THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 23, 2026

Min Woo Lee

Medinah Country Club

Press Conference

Q. It's good to see you. You're a great match player coming up, you played pennants and state golf, now into team golf. You're a fierce competitor, know how to make things happen in the clutch. Do you think that's what makes you a good match player, or anyone a good match player?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. I love match play. It's been a while since we've played match play. It's not like a normal thing for us. But when we're an amateur, we played so much of it. I really enjoyed it. Most of our big tournaments are match play.

Yeah, looking forward to get back into it. I guess you can be a bit more aggressive, especially when you're playing best ball, you got a treatment as well. You obviously want to keep the ball in play and make some birdies.

But I think just having the freedom of another player and the next hole is a fresh start, I can go and play aggressive. That's how I normally play. Yeah, stroke play is obviously one of our normal events.

Q. Geoff described it as instead of one 72-hole project it's 18 one-hole project.

MIN WOO LEE: Exactly. It's different. But I love it. It's a good, fun format.

Q. Through whether it's been -- did you ever play the Dell Match Play?

MIN WOO LEE: I did. I played it once maybe.

Q. Whether it's Dell or team golf, is there a competitor that you remember playing against that sort of really not tried to get to you, because I know there's some mental tactics that go on a little bit. Is there someone even who you enjoy, like Tom said to me yesterday that he enjoys playing? Adam, even Geoff said, "I would have loved to have played Ernie." Is there someone you love playing against?

MIN WOO LEE: You obviously want to play with the best in the world and try to win. That obviously can backfire because he's there obviously a great player.

Not really. Not really. I just go out there and try to do my thing. Yeah, I don't want to egg anyone on, probably be dragged in the media and I'll look bad. Just go out there and get who I get and hopefully play well.

Q. Last question I've asked every Australian is who's going to win the AFL Grand final?

MIN WOO LEE: Of course, Fremantle.

Q. I think I know the answer, but would you like to see an international women's team?

MIN WOO LEE: Women's. Yeah. I would love that. Obviously my sister plays golf, so it would be nice to have her on the team and me on the team. But I think it would be very fun.

It would make it interesting, for sure. Obviously there's things that have to be measured with the girls and the guys. But even just the best ball, like mixed best ball, mixed foursome would be unbelievable. That would be so fun.

Yeah, I wish -- hopefully in the future.

Q. If they did a 12-women team, have you seen what that roster would look like, and just get your reaction to that?

MIN WOO LEE: For the international team?

Q. Yeah.

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. That's a pretty -- yeah, I mean the worst player is my sister, and she's 16th in the world. Yeah, it would be a pretty good team.

Q. In a team event in front of a lot of fans, is it nerve-wracking to have out of bounds on the left side holes 1, 2 and 3?

MIN WOO LEE: Yes. When we first got up there, I just said Geoff, what are you doing? Why are you putting that out of bounds stake so close? But hopefully for me, I mean, I would hit a mini drive and kind of draw it. So I've got a lot of room on the right. And if I did hit a driver, I would fade it off the left.

It's not like it's the tightest fairway, which is nice to start off. But the right side can creep in very quick just because we don't want to hit it left.

It's placed in a very good spot, the bunkers. So it's not like you can just wing it over there. You have to place it in the right spot.

And the second hole is as tricky, too, especially the wind off the left. The first hole is -- you don't feel anything because of obviously the stands and then the trees are pretty high up.

So one of the first few times I went there just the ball's just sailing right because you don't feel that wind. So it's tough, but hopefully we can hit a good one.

Q. What does Adam Scott mean to this team?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. Adam is one of the best players in the world for a long time. He's definitely the veteran of the group. He's still got that kid in him, which is great, and I think me and the younger boys kind of bring it out of him. And we want to bring it out of him.

I feel like he's been a backbone of this team for so long that this is only my second one, but I feel like I need to step up, too, to make him not feel like he has something to prove.

You know, he's done so much for golf and international golf. Like he just -- we just want him to forget about the golf and just forget about the outside of golf and just play golf. We know he's a great golfer. So if he can just do that without the pressures, that would be great.

Q. Can you give me an example of him bringing out the kid?

MIN WOO LEE: Like you would think he's normally the mature one, which he is, but when we joke or when we make some funny videos, like he's right in there and he wants to be amongst it. You can see that he wants to be a part of it. I think that's just the part.

Most of the time you think he doesn't want to be involved and he's the older guy in the group, but it's fun to bring that side out of him.

Q. How is he involved in the group chat?

MIN WOO LEE: Again, same thing. Like he doesn't really say much, but we bring it out of him if we need to.

Q. What was your takeaway from playing on the Presidents Cup the last time?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. It was a great experience. I wish I played more. I only got to play two days, the first day and the singles. So only one of the team format. But I know I'm a little bit better player than last time, and I guess that egged me on to become a better player.

I wanted to be a big part of this team, and I wanted to play every day, and hopefully I can. But, yeah. I mean, it was a great experience with the boys. It's one of my favorite weeks. Although the results aren't the way we wanted to last time. It was still just such a fun week. So hopefully we can be close at the end.

Q. You ready to cook?

MIN WOO LEE: Yes. We are. I am. Yes, I am.

Q. On that topic, you're someone that definitely feeds off a lot of crowd energy. What are you anticipating this week and how are you preparing for that moment?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. It's going to be a different one. I'm not sure how it will go. Obviously we're on American soil.

