by Mark McDermott
Andrea Lee admitted afterwards that she’d been a little nervous heading into the fourth and final round of the U.S. Women’s Open golf tournament on Sunday at the Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania.
Lee, a 2016 Mira Costa graduate, was atop the leaderboard going into the day, meaning she was in the final group to tee off, along with co-leaders Minjee Lee and Wichanee Meechai. Although Lee has won an LPGA tournament before and has placed in the top ten several times, to be in the final group on the final day of the U.S. Women’s Open meant she’d arrived at the very apex of the sport.
But perhaps no other 25-year-old in the world could have been quite as prepared as Lee. She’d first qualified for this most prestigious of golf tournaments ten years ago, as an amateur in 2014, when she was 15.
Sunday didn’t go well. Along with her co-leaders, Lee had her worst round of the tournament, shooting a 75, including a disastrous bogey on the first hole and a double bogey on the fourth. But she also showed grit, rallying on the back nine to earn a tie for third and $664,778 prize.
At the press conference immediately after, Lee said she’d learned a lot from competing at the very highest level of the sport.
“A lot of positives to take away from the week,” Lee said. “This was my first time being in the last group of a major championship, both the third and fourth rounds. So I was extremely nervous, but I feel like I learned a lot about how to control my emotions out here …I feel like this is only going to make me stronger in the long run, and give me some confidence going into the rest of the season.”
Lee acknowledged Sunday’s round didn’t go as she’d hoped. Her first three rounds had been 69-69-67, leaving her 5-under going into that last round. She finished at even par for the tournament, while the eventual winner, LPGA veteran Yuka Saso, shot a 68 on Sunday to finish four under par for the tournament. If Lee had simply shot par for the course, a 70, she’d have won her first major title.
“It was tough out there,” she said. “Obviously, I didn’t have my best, right from the start. I was pretty nervous…just didn’t have great shots out there. I had a couple of drives that really cost me, especially the double [bogey] on four. But you know, I tried to fight my way back, especially on the back nine with the birdie on 12. I felt like I was still in it. I really grinded out there.”
Lee, who is from Hermosa Beach, is likely the best golfer to ever come from Mira Costa, possibly the entire South Bay, and certainly is the best golfer who was ever a regular at The Lakes in El Segundo, her weekday practice course during her childhood years. She was considered a child prodigy when she qualified for the U.S. Open at 15, and subsequently made the halfway cut, finishing 69th in 2015 tournament at the legendary Pinehurst Resort and Country Club in North Carolina. In 2013, as sophomore at Mira Costa, Lee was the CIF state champion. She retired from high school athletics to focus on the national amateur circuit and her academics. Her goal was to go to college at Stanford, both for its academic excellence and the fact her childhood hero Tiger Woods attended the school.
“It felt amazing to end my high school golf career that way,” Lee said at the time. “But with my AP classes, playing on Mira Costa’s team again this fall would be too much. I enjoyed the camaraderie of playing on a team and hope to play on Stanford’s team in two years.”
The next year, 2014, Lee became the number one ranked golfer on the American Junior Golf Association Circuit. But then, after achieving such success in the wider golf world, Lee unexpectedly came back to Mira Costa for her senior year, leading the Mustangs to their first (and so far, only) CIF team championship in golf.
MCHS Coach Tom Cox remembers first encountering Lee at The Lakes. She was an eighth grader at the time, and he was a teacher at Mira Costa but was not yet coaching golf.
“I just went to play around at The Lakes with a buddy of mine, and they said, ‘Hey, do you mind if we add this eighth grader to your group?´And we were like, ‘Sure. Why not?’ I remember this vividly, looking at her, going, ‘Oh, you play golf?’ I didn’t know she was at the time, but she was already a prodigy. I turned and looked at her and said, ‘Hey, you should try out for the Mira Costa golf team. You know, we have a golf team at the high school.’ She was like, ‘Oh, yeah, I plan on it.’ And then she proceeded to kick our butt, me and my buddy.”
