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THE WALKER CUP

September 11, 2015

Lytham St Annes, England

MIKE WOODCOCK: We'll make a start. Very pleased to welcome the GB&I Captain Nigel Edwards back to the interview room. Nigel is joined this afternoon by Gavin Moynihan, who is the only player on the GB&I Team who played in the last Match at National Golf Links in America. And on the far right we have Grant Forrest, who, of course, is the runner-up in this year's Amateur Championship.

Nigel, if I can start with you, as I said to Spider a short time ago, the preparations are almost complete now. I just want to get your thoughts on the Match and getting things started and underway tomorrow.

NIGEL EDWARDS: Yeah, it's been a long process I guess since the last Walker Cup at National Golf Links. A lot of water has gone under the bridge and a lot of players have turned pro.

Yeah, it's nice to get going. We've been to this golf course a number of times this year with the Lytham Trophy and just after The Open Championship in July, and obviously coming here on Sunday. Seeing the golf course change from Sunday, yeah, we're ready to get going.

The boys are all playing very nicely, so they have given me a hard task in who so play and who not to play, which is great, because quite often, you come to Walker Cup and not everybody has got their game, and then you're trying to put things together. But this is a totally different challenge for me, and, yeah, looking forward to getting going tomorrow morning.

MIKE WOODCOCK: And Gavin, obviously having played in the Match once before, have you been sharing some of your experiences about that with the rest of the team?

GAVIN MOYNIHAN: Yeah, i obviously played two years ago, so just tell the lads just to enjoy it, like I enjoyed it two years ago, and I actually played pretty nice. That was the main reason, just tell the lads to enjoy it and embrace the week. I think we've all done that.

I think everyone has enjoyed the week so far and looking forward to getting going tomorrow. We are all playing well. Be nice to get the trophy back and that is the main goal just win, can't wait to get going tomorrow.

MIKE WOODCOCK: Grant, it's been a great season for you again this year. How much will it mean to you to represent GB&I this weekend?

GRANT FORREST: Really looking forward to it. Had a good week of preparation. Not used to preparing for a tournament for five days, but I think everything is falling into shape now and can't wait to get going.

Q. Obviously a record time as captain for you. How important is it to get the right result after one win and one defeat in the previous two?
NIGEL EDWARDS: Well, I think any time you're competing, whether it's the Walker Cup or The Ryder Cup or home internationals or European Team championships, you go there to win. That goes without saying. I mean, these lads are here and they want to compete, compete to the best of their ability. Therefore, it's important.

Q. We spoke shortly after National, and I said that I hoped you would return as captain, and you kind of shook your head and said you didn't think so. What changed in your mind subsequent to that?
NIGEL EDWARDS: The R&A asking me to start with (laughter). I think it was a first -- it is a first in the modern era. That's why I guess I was not expecting it.

I think it's not announced until December, so you know, it was one of those things, and it was a very nice surprise to get the call again. And naturally, I think if anyone's offered to captain their country, they would jump at it.

I'm very lucky that here in my two previous terms as Walker Cup captain, my employers, the Golf Union of Wales and England Golf, have been extremely supportive and have seen benefits of me representing them as much as representing Great Britain and Ireland.

Yeah, I've loved every minute of it, and now the focus is on this weekend and getting the right result, getting the players in the right frame of mind to go and perform so that they can show their skills off to the world.

Q. Grant, you've not had the Lytham Trophy experience with the other boys on the team; how helpful have they been in you getting to know the course and getting ready for tomorrow?
GRANT FORREST: It's helped a lot, because most of the guys have played the course heaps of times. I came to the squad only in the last -- I think it was in July, and I didn't really know where I was going.

And then this week, as the week's progress, I've just got a lot more comfortable with lines off the tees and best way to go around this course, because this is a course that you really have to plot your way around.

The practise rounds this week have really helped a lot, and having these guys around me.

Q. You had McGinley talking to you, giving your boys a pep talk. Anybody else? Any messages from any other stars?
NIGEL EDWARDS: Loads of messages, where do we start: PÃ¡draig Harrington, Darren Clarke, Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Andy Sullivan, Jack Senior, Steven Brown, players from previous Walker Cups, Edoardo Molinari from Italy, and people from inside golf. So lots of people have supported the team. Curtis Cup players, Carin Koch, who I actually played against in a Wales v. Sweden Schools International in 1987. Yeah, she's obviously done okay (laughter).

Q. Obviously the Walker Cup has played a huge, huge part in your lives. How do you convey what it means to the boys and how special it can be?
NIGEL EDWARDS: I think when you pull on the jersey of Great Britain and Ireland, you've got that lion on there, and look at the people that have represented Great Britain and Ireland, and the respect they have.

