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THE EVIAN CHAMPIONSHIP

September 8, 2015

Juli Inkster

Evian-les-Bains, France

JULI INKSTER: I really like our team. I think we have a great team. I think everybody's in a really good mindset. We've lost the last two, and we're over there, so it's going to be very hard for us, but I think everybody has got the right mindset to go over there and to do it.

Now can we do it? We can, but we've got to play very good golf to do it. And that's kind of where we're at right now.

Q. Interesting the book makers in the U.K. share your view that the Europeans are favorites. Why do you think that they are?
JULI INKSTER: Well, because they've -- you don't play on paper, and match play is a lot different than medal play. Match play you've got mono-a-mono, you've got to have a lot of heart. You've got to have the want to win. The Europeans have that. You've got to play well (Indiscernible). We can just say we'll just ride through the first four matches and we'll kill them on Sunday in the single. And the last few years, the last couple years the singles they've been really good. So you can't fly underneath the radar anymore. We've got to come out there and we've got to play from Friday mornings on.

Q. There are some match experiences we know in the Ryder Cup where the Europeans seem to have the hex over the American team, but the Americans have come out and win the first session each time the last three years. So it's not that they don't know how to play this. It's just that somehow there seems to be an ingredient that's missing that the Americans can't put their finger on.
JULI INKSTER: Also, match play is a lot of momentum. It's your team and how the first groups go, and getting into a rhythm with your partner. I think sometimes we kind of lose that somewhere along the line.

Q. One of the things that's interesting in the men's game is that the Americans seem to be looking for this Magic ingredient that Europe seems to have. And Europe -- I was asking what is it because we don't really know?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, and you don't want to know. It's like somebody asked you how did you do that? You don't want to think about it. You just do it. All our girls, too, or ladies, I mean the last four years ago to now they've all matured. A lot of them were 17, 19, 21, 23, and now they're 28, 25. So they kind of get what's going on. We have Alison Lee who is 19, and all the other girls are a little older.

Q. She plays really well. She's composed. She knows her game.
JULI INKSTER: Yeah. Match play is just a different ballgame, and you've just got to have the right mindset to play it. You can't get too high and you can't get too low, and you've just got to grind it out. It's all about grinding.

Q. I'll tell you something, Juli, losing is good for business. Getting whooped, the European team getting beaten by the superior United States it gets a bit worrying for TV viewers. Now we've got a contest, haven't we?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I'd just as soon not have a contest, but whatever.

Q. But the point is it's escalated interest?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, it has.

Q. The European team has just galvanized golf in Europe.
JULI INKSTER: Not only that, but the world. World Golf has really come along from Asia to Europe to Canada, I mean, everybody is playing well. The teaching is so much better, the clubs are so much better, the golf courses are so much better so everybody's catching up to us.

Q. It's a big event now.
JULI INKSTER: It's great for the women's game. This is, for women's golf, this is probably our biggest stage besides maybe the U.S. Open. It's gotten some momentum as far as history now, and it's got some fight into it, which is fun.

Q. Leading into the Olympics which is a big period and big opportunity for women's golf.
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I think it is. I'm not a really big fan of golf being in the Olympics, but I think it's good for women.

Q. Yeah, it's projections, isn't it?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, it's the same format. It's medal play. You know, we play it every week. I'm big on amateurs playing in the Olympics. I think that's their deal.

Q. That's a fair point. One last question. Are you confident that this is going to be an American success in Germany?
JULI INKSTER: Well, I'm not confident. I wish I could look in the crystal ball and see what it is, but I know personally being on nine Solheim Cup teams, you can't just show up. You've got to show up to play, and we need to show up and be ready to play.

Q. You're entering this tournament coming off a big win, coming in hot. Paula said yesterday at the photo shoot that you are coming in hot. Do you feel like you're going to encourage your team at all? Do you think it gives you any sort of bragging rights?
JULI INKSTER: Well, I don't think it gives me any bragging rights because I didn't beat any of them. But you know what? A win is a win. It was great to get back in the winners circle. I played really good coming down the home stretch, and it felt good to be in that situation again. But I feel good about my game. I haven't played as much and I've kind of had a lot of things on my mind, but I feel like I like where my game's at.

Q. Well, you're balancing a lot right now, especially this year. FOX, being a mom, Solheim Cup captain, Legends Tour, LPGA player. Are you sleeping, are you resting? What is your mindset this week?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, my sleeping has been bad. I wake up in the middle of the night thinking of things I need to do, and I'm usually a pretty good sleeper, so that's not been very good. But I really feel like I've got things where I want it to be as far as next week. Now it's just getting it together and playing.

Q. Did you ever give any consideration to not playing this week?
JULI INKSTER: No, no. I mean, for me just to sit around -- I've seen all these girls play, to watch them play would be stupid. So I'm glad I'm playing, and it will get my mind off of it.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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