Having finally shed her tag as the best female golfer without a major title, it's hardly a surprise that Minjee Lee feels perfectly prepared for the Olympics.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Seventh on debut at the 2016 Rio Games, Lee and 2019 US Women's PGA Championship winner Hannah Green shape as strong medal contenders for Australia in Tokyo.
The two have had contrasting build-ups, with Lee fresh off her breakthrough at the Evian Championship in France two weeks ago and Green having not played competitively for more than a month after returning to Australia from the US and spending a fortnight in quarantine.
Both, though, have strong form to draw on.
Green boasts four top-three finishes in her last dozen tournaments and Lee, well, you can't beat winning a major in your latest hit-out.
"I'm probably in the best place that I've been in in terms of golf and mentally and just with confidence," 25-year-old Lee said on the eve of Wednesday's first round.
"I'm in a really good place coming off a major championship and it was nice to have a week off just to see my brother and kind of regroup.
"I'm just really excited to be here. We have such a great team with us and it's been a lot of fun so far."
Her brother being Min Woo Lee, whose feat in winning the Scottish Open last month proved a major spur for Minjee.
"When Min Woo won the Scottish, I was even more emotional than when I won the Evian Championship," Lee said.
"It was just really nice to see Min Woo win. I called him after and he was just so happy and he said he was crying for 10 minutes after he won so that was kind of sweet.
"He probably inspired me to pick up my game a little bit and just play well in the Evian."
Lee will play alongside Thailand's Patty Tavatanakit and Sophia Popov, the German who pipped her at last year's Women's British Open, for the first two rounds.
She said her Evian breakthrough will only count for so much in Tokyo.
"Obviously I've taken the positives out of that week but every event I play I feel like it's a new week, a new opportunity," she said.
"I'm in a really good place with my game right now but I can only really prepare for that first shot of the event this week.
"Hopefully it's a good week for me."
Green has been grouped with American Danielle Kang and South Korea's Sei Young Kim for Wednesday and Thursday and said she was hoping to avoid anything like the epic seven-man playoff needed to decide the men's bronze medal winner on Sunday.
"Congrats to CT Pan for knocking out six other players," she said.
"But hopefully Minjee and I can get a podium (finish) without any playoffs."
Australian Associated Press
