NW ARKANSAS CHAMPIONSHIP

September 19, 2025

Alison Lee

Pinnacle Country Club

Quick Quotes

Q. All right, here with Alison Lee after her first round at the Walmart NW Arkansas Championship Presented by P&G. Kind of just walk us through where you round today. 7-under. Especially on the back nine seems like a lot of things were going right. How were things going overall out there today?

ALISON LEE: Yeah, overall I feel like I hit the ball really well. I would say over the last couple weeks coming back and playing, usually the strongest part of my game is my approach shots, my irons. Usually good with hitting my numbers.

Felt like over the last couple weeks that was my weakness. I couldn't quite get it right. I feel like I learned a lot over those last couple weeks. So coming into this week, it being a Friday start, too, I had an extra day to prep and hit more range balls, and I feel like that really helped.

So, yeah, I feel like every part of my game was just really solid. Hit my driver exactly how I wanted to. Yeah, the biggest thing, biggest improvement I've seen from my game over the last few weeks is my iron play.

Q. Talk about the closing stretch, 17, 18. Kind of a cool amphitheater closing and you finished birdie, eagle. How cool is that to do that in front of all those fans out there?

ALISON LEE: Yeah, super cool. This is one of the weeks where we get a pretty big crowd out here to come watch. I feel like we cultivated a great community here. A lot of girls stay with a host family inside the gates. I've been staying with the same family since 2015.

It does feel like a nice stop on the schedule where all of us can kind of feel like we have a little home away from home.

But, yeah, it felt great to close out like that. Honestly, I made a bogey on the par-5; I three putted. Coming I just told my caddie, let's just make two more birdies and I'll be happy. To be able to finish like that was a lot better than I expected, so really happy with my finish.

Q. We had you in for a pre-tournament press conference and you kind of mentioned how hard it's been to get back in the swing of things. How nice is it to put a 64 on the board proving your game is there already?

ALISON LEE: Yeah, it feels so good. I mean, coming into these three weeks I feel like I did as much as I could to prep, and the last two weeks did feel a bit disappointing because I felt like my game was in a really good place. Obviously you just never know until you tee it up.

Yeah, I feel like I learned so much and knew what I needed to work on, what I needed to do well this week. Thankfully the greens were soft, so you had to be really good hitting your numbers. I had quite a few holes where it was spinning back quite a bit because it was soft. Felt like I adjusted really well. Happy with my round.

Yeah, I know we have two days left, but it's such a good start for me and it's a good feeling to see my hard work pay off and see it's all been worth it.

Q. Were those adjustments small things or maybe something a little bit bigger?

ALISON LEE: I would say just small things. Like I just didn't feel super comfortable over my iron shots like I used to. Like I said, that used to be my bread and butter, the strongest part of the my game, and it just felt lacking over the last couple weeks. I think a lot too had to do with not -- you know over the last two weeks being a little tired. First time I walked 18 holes was two weeks ago and I hadn't done that since October.

So just trying to get adjusted to everything and life out here. Thankfully, too, my son is sleeping like eight hours at night in a row, so that helps me a lot just in terms of recovery and rest.

So, yeah, I couldn't have asked for a better day honestly and hopefully it can continue. I feel really good about my game. Obviously the next two days will be new days, but hopefully I can just stick to how I felt out there today.

When you shoot 7-under, golf feels so easy. I wish golf was always like that, that's not the case but hopefully can continue to be easy for the next two days.