WOMEN'S OLYMPIC GOLF COMPETITION

August 5, 2024

Hannah Green

Minjee Lee

Le Golf National

Press Conference

BRIONY CARLYON: I'm delighted to welcome Team Australia to the 2024 Paris Olympics, Minjee Lee and Hannah Green, welcome to Le Golf National.

Obviously both of you are no stranger to donning the green and gold for your country at the Olympics. Give us a sense of what it's been like for you to be back in Paris after your Olympic experiences.

HANNAH GREEN: It's different because I guess I've only been to Tokyo. So obviously COVID time was a little bit different. Didn't get to the Village when we were there 2020, so Minjee and I got to experience that on Saturday.

It's nice to see the men and how big the crowds were and obviously the atmosphere with Le Golf National kind of already has a really nice -- with how the golf course is set for everyone to come and watch. I'm excited to see the crowds.

BRIONY CARLYON: Minjee, your experience so far.

MINJEE LEE: It's been really cool to catch up with obviously my brother and Jason and we just had like two nights of team dinners and it was just nice to be amongst them even yesterday when they were finishing and we were watching them come in.

As Hannah said, the crowds were so amazing for the men and we're really looking forward to how it will be for us as well.

Q. I have no clue when these Olympic bio pages were created but both of you list Karrie Webb as a hero of yours. What made her a hero of yours?

HANNAH GREEN: In my opinion, she's the greatest golfer to come out of Australia. So to have her scholarship opportunity, also. Both of us have been recipients of that and so we have been able to go to the U.S. Open with her and shadow her the entire week. That was at Lancaster when we last played; and this year was actually able to be inside the ropes when we played the U.S. Open.

But that was week where I kind of was like, I need to work a lot harder if I want to do this for a living. Perhaps if I did not have that opportunity, I may not have had the achievements. I may have still been a professional golfer but maybe not worked as hard or felt as motivated in that sense. Yeah, it's really cool to have Webby as captain this week.

MINJEE LEE: Pretty much what Hannah said. I played my first Australian Open as an amateur but I got to play a practice round with Webby, like ages and ages ago.

It was just really cool to be obviously meeting her for the first time but playing a practice round with her at such an early age, and just seeing like how like a professional golfer with such a decorated resumé goes about her game, and at that stage, she was still playing a pretty full schedule. So it was just nice to ask her questions and over the years just get some advice from her.

Q. There's a lot of team captains out here but curious how they help. How do they help you?

HANNAH GREEN: I feel like obviously it's moral support but there's a lot of things that we probably don't see. Getting the team rooms ready, getting the uniforms, getting the van. That seems like it's a very long week for them but probably very rewarding for them to watch us play.

Obviously this is Webby's first time being at the Olympics, and for the whole team, sometimes it's their actual first year. It's cool for us to experience that with them.

Just having a really relaxed atmosphere once we leave the golf course, I think that's very important. I certainly like to switch off once I leave the event and not get too caught up in golf. It's just really cool to hang out with them off the course, also.

Q. I'm looking at this as kind of both sides because golf can produce some unlikely winners, talking about the majors mostly, but the Olympic Games on both sides have had all the best come through the medals. Why do you think that is, maybe from your own somewhat limited experience, shorter field?

HANNAH GREEN: That might have something to do with it, 60 women or 60 men playing. I don't know.

MINJEE LEE: Maybe it's the setup of the course. I know the guys from The PGA of America probably setup the course in a way where it could be more like a ball-striker's -- be more beneficial for ball-strikers, or just even the condition of the courses, they are in really great condition. The rough is up. Maybe weeds out half the field maybe.

We did have a denser field when it's the opens, so --

HANNAH GREEN: It's not the same.

MINJEE LEE: Hard to pinpoint.

HANNAH GREEN: Also because you're playing for a Gold Medal, that's more rare, and that probably gets more on your nerves than perhaps winning a major. Don't get me wrong, you're going to be nervous trying to win a major championship. Because it's obviously one in four years might be more pressure, but perhaps those that have experience winning major championships, it might be just a little bit easier for them. I'm not sure.

Q. Were you aware of that last time in Tokyo?

HANNAH GREEN: Well, as soon as I left Tokyo, I wanted to make sure that I was on the Olympic team, even three years out, obviously it doesn't matter the rankings.

But I wanted to make sure I was playing consistently and playing well in the lead up. Tokyo just had such a different atmosphere, having those spectators and having the whole Aussie team being my only little cheer squad, it's going to be very different here in France.

Q. Curious if you think you and your brother would make a good mixed team in the event that 2028 has a mixed competition.

MINJEE LEE: If there is, I would love to be a part of it. I mean, I think it would be really, really fun to play with Min Woo. Obviously haven't had too many opportunity to play with him as a team.

But yeah, if we both make the team and hopefully there's an aspect where we can go some sort of group format, then yeah, definitely.

Q. Out of curiosity, when you are having team dinners the last couple night, do you ask Jason Day anything in particular? What kind of topics come up?

HANNAH GREEN: It seems like the guys talk much more about golf than we do. Even yesterday they were just talking about golf swing positions and things like that. I honestly don't talk about that at all. Sometimes even at the golf course, I don't even talk about it.

They are just golf nerds. But it was fun. It's been a good atmosphere the last couple dinners. Obviously they have headed off back to the States now. But just to hang out with them in a different environment has been a lot of fun but we are talking about food a lot.

