CME GROUP TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

November 14, 2023

Minjee Lee

Tiburon Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, hello, everyone, and welcome to the media center at the CME Group Tour Championship. I am joined here by ten-time champion Minjee Lee. Welcome to Tiburon.

This is your ninth appearance at the CME Group Tour Championship. First time was in 2015. What's it like being back here?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I mean, I always love coming back to Tiburon. Obviously we're always really welcomed here and the hospitality is really great. We always get a good crowd, so it's nice to have a great tournament to finish out for the year.

Q. And heading into the week you are No. 6 on the points list after having two wins in the last three starts. What's it been like since the BMW Ladies Championship?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I've done a lot of travel since then. Got sick and then I'm better now. Yeah, I'm really excited to get this week going.

Q. And just looking at this year as a whole, what you learned most about yourself this year?

MINJEE LEE: I think I have a lot more perseverance and patience than I thought I had. Sort of had an up and down year, especially starting the year a little bit slow and then winning twice in the back half of year. A lot of patience and hard work has gone into all the work that I've done in my game, and personal growth as with will.

Yeah, I feel like I really deserve those two.

Q. I saw you talking to legend Karrie Webb earlier today. Is it good to touch base with her, get any advice maybe for the week?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, it's always lovely to see Webby and catch up with her. I don't see her as much as I used to especially now that she's not playing on full time tour.

Yeah, we message quite a bit and we always touch base here and there throughout the year, so it's nice to see her in person.

Q. Sponsors have stepped up in a big way to support the women's game. What's does that mean to you as a player to see that happening?

MINJEE LEE: You know, obviously I've been on tour nine years and the tour has come a really long way. Obviously a lot of partners and sponsors of our events have stepped up and put up the money and are trying to make it better for us in every single way, especially with hospitality, all the little things that make up the tournament.

So I'm obviously really grateful for all the people who have stepped up. I know we've come a long way but I know there is a lot more work to be done. I'm just really grateful and appreciative of all that has been happening so far.

Q. You mentioned the perseverance, you didn't know in yourself. How have you seen that play out on the course?

MINJEE LEE: You know, I feel like on the course I've always had it. You know, we have to be so patient when you're playing, and especially when it's not going your way. So I feel like I showed a lot more to myself this year, and obviously I think outside the course I showed it to myself a bit more as well.

So, yeah, I think in terms of like playing and stuff, you always have to be patient. I don't think I've seen too much there but more on the personal side.

Q. In what ways did you see it there?

MINJEE LEE: I think just like growth as a person. Obviously mentally you have to be really a patient with yourself. You can I guess let the game get a bit too involved in your life. I've had a really great balance. I have been able to balance it quite well and leave it at the golf course more than take it with me when I go home or back to my hotel.

Q. Is there a particular event or particular month that you had to kind of walk away and really reset like you said there and really draw on that perseverance and growth you talk about?

MINJEE LEE: I think more at the beginning of the year when I played obviously Asia. I didn't feel like I was quite ready to come back for a lot of those events, so I took six weeks off after Asia. I think it really did me well to step back.

I felt like I spent eight years really going through the motions and playing so many events in a row for so many years, so I feel like those six weeks I really had for myself and I could really -- obviously I had the off-season to reflect, but I felt like I needed a little bit more time to feel a little bit more like myself and working a little bit more on my game.

Q. When you talk about just finding that growth and perseverance, feels like a different Minjee even than last year at this time.

MINJEE LEE: Yeah.

Q. Been a little bit since your ladies BMW win, but this is the first time we've seen you. How have you reflected on that win and what it meant to win in Korea in front of your friends and family?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I actually thought about it quite a bit after.

Q. On the plane ride?

MINJEE LEE: Pardon?

Q. On the plane ride?

MINJEE LEE: Well, we were only going to Macau, but it wasn't a very long flight. I got to be with my brother and Colin and Lyds. They played some poker and games and I was just watching. I think after that when I got home I got sick, but I had a lot of time to think about the tournaments that last couple weeks I had.

It was really nice. Obviously a lot of my family were there. Korea is just such a -- it held a special place in my heart so it's a tournament that was really close to my heart and obviously winning in a place where my parents were born and they all had grown up and all my extended family are there, just a great honor and just extra special.