SOLHEIM CUP

September 5, 2021

Pat Hurst

Inverness Club

Team USA

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We're here with Captain Pat Hurst. We do have pairings. While they hand them out, I'm going to take a quick moment and give you a rundown. Our first pairing off tomorrow at 12:05 will be Anna Nordqvist against Lexi Thompson; Madeline Sagstrom-Ally Ewing; followed by Leona Maguire and Jennifer Kupcho; Georgia Hall versus Nelly Korda; Celine Boutier versus Mina Harigae; Nanna Koerstz Madsen versus Austin Ernst; Matilda Castren against Lizette Salas; Carlota Ciganda versus Brittany Altomare; Sophia Popov versus Megan Khang; Mel Reid has Yealimi Noh; Charley Hull against Jessica Korda; and the final match of Emily Pederson versus Danielle Kang.

With that, I'll pull in Captain Hurst. Quite a day for you guys. A little bit of a quiet start, but once they woke up, Toledo woke up, got some caffeine in us; it was quite a day out there. What's your big takeaway from today's battle?

PAT HURST: Yeah, they played great, especially in the morning getting three out of the four points, so we're happy with that.

We've got, I think, a point and a half in the afternoon, so we're happy with today.

THE MODERATOR: Tell us your thoughts on the great pairing we've seen develop of Jennifer Kupcho and Lizette Salas. We knew Jennifer had that fire in her, but to see it out there was great. What are your thoughts on their pairing?

PAT HURST: Yeah, it's been great, them coming together, becoming a team. I think this pod system has really worked in that sense, and as you can see out there, the way they're playing and interacting with each other has been what we were looking for.

THE MODERATOR: How clutch was some of the putting we saw today, especially out of Mina Harigae; the rookie duo off the top with Mina and Yealimi, 3-up, then tied, and what's going on, and then coming back and fighting back for that win.

PAT HURST: Yeah, Yealimi, I want to say she leads our team in birdies, and Mina is one of the better putters on our team and has been pretty steady the last couple of months.

We decided to put them together, take that chance and see how they would fare, and they did pretty good out there. It was fun to see the two rookies. I think it was, what, 2 & 1 or maybe 3 & 1 it ended up, so it was fun to see. It's good for them and good for their confidence.

THE MODERATOR: Looking to tomorrow, what is your thought with putting Lexi out first? Any other thoughts you have as you go down your roster here?

PAT HURST: Yeah, I feel like our team is pretty stacked, so to make up the lineup was kind of tough at times, but we know that Lexi likes to go out first, and we know that Danielle can bring up the rear.

That's how we did it, and we kind of just put people in accordingly after that.

THE MODERATOR: Did the players have any say in where they went or was this a captains' effort?

PAT HURST: Yeah, they don't know the lineup yet. We're going to announce it tonight in the team room. Again, getting back to the locker room, I really didn't have a chance to talk to them that much, was doing the pairings, and like I said, we'll get back to the team room at the hotel.

Q. Yesterday you said you were looking forward to seeing what happened in the morning; is what happened this morning what you expected?

PAT HURST: Yeah, they definitely -- they rode the momentum into today. Started off a little bit cold, but like I said, came out with three points, so I felt like we rode the momentum from last night from the afternoon matches.

Q. What are you expecting to happen tomorrow, as it is the last day of match play?

PAT HURST: Well, I'm sure hoping that we win as many points as we can, that's for sure, to get to 14 and a half. That's our goal. We'll see how that goes.

Q. Can you talk about both the Korda girls and Lexi Thompson? Obviously they would have been your workhorses or thought to be your workhorses at the beginning of the week. They're 2-6-0 now. Can you say what happened and how you had to kind of mix things around and try to deal with that?

PAT HURST: Well, first of all, I didn't have to mix things around. We knew that I had everyone play roughly the same amount, two to three matches before the singles, and that's what our plan was, and we stuck to our plan.

You know, it was -- they played well. Like yesterday they played well. They could have went either way, especially in the morning. I don't have any worries about them, and that's not why I didn't play them -- I played them only one match today, because I need them for my singles matches. That's where we usually shine.

Q. Just to confirm, Nelly Korda is No. 1 in the world; you didn't plan on playing her four times before singles?

PAT HURST: No, I did not. I need my girls for the singles. That's where they shine, and I needed them rested up for that.

THE MODERATOR: I want to mention the happy birthday you have an your hat, the happy birthday I'm wearing here. We're wearing those, for you guys who don't know, in honor of Grace Gottfried, one of our tour players. Today is her first birthday and she needs our thoughts. Pat, what was the thought behind putting these together?

PAT HURST: Yeah, it's her first birthday. She's home, and it will be a lifetime of struggles for her, so we want her to know that we're behind her and we love her and that we're giving her our prayers and thinking about her on her first birthday.

THE MODERATOR: We transition to tomorrow; you thankfully get to sleep in a little bit tomorrow. What are you going to tell your team tonight as they get ready for this last day?

PAT HURST: We've got one more day to go, and thank God we're playing at 12:00 so they can rest up a little bit. Like I said, I feel pretty strong about our team and about our lineup. We're looking forward to that, and just looking to go out and make as many points as we can and hopefully get on the board early and keep it going.