U.S SENIOR WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

August 24, 2022

Laura Davies

NCR Country Club (South Course)

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We are here with 2018 Laura Davies. Laura, what does it mean to be back at the Senior Women's Open? I know this event means a lot to you.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, it really does. This is the fourth edition. It seems to have flown by. Obviously Annika last year with her win and then Alfie and me, it's a nice little roll call of champions, and a lot of people here trying to put their name on the trophy, and obviously we're all trying to do it for a second time.

Q. What do you think of the course here at NCR?

LAURA DAVIES: I love it. I played here in '86. I think I finished 11th, so it's somewhere I did well around, but I don't remember it at all. My memory is just not that good.

But what a great course. It's set up really nicely. I think the greens are going to bring the scoring down. I don't necessarily think the long game part of it, but when you get on the greens, you're going to have to be in the right spots and that's where the problems are going to be, but it's a terrific test.

Q. Do you think you have an advantage as a longer hitter?

LAURA DAVIES: If you hit it straight, yeah. You can't really stray if you want to make birdies. You can get on the greens out of the rough, but you can't get it possibly in the right positions from the rough.

Hitting fairways is -- obviously the further you're down, the shorter club in helps, but if you're constantly in the rough, then it's not going to help things, because like I said, it's get it off the tee but get it in the fairway but plot -- we don't know where the pin -- we've had all the tough pins in practice, so hopefully they're not going to be where they've been the last two days because they're very difficult.

Q. Can you tell me about the achilles?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, it was just a bit of bad luck really. Hurt the achilles at the British Open and then had to withdraw from the -- I played the Irish the week after, one round, and then had to give up because I could hardly walk, and was going to play Spain, pulled out of that, as well, because obviously this was my focus, to try and come here and do well. But it's a hard walking course, this, and I've had treatment -- luckily we've got a really good team of physios and masseuses back there in the clubhouse and they've been really helping me. But I think it's going to be a tough walk for me this week, but I'll crawl around if I have to.

Q. Was it from hitting a shot?

LAURA DAVIES: No, it's a long story, but basically someone did like a massage on it, went in and messed it up, bruised the achilles, and now because I've been walking funny for nearly three weeks, now my calf hurts. It's one of those things, if you walk awkward the hips will start hurting. Everything is out because of that one stupid mistake. I should never have done it.

Q. What was it like having Annika back in the field last year? She's obviously played well --

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, you want world-class players, and she's a world-class player, and she dusted us all. Nothing has changed. She did that for 20 years, so why wouldn't she come back and dust us again? Hopefully we'll get a bit closer to her this year. She's obviously the player to beat. I don't think anyone would think any different to that, but I'd say -- I can think of at least 10 players if they turn up on the week can give everyone a run for their money. It'll be really interesting to see how it goes.

Like you say, I think the long hitters might have a bit of an advantage if they can be long and straightish.

Q. Curious of your overall thoughts after the week at Muirfield and what it meant to the game.

LAURA DAVIES: Obviously it's lovely, the way the R&A set everything, the way the local population came out. There weren't massive galleries, but the trouble is with Muirfield, it's such a spread-out place, there were a lot of people there and I know every was saying there weren't many people, but they were, and it was really well supported.

The course itself held up beautifully, as you knew it would. Those two -- I don't know, Ashley played so well. I know she got caught eventually, but for a while there she was playing on a course all on her own. All in all, I can't think of a better week, to be honest.

Q. In terms of what this championship means to everyone here, does it still feel as special as it did that first year?

LAURA DAVIES: Oh, definitely, without -- when you see some of the courses we're playing in the future in this event, it's elevated very quickly. We started off at Chicago Golf Club. I mean, it couldn't be much better. It's hard to top that. But the standard, of course, has been absolutely brilliant so far.

Great venues make great championships, and obviously the USGA know that. It's not their first rodeo, is it, so to speak. It's great, and it's fun for us at our age to come and play on such world-class golf courses and be tested. If it doesn't go right you can be made to look stupid on a U.S. Open style course, but you hopefully bring your best stuff and you'll get rewarded for it.

Q. JoAnne here at 83, what does it mean to have her in the field?

LAURA DAVIES: It's fantastic. I was talking to her last night at the party, and she's just JoAnne. She's brilliant. It matters to her what she shoots; to the rest of us, it doesn't matter what she shoots. But I know her fighting spirit. She's going to want to put a best run on it as she possibly can and she'll be thinking if she makes the cut, that would be as big of an achievement as whoever hoists the trophy in my opinion, at 83. Everyone rooting for her, and she's just a lovely lady.

Q. How about when you were a young player coming on, what did JoAnne -- I don't know if she meant anything to you or when you looked up to her she was already established?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, when I won my U.S. Open in '87, it was in a playoff against JoAnne and Ayako Okamoto. At that stage, Ayako was one of the best players. My first meeting with JoAnne was beating her in a playoff in her national championship, so I'm not sure she was that keen on me initially, but we grew to become good friends. I remember in Florida my very first tournament when I got on Tour the next year, I was just in the bunker and JoAnne sidles over, and she made me a few tips, and to me that was the best thing ever, someone that less than two years before I'd beaten her in a playoff and she had time for me and Trish Johnson who was there.

So for me, JoAnne has always been one of my favorite, just the generosity. She's just a unique of -- a lot of the girls out here will give tips, but JoAnne is a genius in the short game area of her game, and she likes to spread that knowledge on. For me as a rookie that year, that was a lovely thing.