THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 19, 2002

Iben Tinning

Q. Iben, you went to school in The States, but I can't remember -- was it New Mexico or --

IBEN TINNING: No.

Q. I thought you went to school here.

IBEN TINNING: No, never.

Q. Are we allowed to ask questions about pairings, or -- we got the pairings. Are we allowed to ask her anything about them?

IBEN TINNING: You won't get an answer.

Q. What do you know about Raquel Carriedo? Do you know Raquel?

IBEN TINNING: Of course, I do.

Q. Have you played very much with Raquel?

IBEN TINNING: No, not really. We just know each other from the European Tour, played a few tournaments together, but, you know --

Q. What's your season been like in Europe? You have won how many times?

IBEN TINNING: Twice.

Q. Twice?

IBEN TINNING: So it's been a fantastic year for me, and I made it to the Solheim Cup, this made it even better. I know it was close, but I did make it, so I am happy to be here, it's been a fantastic atmosphere, and the course is great, and I feel like I am in pretty good shape, so I am ready for it.

Q. How are the oldies looking after you rookies?

IBEN TINNING: You mean Alphie?

Q. And Laura.

IBEN TINNING: Yeah, they are. I mean, I found Alphie last night asking what time we were going to get picked up and asking about you bring the clothes on the course. And they are helping us and she is more than happy to do it.

Q. How would you describe the European Team? What's the nature of the team? I mean, you have seven different nations represented. What's that team like?

IBEN TINNING: Strong, very strong, mentally and golf-wise. We all hit the ball quite long, and very strong mentally, and we have the heart for it.

Q. (Inaudible.)

IBEN TINNING: There is a few young players and a lot of rookies. I think that makes it even stronger. Then the oldies we have on the team are -- they are really enjoying it and looking forward to it, so -- then again, we have Annika.

Q. She is a whole different category.

IBEN TINNING: Yeah.

Q. What's that like, having a chance to play with her as your teammate?

IBEN TINNING: Fantastic. I played with her this morning. I mean, she is a nice girl, and she -- I can see, she is really excited about it, and I think she is ready for it, too.

Q. You are Swedish? I mean, she speaks Swedish, you speak Danish.

IBEN TINNING: Yeah, we understand each other.

Q. What do you make of the -- we are seeing so many more Scandinavian players now, obviously, the Swedes came first and now Norway and Denmark. Is there a movement afoot?

IBEN TINNING: Well, I just think it was about time that some of the other Scandinavian countries just came on with some good players. Denmark has improved a lot, I think one of the greater Scandinavian countries right now, you know, in golf, because the men are doing good, and I am doing good. I think that's a good mixture. We are doing fine.

Q. Do you guys about go to like Spain or somewhere in your off-season?

IBEN TINNING: Some do that, yeah, Spain. I mostly stay at home, actually. I think maybe one month or two months before we are going to start playing, I am going to Florida, see my coach over there.

Q. Who is your coach?

IBEN TINNING: Gregor Jamieson. He works at Lake Nona. So I go and visit him a few times a year, and that's, basically, what I do.

Then we have -- we have a pretty big indoor course in Copenhagen where you can see a 6-iron, 5-iron fly all the way, so that's pretty good for the technical.

Q. So dome?

IBEN TINNING: Yeah.

Q. One of your 6-irons or 5-irons, it must be quite a big dome, then.

IBEN TINNING: It's about 170 meters or something like that, 160.

Q. Is that typical in the countries where you have a shorter golf season, you have domes?

IBEN TINNING: No. I think we are actually one of the only countries in the whole world who has got that big golf indoor center. It's like four levels, or something like that, so -- it's great.

Q. Is that in Copenhagen?

IBEN TINNING: Yeah, pretty much in the center, actually.

Q. Is that your home, Copenhagen?

IBEN TINNING: Yes, that's my home.

Q. So you are a city girl?

IBEN TINNING: I am a city girl.

Q. How many people do you have over here?

IBEN TINNING: I have got five or six with me already. Six, it is.

