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NCAA WOMEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPSMay 25, 2015Nic PotterEmma TalleyBRADENTON, FLORIDA RICK NIXON: Joining us here on the dais from the University of Alabama, Emma Talley, who's the overall individual champion, shooting a 3‑under overall for the tournament. She's the first Alabama student‑athlete to win the NCAA individual championship award. Welcome, Emma Talley, as well as head coach for Alabama Nic Potter. Start with an opening comment about the round today and your feelings about winning the championship. EMMA TALLEY: Well, this is definitely a dream come true. Today I was bogey free and I just played really consistent and had a few putts go in. Overall I'm really happy with my performance. This is a dream come true. RICK NIXON: Coach Potter, as you saw her play today, your thoughts and any advice you might have given her? NIC POTTER: Someone asked me last night how I thought Emma would handle the lead in the situation. She's been there before. She's proven she's really good at performing on big stages in big tournaments, so I had no worries about that. Bogey free out here is incredible, just because you can hit really solid shots and have them turn out less than ideal. But what she did really well all week was handle those situations, ball rolled off the green, she got it up‑and‑down. She didn't make anything more than a bogey. She's won big tournaments, low amateur in the British Open, so she knows how to play hard golf courses, and she proved herself today. RICK NIXON: Emma, as you went through the course today, what were some of the key holes for you as you held onto the lead and built momentum toward the end? EMMA TALLEY: Well, I hit two fairway bunker shots that were pretty flush today which was kind of ironic because I actually asked Coach Potter to show me how to hit a bunker shot out of the fairway five days ago. The last out was crucial for a birdie, I didn't know at the time, but got up‑and‑down from the fairway bunker to make birdie. Like Coach Potter said, there were several times out there where I just got it done in a crucial time. Q. How does it feel to be the first Alabama student‑athlete to win this championship? EMMA TALLEY: Well, there's been so many great athletes come through Alabama, Brooke Pancake, Stephanie Meadow, you can name several people that have done awesome at Alabama, and I'm just honored to be the first one, and Nic and Susan have been a big part of that. Q. You look at this, your junior year, you win the championship. The momentum this might give you for the rest of your career? EMMA TALLEY: For sure. It's always hard after you play a big championship to keep going, but I have the U.S. Open qualifier on Tuesday, so got to get prepared for that. Q. So this is the first year the individual champion will get an exemption into the LPGA event. What's that mean to you? EMMA TALLEY: Well, last year I got to play in several majors, which was so fun. I got to know some of the pros there each time. I got to learn. Just that experience helped me win this. So I think just getting another experience on my belt, another LPGA experience will definitely benefit my golf career. Q. Coach, can you give kind of your take on that walk‑through on fairway bunkers? What did you tell her? NIC POTTER: I really didn't in all honesty teach her anything that she didn't know. It was just confirming that she needed to keep the ball a little bit farther back just to make sure she contacted the ball first. But the fact is she's a great ball striker.  Her contact is really consistent from everywhere, and her swing bottom is very consistent, and if you do that on a regular basis, you're going to be a great fairway bunker player, too. As a matter of fact, this is a great place to practice‑‑ someone asked me if I've seen her practice those a lot, and I truly believe I have not seen her hit a fairway bunker shot the last few years at practice, only at tournaments. Q. The way this course played all week, super challenging, what experiences did you draw upon from your past to handle this course better than everyone else? EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, I think every tournament you play in just makes you a little better. You learn from your mistakes and you grow upon them. For sure, I mean, I played in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst last year, and I had boxes on every hole drawn, and I really think that helped me coming into the course this week. When I first saw the course on the practice day, I immediately knew that this was a position golf course and it was somewhat like Pinehurst. I knew I was going to have to make critical shots and put the ball in flight in the fairway and put the ball in a box on the greens no matter where the pin was. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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