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SOLHEIM CUP

September 19, 2015

Juli Inkster

St. Leon-Rot, Germany

MODERATOR: I'd like to welcome in Captain Juli Inkster from the United States into the interview room.

A couple of things to let you know about tomorrow, the restart begins at 8:45 a.m. Singles remain the same; the singles time is at 10:40. The pairings for the singles will be available ten minutes after the last putt drops from the morning restart.

Captain, good to have you here. You won one in the afternoon. You are 1-up in two and you are 1-down in the other. So pretty good shape, especially given what happened in the morning and where you stood. I want to get your thoughts on where your team is right now, and then we'll go more specific.

JULI INKSTER: All right. Let's just start at 7:45 this morning. I thought that was huge for us with Gerina birdieing 16 and 17, ended up tying that hole. And then Lexi making a huge putt on 18 to get a half there, too. So instead of losing two points, we pretty much just lost one point. So I thought that was huge.

Coming out in the afternoon, late morning, whatever, we were in really good shape, I thought. I thought we were going to be able to kind of get out of there and split 2-2. But Pettersen and Charley Hull just stepped on the gas in the last four and birdied the last four holes, and kind of took a point away from us there. So that was a little disappointing, but you've just got to tip your hat to them. They played great golf.

So we were down pretty good, 8-4. And then we come in the afternoon, I thought our girls really played well. Lexi and Cristie have kind of been our horses. We got them out early. They didn't play this morning, so I wanted to get them out there.

Gerina and Stacy are 1-up, but they got two holes left.

Lexi and Lang, they were down three after three, and battled back to even. And then they got back down again. That's been kind of a roller coaster match for them.

Alison just made a great putt on 15 to go 1-up in that match.

So at least we have a little bit of red on the board. Haven't seen a lot of that in the last couple of days. But we've got to finish. We've got to finish those three matches tomorrow. We've got to finish strong. I think the Europeans have played really 17 and 18 maybe just a little better than us and we need to buckle down and get those last two holes.

MODERATOR: Can we talk specifically about the Pressel-Creamer match and how that turned? You've seen that before, and you said that was kind of disappointing.

JULI INKSTER: I'm sure it was disappointing to them, too. But they birdied -- they were 3-up. So they birdied 15, 16, 17 and 18. And in alternate shot that's amazing.

I mean, it's just like Gerina and Stacy Lewis this morning, they were 7-under after 14 holes in alternate shot. So it can happen. It's just kind of turned on them. I told them not to hang their heads down low. Pick them up and get ready for singles.

MODERATOR: Can you talk about the pressure you might have felt for your team? I'm not talking about the pressure that Juli Inkster felt down 8-4, but a team that maybe felt a little fragile coming in after two losses in the Solheim Cup. I mean, 8-4 is a pretty big deficit.

JULI INKSTER: Oh, yeah. It's huge. I just told them last night, we've got to play loser. We've got to play tougher. We've got to want it.

They responded this afternoon. I was very happy with the way they're playing, whether the outcome or not. But I just thought they played a lot tougher this afternoon.

Q. That first match this afternoon went off without a hitch, no problems there. But then there was really a hitch, what happened?
JULI INKSTER: Well, you got to give Catriona 40 minutes and Brittany 40 minutes. And it's not like it's -- the clubhouse is right there. So no one really told Brittany Lang and Lizette that they had to do that, so they were all warmed up, ready on the tee. And then I found out they don't go until 3:00 and it's 2:15. So they had to go back to the clubhouse.

And we couldn't find Gerina and Stacy, because we were going to try to move them up if they were ready. It was a cluster (laughter).

MODERATOR: Cluster.

JULI INKSTER: Cluster, I didn't add the other one, just cluster.

Q. Juli, as you say the momentum in this thing has been shifting back and forth unbelievably. When you think you've got a split in the morning and then suddenly you're four points down in the afternoon, how do you keep a team like this from not hitting the panic button, what do you say to them?
JULI INKSTER: I just told them in the afternoon, I just said we can't change the results. All we can focus on is what we've got going today.

I really felt good about my pairings this afternoon. I rested Stacy yesterday. I rested Kerr and Thompson and it just killed me to rest them this morning, but I rested them. So I felt good about my afternoon pairings.

And Piller and Lewis, they seemed to click together. They played really well this morning. So I just sent them back out there.

And Lizette and B-Lang, they've only played one match, I wanted to get them out there. I felt really good about my pairings. And they've come through.