Cox took over the team the year after Lee won the individual state title, after she’d seemingly left her high school career behind. She won the Junior Ryder Cup with the U.S. Team during her junior year. Then she surprised everyone and returned to the Costa team for her senior year.
“Talk about adding an ingredient,” Cox said. “We went and won the state championship that year, which was my second year. I feel like I didn’t mess it up. It was funny, I’d just started coaching golf. I certainly didn’t teach her anything that she didn’t already know, but I probably learned more from her than she did from me. It was such a special moment. Now I’m a ten-year golf coach, and I’m really proud of our program, and I really feel like that was made possible because of that experience. It gave credibility to our program, and it gave me a little bit of credibility, so I was able to develop a program the way I wanted to.”
That team was already talented, with golfers Marni Munez, Ashley Kim, Veronica Chen, Danielle Richman, and Lexi Nielson. But Lee was a unicorn among high school players. She’d already, after all, played in the biggest professional tournament in the world, achieved number one ranking, and was a Ryder Cup champion.
“When Andrea joined our team, she commanded respect,” Cox said. “Her approach was special, her disciplined practice routines. But also, the other girls realized that we had something special, so it was that little bit of final ingredient that was needed. Because Andrea had done so many things outside of the high school golf world already at that time, this didn’t faze her as much – she’d had the experience, but it also helped the other girls. It blended their ability to discipline themselves, and work towards that goal. She didn’t ask for any special treatment. She played in the majority of our matches. That’s pretty rare for an elite player like Andrea. She really embraced that senior year experience with the high school team.”
Lee achieved her goal and went to Stanford University in 2016. Over the next four years, she became the most decorated golfer in Stanford history, setting a school record with nine individual titles.
Lee turned pro in 2000. She’s had 15 career top ten finishes, including four this year, and in 2022 won her first LPGA tour event, the Portland Classic. Her career earnings are 3,057,747, including $1,009,288 this year. Her trajectory is ever upward. She was disappointed by her finish on Sunday, but not dejected. She seemed to sense that this was only the beginning of her time at the very top.
“I definitely learned a lot this week about myself,” Lee said. “I do belong out here, and I feel like I am good enough to win and be in contention for major championships. I just need to do better. I’ve learned a lot this week, and I am hoping to build on that, on the things that I need in order to put myself back up there again.”
In an interview a few days later, Lee reflected on the ten year journey between her first appearance at the U.S. Women’s Open and last weekend’s.
“There’s a big difference in experience,” she said. “Obviously, you know, being a 15-year-old and playing in my first U.S. Open back then, I was just so nervous and really excited for the whole thing, just ready to learn as much as I could about being out there, and to learn what I could from all the professionals around me, all the women that I’ve looked up to my entire career. And just to have fun, you know, I had my dad [carry] the bag that week, and we made the cut. I just had a really good time. That’s all I really wanted, to get a good experience and learn from it. Ten years later, now it’s a goal to win the whole thing one day. That’s been a big dream of mine ever since I played that first one – it’s the one I’ve always wanted to win. So obviously there’s been a lot of growth and maturing up to this point. I feel ready to compete and contend on big stages.”
Lee said being in the final group both Saturday and Sunday was pretty thrilling.
“I was so nervous, but also super excited,” she said. “I actually played really solidly on Saturday. I felt really comfortable out there, just enjoying the crowd. They were screaming my name, and it was nice to hear all the support. I had a blast. And then, the U.S. Women’s Open on Sunday is obviously kind of a different beast. I think the nerves got to me a little more. But I had fun just being in that group and having the chance to win. It’s a privilege to have that opportunity, and I would never take it for granted. It was a big learning lesson. I’m confident that if I find myself in that position again, that I will handle it a lot better. But overall, I had a blast. It was an experience unlike any other, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Hopefully, I am back up there.”
Lee said the South Bay will always be close to her heart. Her parents, James and Sunny Lee, still live locally, and her memories of everything they did, first introducing her to golf and then driving her everywhere throughout her childhood so she could follow her passion, were foundational to her success now.