I remember after I played my first Walker Cup Match, and I don't know what it was, I just felt that people saw you in a different light. I'm not saying that they didn't respect me before, but it was a greater respect, and then as a winner of the Walker Cup, you're getting the respect that not many achieve.

So yeah, they know how special it is. They know how much it's meant to me. I've tried to relate that to them. When we first came here, we had a dinner the night before the Lytham Trophy in May, so I shared some of my experiences then and what it meant to me and what it's meant to other players. And hence, the letters that we've received from those players.

And also, then when we went up in July, I think the fact that Ashley and Paul, having done what they did at The Open Championship and being here first thing the next morning to be able to play was fantastic, because they could have easily gone and shattered. They played The Open championship where they had the delays; and then the week before, they played the Europeans; the week before they played the Brabazon; the week before they played the British Amateur; the week before they played.

So they could easily have gone shattered and I probably would have said, I understand. But they were there because they want to be on this team and they realise how special it is. You know, tomorrow morning, they will get their reward for all their hard work over many years.

Q. Two years ago, you were a bit like a duck to water when you went into the Walker Cup as a teenager. What is it that you feel that you bring this year as a hardened 20-year-old, and was there any stage at all that you were tempted maybe to turn professional before the Walker Cup, or what is it that made you hang on or a second time?
GAVIN MOYNIHAN: No, never. Never even came across wanting to turn pro. Most of the boys turned pro like straight after two years ago, a few of them turned pro this year. But no, I never even wanted -- never came into my head at all.

Start of the year, just assumed I would just get back here. Had a bit of a rough patch there in March, April, but from May on, I've played well all year. I knew no matter what I had to do, I just had to be here. Glad I'm here and I can't wait to get going again. Like I played well two years ago. Just result wasn't what we wanted. Just try and reverse that this year.

Q. The team at Royal Aberdeen in 2011, can you compare that team to this one? I think you were saying earlier that more players are playing well --
NIGEL EDWARDS: Were they all playing well? I think they were playing nicely. I think this team has played really well this week, and I hope that's a good omen. I'm sure it is, because it will give them a lot of confidence.

Comparing teams is quite difficult. But, you know, I would say the team spirit that the five Irish bring to the table, because they have grown up playing international golf together for the last four or five years, is something really special. It's a first for Ireland, and goes on the back of the success of the professional golfers that have won major championships from Ireland.

So they have created a really great team spirit. We have got Ewen, Grant and Jack from Scotland, as well, and they have had success as a team at The European Team Championships, and obviously Ashley and Jimmy have had really successful amateur careers so far. And they have just gelled so well. It's not been difficult at all. It's just a great camaraderie that I think will really benefit us.

Q. Tremendous that five of you are on this team, but is there any part of you that thinks, well, if it all goes wrong, this team -- I'm sorry to put this like this -- but this team, oh, yeah, that was the Irish team. (Laughter)?
GAVIN MOYNIHAN: No. Three Scots and two English, as well.

Q. You were on the winning Palmer Cup team at Walton Heath. How has that helped you for this and how does this task compare to that? Is this a more difficult task?
GRANT FORREST: The Palmer Cup is a big deal because most of the top American players are all college players, so it's a similar strength of opponent. I think the Walker Cup just has a new level. There's going to be a lot more crowd around and it's just a much bigger event. So I think the Walker Cup, it's just an extra notch higher.

Q. (Regarding Bryson DeChambeau and Palmer Cup experience.)
GRANT FORREST: All good players. He's had a great year, he's won the NCAAs and U.S. Amateur. He's a great player. Just part of a team that didn't come out on top that week in the Palmer Cup.

Q. You haven't played Lytham Trophy, so this is your first competitive experience of Lytham. What have you had to learn about the course and have you had to work harder to get to know the course than maybe some of the other boys?
GRANT FORREST: Yeah, I mean, all you can really say is bunkers; they are everywhere. There's a few different ways that I think you can go about it, which will be great for match play especially. Some guys may want to hit driver and be more aggressive -- brings more bunkers into play. It will be interesting to see how everyone goes about their own games.

Q. Coming out of that answer, how much are you telling your guys what they shouldn't or shouldn't do out there in regards to drivers off certain tees or laying up and things like that?
NIGEL EDWARDS: Well, I'm not telling them what to do. I'm sharing various options with them and talking through that with them it.

Paul Dunne is very inquisitive and comes to you with -- throws things at you and he's able to work it out himself. He knows how to get around the golf course and he's playing lovely.

