THE MODERATOR: All right, we are pleased to be joined by Andrea Lee ahead of the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro.
Just starting off here, how nice is it to be playing close to home and is it any different than any other week.
ANDREA LEE: Yeah, it's always nice to be playing in it the LA area. Drove up yesterday morning. Took me about an hour 20 with travel, so I am staying up here for the week. It's always nice to play a tournament really close to home and have family and friends come out and support, so I'm really excited.
Q. California is a big hub for competitive golf, both LPGA and PGA. Did that play a factor in you wanting to pursue professional golf when you were younger?
ANDREA LEE: I think Southern California was always really competitive when I was growing up. We always had a lot of great junior golfers in the area, like Alison Lee, amongst many.
But I feel like, yeah, that honestly helped me grow into the junior and amateur player that I was and helped me get to that next level. Yeah, it's just really competitive in California, so I think it was great to be able to grow up and compete against some of the best in the country.
Q. Over to the golf the side here, four cuts made in four starts this year. Playing good golf to start the year. Is there anything you really worked on this offseason to try to hammer down before the year started?
ANDREA LEE: I'm always working on every aspect of my game, and think it always comes down to the putting and the short game, so I really spent a ton of time in that area this offseason.
But I think this is my sixth full year on Tour now and I feel like I'm just becoming a little bit more of a veteran I guess every single year just being more comfortable and confident being out here and playing amongst the best in the world.
I feel like I've just grown into a lot more of a mature player than I used to be, and I feel like I'm just taking every week as a new opportunity and learning experience. I feel like I've been playing some really solid golf so far this year.
Obviously want to win and it's been a few years since my last win, so it would be great to kind of knock down the door this year.
Trying not to think about that and just play the best golf that I can.
Q. Big week this week as a local. Next week major championship golf starts. Is that in the back of your mind playing a week before, maybe some things you need to work out before major championship season comes around?
ANDREA LEE: Yeah, I mean, I love playing in major championships. It's always the toughest test of golf we have every year and I love playing tough golf courses.
I had so much fun at Shadow Creek in Vegas a couple week ago and really kind of felt like a major championship with just how difficult it was. So I feel like that was really good prep honestly.
Yeah, I feel like playing before a major is always just good to have under my belt, see where my game is, see if I need to work on anything in particular. Obviously this week is really important for me too as a local and playing in front of a home crowd. Of course I want to do well and hopefully contend on the weekend.
So just thinking about that first before we head into Chevron next week.
Q. Talk about the course a little bit. You obviously practiced here and have gotten ready. How are the course conditions looking into this week?
ANDREA LEE: I played the back nine yesterday and it's in great shape. I honestly think it might be even a little bit better than last year condition-wise. The greens are pretty firm. They're quick. They're really smooth. So I feel like if you just put a good roll on it, has a good chance of going in. They're really pure.
So, yeah, the fairways look great. Course overall is just in really good condition. Rough is thick around the greens. The bermuda, kind of sticky, so going to try to get as many reps around the greens as possible.
Really looking forward to another great week here on El Cab.
Q. Talk a little bit about last year and then compare it to this year. So last year this was the first outdoor professional sporting event after the LA fires. So this tournament last year took on a much bigger tone. It's continuing to do that. Is there a different sense here this week with it almost a year in or from being LA resident? Is that in the back of the mind of everybody here, for fellow Angelinos, as far as the continuing LA fire relief?
ANDREA LEE: That's a great question. That's crazy that it's been a year since those LA fires. It was really devastating for our community.
It's been also amazing to see how we've been able to come back from that and have people like Walter and Shirley Wang really give back to the LA communities. They've done so much for us with this tournament, but also for Los Angeles. I was part of the media day about a month ago. They've donated so much money to the fire relief efforts, millions of dollars.
I think they even helped give funds to rebuild six or seven of the firemens' homes that were lost. It's just incredible to have people like that, very inspirational people to be partners with the LPGA and to help grow women's golf.
So, yeah, I feel like coming back here it's been a year; I think a lot of people have honestly forgotten how devastating it was, but it's still in the back of my mind, and as Angelino, I would love to go out there this week and just try to do my best and have fun and play the best that I can in front of the home crowd and family and friends.
Q. And last one, a quick follow-up. You mentioned everything Walter and Shirley Wang are doing for the LA fire relief. Touched on what they're doing for the championship as far as elevating the purse when they came in a few years ago. What does it mean to you as a player - and this is your hometown event - but as a player to have sponsors like JM Eagle and Plastpro elevate women's golf and the LPGA Tour and how that's almost a trickle down effect to other tournaments on the LPGA?
ANDREA LEE: Yeah, definitely. I think Walter and Shirley are trendsetters really. They came in this head strong with a really high purse and that kind of set the tone for the rest of the sponsors on Tour and the rest of the partnerships that we have.
I think the purses, especially the regular Tour events have really gone up because of them, because they came in so strong with like at least a $3 million purse. Now we see across the board a lot of our tournaments now are at least $3 million, which is really big for the women's game.
So it's really amazing to have people like Walter and Shirley who are willing to give back and give back to women's sports and really grow the LPGA and the women's game. So it's great to have them.
Q. Welcome home.
ANDREA LEE: Thank you.
Q. How does it feel to be back home?
ANDREA LEE: It feels great.
Q. Play at home in front of your crowd, your family, friends, is there extra pressure or motivation?
ANDREA LEE: I honestly don't feel any extra pressure. I actually really enjoy when familiar faces, family and friends come out to watch and support me. It feels like I have a little bit of a fan base out here and it's nice to hear their cheers if I have a good hole or make a birdie or something like that.
So it's not really pressure, but like you said, probably a little bit of motivation just to want to do really well in front of them.
Q. Talking about motivation, what do you have to do this week to get a win here?
ANDREA LEE: I think a lot of the things have to go my way, but like I said earlier I feel like my game is in a really good spot right now. I've been playing really consistent golf and I think it's going to really come down to how many putts can I make this week. Always comes down to who makes the most putts every single week honestly.
So just trying to really focus on that area of my game and I feel like if it that part is strong then I have a really good chance at winning and being in contention even every week.
So just going to focus on that.
Q. Talking about that, the confidence, when things are not going way what is the mindset? Where do you go in your mind to get back on track?
ANDREA LEE: When things don't go my way, I mean, it's already in the past, right? You just have to let it go and forget about it and move on. There is nothing you can do to change it. If I make a double, I can't go back and change that. All I can do is think about what can I do to make the next shot my best shot.
Just, yeah, focus on every single shot until I finish the round. That's the mindset. What my process is. Just focusing on that and trying not to think about the external pressures or anything like that.
Q. Yeah. Lastly, if you don't mind, I represent a Latino community. My website is for Latinos. Any message for Latina girls trying to get into the game? They say that Latinos don't really play golf. That's a lie. Everywhere I go I see Latinos playing. Is there a message for little girls?
ANDREA LEE: Always my biggest advice to junior golfers is to -- this might not really answer your question -- but to get a swing coach and get the basics right if they really want to try and do well in this sport. That's what my dad did with me. He didn't want to give me his bad habits so he had me straightaway go to a golf coach to just learn the correct basics, the aim, the setup, the technique.
But also just to have fun. I fell in love with golf when I was five years old, and I feel like I was very self-motivated to want to be a good player and ended up becoming a dream of mine to one day play on the LPGA Tour.
I would just say to have a really good balance in your life, work hard, study hard, and just play hard. Golf is a very humbling and rewarding game. If you just try your best and have fun with it good things will happen.
Q. That's a great message. Thank you so much. Good luck this week?
ANDREA LEE: Thank you.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports