TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 27, 2026

Min Woo Lee

East Lake Golf Club

Press Conference

Q. Min Woo, I was just looking at your Instagram from four days ago. Average two weeks, onto the season finale down in Atlanta. Nothing average about your round today. Your first time here, where did that round come from, and how much did you enjoy it?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah, very average two weeks the last two weeks. It was probably the saddest I've been on the golf course, which is not good. We're really lucky to be out here and play some good golf to get into the playoffs. It just felt so hard.

It just got to a point where I was looking at what's in the bags of everyone else and trying to find out what to do and ended up changing shafts before the week, on the Tuesday. Even my team was very hesitant about it, but the results were really good when I did practice with it, and it was nice to hit shots that I saw out there, and it was really good.

That was probably the biggest part of the good scoring. Didn't miss it in wrong spots, missed them in the right spots, and holed some putts.

Q. You said sad there. Down in the dumps, how did you raise your spirits? Who raised your spirits?

MIN WOO LEE: Well, I probably should have done a better job out there when I was playing. The results were not good, and that's kind of how I felt. This week was a brand-new week, and we obviously play from scratch and everyone plays from the same score.

Being out there, I thought why not give it a good crack and have a good attitude. That was probably a thing that I had to work on over the last two weeks.

Q. You talked about maybe back in March, about kind of reining in your speeds for some weeks, for signature event weeks, stuff like that. How do you feel like that's gone this season? What was the impetus for doing that? You hit a bunch of fairways today obviously.

MIN WOO LEE: I think with driver, just figured out what to do with that. Sticking with the fade, I think the last two weeks before, when I was in Vegas, I was practicing, and I wanted to hit it straighter with the driver, but that sometimes isn't good for me. I just don't know where it's going to start and don't know if it's going left or right.

If I can stick to one shape with the driver, I have the mini driver in the bag for a draw, so I could hit a driver fade and mini driver draw, just keep it simple. I did great for the season, and no point really changing -- the approach play I wanted to change but --

Q. The iron is a heavier shaft, right?

MIN WOO LEE: It's a heavier shaft, and coach back home said, Why are you swinging it so fast? It didn't look like that, but yeah, sure enough, I was swinging it pretty fast. Slowed it down a little bit, and the ball actually came out nice.

Q. That's kind of how it helps you swing a little slower?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah, I just trust my rep, and I just -- it was actually just a blind test really. There was three shafts that he took off the stickers on, and I just hit some shots. One was really nice, and it was that one.

Again, it was very hesitant and very reactive on the last two weeks on why I wanted to change it, but it was a good gamble.

Q. What was the iron shot you hit today that you felt, okay, this is working?

MIN WOO LEE: I think just -- I don't think I hit too many perfect shots, but the misses were really good. When I try to hit a fade, you want the miss to be straight and not way right. I thought it's just a little bit easier to get to the ball or lag behind me a little bit so then I don't have these missed contacts.

Yeah, just overall, just trying to play smart, and it was going where I wanted to start it, which was key.

Q. What's your plan between now and Presidents Cup?

MIN WOO LEE: I think I'll take a few weeks off. I've got -- we've got an outing in the middle of now and then. I think both teams do. So we'll go out and scout the course as a team and get ready for that.

Q. Weird playing by yourself?

MIN WOO LEE: It was a little bit weird. Yeah, I hope J.J.'s okay, first of all. It's pretty sad to see. You get all the way out here, and you can't play, and that just sucks for the whole team and obviously yourself.

It was a little strange at first, just like looking for a playing partner and you're just there by yourself. It was more just maintaining speeds and not rushing because I would just catch the group in front and wait. So I had to just slow down a little bit. It worked out.

Q. First time as a competitor here. Is there anyone in your practice rounds in particular that you leaned on for advice or anything going into it?

MIN WOO LEE: Not really. Just YouTube highlights. I know the course has changed a tiny bit. I know the guys that have played really well here. There's just a few things you need to work on.

Approach play was probably the biggest part that I needed to get better just for this week.

Q. The fact that you had the Presidents Cup coming up, do you think that pushes an equipment change? Like if this was just the end of a season, maybe you'd ride it out with what you had?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah, for sure. We didn't want it to be -- I mean, this tournament is very important too. I was just so happy with the results that I think, if I had the other clubs and I just didn't hit it like -- I just needed a change, and it was great. Everything that I tried to do, it was like where was this the last few months?

Again, it was a gamble, but glad it worked out.

Q. How common is it for you to go on YouTube to study a course when it's your first time playing it?

MIN WOO LEE: I mean, you see the highlights for sure at a course that you don't really know. Obviously I've got a great team. I've got a great caddie. He goes out and sees what I would want to do on certain holes.

I think it's pretty straightforward, this course. There's a couple holes where you might hit something shorter, and we did actually not attack some holes and try to rein it back and hit 4-iron instead of a 3-wood. You would only still have a wedge or 9-iron, but it's still -- when you're hitting it great, it's still fine to be that short and get rid of the rough, which is a big part of this course, and it's not fun hitting out of there.