THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 19, 2002

Dorothy Delasin

Pat Hurst

Cristie Kerr

Wendy Ward

MODERATOR: You start with Dorothy, want to talk about how it feels here this week?

DOROTHY DELASIN: I should have sat on the other end. Being out here is just a really great experience for me, I am having lots of fun, I am getting to know the ladies very well in a different level, and, you know, it's -- I mean, it's great that I am out here and, you know, I am going to support the team. It's just an amazing feeling and I am glad that I am here.

CRISTIE KERR: I can't say enough good things about this week. We have thoroughly enjoyed the golf course, and been made to feel very welcome by Interlachen and all its members in Minnesota, and it's a great time for golf. We are preparing, we are getting ready, and look forward to the weekend.

PAT HURST: I am just happy to be here with Wendy. No, actually, this is my third time around, and each time it just keeps getting better, to represent your country, there is no other better feeling than to do that, and this year I think it just means that much more to each and every one of us, and I am very proud to be part of this team.

WENDY WARD: I think you hear a lot of team being mentioned this week, which is unique with golfing being such an individual sport, and if there is anything that I miss in playing out on the LPGA, it's being part of a team, and this is our really main opportunity to get to do that, and so to get to play with the other 11, 12 players, including Dorothy, in the practice rounds, and just the way we bonded this week brings back a lot of neat memories from college and high school where you are competing with your teammates, and I don't have to compete against these individuals this week, and that's a lot of fun.

MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. Pat, you are here with three young people who this is their first time around, and there are others. What has it been like with so many new people on the team?

PAT HURST: I think there is, what, six of you, five or six of them, and it's been -- you know, I think it's the whole team thing with Patty being the captain, and the last couple of years, obviously, the last couple of times, the first time I was working, and then last year, I had a little bit of experience, and so this time it just seems like we are laughing a lot more and we are kind of -- I think we are all enjoying the whole experience of being here and just being proud to be here.

And, you know, I would say that the rookies aren't really rookies out here. They have all been out here for -- Cristie and I were talking about it today, she has been here for six years, Wendy has been out for seven, and I wouldn't consider them rookies, and I know that when game time comes around they are definitely not going to be playing like rookies. We have all had the experience, we have all played some type of team competition, so I wouldn't consider them rookies, and each and every one of them can play.

CRISTIE KERR: Just new faces, primarily.

Q. Kelli Kuehne called this your sports Olympics. Do you all feel like there is a lot on the line this week? Do you feel like you absolutely have to bring that cup home?

CRISTIE KERR: Well, that's ultimately our goal, but I think, you know, Patty said it best, keep the spirit of the Solheims alive, and, you know, the whole experience this week with the sportsmanship and playing in competition against, you know, the best players from Europe, just really taking the experience and enjoy it.

Ultimately that's your goal, but she said, you know, to do that we need to look at first things first. We need to go out and play our practice rounds and prepare mentally and physically to get ready to play. And so, you know, we have kind of been taking it step by step, not really focusing on bringing the cup back. We can't go and physically steal it and bring it back, we need to earn it back.

And I think, you know, she has stressed all week, do what you normally do to prepare to get ready to play an event, and, you know, that's what we have done. That's what we have been focusing on.

Q. Dorothy, what's it like for you being the alternate? Do you want to play, do you not want to play? It's sort of a weird feeling?

DOROTHY DELASIN: Well, the past two days I have played with the team, just do our regular routine, just preparing for a regular tournament. You know, tees just -- it's great for me because, I mean, I never got a chance to play in the Curtis Cup, so it's a good experience for me. I am learning a lot, watching the veterans practice, you know, see what they do differently, and try to get some tips from them. But, you know, it's just a really exciting week for me and I am glad that I am here to share the moment and the feelings with everybody on the team. And, you know, just -- it's amazing. And I feel fortunate -- very fortunate to be part of the team.

Q. Do you feel like this is a good thing for you to experience now in preparation for 2003?

DOROTHY DELASIN: Yes. It is a very good preparation for me. You know, for next year, at least I know what to expect. I don't think I will be a rookie for 2003, which I am planning to make the team. It gives me incentive to make the team next year, and more Solheims to come. You know, I am just going to work hard for it.

Q. Pat, can you talk a little bit -- you have been a very successful doubles players, especially in foursomes. That's been an area that the US has struggled a little bit, as opposed to the Europeans when they play them. Can you talk a little bit about that?

PAT HURST: I have played most of my matches with Kelly Robbins, and we have played well together, I played a best ball match with Rosie, and we also played pretty good together. So -- you know, I don't know what the -- you know, Kelly, our personalities, I want to say, is pretty similar, I don't know, and our games are pretty similar.

And I think when you are playing an alternate shot type of format, I think that's very important, is to put players who have similar games. And that's what Kelly and I do have, and, you know, with best ball it's basically who makes the most birdies out there when you are playing against another team, and that's -- I tend to make a lot of birdies and I tend to make some bogeys.

