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SOLHEIM CUP

September 12, 2019

Gleneagles, Scotland, United Kingdom

THE MODERATOR: We're here with the final Team USA press conference for the day, Jessica Korda and Nelly Korda. Jessica is playing in her second Solheim Cup, and Nelly is making her debut.

They're also the first set of sisters to represent the U.S.A. and the second set of sisters in Solheim Cup history joining Annika and Charlotta Sorenstam. That's good company to be in. Not too bad.

Jess, first time we're seeing you here since 2013, been a little while. I know you were part of the team two years ago but unfortunately had to withdraw. It has to be really special for you on many levels to be back here at Gleneagles. How are you feeling this week?

JESSICA KORDA: Yeah, just really, really excited to be here. I'm really excited to get the week started, to be honest with you. Played a couple of practice rounds, but it's great to be part of a team environment.

Luckily I had a little bit of taste of that last year at International Crown, but being able to play on a bigger team and be part of the Solheim Cup is always super special. So I'm just happy to be back and healthy.

THE MODERATOR: And, Nelly, similarly this has to be extra special for you for so many reasons -- to be on Team USA, to be here with your sister. Has Jessica given you any advice for the week or just kind of leaving you as little sisters do, to figure it out on your own?

NELLY KORDA: Yeah, you want to give me some advice? Yeah, I'm super excited to get this week going. As Jess said, we've been here since Sunday, so we've had Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday to practice. So, we're all eager to get going and see how it goes.

Q. Were you to be paired together, you'd be the first sisters to ever play together in a Solheim Cup. Have you talked about that history at all? And second part of that question is do you do anything different as sisters as you would be if you were playing with someone who is not, like do you still not apologize on alternate shot?
JESSICA KORDA: I was actually really surprised to learn that the Sorenstam sisters didn't play together. I didn't know that. I just figured they did.

For us, it was -- hopefully it can be something great. We'll see how everything turns out. And we're just happy to be here and just enjoy our week.

NELLY KORDA: I second that. What she said.

JESSICA KORDA: I forgot to answer the second part. No, I don't treat her any different. In a sense, yes, we might say some things that probably I wouldn't tell anyone else. But I feel like we have that relationship in our pod right now where we're not afraid to say anything and we've made that very clear. So we're pretty comfortable with each other.

NELLY KORDA: I think we're all really easy going, and it's been really relaxed. We've had a really relaxed couple of practice days.

Q. Nelly, what are your standout memories from watching your sister compete in this event?
JESSICA KORDA: Do you even remember?

NELLY KORDA: I don't. I just remember wearing -- actually, when LPGA posted that throw-back photo of me wearing that cowboy hat I was, like, oh, my Lord. (Laughter).

No, I was super grateful that Meg let me walk inside the ropes and was kind of like the team mascot that week, so I really got to experience everything, the environment. I actually got to go inside the locker room, too.

I don't really remember a lot of details, but I had a lot of fun that week repping the U.S.A.

Q. Do you remember when you first started talking about this being a goal of playing together on a team?
NELLY KORDA: I think that first year when Jess got to experience it for the first time.

JESSICA KORDA: Yeah, I second that, what she said.

Q. I was wondering if you could talk about the differences between being on the Solheim Cup team now that has a pod system and the last Solheim Cup team you were on that was pod-less?
JESSICA KORDA: I would say that it just keeps everything a little bit more organized. For me, personally, I keep my circle small, and so this just keeps it easier for me. When you have so many girls and whatever, so many teammates, there's a lot to organize all the time. Everyone wants to play at a different time.

This way, with the pods, I feel it's just a little bit less stressful. We keep to kind of our pods when we're playing or organizing certain things, so it's just organizing four people and then everyone kind of sticks to that. It's a team within a team.

And then when the whole team's together, there's no pods. It's -- everyone mingles with everyone. You're playing ping-pong, whatever it might be. So I really like that. It just keeps it easier and less stressful that week, just trying to get everyone organized. It becomes a headache. I really don't know how Juli is doing this three years in a row.

Q. Is that transition difficult at all to go from like being all day on the golf course just as a pod and then you're together in the evening, and then you're one unit? Or is it really easy?
JESSICA KORDA: We actually have a team group chat and we have like a pod group chat. So it honestly just organizes everything.

Q. Do you guys ever do anything else as partners, doubles tennis or anything?
JESSICA KORDA: This is good. We're just going to try to stick to this.

NELLY KORDA: Yeah.

