U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN

June 1, 2026

Alison Lee

The Riviera Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Please welcome to the interview area Alison Lee. Alison is a native of Valencia, California. Alison, when you were a kid, did you ever sort of dream the dream of having the U.S. Open here as kind of a home game?

ALISON LEE: Yeah, of course. I feel like growing up I've been really lucky there's been quite a few LPGA events in Southern California that I've been able to go watch.

That's part of it all. That's part of my journey. That's part of what gets a lot of junior girls to dream about becoming a professional golfer.

So to have a major championship here in Southern California I think is super cool. I'm going to hopefully have a lot of friends and family out here this week to come and watch. It's always nice to have that kind of support because most of the events we play in, it's so far away, we rarely have family or friends out to be able to watch. So to be able to play in front of them is really special.

Q. What's your experience been with Riv?

ALISON LEE: I've been able to play Riv a handful of times. Not a crazy amount, but I've been really lucky to come out here and play. I played the Saturday before JM Eagle as well. It was me, Allisen Corpuz, and Megan Khang played 18 holes out here just to get a feel of what the course is going to be like.

It's playing a little bit longer than what we're usually used to, but I think it will be a really great challenge for all of us this week.

Q. What's the vibe like when you step out here at Riviera, and what's kind of your mindset for the week?

ALISON LEE: I think most USGA events, they do such a good job at creating a great stage for us. So that in itself, it's going to be an incredible week. Being here in Southern California at a golf tournament where the men literally played a few months ago, I think is a really cool aspect as well. We rarely get to be put on the same stage as them. So I think it's really cool to get that recognition and to kind of be able to compare the men's game and women's game.

I think we're going to play this a lot differently than how they usually play it, but I think it's still pretty cool that we get to do that and play side by side with them. I played a few rounds with some of the guys back in Vegas. I played with Maverick McNealy and Kurt Kitayama the last couple weeks and just kind of picked their brain on what this course is like and see how it plays for them.

It definitely is going to play very different for us, so I'm not really going to take what they said too seriously and think too much into it, but it was really cool to just kind of gauge on how they play out here and what they think about the golf course, and it's always great things.

The fact that we're here, I think this is the first time we've ever played a major championship in Los Angeles, so that in itself is really cool.

Q. Do you have a favorite hole out here and why?

ALISON LEE: That's tough. I mean, I think 18 is pretty cool. It's just such a cool finishing hole with the clubhouse in the back.

I think too what most people don't see on TV is that green is actually quite small. Like I was talking to someone about that the other day when Rory played out here and made his really long putt on 18. It looked like a really long putt and the green looked so much bigger on TV, but it's actually quite small and a bit tricky. So I think it's a great finishing hole.

Q. How would you describe the overall test here that the USGA has put together this week?

ALISON LEE: That's hard to say. I only played nine holes yesterday. I played the front nine yesterday, and I get to play the back today. I would say with how it's playing right now the greens -- the fairways aren't crazy thick. Like if you hit it in the fairway, you'll have a pretty decent lie. And the greens are still pretty soft. They're fast, but they're soft.

So of course any time you raise the rough and make the greens super firm, it makes it a lot more difficult. So I think right now it's still very playable. I wouldn't say it's scorable, but it's not the toughest conditions we've ever had in the past for the U.S. Open.

Like I said, who knows -- it's going to be pretty warm this week, so who knows how much the greens will firm up. I think, if the greens start to firm up, it can get pretty tough out there.

Q. Alison, you're an L.A. local, went to college here. What can fans and players who are visiting not miss this week?

ALISON LEE: Not miss? I would just say some great golf. I don't think women's golf gets appreciated as much as it should. There's some really great golfers out here, and I want more people to come out and watch and see how amazing these players are.

The fact that we're here in Los Angeles, I mean, they have no excuses. The Kings are out, the Lakers are out. They can come out here and watch. There's not really much else going on this week. So they've got time.

Q. You've been kind of honest about trying to balance motherhood and how Levi's sleep affects your sleep. What's the setup this week for you?

ALISON LEE: So it's tough. I will say over the last few months it's been tough, but we had a breakthrough last week and he's sleeping a lot better. Therefore, my life has been a lot easier.

My parents live in Valencia, which is anywhere between 40 minutes and an hour and a half north of here, so I've just been staying there the last few days just so I don't need to move him around and I have extra hands of help there with both my parents being there.

And my aunt, my cousins are in Valencia as well. I have a bunch of extra help, which is nice for me. I can get a bunch of extra rest when I need to.

So that's kind of the plan, just drive back and forth. If I really need to, thankfully Megan Khang has been great. She has an Airbnb close by, and she has an extra room if I need it. If I have a really early tee time, I think I'll stay with her, but right now for the most part, I think I'll stay with my parents.

Yeah, it's been great. I'm just trying to figure it out day by day. It's been really tough trying to juggle everything. I feel like sometimes I'm drowning under water, but thankfully I have some great people and great help around me where I can get through it.

Yeah, just trying to figure out day by day and figure out what works best for me and what works best for him, my schedule in terms of what I can do with working out, with practice, things like that.

Yeah, this past week, like I said, it's been amazing. I feel like I've been able to get a little bit more rest. I've been able to work out a little bit more and practice a little bit more.

I'm really ready. I'm excited for this week.

Q. Did you play here at all when you were at UCLA?

ALISON LEE: When I was at UCLA, no. We didn't really get access out here. The guys did, but the women didn't unfortunately. I know Todd Yoshitake out here. I played a lot of junior golf with his daughter. So he's been nice enough to let me come out a handful of times in the past.

Q. Which clubs have been working for you lately, and how do you think they will serve you out here?

ALISON LEE: I would say overall it's been pretty good. My swing coach is out here. Chris Mayson is out here this week, and my putting coach, Chris Cho is out here if I need to make any tweaks.

But overall it's been pretty good the past couple months, just a few mistakes here and there. I just feel like bit rusty and don't always feel 100% prepared. A lot of that is because I have a timer on what I can do with practice and what I can work on when I'm at home.

But I would say the biggest thing about this week is who can hit the most greens in regulation, so your irons need to be good and you just need to make putts. A lot of long irons into these greens -- and some of these greens are small as well. So it's just about who can have the best approach and who can make putts when they can.