MINJEE LEE: Like Jason Day was air gripping and stuff like that, all the golf mechanisms. A little different perspective of what we talk about and how when we have dinner, we don't talk about golf at all. It was just nice, just a different perspective that he has and what Min has.

Q. You guys talk about food?

HANNAH GREEN: We talk about what we generally eat. I guess the boys went to the same Italian restaurant four times this week and we went there last night, and they already knew what was good to order on menu and then we talked about what we typically eat on the road and things like that.

Q. Did I hear that correctly? At dinner, they are talking about their golf swing?

MINJEE LEE: Oh, yeah. It's like every --

HANNAH GREEN: Looking at swing videos on their phone.

Q. I'm going to move on, because that's weird. (Laughter)

MINJEE LEE: Drawing on the bus.

Q. As an example for this week, and Minjee, I'm sure you've had a couple of top 10s, a fifth, a seventh, a fourth, or whatever that at the end of the week probably feels like it's a good effort. What do you think it will be like Sunday when fourth is frankly as good as last in terms of what you get? It's one, two, three and that's it. How much does that change?

MINJEE LEE: I think like even just like your mindset going into the Olympics, like you know that only one, two and three medal.

So it's just like an aspect of this event that I think everybody, it's the same thing for everyone.

So sure, I think I'll feel a bit more pressure coming down the stretch wherever I am on the leaderboard, near the medaling spots. I think that's why it's different, right. With the Olympics, you only get a chance for the top three.

HANNAH GREEN: I do think that's where it would be cool to do some sort of team event, just say I'm coming dead last, my score counts towards Minjee's, not only to win a Gold but to have some sort of team environment would be cool between the players. Obviously that's difficult because not everybody country is represented by two people.

But I think if they perhaps did that with the men, a mixed event and scores counted that way. There's so many opportunities and so many ways they can go about it. But obviously trying to fit that within our schedules on both the PGA TOUR and LPGA and LET and everybody's schedule would be difficult.

MINJEE LEE: I also think maybe if there is a team aspect, maybe the qualifying system would have to change for it to be an even number across the board. We'll see what happens for the next Olympics.

Q. Bringing you back to the medals, because you were fairly close in Tokyo. I don't remember how far you were out from the lead but coming down the stretch, I mean, where else do you play really hard for third place?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, it's definitely different. Like Minjee said, we all know what we need to do in order to get a podium finish. I felt a little bit unlucky in a sense in Tokyo because of the weather delay we had and it kind of killed my momentum.

We had a drivable 17 which I made bogey on the first. I think I was a few shots off a possible podium finish. It is a different mindset. I remember on the last hole, I had to make birdie to have any sort of chance, and I perhaps chose a more aggressive approach and didn't pull it off and made bogey.

If I was at a major championship, I'm not sure I would have done the same. It's hard to say, obviously, three years ago.

But yeah, it's a different feeling and 18th, a par 5, it might change some of those decisions. You might be some of those aggressive and pull the golf ball. You might not. We'll see how the course is shaping up for Saturday.

Q. Nothing to do with you guys or Team Australia, but Aditi Ashok, she played in Portland. You guys travel all over the world and are used to jet-lag but does that strike you as particularly remarkable? And she's got the 9:20 tee time so she's off early?

MINJEE LEE: I don't know if many people that approach but if that's the best way she feels to get a medal or podium finish, good on her. All of us have different pros.

Both Minjee and I played the Canadian Open a couple weeks ago and then had last week off in Texas. I personally wouldn't be able to play that many in a row. I also feel like starting on Wednesday and only having Monday and Tuesday to prepare has been kind of short as well. Best of luck to her. She obviously played well.

Q. Can you talk about 18? When the men played 18, it was a par 4 and there was a sense of disaster and it was actually the hardest hole of the week. Is it in your mind playing as a par 5? Do you think it's most likely not going to be the hardest hole of the week or maybe a hole that can flip things in a positive way, as opposed to flip in a negative way?

MINJEE LEE: I still think obviously it depends on how you play it but it's quite a challenging hole in itself. Like depending on the wind, it can play longer or shorter, and obviously it's a little bit faster off the tee. It's either going to be driver or 3-wood, which could put you a little bit further back, and you might have a hybrid which makes it a little bit more difficult than having like a 5-iron or 6-iron in. It just really depends.

HANNAH GREEN: It's a very strategic hole as a par 5. Yes, you can be aggressive and hit driver and today both Minjee and I had 8-irons and 7-irons in which is really short for a par 5 but we are also not sure which way the wind direction will be.

I think it is more interesting as a par 5 and I think it would be fun for someone to make a birdie versus make a double-bogey or worse, especially because the back nine, that's the first time I've seen it but we didn't hit too many club choices in today.

To have an exciting finish in a positive way I think is a nice way to finish for a medal.

Q. 8-iron second shot?

HANNAH GREEN: Yeah, we did hit driver and we were quite close to the water so we are not really sure where we continue to do that. Obviously depending on the conditions.

MINJEE LEE: It was also straight downwind which I guess it's not meant to be. It's maybe more off the left, the prevailing wind.

HANNAH GREEN: We are quite close to the water. It was quite an aggressive play to obviously see how close we could get today. So many variables there.

MINJEE LEE: I guess that's why it's good, right, because you can be as aggressive as you make it.

BRIONY CARLYON: Any further questions from the floor? If not, Minjee, Hannah, thank you for your time and all the best this week.