And so, hopefully, the other person can help pick up on those holes that I don't do well, and with both Kelly and Rosie, they have been able to do that. So -- but I definitely think that the alternate shots, Kelly and I's games are pretty similar, and that's why we have been so successful.

Q. For the first timers, was it emotional when you got your USA bags and saw the bag? Was it an emotional thing?

WENDY WARD: Well, I had Emilee Klein right next-door to me, and I heard her crying, and I thought, what is wrong with Emilee?" And it was neat because she was so overwhelmed. Some of the former Solheim Cuppers that aren't here for the US this week had shared with us what we would experience when we walked into our rooms, and they said, it's Christmas all over again, and red, white and blue.

I went to Arizona State, and we weren't fond of red, white and blue, yet my high school colors were red, white and blue, so it's fun to get back in the spirit of the red, white and blue colors, and it just really got the week off to a great start.

CRISTIE KERR: I was a little overwhelmed when I got into the room, not from an emotional standpoint, but I had stuff everywhere. I mean, I like to be pretty organized, I like to put stuff away in drawers and hang stuff up, and I didn't get that done until about 1 o'clock in the morning on Monday, so I didn't get much sleep Monday night.

But it was great. I didn't expect to get anything other than -- I really didn't know. I mean, they tell you you walk in and there is a lot of gifts and things, but I didn't think there would be like a video camera that costs thousands of dollars. It's phenomenal.

And they treat us like the absolute queens. I was amazed. I called my boyfriend, and I was like they gave us a video camera, I didn't have to buy that one earlier in the year, but you never know. I am just very, very fortunate and happy to be a part of this team because it's not what you get, it's what you do with it, so --

DOROTHY DELASIN: When I walked into the room, I was awed. I thought it was cool that I got all these clothes. I have never seen so many clothes in my life. You know, and the clothes were -- you know, the patterns are nice because I usually don't wear patterns like that, I -- just pretty much solid and simple, but, you know, they were all like -- it was just nice clothes.

I can't explain it. You don't have to match anything because everything is all matched up for you. So you just go over there and wear it. And they are all ironed, too, so you don't have to iron it.

I think just everything all prepared and set out for you each day is best for me, because I have a hard time picking out clothes anyway, so it was good for me that, Dorothy, this is what you are going to wear and that's what you are going to wear on this day, so it's good and it's a lot of fun.

Q. Cristie, I saw you working on your game on the 11th on your setup. How are you feeling about your game?

CRISTIE KERR: I am feeling great about my game. Hitting it, I feel really, really good about my game. I have been working hard. Got a little crazy after I won earlier in the year, but, you know, I kind of had a low and then I kind of got refocused on my goals.

And what I have realized is that when I do the small things well, I do well. So, you know, I just went back to my setup, back to the fundamentals, and I get a little bit sloppy in my posture sometimes, and I have been working hard on that the last two months. And I played really, really well the last month, so I feel good about my game. I have been working on the small things, and it's been paying off.

Q. How are you finding the greens?

CRISTIE KERR: The greens are awesome. They don't spike up. They are the perfect firmness. They are receptive, yet they are not overly soft. This golf course is amazing.

Q. Pat, can you talk about how different is the feeling playing in Europe, playing at Loch Lomand, and playing here? Obviously, this is home, but, I mean, is it just a different kind of emotional atmosphere for you?

PAT HURST: Yeah, definitely. When you are in the United States, you get a lot more support than you do over there. And so, you know, I think it's a treat to be at home and to play at home and to get -- you know, out there I heard -- it wasn't our group, it was, I guess, the first group out, I heard them on the -- you know, out there on the course, they were yelling -- chanting something USA, go USA, I don't know what it was, but -- and that's the kind of stuff that you don't get over there as much as you do here.

And those are the things that gave me chills when I play here at Muirfield. I hit a shot at times into some of the holes over there, when we did play at Muirfield, and to hear go USA, go USA, and just the chanting, you don't get that at any regular tournaments, no matter what it is, whether it's the Open or just a regular tournament.

So to play over here and play in front of, you know, our fellow Americans, I think that's what makes it so special to us.

MODERATOR: Any more questions?

Q. Could I ask one more? Wendy, can you tell me, is there anything significant about the necklaces that you all received?

WENDY WARD: Very significant. It's a gift from Patty. This was her gift to the team members. It is a pure diamond, a ruby and sapphire, especially designed -- I don't know the company.

PAT HURST: One of a kind.

WENDY WARD: Yeah, one of a kind. There is a silver S that goes through it to signify the Solheim Cup, and the real significance is that each one of our diamonds has our name as well as a 2002 Solheim Cup engraved in it. Some of us haven't been able to detect it, but we know it's in there, and very special and very sentimental gift from Patty. She said it just expresses how special we are to her and, hopefully, our play will reflect how special she is to us.

MODERATOR: Thanks, guys.

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