But the practice rounds have been good. A lot of internationals and a lot of people that I guess are a fan of me on a normal week are still out there wishing me good luck.

Yeah. We don't want to be on the bad side of the crowd, obviously. That's to any home and away team. Yeah, I'm not sure. I can't really add to that. I just don't know how it will go. Hopefully we can have some internationals come out and support us.

Q. Collin Morikawa was talking about the weather causing around the greens being increasingly grainy. What have your impressions been of just short game with the weather and just the course in general as well?

MIN WOO LEE: Around the green is probably the toughest part of this course. It's a long course, but I don't think the fairways are like super, super narrow that you'll miss a lot of them. If you drive it well, you have some good approaches into greens.

It's tough. If you miss the green, you've gotta really think about you want a shot that's a long way. You can hit a low driving one, landing short and rolling it up instead of that little tight one where you have to hit it high and soft just because you can't get that good contact off that grass.

So yeah, especially being wet as well. Even if you take a practice swing you're taking a full divot, which is not normal. It's not easy. Obviously every lie is going to be different when you're out there. You can expect some average chips, I think, because it's just very tough.

Q. And how do you balance like practicing in conditions now knowing that it's going to evolve throughout the week as well?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. That's just all practice rounds. We try to put ourselves in bad spots and try to make it as easy as we can come tournament time. So it's just one of those where hopefully you don't get a terrible lie and hit a bad shot. But, yeah, I think we're good enough to know what shots to hit, and hopefully we've done the prep.

Q. It's become clear that you are the AI creator of the international team. What is the key to creating a proper AI-created video?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. So some of the videos have come out. I know it's been on Instagram with the international team side.

I mean, I wasn't intending it to go out there far, but we have had permission from other people to let that happen. It's just one of those things. Am I'm still a little kid and I just like making people laugh, as long as it's okay with the person I did it on. But there's a lot of pictures and a lot of videos. They don't know this, but I had to pay like 20 bucks for a program. So they can all chuck me a dollar.

Q. All right. I feel like you probably have something up your sleeve for like tomorrow morning?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. It's part of the team morale. That's the right way to say it. Nothing to bring anyone down. Just to make people laugh.

Q. Couple years ago in Montreal you guys had some pretty lively practice rounds, some cash exchanging hands. Any similar setup this week?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah. At the end there we played ten ball. Two of the guys didn't play, but yeah, we played ten-ball singles, and it was different because there was everyone on the green waiting. And if you haven't seen, there was Bez. He had like a four-footer down the hill to win everything.

So we all got around him, and we were about two, three yards away, and breathing down his neck, and he holed the putt. So it's good practice. That's what we want. We want to recreate some pressure. So, yeah.

Q. We saw during the practice round that you guys don't have your name on the bags. Is that the symbol to show that you play for the shield instead of a name?

MIN WOO LEE: I think so. There was confusing moments because we were trying to get to our bag, and all our bags are the same with the same head cover. So it was a bit difficult. I think so.

We're playing as a team this week, and it's not just us. So it's nice to -- if they thought about that and they did that, it was a great job, because, yeah, we're thinking about other people, too. And we're trying to win for everyone else.

Q. How would you describe the team atmosphere in one word?

MIN WOO LEE: Oh. I'd say fun.

Q. Fun?

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah.

Q. Perfect. Who's your favorite swing on the team?

MIN WOO LEE: Favorite swing on the team. I always say Adam Scott, but I would say see would Kim.

Q. What makes him one of your favorites?

MIN WOO LEE: He's just a machine. One, he's funny, but any swing he does, it's just like really, really nice and perfect. So from a player that's a little erratic, it's nice to see someone hit the same ball flight every time and produce what he is trying to do.

Q. I have some old photos of your teammates, and I'm wondering if you could try and guess who these guys are?

MIN WOO LEE: Is that Bez? Oh, my God. I can't even see that. I don't know. That's hard. You can't even see his face.

Q. That's Sungjae.

MIN WOO LEE: Sungjae. Okay. Sungjae. Wow. Who is that?

Q. I think this is a rookie.

MIN WOO LEE: Nick?

Q. Nico.

MIN WOO LEE: That's Nico.

Q. That's Nico.

MIN WOO LEE: Wow. Okay. Is that Nick?

Q. Yeah.

MIN WOO LEE: Yeah, that's nick. That's easy. That's Corey. Is that it? Oh, one more. Hey, there's me.

Q. Who's most likely to be late for the bus?

MIN WOO LEE: Tom Kim, but he's actually been a lot better lately. I think it's gotten to the point where he's like I need to hurry up. But Tom Kim.

Q. Who's got the most energy in the team room?

MIN WOO LEE: Si Woo.

Q. Who's the most competitive?

MIN WOO LEE: Tom Kim.

Q. Who's the best dressed?

MIN WOO LEE: Adam Scott.

Q. And who talks the most trash?

MIN WOO LEE: Nick Taylor is sneaky there. Nick Taylor. I would say Nick.

Q. Do you prefer practice round with the guys or team dinner?

MIN WOO LEE: Oh. I love both, to be honest. I think practice round.

Q. Are you early to the bus or are you towards the end of the pack?

MIN WOO LEE: As in the sitting?

Q. No. Arriving.

MIN WOO LEE: I'm late. I'm towards the late. I'm never there early. I try not to let anyone down.