AIG WOMEN'S OPEN

August 2, 2025

Minjee Lee

Mixed Zone

Q. That was pretty impressive out there. It was really rolling through the middle part particularly as well today.

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I had a nice day. I felt like I moved on moving day, so hopefully having teed off early, I could close the gap a little bit with the people teeing off now and a little bit later. So hopefully see it by the end of the day where I'm standing.

Q. It felt like it could have been even a little bit better, a couple putts go in and a few little breaks as well, is it really close to being a really low round?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, so I missed one on 2 and 3, obviously 18. Had a lot of really great looks out there. I feel like the short ones, I'm over reading them a little bit. It's kind of tough to say because you think the surface is not going to break but sometimes it really does break. It's just the way links golf is. Sometimes it's hard to pick the breaks.

Q. Another on 9 today. Are you going to go and have a chat about how they cut the holes?

MINJEE LEE: It's the same for everyone. I can't really be like what are you doing? I feel like some of the holes were cut close to the hills. They're obviously going to break a bit more. Sometimes you see it and sometimes you don't.

Q. How about on 17 tee with that golf ball? Did you hear it coming, or did it first bounce before you noticed it was coming?

MINJEE LEE: Yeah, I'm glad it bounced big because it flew straight over me. Some lady or man called out for a left, so I was like, oh, it's not coming this way, but it came right over me. It was trying to take me out.

Q. A refocusing after that. Sometimes you get momentarily distracted or things like that, but that's a different one.

MINJEE LEE: It's nothing major. I'm pretty focused. Yeah, just reset and then just go hit the ball.

Q. At the start of the week, I was telling Grace Kim that, when I walked in, I think it was Wednesday, it was like a little girl and her mom with me. The mom said, tell the man what you want to be when you grow up. She said, I want to be an Australian.

MINJEE LEE: I've seen that.

Q. That was all down to the fact she'd seen the comradeship of all of you. Expanding on that, Grace sort of said that you're like an older sister to her. Have you done any discussion on what comes after like a big month that she's experienced?

MINJEE LEE: I think for Grace she hasn't had that month of -- it's probably too close to her winning so far. She's probably still a little bit on the high. She's just realizing what she's done, since she's only had one week off and had to play the next two. It's probably maybe when we have two weeks off next week, she'll be able to really relax and soak it more in maybe. Depends on where she goes, either home or to Dallas.

Yeah, I think maybe if she's got questions afterwards, we can -- I'm always happy to chat or whatever and whenever. I'm not sure if she's quite felt that yet. So it's hard to say.

Q. I suppose potentially there's a similar thing for Lottie Woad in she's been on this run and no time to actually take in what's happened.

MINJEE LEE: I think probably -- well, she won last week. So it's probably really fresh at the moment. She's probably not even had time to really sit down and think about it.

Q. Do you remember after your first win --

MINJEE LEE: After Evian? Or after Kingsmill?

Q. Let's go Kingsmill and Evian really. Like things that made you think these are tasks I've got to overcome there not that I'm a winner or a major winner?

MINJEE LEE: I think it was different for me when I won Evian, since it was a major, to when I won Kingsmill because I was fresh on the Tour. I had a really hard rookie class. Hyo Joo was in there, and Sei Young won twice. Hyo Joo won and I won. Sei Young won Rookie of the Year. It was just super competitive, so I felt like it was more go, go, go. I played the first three years like I can't really remember too much. It's like a blur now.

Evian was different because -- I mean, Evian was a bit weird because it was kind of coming off COVID and we were still in the bubble. None of my family came to Evian. It was just the girls, a lot of the girls came and celebrated with me as best as we could. We were still wearing masks. It was kind of weird.

In terms of golf, I think that one was different because it was like getting that off my chest a little bit. I won, and everybody was like, oh, it's a monkey off your back. I felt that for a really long time that it was kind of weighing on me because a lot of the media and just like random people would say it to me randomly. I wouldn't even be thinking about it, and then I would be like, oh, it would be the only thought that I would have for ages.

I think it was a little bit more relieving in a sense. Then obviously the U.S. Open was really different as well and KPMG. Every single one kind of marked a different stage in my career a little bit, changed me a little bit as a person and as a golfer.

Q. Do you set a target score tomorrow, or do you just go out and play and see how well you can get?

MINJEE LEE: I think tomorrow is going to be go as low as I can. I'm probably too far back.