NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP

August 28, 2020

Esther Lee

Pinnacle Country Club

Press Conference

Q. Looks like you started the day with a bogey, but then you were able to turn it around.

ESTHER LEE: Yeah, I mean, hit a good tee shot off my 1st hole, and then I hit a terrible second shot and I almost went OB; I was probably like two feet from OB and I just didn't get the up and down. But, I mean, my brother is on the bag this week, so he's just like, Shake it off.

And then hit a couple good shots coming into the next few holes and just got a good rhythm going. So, yeah.

Q. What was the highlight out there for you today?

ESTHER LEE: The highlight out there for me today was -- oh, wow. I mean, it was just a really comfortable round. On 8, so my 17th hole, I made probably like a 40-footer for birdie downhill. That was probably the longest putt I made today.

I definitely left some out there. I was hitting the ball really well. My approach shots were really good today. So feels good.

Q. Good. Has your brother caddied for you before?

ESTHER LEE: He has. So last year when I played Symetra he came out to a few. Off the golf course we argue a lot, but on the course it seems to work really well.

Q. Is that just a comfort --

ESTHER LEE: Yeah, just comfortable. We started playing golf together at the same time and he looks -- I work on my swing with him so he knows everything there is to know, so...

Q. Can I ask what his name is?

ESTHER LEE: John.

Q. J-o-h-n?

ESTHER LEE: J-o-h-n, yeah.

Q. Okay, good. It hasn't been a typical rookie season for you.

ESTHER LEE: No.

Q. What has this year, COVID-19 aside, been like you for you on the golf course?

ESTHER LEE: I mean, it's definitely been a struggle to get any type of consistency. I'm from California, and they didn't open up the courses until May, so like since Australia ended all I did was just be at home and just take swings whenever I could.

So it's been hard to find a rhythm for tournament golf. I've definitely struggled the first few back, and it's nice that when everyone was in Scotland for two weeks I was just at home and just kind of took a breather. Just kind of reexamined everything and seems to be working well so far.

Q. Yeah. How much confidence does that give you heading into the weekend just putting a really solid round together?

ESTHER LEE: I mean, it definitely makes me feel comfortable to have a little bit of cushion from the cut line and all that. So only focus I'll have tomorrow is just hitting good shots and making putts.