Q. I know it's kind of a long time because it's been an exhaustingly long day, but can you clear up what happened there at the start of the day with Carin?
JULI INKSTER: I don't really want to get into it. It was just a little -- it was a discussion. But we're all good now. We're all good. I don't really want to get into it. It's petty women stuff. I don't want to get into it (laughter).

Q. When you refer to petty women stuff, what do you mean?
JULI INKSTER: She said, he said, they said, it's over with as far as me. You can ask Carin, you know. But I'm fine. I'm good.

Q. How does it feel different for you as a captain rather than a player? Is the pit in your stomach the same?
JULI INKSTER: My stomach is just -- I've been there and I feel for them. It's gut wrenching. I know they want it so bad. I just really felt bad for Morgan and Paula, because they did play really well. But they just ran into a buzz saw. No matter what I say to them, it still hurts. That's the tough part. You're out there, you're living with them and there's sometimes I just want to go out there and hit the shot.

Q. That was going to be my next question.
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, but, you know what, I'm glad I'm not, because I've got a ton of clothes on and I've been eating nothing about junk all day long. I ate four marshmallows. They were in the locker and I snuck them out in my pocket.

Q. SKY reported today that you had implemented a pod system, something like Zinger did. Did they get that right?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, they did.

Q. Now that the pairing part is over, can you share that?
JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I can share with you. I just felt like it was really hard to get 12 women to really mesh in a week, even though they all know each other and they all get along. I just decided that I'd do a lot of it by personalities. I had them each take a personality profile test. And we got together at CordeValle, and kind of went over and explained what I was trying to do. And it's worked out amazing, just as far as the camaraderie in each little pod. It's been so much fun. And they love it. They love that little grouping. They eat together. They sit on the bus in a group. It's been a lot of fun. Whether it worked or not, I don't know. But they enjoyed it.

Q. Did you do three fours?
JULI INKSTER: I did three fours, yeah.

Q. So were there any surprises when the personality tests were done?
JULI INKSTER: I knew them, but I think a lot of them didn't really get each other, you know. But now they do. They understand why someone is very vocal and why someone is not so vocal. It's just their DNA. It's just the way they are. And I think they have a lot more respect and a lot more -- I think they have a lot more respect for each other and why and who they are.

Q. Can I just ask you a slightly different question about why do you think it is that people, players, tend to putt better in match play often than they do in stroke play, what's your take on that?
JULI INKSTER: Well, I think match play, it's just one hole. You can be aggressive. I always felt match play was -- I didn't really have to worry about the leaderboard, I just had to worry about the person right there. And I just think you get a little more aggressive and you get more freed up. I would say that's probably the reason why. You're not trying to three-putt or not trying to lag it up there, or I'm four back and now I need to play aggressive. All you have to do is look at the person next to you and figure out what you have to do.

MODERATOR: Did you take a personality test?

JULI INKSTER: I did.

MODERATOR: You did? On yourself? Can you share that with everybody?

JULI INKSTER: I'm tweaked. I'll tell you, I'm more like the Morgan, Paula, Cristie, Lexi group. Outgoing, you know, chatty, you know, competitive, competitive on the outside, you know. Show your emotions.

Q. Did you ever go outside the pod at all?
JULI INKSTER: Huh-uh.

Q. What did Phil tell you? What advice did he give you?
JULI INKSTER: Well, he told me to play for one another, to pick one another up, to enjoy the team rooms, enjoy the camaraderie, never give up and he told me to -- whatever I was thinking, say it. Be forthcoming. Let them know what you're thinking. Let them know why you're doing what you're doing. It's kind of me, anyway. So that's kind of what he said.

MODERATOR: Tomorrow, finishing the fourball and then the singles, do you ever remember doing that before?

JULI INKSTER: You know, Kelly asked me that. I don't have the best memory, but I don't ever remember doing that.

MODERATOR: No concerns over that?

JULI INKSTER: Well, I mean, it's --

MODERATOR: Can't change it.

JULI INKSTER: Can't change it. Our main focus tomorrow morning is to try to finish these matches and get some momentum going into the singles.

MODERATOR: How do you feel?

JULI INKSTER: You know what? I feel good. I really do. I think the singles are maybe, you know, even the last couple of years we haven't been that great. I just feel like my team is playing really good. I've seen a lot of great shots. I've seen a lot of great shots from the Europeans, too.

I have to say for women's golf this has been a win. There's been a lot of great shots and a lot of clutch shots when they needed it, and that's great for women's golf.

But I feel pretty confident. I feel really confident with my team.

MODERATOR: Good luck tomorrow, Juli.

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