Muni He, fresh off of 72 holes of bogey-free golf in Saudi Arabia, is back in action this week on the LPGA in Thailand. The globe-trotting He carries a bit of buzz with her after getting engaged to Formula 1 driver Alex Albon over the offseason.
“It’s like back to school,” said He, who opened with a 72 at the Honda LPGA Thailand. “You see all the girls and everyone is congratulating each other. Few other girls engaged as well, so chatting with them about what they’re doing.”
Advertisement
While the wedding planning hasn’t started yet, He did reveal some details of the engagement during a broadcast of the PIF Saudi Ladies International. The couple had gone to Big Sur for a holiday after spending two weeks training in Los Angeles and Palm Springs.
“We were at night stargazing,” she said, “so it was very romantic.”
He finished 16th in Saudi and is excited about some equipment changes she made late last year.
“Towards the end of last season I made some pretty drastic changes through my bag, like in the middle of a tournament,” she explained. “I think at the beginning of this year we just wrapped that off by replacing the clubs that I felt like were putting me at a disadvantage or where I could have improved.”
Advertisement
He, who also goes by “Lily,” first met Albon in 2019 after she started watching the Netflix documentary “Drive to Survive.” Admittedly in a slump at the time, He said a friend thought it would help to see things from the perspective of athletes who are under a different kind of pressure. She watched the whole season in one day and found it incredibly motivating.
China’s He started following Albon on Instagram and, at the time, didn’t think much of it. Albon, who was just getting into golf, noticed He and followed her back. (At the point, He had more followers on Instagram than Albon.)
Eventually the two rookie athletes starting talking on the phone and met for the first time in Los Angeles, where they played a round of golf together.
During Wednesday’s press conference in Thailand, He was asked if she’s a better driver than Albon is a golfer. He said she actually prefers not to drive at all, calling herself a “passenger princess.”
As for the golf, she does try to help.
Advertisement
“Whether he listens or not, that’s a different story,” she said with a smile.
“I don’t think he has a handicap. He’s just so busy. Doesn’t have a lot of time to play. But I think his best score with me was 79 so he broke 80. That’s a big accomplishment.
“Yeah, I think he just really enjoys it. His swing looks very nice. Maybe he’s just watching me play a lot.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: LPGA’s Muni He dishes on Formula 1 driver Alex Albon’s wedding proposal
Read the full article here
