You might assume that after an opening-round 66 at the 2023 Amundi Evian Championship, 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 at the women’s fourth major tournament of the year, 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.
“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.”
Lee didn’t make many mistakes on Thursday in overcast, but scorable conditions in Evian-les-Bains, France, especially on a front nine that saw her post five birdies en route to a 31. She added birdies on Nos. 15 and 18 to take the clubhouse lead, before Paula Reto later followed with a 64.
And although she admitted the course is “visually intimidating” to her, Lee put herself in good position through much of the day, which has been a common theme for her this season. The difference on Thursday was that her putter, which has often failed her during her ninth LPGA season, came through when she needed it to.
Lee made a change to her team prior to the U.S. Open at Pebble Beach, adding a putting coach. The move didn’t pay dividends that week as Lee withdrew from the event after an opening-round 77, citing back problems.
But she’s rebounded with a solid T-15 showing at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational and had the flat stick producing on Thursday.
“It’s honestly been a lot of mental. I really believe deep down I’ve always been a really good putter, and just for some reason this year I just haven’t felt comfortable over the ball,” Lee said. “I actually was speaking to my swing coach and he was so frustrated with me because he was looking at my stats and I want to say thanks to the KPMG Insights, I was ranked like 15th for strokes gained from approach to tee; my putting was pretty bad, so that’s obviously what my game was lacking.
“We’ve been working a lot on not so much my stroke, more so like mental, speed, and more feel, stuff like that. I think it’s really helped.”
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.
In Evian and my suitcase has been stuck in DTW for 40 hours and counting. Have been on the phone with @delta countless times but have not been able to speak to someone in Detroit directly. Pls pls help. pic.twitter.com/9YaeEAKkLh
— Alison Lee (@alisonlee) July 25, 2023
“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.”