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RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN

July 29, 2015

Laura Davies

TRUMP TURNBERRY, SCOTLAND

COLIN CALLANDER: We welcome Dame Laura Davies, making her 35th appearance in this championship, which you probably don't want to remember. I do remember you finished ninth last year and you're playing well this year, so you must be looking forward to this championship.
DAME LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, definitely. Last week was a big boost and got me in all the tournaments at the end of last year. I kind of need the same again, because although I'm hitting it well, my position on the Money List is not great.
So another Top‑10 finish in this championship would help a great deal. Tee‑to‑green it's good. I'm starting to hole a few putts, so you never know.

Q. Why did you decide to caddie for Becky Brewerton on Monday and why didn't you tell us?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: Well, it's none of your business; I don't know, really. But I was paired with her last week and we were talking about her qualifying and was trying to get in via The Scottish Open and actually missed out by a shot.
We were just on the 14th tee waiting for the group to clear out and I said, "Oh, who is caddying for you."
She said, "Oh, I still haven't found one."
I said, "I'll do it." So that was pretty much the long and short of it and it rained all day and it was miserable.
She was going well. I thought we were going to make it; I say we, that's typical caddie.
Yeah, she just had a double‑bogey on 14 and didn't recover from that. It's disappointing because she's playing a lot better now.

Q. Did you enjoy it and is this a future career that you see for yourself?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: Definitely not. I'm way too lazy for that. It was she needed a caddie, I was doing nothing on Monday and seemed like a good idea. If I'd checked the weather forecast, it might not have happened.
I've done it before. I actually caddied a few years ago for Karen Lunn at the Tour School, and I then caddied for Mardi Lunn at the U.S. Open qualifying. That was 36 in a day, so that was hard work. Just an impromptu thing on the 14th tee and it just happened.

Q. Did you carry the clubs or use a trolley?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, yeah, proper caddie. You had all the others out there carrying them. I'm not going to pull a trolley around, am I. I'd rather of not done it. It's a lot harder pulling a trolley to be honest.

Q. How does this course compare among all the links courses that you've played?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: Well, I think this one‑‑ I shouldn't say easiest, but most playable of all the links courses I think. The bunkers are there and you know they are there, but you have always got a side you can head for.
I think that's why I like this one for my game, because I can hit‑‑ I think we are only hitting a 3‑iron off the first and possibly a 3‑iron on the back nine somewhere, probably 16, because you don't want to get too far down there.
Other than that, it's going to be driver all the way. Even if the wind changes direction and some of them shorten up a bit, you can still carry bunkers and try to take advantage of the hole.
Having said all that, if the wind gets nasty, it's going to be a good test like all links golf is.

Q. Do you have a favourite of the three links courses?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: Well, St. Andrews is my favourite because of the history and everything about it. Royal Lytham I think has the hardest and best bunkers of all of them. And I love Birkdale because I won my British Open at Birkdale. Again, I did quite well last year. It's somewhere that I feel like I can play Birkdale really well, but yeah, St. Andrews would be No. 1.

Q. Congratulations on the Hall of Fame. Looking back on that whole ordeal, is there anything that you would have done differently or do you wish that maybe the Hall of Fame had done anything differently for you?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: There's nothing I could have done differently. I was booked on the flight Sunday night and that's the way it was. Whether they could have got me up to the PGA Tour's charter or whatever could have been done, possibly, but it wasn't. We tried our best and we did everything we could to get there and it just didn't work out.
It's no one's falls, not even British Airways' fault. The plane sank into the runway; what are you going to do. It was very disappointing to miss it, but it's happened. So there's not really‑‑ I mean, I'm sure things could have been very different but it would have cost a lot of money, i.e., a jet, all the way, and no one was going to do that. It wasn't that important for all that kind of money‑‑ it wasn't. I would have rather had the cash and stayed in America.

Q. I understand you're cooking dinner tonight, what's on the menu?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: Lamb stew with sweet mashed potato, puffed pastry wedges and some vegetables, very nice.

Q. (Who is in the house)?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: No, my caddie and Webb e's caddie‑‑ who else is there‑‑ Mike's mom and dad are coming in tonight, the caddie for Lydia Ko, he's with us, last year was Trish‑‑ inaudible ‑‑ but unfortunately Trish's dad is not well, so they went home. Yeah, it's been an influx and just a great house and a great position. It's really nice.

Q. Have you seen the proposed changes to the Turnberry course, the Ailsa Course?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: I haven't seen themas in‑‑ I walked by them on the walls in the clubhouse. But I was told yesterday when we were on 9 what was going to happen and it sounds spectacular. And I think if the R&A have signed off on it, it must be very good, because I wouldn't have thought they would allow them to mess with such a prestigious course.
But the changes look like they are going to be good changes. If the R&A is happy, then yeah, I think it's going to be good.

Q. Compared to 2002 when you played, has it changed since then?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: To be honest, that's 13 years ago and I roughly remember the layout and I've seen it ‑‑ because it's not played a lot on the men's rota and it's always a bit different on telly.
You remember holes like 18‑‑ no, I don't have much recollection of what the course was like to be honest with you when I played it yesterday in the Pro‑Am.

Q. Given all the hullabaloo that's gone on with Donald Trump, do you think the LPGA should come back here, or the LGU should come back here and play this tournament again?
DAME LAURA DAVIES: At Turnberry? Oh, I have no idea. Who knows? I don't know. I don't get involved in that side of it. But the PGA Tour seems to be taking some of their events away, so I am assuming we are going to follow suit. I have no idea. I mean, that's up to the Commissioner and the board and everybody. I don't get involved.
But if we don't come back here, it would be a real tragedy, clearly, because it's such a great place and a great golf course. And it would be lovely to play it again with the new layout obviously.
COLIN CALLANDER: Thank you very much and good luck this week.

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