind.

I think I have had a pretty good record in the wind and I feel personally that I am pretty good.

Q. What makes you a good wind player? How did you learn that?

MINJEE LEE: I live in Dallas and it's really windy and I grew up in Perth, which is also very windy.

So I think just playing -- I think playing in the wind, you just subconsciously kind of know how to spin the ball properly in the wind and also keeping it through the wind, like how it's going to affect it, I think I know what it's sort of going to do. So I think that's what makes you sort of a better wind player.

Q. I'm not a good wind player, so I'm curious if there's an actual -- something you could teach us about it?

MINJEE LEE: Oh, maybe experience, a little bit.

OLIVIA McMILLAN: Minjee, thank you very much for your time today and we wish you the best of luck in the AIG Women's Open.