Q. Is your family here?

IBEN TINNING: My dad, my boyfriend, my mental coach, my coach, and two good friends and -- did I miss anybody? I don't think so. So I have got a big fun group, big staff.

Q. You have two golf coaches, Gregor Jamieson in America and --

IBEN TINNING: And then I have one back home. His name is James Pitts, like Pit with an S.

Q. One T?

IBEN TINNING: Two T's.

Q. Pitts?

IBEN TINNING: Pitts.

Q. He is an Englishman with an amazingly Danish accent, isn't he?

IBEN TINNING: Yes.

Q. How easy do you find it to settle in and to adapt to the course?

IBEN TINNING: Sorry?

Q. How easy have you found it to settle in to the routine of the week on the course?

IBEN TINNING: I think it's been quite easy, actually. And I have James around, he helps me out, looking at the greens, and I have a good caddy. I think it's fine. It's just pretty much getting over the jet lag, and I am doing fine now.

Q. What about the golf course, is the grass --

IBEN TINNING: It's quite similar to back home, so that makes for a European advantage.

Q. Does this course compare to any of the ones you play on the European Tour?

IBEN TINNING: No, I wouldn't think so.

Q. What would be closest?

IBEN TINNING: Woburn, maybe, we played that one year ago at the British Open. That's quite similar; it's not really similar, but kind of a par course.

Q. Did you go to qualifying school?

IBEN TINNING: Yes, I went to that one in Venice.

Q. Did you win?

IBEN TINNING: No, finished third.

Q. So next year you plan on playing full time?

IBEN TINNING: Yeah.

Q. The prospect of that, are you excited, scared, ambivalent?

IBEN TINNING: I think it's going to be interesting. I am not really scared. I think if I just make the cut, I would think I have a pretty good chance to make it over here, so, I mean, it's going to be interesting, and I hope I will like it. If I don't like it, I am just not going to be there then.

Q. You have always got the European Tour.

IBEN TINNING: Yeah.

Q. With next year's Solheim Cup -- well, next Solheim Cup being already next year, is it going to be difficult to get a European spot if you have to try to get your card over here?

IBEN TINNING: That's right, but, you know, if I play well over here, I might get a wild card. You never know.

Q. Have you talked to some of your other teammates who are in the same position as you, going through the final qualifying, this week? Have you talked with them at all about it?

IBEN TINNING: No. I mean, it's not before next year, so we have got plenty of time to talk about it.

Q. For LPGA Q school.

IBEN TINNING: Yeah. If I talked about what? I don't get the question.

Q. The final stage of the LPGA Q school, have you spoken with some of the other girls and your team who are in the same position as you, they are also trying to make it on the LPGA tour.

IBEN TINNING: Yes, of course we did, we are all excited about it and really want to make it, so that's -- we are trying to cheer on each other.

Q. Are there -- do you have any concerns about the European Tour and leaving it? Because I know that you and some of the other players have been a big injection into that tour, and I know that they will be very sad to see you all play over in America.

IBEN TINNING: Yeah, but the thing is, if you want to improve your game, I am sorry to say, you need to play more tournaments, and at the moment we have only got 14. If we had 25 tournaments, I would never go over here and play, but we don't have that. I mean, I don't think it's going to be next year, might be next two years or something like that, but -- so you need to improve your golf. Otherwise, it's not exciting anymore, is it.

Q. Is that a tough thing for European players to deal with? You want to support your home tour and players like Laura Davies, she has kind of flown back and forth across the Atlantic for a long time to do that, but not every player can afford to do what she has done. Is that a real conflict, wanting to be home but wanting to play against the best in the world, to play against Annika every week?

IBEN TINNING: I don't really know if it's a conflict, but I think if you are born in Europe, you want to stay in Europe, and you feel more comfortable there, you have your friends, family, boyfriend, husband, whatever, so it would be different if you want to be back home, close to home. And this is not really close, is it?

Q. So there is a conflict?

IBEN TINNING: It's a bit of a conflict, but I don't --

Q. It's what you have to do for your profession; is that the way you look at it?

IBEN TINNING: Yeah.

MODERATOR: Any more questions? Thank you.

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