FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, June 5th, 2022
NOTES & QUOTES – MINJEE LEE WINS 2022 U.S. WOMEN’S OPEN PRESENTED BY PROMEDICA ON NBC AND PEACOCK
“She’s very mentally tough. We’ve seen it all week, especially today…she’s just put on an absolute clinic.” –Morgan Pressel on Minjee Lee
“It’s doubtful that she would be holding a U.S. Women’s Open trophy if she hadn’t added all of that power.” – Brandel Chamblee on Lee’s increased power in recent years
“It’s been my dream since I was a little girl. This is the one I always wanted to win.” – Minjee Lee to NBC Sports’ Kathryn Tappen
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 5, 2022 – NBC Sports concluded its 25-plus hours of comprehensive coverage of the 2022 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica from Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club in Pine Needles, N.C., on NBC, USA Network, and Peacock, as Minjee Lee (-13) set the record for the lowest 72-hole total score in U.S. Women’s Open history (271) en route to her second career major and first U.S. Women’s Open title.
2022 U.S. Women’s Open Presented by ProMedica – Final Leaderboard
| Player | Total |
| Minjee Lee | -13 |
| Mina Harigae | -9 |
| Hyejin Choi | -7 |
| Jin Young Ko | -6 |
| Lydia Ko | -5 |
On Minjee Lee (-13, Champion)
Lee with reporter Kathryn Tappen during the trophy celebration: “It’s been my dream since I was a little girl. This is the one I always wanted to win.”
Morgan Pressel: “She’s very mentally tough. We’ve seen it all week, especially today. Playing with a big lead is not easy, and she just executed shot after shot…and putt after putt. She’s an incredible ball-striker, but her putting is not usually the strength of her game. This week, and recently within the past year, she has made incredible strides on the putting surface.”
Brandel Chamblee on Golf Central Live From the U.S. Women’s Open: “She talks a little bit like Tiger Woods when she talks about how she attacks this game and works on her weaknesses…glaring improvements over the last couple of years…picking up 20 yards (in driving distance) in the last two years…it’s doubtful that she would be holding a U.S. Women’s Open trophy if she hadn’t added all of that power.”
Kay Cockerill on Lee’s lead and strong start in final round: “That lead she had overnight of three, then coming out birdie-birdie, that gave her the luxury of having some struggles and making a couple bogeys and not losing grasp of this championship.”
Pressel: “There’s a reason why she leads every statistical category in approach – because she can consistently deliver the club on the ball, time and time again. Her iron play is second to none.”
Pressel on Lee’s approach to six feet on the 12th hole: “This was the moment where I think we all realized that it was her day and it was her championship.”
Pressel on Lee’s strong putting: “A few weeks ago when I first reached out to her coach, he said they were working on the stroke and not trying to take it too far back inside. But starting Tuesday at the Founders Cup, they really took the focus off of the mechanics…trying to get away from technical thought over the ball and really seeing the shape of the putt and allowing her skills to produce it. I would say if there’s a better golf course to do that on, it’s right here with the severity of these greens.”
Pressel following Lee’s approach on the 15th hole: “She’s just put on an absolute clinic.”
Cockerill: “I can’t help but think that big major win last summer at the Evian after seven-and-a-half years of trying – being basically one of the best players to have never won a major – has just freed her up immensely.”
Paige Mackenzie on Golf Central Live From the U.S. Women’s Open: “In these moments, when there was some stress and the pressure was on, Minjee Lee was able to continue that good putting…hitting the back of the cup, there’s no timid stroke, no tentative way, just a sense of calm.”
On Mina Harigae (-9, second place)
Pressel: “Mina did not lose this tournament whatsoever. She put herself in this position and she played really solid. She didn’t have her very best stuff today, but Minjee won this championship and Mina can hold her head high. She’s gaining experience and being in contention…all of that set her up for what she has accomplished here this week.”
Tom Abbott on impact of finishing in second place and the record $10 million championship purse: “If she were to finish second on her own, that’s just over a million dollars. The biggest check she’s ever made is $268,000, so that gives you an indication of what is on the line here coming home for Mina, even if she is not the champion. There is a lot of money at stake here.”
On Jin Young Ko (-6, fourth place)
Pressel: “It’s not quite the weekend that I think we all expected to see from Jin Young Ko, being a few back headed into the weekend. Expected her to make more of a push but she just hasn’t been able to get it together.”
On Lexi Thompson (+3, T-20th place)
Pressel on the 18th hole and her closing birdie: “Lexi has been on a little bit of an emotional rollercoaster. Certainly thinking back to what happened last year, but also just recently losing her grandmother, who has been a very supportive member of Lexi’s team and they were very close…I’m sure she’s playing with her grandmother in her heart this week.”
Terry Gannon: “And the fact that she had control of this championship last year, up by five strokes with eight holes to play and did not win it. She’s been through a lot of adversity on the golf course too, you put that behind you, but then you come here this week and you’re asked about it all over again, so you’re reminded of it whether you want to be or not.”
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GOLF Channel chronicles the path taken by thousands of golfers who dream of becoming U.S. Open champions, beginning June 6 with 10 hours of coverage of “Golf’s Longest Day” on GOLF Channel from U.S. Open Final Qualifying sites around the country
Coverage begins at 7 a.m. ET, continues at noon ET, and resumes at 6 p.m. ET until final results, and the U.S. Open field is nearly completed at around midnight ET. GOLF Channel will feature interviews, analysis, highlights and scoring updates from nine U.S. Open Final Qualifying Sites in the U.S. and Canada, as well as live reports from The Country Club at in Brookline, Mass. – site of this month’s U.S. Open – and GOLF Channel’s studios in Stamford, Conn.
–NBC SPORTS–
