SOLHEIM CUP

September 4, 2021

Georgia Hall

Leona Maguire

Inverness Club

Team Europe

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good evening and welcome to the European press conference for the day. I'm joined by England's Georgia Hall and Ireland's Leona Maguire. You've had your first experience of the Solheim Cup today. Talk me through your day this morning and this afternoon.

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I couldn't ask for a better start to my Solheim Cup career. The team got off to a fantastic start, and I think the team room at lunchtime, there was great energy in it. That first tee was incredible, the atmosphere that was there. Hit my drive down the middle was just sort of the icing on the cake.

THE MODERATOR: Georgia, obviously had a very tough match this morning, very competitive, and another one this afternoon. How have you found the day?

GEORGIA HALL: Yeah, quite tiring playing 36 holes. First time I've done that in a while.

But yeah, really tough matches and very good matches, and it was a lot of fun, so I'm happy to come away with a point this afternoon.

THE MODERATOR: What was it like in this afternoon's match playing with each other? You mentioned in another interview that you wanted to play with Leona. How did you find it?

GEORGIA HALL: Yeah, obviously very happy to play with Leona. She's a great player, been playing great this year, as well. I think she's a very, very smart golfer and has a lot of talent.

I was very happy to be paired with her, and I think we're quite similar personalities, just kind of get on with it and try and do the job.

THE MODERATOR: Leona, did you prefer the morning or afternoon, four-balls or foursomes? Is there a preference on what you preferred today?

LEONA MAGUIRE: No, I mean, I had a great time with both. Obviously me and Georgia have known each other for a long time, and yeah, hoping we were going to get to play together this week. Like she said, we have sort of similar personalities in a way, and I had a front row seat to some of her incredible shots today, some really, really clutch shots and clutch putts right when we needed it.

Yeah, it was an honor to be beside her today.

THE MODERATOR: You both experienced that first and tenth tee now. How did you find it and how did you find the crowds today?

GEORGIA HALL: Yeah, the first tee was incredible. Not much European cheering going on, but it was fine. We were expecting that, as well.

But yeah, really impressed with how many people turned out, and I think it will be the same tomorrow.

Q. Georgia, I want to know, that first long, long putt that you had, just the emotions you had to start off the day like that.

GEORGIA HALL: Yes, I mean, obviously I had a quick turnaround so I didn't hit any balls, so obviously to hole that, yeah, that was a very long putt on the first. To win the hole for us was great, and it kind of got us going for the day.

Q. Leona, you picked up with that momentum on the second hole, as well. What did that mean to build up so smart in the beginning like that?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, you always try and get off to as quick a start as you can, something we've talked about in our team room, getting off to a fast start.

And we played some great golf today and we knew they would, so it was a case of staying patient, hanging in there. We fought back and we were 1-down at the turn. We knew we had to just stay patient.

And yeah, Georgia made some nice birdies right when we needed it, and yeah, it was nice to get that win in the end over two really good golfers.

Q. Leona, a rookie this year at the Solheim Cup, but you played like you were anything but; how much confidence do you have heading into the next two days?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I have to give a lot of credit to my two partners. It's a team effort. Both Mel and Georgia made me feel so comfortable out there. That let me just play my own game, play free, and do what I do best.

Yeah, I think the captains did a really good job with the pairings. Yeah, it was a lot of fun out there, both morning and afternoon.

THE MODERATOR: Are you going to rest up tonight, and how much are you looking forward to continuing Europe's streak tomorrow?

GEORGIA HALL: Yeah, definitely a lot of rest tonight. Go to bed early and maybe another early start; I don't know what I'm doing. Yeah, just looking forward to tomorrow and going out there and try and win some more points for the team.