The second Major of the year, the US Open Championship takes place at The Olympic Club in San Francisco, California. Lee's best finish in this event is 3rd place (T3 in 2011).
The last time Lee played on this course was his second US Open in 1998 where he tied seventh. He remembers little of Olympic Club, only that it had "iffy" greens.
He again returns to the course after a win. "It is nice to come off a win, with that confidence. I expect this week to be a tough test. I've seen the golf course over the last couple of days. And it's difficult, like all U.S. Open tests normally are. This is one of tougher ones. Sets up really well. And tests every aspect of your game.
All the greens have changed completely. It's a different type of grass. I don't really remember too much of the greens other than the 18th, and that seems a little bit flatter this year. But certainly still quick from back to front.
Tee‑to‑green it's fairly similar to the 8th, I think, seems to play fairly similar. The 8th is much longer now. It was an 8 or 9‑iron par‑3 when we came here last time and now it's a 5 or 4‑iron, even. So that's changed slightly.
16 is obviously a bit longer. But most golf courses are longer, having been lengthened over the last 14 years. It feels like a similar sort of setup.
There's holes like 6 that people might consider a 3‑iron or even a 5‑wood and leave a long shot in. But if you can hit driver down the right‑hand side you've got a bigger advantage, you're going there with 9. It depends on what you're feeling at the time and what your game plan is and how you want to play it.
I think the difficulty of the golf course will depend on the conditions, as well. I think this course is probably going to get quite a lot trickier the firmer it gets this week, because there's no rain in the forecast. The fairways will be harder to hit, you'll have to shape it into holes like 3 and 4 more and 10 and 17, where the camber runs the opposite way to the hole.
His opinion of the difficulty of the Olympic course compared to other US Open courses? "It ranks pretty highly. I can only think of really Oakmont that sort of jumps out that's been a more difficult in this one in recent years. That was, once again, very firm. You tend to find these golf courses harder to play when they're firm. Pebble Beach was harder because it firmed up".
And on winning a Major? "Maybe I'll never win one. Maybe I will. I could. I've got no answer to that. Keep working hard and trying to get myself into the position. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't".
It looks set on being an exciting test. Playing in the 35th group, the top three World Ranking players, Luke Donald, Rory McIlroy and Lee, fresh from his win at the Nordea Scandinavian Masters, have a 1.29 tee-time on Thursday.
Patience is a virtue and so it proved on Thursday, when the top ranking players struggled with the brutal course. Lee began his day with a double bogey at the 1st, and bogeys at 3,6,and 9, with just one birdie at 7. He had a better back nine, making par at each hole, making birdie at 17 for a 73 and T40th place, 8 shots off the lead.
"It's set up hard, the greens are very firm, there's a breeze. It's a very difficult golf course. You hit a lot of good drives that don't end up on the fairways."
"It's a case of not giving in and trying not to make too many mistakes. You don't want to play chasing golf around here, firing at the pins. I'm pleased with three over par after the start."
The group had an earlier 7.44 start on Friday, from the 9th hole. Two birdies, four bogeys and now 5-over for the event, saw Lee end the day in T29th place, 6 strokes behind the three leaders, Furyk, Toms and Tiger Woods.
Having made it through to play the weekend, Lee had a 12.45 (20.45 UK) tee-time, with J Senden on Saturday. Lee moved into contention with a third round 67, having recovered from consecutive bogeys at the eighth and ninth, and producing a fine display of golf. Now T4th on +2, he has a final round tee-time of 1500hrs with Freddie Jacobsen.
I finished it off nicely," he said of his 40-foot birdie putt at the last. "I had a couple of good chances at 16 and 17 that I didn't birdie and then I made that bomb at the last that you don't expect!"
"I played nice for the first two days without too much reward but I knew that, at five over par, I was still not out of it. As long as I shot a good score today, then I was going to have a chance come Sunday."
Three off the lead and still with 14 holes to play, Lee's drive down the 491-yard fifth drifted right and disappeared into a tree. His search proved fruitless, and the ball.was never seen again. There was to be no recovery from a double bogey six and he finished joint 10th, four behind winner, 26 year old Webb Simpson.
Lee said: 'You could have understood it if my shot was way off line, but it was on the perfect line. You've got to cut that corner and try to hold it up against that slope, because the fairway is so severe. It was hard to get any momentum going after that because it took the wind out of my sails".
'I wasn't really making any putts and wasn't getting any breaks. I eagled the 17th after a great approach (just a foot away from an albatross), but it was probably too little too late by then".
He has announced to the press that he has decided to sell up and move his family to America to further his career. He feels it will give him the best chance of adding major titles to his name.
He said: "It’s fair to say I’ve grown to love playing in America. I’ll go next year because it’s hard to practise when you want to practise in the UK".
"The rest of the family are really excited about the move. My kids are outdoor types and I want them to enjoy an outdoor lifestyle. They’re also the right age in school terms. We’re selling up in Worksop.
"It’s a big decision but I don’t have that much time left at the top and I want to give myself the best chance of staying there as long as I can".
"I can see us spending the next five to 10 years in America."