“I was five years old when I picked up the game, and I remember when my Dad took me to my very first lesson at The Lakes in El Segundo,” Lee said. “I fell in love with the sport immediately, and I just have so many memories from growing up there and playing the par three course and putting for hours on the putting green, hitting budgets on the range. I mean, it’s very nostalgic, just looking back and thinking about where I came from and where I started. You know, I never had the privilege to play at country clubs or to practice at really nice golf courses. My dad and I would always, you know, kind of drive around, whether it be The Lakes, Alondra [in Lawndale], Skylinks [in Long Beach], Lakewood, all the way to Industry Hills. We would find ways to make the best out of it, and get the most practice out of the opportunities that we had. Just looking back, they’re very fond memories, and I would never change a thing because they were vital in making me the player that I am today. I loved growing up here in the South Bay, and playing for Mira Costa was an extremely fun experience, getting to win state with some of my close friends at the time.”
Watching her career progress from afar, Cox said that Lee’s public course background may be one of the things that sets her apart and has helped make her the special player she is. Many pros grow up playing on private courses, he said.
“There’s probably something there that’s baked in that cake, because I see a lot of kids who are kind of privileged and they are just so used to things coming easy for them,” he said. “Then you get out on a [municipal course] and things don’t go their way and they fall apart a little bit, because they are used to playing on manicured courses all the time. Now, certainly, Andrea is playing some of the best courses in the world, but she’s also played courses that weren’t like that.”
Lee still plays at her old public course haunts from time to time. Last year, at Alondra, Cox was running his summer program for eight graders who will be joining the Costa team. He was surprised when Lee showed up at the course.
“Andrea showed up out of out of the blue, a total surprise,” he said. “She was in town for a local tournament. And here’s the funny thing. Do you know where she went to practice that day? She was preparing to for an LPGA tournament Surprise, she was there in town for the local tournament. And here’s the funny thing. You know, where she went to practice that day was she was practicing preparing for LPGA tournament on the par three at Alondra, and that tells you something. My kids complain about that course, but I’m like, ‘Hey, if it’s good enough for Andrea Lee, it’s good enough for you.’”
On Sunday, after Lee’s tough final round, Cox was impressed with what he saw in her remarks immediately afterwards. The most elite athletes never stop getting better, from LeBron James somehow progressing as a basketball player across entire decades to Tiger Woods adding nuances to his golf game even after suffering injuries that would have ended most careers. What they do is they learn from their setbacks. Cox believes Lee is one of those special athletes who will just keep getting better.
“As a teacher and a coach, the message I try to give is if you allow yourself to learn from your challenges, they are your most important lessons,” he said. “And Andrea seems to embrace that…She understands that. She’ll be back. Her career is just starting.”
“I’m not surprised at all that she’s having the success she’s had. It hasn’t been a straight trajectory, of course…It’s just so difficult to get to that level. But the person I knew in high school had the mental approach and discipline to do it, so it doesn’t surprise me at all that it’s coming together for her at the highest level right now.”
Lee expressed both gratitude and determination. She also believes that her professional career is just beginning.
“I feel like I’ve found success throughout my junior amateur and collegiate career, but I’m still finding my footing as an LPGA professional,” she said. “I am learning to be more comfortable with being in contention, more comfortable with possibly winning tournaments. I’ve done it once before [at the Portland Classic] but it’s still really hard to win out here. This year is probably the best start that I’ve ever had since being a professional, and I feel like I’m finally getting comfortable out here, and not taking anything for granted, not expecting too much out of myself, and just kind of staying my course and trusting the work that I’m putting in will lead to good results.”
Don’t be surprised if on a future Sunday morning, Lee closes in and captures her first major tournament title.
“Last week was a tremendous learning experience for me,” Lee said. “I’ve learned so much from it. I think I’ll be able to handle it a lot better the next time I find myself in that position. Golf is just all about continuing to learn and grow. I do find myself doing that.” ER