Q. I know you wanted to play together. How much say does the team have in who they play with in the pairings? Wondered, how much say do you have in terms of the team, in terms of who you want to play with? I know you said you wanted to play together.
NELLY KORDA: We can always voice our opinion but at the end of the day it's all up to the captain and assistant captains. So we can voice our opinion but we don't have the final say, you know.

Q. Jessica, your sister's one of the highest ranked players on this team. This is her first Solheim Cup. What's her potential in terms of what she may be able to accomplish in her Solheim Cup career which figures to have many more appearances?
JESSICA KORDA: I like how you're asking me this question with her sitting right next to me. (Laughter.)

Honestly, it's match play. It's a completely different beast. I don't know. She's won two tournaments out on tour. She's been having a great year.

NELLY KORDA: But match play is so different.

JESSICA KORDA: We just don't know. We're in Scotland. It's really cold. We're from Florida. We're just trying to stay warm, have fun and make as many birdies as we can. And that's what she's going to try to do this week.

NELLY KORDA: Stroke play and match play, as Jess said, it's completely different.

JESSICA KORDA: So, yeah.

Q. In your team room, you've got ping-pong and I don't know what you call it, the football game?
NELLY KORDA: Foosball and pool.

Q. And pool. Have you got any organized competitions in those? And also who is the best in the American team in those three disciplines?
NELLY KORDA: I've been crushing ping-pong this week. I'm just at the ping-pong table.

JESSICA KORDA: The caddies have definitely taken a hold of the ping-pong and the pool. We have really big pillows in our team room. And that's where I am. I tend to spend my time on the pillows and just relaxing.

NELLY KORDA: We all kind of just chat. Stacy actually has her daughter here, so she's a big hit, too.

JESSICA KORDA: We've been playing with babies. So it's been really relaxed in the team room. And we've got music going. We're just chatting about the day, comparing pictures. There's some beauties of all of us out there. So it's all really lighthearted and it's just really fun and relaxing.

Q. Wondering how the both of you, if you end up playing together, how your temperaments might work and -- just because I have two sisters and I know how we can get along and not get along, I wonder if you've thought about that, under pressure?
NELLY KORDA: Yeah, we've played together at Dow this year and we handled each other pretty well.

JESSICA KORDA: Yeah.

NELLY KORDA: We kind of know what ticks one another off and we know how to calm each other down as well. So I think we handled it quite well at Dow and kind of got a game plan going -- if we are paired together; that's a big if.

JESSICA KORDA: The other thing is that at Dow it was a little bit more stressful because you had to finish out. It's match play here, so maybe a little less stressful. So it was a really good test of how we kind of handle playing together. So we really appreciated that opportunity.

Q. Both your games of golf, how will that complement each other?
NELLY KORDA: We have a similar game. We hit it pretty similar distance-wise, off the tee. Yeah, very similar. Not much differences.

Q. That's if you're paired together. We'll find out soon.
JESSICA KORDA: Right, in a couple hours actually.

Q. It would be easy to obviously be intimidated on foreign soil, with all the hype. How much confidence and just stability does Juli provide for all of you?
JESSICA KORDA: Oh, so much. I mean, any type of question is always being answered. And obviously having so many assistant captains helps as well with a lot of experience in Solheim Cups.

But she's all about enforcing have fun, trust your partners, gel. Just do what you gotta do and show up and try and win some matches. That's really -- just try and keep it really simple, really easy for us. And so far so good.

Q. Both your parents represented their country, granted it was a different country, different sport, different setting, but have they given you any indications or any advice on how to handle representing the flag?
NELLY KORDA: I think it's kind of a different, I don't know, a different beast, in a way, tennis to golf. But they haven't really said much. I mean, as Jess said, they always kept saying just to play our game, and they know we will play well if we are confident.

So it's all about confidence, but they will be repping U.S.A. this week. We made sure they're going to be wearing red, white and blue.

JESSICA KORDA: If you see our dad around, he better have his U.S.A. beanie on. Just saying. (Laughter.)

Q. Just an observation, this isn't cold. This is summer in Scotland.
JESSICA KORDA: Now that the sun is out, I actually agree with you.

NELLY KORDA: Not at eight in the morning.

Q. You're foreigners in a strange land. And we know that Ryder Cup and Solheim Cups, the crowds can get very partisan. What's been your feeling so far of the galleries?
JESSICA KORDA: They've been great. Been clapping for shots.

NELLY KORDA: The kids have been chanting "U.S.A." all the way.

JESSICA KORDA: Yeah, with their yellow hats, it's really confusing, but really cute. But yeah, it's been really great. I have no complaints at all.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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