Q: Here with Alison Lee, really good start to your week here. Just how pleased are you with that round?
ALISON LEE: Oh, pretty good. I mean, honestly, when we were two holes in I saw the leaderboard and I was shocked at how low the scores were. I didn't really see low numbers like that out here this week. But yeah, I mean, I guess it's out there. I guess you just need to make a few more putts and hit your approach shots a little bit closer. I thought I played great and then I saw Atthaya's score, but, yeah, I feel pretty good about my round today. Honestly, really tired and I'm sure the whole field is really exhausted, too. So I think just getting really good rest and prepping for the next three days is going to be really important.
Q: The undulation out here is insane. What adjustments do you have to make in your game?
ALISON LEE: A lot. Almost every single shot you have, you're not gonna have a flat lie. You're gonna be hitting up, hitting down, ball below your feet, ball above your feet so really have to take that into consideration and, and try and really focus because if you don't really pay attention, I mean, it's not going to end up where you want it to and with how big these greens are, you don't want to be on the wrong side of the green. So yeah, it's definitely really tricky and you have to pay really close attention. You can't slack out there.
Q: How do you like playing in Korea once again?
ALISON LEE: I love playing in Korea. I mean, this week too the weather's so nice. It's a little chilly in the morning but it was great out there. Obviously, very difficult to walk this golf course but it's nice being here. My mom's here this week, and my dad's coming on Saturday and my dad hasn't been to Korea and like 15 years, and they were both born here. So it's really nice to be here and spend time with them.
Q: I read your Drive On Reflections piece and about your struggles. How far have you come on that journey?
ALISON LEE: It's been great. And I mean, the main reason why I wrote that piece to begin with is because I'm in a better place and I feel really good. I feel, you know, really happy and satisfied with my life, and especially when you're playing good golf, too, I mean, you don't really need to do much. But yeah, I feel like I've come a long way and it's nice to be in contention and be on the leaderboard again because I feel like I didn't even think I would be able to do that after a while so. So yeah, it's nice to be here and playing in Korea again and playing good golf.
Q: What would be your message to some of the younger golfers coming up that may be struggling too?
ALISON LEE: That's always hard because I feel like everyone needs to find their own way. But I would say the best thing to do was really open yourself up and talk to people, like talk to your friends, talk to your peers, see what's going on and give yourself perspective. I know when, you know, when you're not playing well, and you're not in a good place, you don't want to talk to anybody. You feel embarrassed. I know I felt like so embarrassed to play golf with people. I didn't want people to like, watch me play. I didn't even want to play pro-ams because I felt like I was going to embarrass myself. But I think the best thing to do is surrounding yourself with good people and good friends and good company because you'd be surprised. There are so many other people going through the same thing and just having a good chat with your friend really helps and really relieves a lot of stress and anxiety and stuff like that.
Q: You were playing and trying to get a degree at the same time a few years back at UCLA. How did that end up going?
ALISON LEE: Good, yeah, I got my degree. I graduated in 2017 so it's been a long time now. But yeah, it was good. It was definitely very hard. But I think it was like the after part that was the most difficult because I had so much time. Before I was so busy with school golf and trying to maintain a social life and then after that, when it was over, I had nothing except for golf. I think I kind of burnt myself out a little bit and I was lonely and I just kind of lost my way a little bit. So yeah, I mean, I feel like looking back at it, I wouldn't have changed anything. I played some of my best golf on Tour while I was in school, too. I really encourage a lot of young girls to play. I mean, you have Lucy Li, who's been playing well just got her Tour card. A lot of people don't know but she's taking classes right now, too. She's trying to get her college degree which I think is very impressive and awesome.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports