U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

July 7, 2023

Minjee Lee

Pebble Beach Golf Links

Quick Quotes

Q. Kind of all over the place today. What kind of day that was for you out there?

MINJEE LEE: I wasn't hitting it that well pretty much the whole day. I just kind of -- I wouldn't say scraped my way around but just played to the best I could and tried to put up a score the best I could around here.

Playing late in the day was actually really hard. We waited like 30 minutes on the eighth tee, and the last two holes was really tough, just having to have waited and then have to play in the cold.

Yeah, it was just a tough test.

Q. Had a couple bogeys and then seemed to right the ship with the eagle at 16. Tell me how that happened.

MINJEE LEE: I actually couldn't see the pin because I was on the left side just in the first cut. Hit a three quarter 9-iron and went in the hole. So that was that. And it was cool. (Laughter.)

Q. And then it seemed like you had built some momentum off that.

MINJEE LEE: It was just tough. The whole back nine was into the wind after the first hole, and then the back -- the rest of the nine is like all downwind and then you can't really stop the ball right near the pins because they're so bouncy.

So it was just a tough test of golf today, and I felt like I did -- I didn't finish on a good note, but I felt like the whole day I fought for the score.

Q. And then kind of tell me what happened on the last hole.

MINJEE LEE: I hit my drive a little bit right and took the slope and went in the water, which I didn't think I could reach.

And then just dropped it, hit it on the green, hit my putt way too hard, and missed the one coming back. Double bogey. That's bad -- I mean, that was not a good hole. Yeah, I just didn't hit a good putt.

Q. And despite that you're still in the Top 10; not that far out of it.

MINJEE LEE: Yep.

Q. What do you need to do this weekend to put yourself in contention?

MINJEE LEE: I feel like I'm probably in a pretty good position right now. Just I can be maybe a little bit more aggressive and, you know, maybe put up a score earlier than the girls. Maybe it won't be as windy. Then see where I am after that.

Q. Is your confidence high right now or...

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I mean, I've been hitting it good the last few weeks. My putting has been coming along fine. It's just putting four rounds together that are good. Just try and get the momentum going. Yeah, I feel in a good place.

Q. Last question. More about Pebble Beach, the course. You played to the last two days now.

MINJEE LEE: Yep.

Q. What is it like? Is it to your liking?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, it's a very tough test of golf especially because of the wind. If the wind is up then it's hard.

I just think it's really an iconic place. You remember a lot of shots from Tiger and all the greats being on TV, and it's just cool to be able to play here and carve our own little part of history.

I know a lot of people have been saying that, but it is true. A U.S. Women's Open champion is going to be on that plaque with all the men over there.

I actually really appreciate the golf course because it's actually very demanding. Yeah, I like it. I like that it's hard.

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