You might assume that after an opening-round 66 that American Alison Lee would have seen a drop in her blood pressure and far fewer butterflies.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
After briefly sitting atop the leaderboard on Thursday, the 28-year-old UCLA product — who won the inaugural ANNIKA Award in 2014, given to the nation’s top collegiate female golfer — said early tournament success doesn’t typically settle her nerves.
Alison Lee plays her second shot on the 13th hole during the first round of the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 27, 2023 in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Photo by Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
“You would think if I have a good round, whether it’s the first day, second day, all three days, going into the final round, it puts me in a better state of mind,” Lee said. “But honestly, sometimes it doesn’t, and especially a course like this, when it’s a little difficult off the tee it just takes a lot of positive self-talk. I’m trying the best I can to stay confident and in the moment. A lot of the time if you see your name at the top of the leaderboard it is a little bit more nerve-wracking and a little bit more anxiety and adrenaline running through the veins.
“So just trying my best to stay calm and not worry about that too much. Like I said, I’ve been putting great. Just trying to focus on making birdies and not making too many mistakes.”
Not everything about the trip to France has gone smoothly, however. While Lee made the trip overseas without issue, her luggage did not. She said via Twitter that her suitcase had been stuck for 40 hours in Detroit and she planned on focusing her attention on a travel partner before getting some rest.
“I’m going to go track my suitcase and make sure everything is there. Maybe take a little nap. I slept through the night last night so I might not have to do that,” Lee said. “But I’m going to send Delta a pretty nasty email.”
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