When a player decides or thinks that it should be a driver, and then I said, what do you think. And for me, it would be totally different, because I don't hit it 450 yards onto the 18th green.

No, seriously, there are certain holes that you can attack it with a driver, but what's the real benefit. And that's all I say to them, what is the real benefit here. Because you can play to that position and you're only going in with a wedge, so what is the real advantage of that when you hit driver and then you've got an extremely tough pitch slightly downhill, down wind, difficult to stop it, whereas if you're playing with a full shot, you have a chance of creating more spin and it will stop.

It's their decision. They are experienced international golfers. They do ask questions, which is great, because I'm not telling them what to do. I'll share my experiences and how I would see it. But I'm not saying you've got to play it like that or you've got to play it like this. It's their decision and they will commit to that on the day.

Q. Paul McGinley last year when he won The Ryder Cup, he told his players that this isn't about winning this Ryder Cup, we are trying to get the Matches back to square, because obviously what was GB&I, now Europe, is somewhat still behind even though they have been doing something very well over the last, like, ten Ryder Cups. How do you guys approach the fact that you're so far behind in total, or do you not even think about that and you're just thinking about trying to just win this one and not even worry about what happened in the past?
GAVIN MOYNIHAN: I don't really have any clue what the overall record was, so thanks for telling us. (Laughter) no, we are just completely focused on this week. That's all we can control. That's kind of one thing that Paul McGinley talked to us about was going through your process this week, one day at a time. That's all you can do. We can't control what's happened in the past. We just know about this week.

Q. You said you were not used to this, five days of preparation. What has been the hardest thing in the ferocious buildup?
GRANT FORREST: Well, I think early in the week, it's just trying to focus but at the same time, you don't want to be too intense and burn yourself out. I think it's just trying to pace yourself and just build the intensity as the week goes on.

Q. Do you have a name for Nigel yet?
GAVIN MOYNIHAN: We have nothing yet, no.

Q. Any nicknames you have?
NIGEL EDWARDS: Plenty of nicknames but not for your ears (laughter).

Q. You might not like me for this, but can you be a successful captain without winning?
NIGEL EDWARDS: I guess you'd have to ask the players that. In my eyes, you're looking to win. It's a difficult question. Because you're trying to do -- we've had a formula for a number of years, certainly when we play in GB&I, it's been pretty successful over the last number of Ryder Cups -- Walker Cups, since '99, since Porthcawl, really.

So you're just trying to make things that little bit better each time, learning from your previous experience, so that you are trying to get away from not winning.

Q. When you say you plan to get away from not winning, are you trying to avoid using the word "losing"?
NIGEL EDWARDS: Sorry?

Q. You didn't use the word "losing" then at the end. I'm just wondered if you've banned the word in your mind.
NIGEL EDWARDS: No, not at all. I just try to be positive with the lads. I haven't even thought of that. My formula is they need to be themselves. You need to give them the wings to fly because that's all they have got here, and that's what they will do to get the most out of themselves this week.

They will have their own personal keys to playing well and I think I know each of them reasonably well, having watched a lot of them over the last five years; Ewen less so because he's quite a bit younger. But I've watched him quite a lot this year and you get to know his traits. You get to know what helps him and what doesn't help him.

Therefore, I was explaining to Ken earlier, that sometimes I'm trying to stay out of their way, not get in their way, because they are doing things really well. If you do that, if you keep doing the simple things well, the rest takes care of itself.

Q. Gavin, having been a member of the losing side two years ago, do you feel home advantage is the biggest factor that makes you feel confident of being on the winning team -- stronger team than two years ago?
GAVIN MOYNIHAN: Team is very similar but home advantage is huge this week I think because the Americans have never seen Lytham like that ever.

Like National two years ago, it's getting similar to National. It was very firm two years ago. But different level, since you're here on Monday, like it was green on Monday and now it's like bronzy. Like you see the 18th, once you hit the fairway, it's gone, 80 yards, 90 yards of run. I think that's a huge thing for us is we play in it a lot. Most of the boys are a member at links courses, as well.

Especially tournaments over here, like a lot of tournaments are won with 2-, 3-over par sometimes and Americans are used to shooting 4-, 5- , 6-under. I think that type of golf suits us and we are in a better mind-set. I think that's huge, and especially our short games are all pretty sharp, as well, so I think that's huge for us this week.

Q. Watching video -- inaudible.
GAVIN MOYNIHAN: Yeah, you know what, we have been watching videos of it all week. I remember watching four years ago, as well. Yeah, it's huge inspiration for us definitely.

MIKE WOODCOCK: Nigel, Gavin, Grant, thanks for joining us and best of luck this weekend.

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