Minjee Lee craves consistency as she bids to follow legendary compatriot Karrie Webb and become the first player to successfully defend the coveted Women's US Open crown in 22 years.
Spearheading a five-strong Australian charge at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Links next week, Lee knows putting four good rounds together will be key to retaining the trophy after her commanding four-stroke victory at Pine Needles last year.
No player since Webb in 2000 and 2001 has gone back-to-back in the biggest and richest tournament in women's golf, but Lee is promising to give it her best shot.
"I feel like I am pretty close to getting everything together," the world No.6 warned in a video call from her Dallas base on Friday.
Despite not yet winning in 2023, the West Australian has been in the mix in her past five events, including a sudden-death playoff loss to world No.1 Jin Young Ko last month when trying to defend her title at the Cognizant Founders Cup in New Jersey.
"The last few weeks I had one round where I didn't perform that well, the other three were quite solid," Lee said.
"Just to get four rounds which are really good is actually quite hard but it's coming around.
"I'm hitting it well, but the results aren't showing it. Sometimes golf is like that.
"I know a lot of people expect me to be in the top 10 every single week, but I try to manage my expectations and sometimes I am not going to be. My motto is 'better every day'.
"I'm trying to get better every day - physically, mentally and technically."
Lee's younger brother Min Woo finished tied for fifth at the men's US Open last week, a month after he shared 18th at the PGA Championship.
Lee herself was 20th at the women's PGA Championship two weeks ago after fading out of contention in the final round.
But while typically chuffed for Min Woo's ongoing rise up the men's ranks, the 26-year-old Lee - already a dual major winner - insists she doesn't need any added motivation to retain family bragging rights.
"I'm very, very happy for him but I'm not sure if it really motivates me to do well," she said.
"I'm always motivated to do well. No golfer wants to play bad, right?
"It's nice to do well and hopefully I can do the same."
Fellow major winner Hannah Green, along with Grace Kim, Gabriela Ruffels and exciting amateur Maddison Hinson-Tolchard are the other Australians in the US Open field.
Green and Kim have already tasted success on the LPGA Tour, while Ruffels tied for 24th at the women's most recent major, the KPMG PGA Championship.
Hinson-Tolchard, the 2023 Karrie Webb Scholarship recipient who has enjoyed a phenomenal college career at Oklahoma State University, has qualified for her much-anticipated major championship debut.
