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THE WALKER CUPSeptember 8, 2019Craig WatsonSandy ScottTom SlomanHoylake, United Kingdom THE MODERATOR: We'll make a start. Delighted to welcome the GB&I team into the interview room. Craig, we'll just start with you. Not the result you would have hoped for at the start of today. What's your initial reaction to the result? CRAIG WATSON: Well, obviously the boys are disappointed. It didn't go quite to plan. But they can be proud of their achievements to get in the team, first of all, and of their performance this weekend. I'm proud of all of them. THE MODERATOR: The afternoon singles were obviously the turning point and the key session. Was there anything in particular? Were the Americans just really strong when it came to putting? CRAIG WATSON: I think it's they got up early, and it's the type of course that you can maybe hold a lead by not needing to birdie. Pars were good enough. The course is playing quite tough, although there's no wind. If you hit the fairways and then hit the greens, the way the pin positions were set, it was quite difficult to go get birdies. Pars were usually good enough to keep a lead. Q. Craig, what would be the one thing that's in your mind now that you would say you need to do better for next time? CRAIG WATSON: That's difficult to say if there was anything in particular you needed to do better. The boys, obviously the practice rounds were not a waste of time because it was so windy. It was good to see the course, but the conditions were -- I wouldn't say the same for the Americans because everybody likes to play in short-sleeved tee shirts in flat calm conditions. I think they just played better than us. I don't know if there was any -- anything you could -- I think they got up early. They made a faster start than we did, and the course was set up so you could just par, and par golf is going to be in some cases more than good enough. Q. Sandy, can you reflect on your weekend? Obviously two good singles wins, top GB&I scorer with two and a half points, but losing team. Just reflect on the weekend. SANDY SCOTT: Yeah, I mean, I came here to win the Walker Cup as a team, and we didn't do that. I mean, I played some good golf in there this weekend, but the ultimate goal was not reached. Disappointed in that sense, but glad that I'm able to reflect on some good golf. Q. Did you know what was going on behind you? Were you looking at scoreboards and seeing the red on the boards, and what kind of effect did that have on you? TOM SLOMAN: I didn't really know what was going on, to be honest, until the 12th. I saw a lot of red on the board. I was 4-up at that point, and my head dropped a little bit. But I didn't really hear any roars out there. SANDY SCOTT: Can you repeat the question? Q. Were you aware what was going on around you or were you just focused on your own match? There was a lot of red on the board, and I wondered if that had an effect. SANDY SCOTT: Yeah, well, I was out in one of the early matches, so yeah, I was focusing on my match, first off, and the first couple glances I got at the leaderboard were still mainly red, but it was still very early on, and I had no real judgment to whether anyone had an advantage at that stage. Yeah, I believe that the guys that had come back from being a couple down early on, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Q. Tom, how difficult was it when you saw all that red at the 12th? It must be very difficult mentally. TOM SLOMAN: Yeah, it was obviously tough at the start. We'd already lost, and the guys came out to support me, which was a big help the last three holes, especially that Sandy came out on the 15th and kept me going, I guess. That was a big help. Q. Craig, your thoughts at the moment on wanting to do it again. Has this whetted your appetite to do it again in two years' time? CRAIG WATSON: I thoroughly enjoyed the week. It was good to see all the background stuff, as well, and how big a competition it is. We'll just have to wait and see. It's obviously a great honour, so I was thoroughly delighted to do it this week, so yeah, we'll wait and see. Q. Was it everything you expected the week to be, Sandy, and would another Walker Cup be something that you'd want to do, or have you seen it and done it and let's move on to the next once you finish college? SANDY SCOTT: It was more than what I expected. It was such a great experience. It was overwhelming, the amount of support we had here. I was saying to Nigel there that you don't get this opportunity to play in such a great crowd in any amateur event, so this is great preparation for what we're about to go ahead and compete in on Tour and professionally. Yeah, I'll take a lot from this week. Q. Captain, are you worried that this result might take away a little bit of the fear factor for these American teams coming over here because before today they hadn't won since 2007. It's kind of been a one-sided affair on this side of the pond. Are you worried at all that this may have lessened some of that intimidation? CRAIG WATSON: I don't think so. When they come across here, I think the next one is over here at St. Andrews, so I don't think there will be any -- I don't think they come across with any fear anyway. I know the results haven't gone our way when we've been over to the States, but we certainly never went over to the States with any fear. We were looking forward to playing in these sort of conditions, and I'm sure the American team will likewise come across to St. Andrews over wherever it is over here and look forward to playing a type of golf course that they don't get to play. Q. Craig, I know it's looking ahead, but I think the next American one is played at the start of May. Would you envisage any problems with that from a kind of selection point of view? CRAIG WATSON: I kind of visualise a few problems when they say, can we go to Australia and Dubai and South Africa to potentially delight some of the players because that's where they'll be playing. But obviously this season, our season here doesn't start until maybe April, which is the 11, so it's cutting down on the number of events over here. But again, we'll wait and see who's still amateur, who's turned pro because that's when we really find out who's still around. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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