THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 21, 2002

Patty Sheehan

Q. Are you weary?

PATTY SHEEHAN: No.

Q. Give us your fitness regime.

PATTY SHEEHAN: I have been getting in shape for this.

Q. Have you, really? You have been getting in --

PATTY SHEEHAN: Yeah, I have been working out just to try to get in shape for this because I knew I would be doing some, you know, physical days.

I apologize for not coming in sooner. We were in the midst of doing our pairings and then they served us dinner right away in the locker room, so I apologize for not coming in sooner.

Q. What was your assessment of today?

PATTY SHEEHAN: My assessment of this morning was fantastic. Quite a turnaround this afternoon. We lost four points this afternoon. But I still feel good about tomorrow. It was interesting, though, that the two pairings that I had that were switched, you know, the -- because of the time -- 30-minute time rule that we have, the last two pairings were switched, so, you know, that may have affected some of the players, 15 minutes, got them all, you know, thinking differently. I don't know.

But, you know, maybe I made some mistakes in my pairings because we didn't play all that well, and the Europeans played better than we did, they made a lot more putts than we did this afternoon, and that was the difference. They made lots of long putts on top of our birdies, and, you know, that was the big difference today, this afternoon.

Q. Patty, on the switch, did that actually change the matchups or did it just change the times?

PATTY SHEEHAN: It really just changed the times. But, you know, they were thinking that they were going off at certain times and they have their own little set routines and then they sort of get switched, one has to hurry up and get ready and one has to just kind of hang out. So you never know what happens.

Q. You, I think, early in the week had said you didn't want to play anybody five matches, and obviously, you had some real good players, Inkster and Diaz and Mallon on the bench this afternoon, and that's going to be a question that we want to ask you about.

PATTY SHEEHAN: Well, you know, who is to know what would have happened this afternoon, but I am glad that I sat them down, they were very tired, they needed some rest, and we still have one more day to go.

But I felt that at the end of the day, even though we lost four points, I felt that at the end of the day we still had momentum coming down the stretch, we were starting to win holes again, and so I felt good about that. I think my players felt good about that, and we feel -- I feel fortunate that we are only two points behind. There have been years where we have been very far behind going into the last day, so I feel pretty fortunate right now to be where we are.

Q. What's the mood with the American team?

PATTY SHEEHAN: We are in having dinner right now, we are all having a good time, they have got their guests with them, they are having a -- just a nice dinner, and they are very happy. They are all feeling pretty good. They are all very positive -- they are staying positive, saying all the right things to each other, and I can't tell you how proud of them I am.

There is a few players that I really haven't seen play too much golf, and this week they have really impressed me. I think Emilee Klein is one of them; she is a tiger. Wendy Ward has been exceptional in her matches. Those are two good rookies right there. And I felt better about how Juli played this morning, I was happy for her, she feels better now.

So, you know, we all look forward to tomorrow, we are all excited, we are all getting ready and everybody is laughing and joking again with each other, so they seem pretty loose tonight.

Q. Patty, would you talk about tomorrow's matchups, how you decided to send your team out the way you did, what you think of the matchups. How do you see them?

PATTY SHEEHAN: Well, my thinking was that we need 7 and a half points, and I know those middle matches are really key, and it looks like Dale thinks the same way that I did, because she put very strong players in the middle there.

So I felt that I wanted to get out with a couple strong players and finish with some good veterans, and the middle part, I felt that some of the players that had been playing pretty well this week I put in the middle.

So it will be a very interesting day. And, obviously, I would like to win, I would love to win the cup back, and -- but this has been truly a great experience for me, and I am looking forward to the crowds coming out tomorrow and really rooting hard and cheering and being really rowdy and being supportive of the USA.

I know that there will be a lot of flags out there flying, there will be a lot of red, white and blue, and I look forward to seeing that tomorrow. There will be an exciting crowd. It's the finish-up of a great Solheim Cup, and it's just going to be a great experience for all these players, especially the rookies, and for me, I am a rookie, too, so it's been a great week. I have gotten to know some of my players that I didn't know very well, and they truly are giving me a wonderful reason to come back next year and be the captain again.

Q. Was Daniel at 100 percent after her illness this afternoon?

PATTY SHEEHAN: I don't know if she was 100 percent, but she was feeling better, she felt like she was ready to go. I asked her if she was ready to go before I made my pairings in the morning, so, you know, all I can do is listen to my players. And they know their bodies, and I think she will be even more prepared for tomorrow.

Q. How surprised were you at Dale's lineup?

PATTY SHEEHAN: You know, I really haven't studied it, I just read -- to the team, I just read the lineup, and I haven't really studied it too much, but it looks like -- I am not really surprised. I think she has put some really strong players in key areas.

And, you know, Dale has done this before, she knows a lot more than I do, probably, so I think it -- you know, the lineups are great and it will be a very interesting day.

Q. You really have no motivation to do tonight, do you, because all you have to do is show them the score line and let them send Juli out and that's it, Juli and Diaz, and what chance do the Europeans have?

PATTY SHEEHAN: You know, I think after today it shows the parity between the European Tour and the LPGA tour, and I know that we all have great players, both sides, and, you know, it's great to see.

I have really enjoyed watching paula Marti and Iben and, you know, I have watched Mhairi, I have played with Mhairi, so -- she is one of my little favorites, she is a great little girl, and I watched Carin a little bit last week in Portland, and she is just a feisty little cuss, too.

So I have really enjoyed -- Raquel's quite an awesome player, so it's -- European Tour is looking strong, you know, they are big and strong players and they are very excited players and, you know, they have got a great future, too, so I think they will be great matches. It will be a really interesting day.

Q. Patty, thanks.

End of FastScripts....