PELICAN WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP

November 9, 2022

Stacy Lewis

Angela Stanford

Morgan Pressel

Tommy Tangtiphaiboontana

Pelican Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, speaking of here, let's wrap up our pre-tournament press conferences at the Pelican Women's Championship with our leadership team at the 2023 Solheim Cup, Stacy Lewis, two of her assistant captains, Morgan Pressel and Angela Stanford.

Stacy, kick it off with you.

We started off the season announcing your captaincy back at the Tournament of Champions. Now we're one event away from the end of the season. You've had a full year to look at this team, see how things are going. What's your state of mind now in this captaincy role?

STACY LEWIS: The year has gone by really fast. It's crazy to think that it was the beginning of this year. I mean, we have been super busy doing everything. It's been awesome watching these girls play, especially some of the younger girls, and getting to go play with them and see their style.

We have done couple dinners throughout the year and just keeping them informed on everything we're working on.

The girls seem excited about it. They have been very responsive and very helpful, so, yeah, it's exciting.

We're inside of a year to the actual Solheim Cup, so kind of starts putting a little bit of pressure on you, but I've got a few months of some down time now to really dive into a few things.

THE MODERATOR: Who are some of the young players that have caught your eye? I know you've been talking a lot to the rookies and the players who are in this for the first time. Certainly I think Lilia and Andrea, some of these younger players that have really caught your eye over the past couple months.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, definitely Lilia and Andrea. I think they've kind of caught everybody's eyes. I mean, they've jumped up that points list really fast. And just getting to play with them, I mean, Lilia was really impressive. The 63 she shot final round in Dallas was really impressive.

Andrea, of course winning was also great to see.

I think we've kind of talked as a group of celebrating the American wins this year, and we've had quite a few. So we are going to get together again next week and celebrate those wins again.

THE MODERATOR: Morgan, you've been by Stacy's side almost since the beginning and now you're a year in. We've got a lot of things underway. What are you learning about the assistant captaincy role that's helping you as you try to help get the team to victory next year?

MORGAN PRESSEL: Stacy has got just about everything under control. She hasn't needed a whole lot of help, but we have worked hard, especially on the wardrobe, which we pretty much finalizes this year, so we don't to have worry about that going forward.

And then, I mean, it's been fun to see behind the scenes working through everything related to budget, to travel, to gifting, all the little things that as a player I've experienced from a different perspective, and now seeing all the thought that goes in behind it.

There is just so much work that the captain does, and Stacy especially, to really make it special for the team. Things like having dinners with different rookies, players who are potential rookies for the team. Telling them about how busy the week is and what they can expect.

So a lot of things like that I'm learning, and taking notes.

STACY LEWIS: That's what it's for.

THE MODERATOR: Same question to you Angela. You're the newest of the assistant captains. Natalie unfortunately couldn't be with us this week. She's helping out as well.

When you came in with an eye to the stats and eye to helping out, just having been an assistant captain before, what are you bringing to this team and how are you figuring your space among the quartet here?

ANGELA STANFORD: Well, again, I think Stacy has done a really good job at kind of letting us know exactly what she wants from us, and sometimes that's what you need. That way you're not wasting your time looking at things that maybe somebody else has been looking at.

So I think Stacy has been very good at delegating those things.

And I'm diving into the numbers. I love that numbers will tell a story. It's a good way to evaluate people, understand there is still -- they got to get out there and play, but I love that aspect of it. I hope I can help in that sense.

And these younger kids, I mean, they're just so precious. You know, they're just -- love these younger ones. They're great.

THE MODERATOR: You're taking them under your wing, we love it. They're learning from three good ones.

Before we open it up, we've got a question here from Jeff, and I am going to ask Tommy Tangtiphaiboontana, our senior VP of Tour ops to step in. We just made announcement that for the 2024 Solheim Cup announced our official dates of September 10 through 15.

Also, Tommy, I know you worked pretty closely with a question Stacy on a question she had had for '23, but we are going to change the point structure for '24, taking the team building out to the top 40 point structures -- placements, excuse me.

What's the reasoning behind that, and what do you think this will bring to the '24 team and beyond?

TOMMY TANGTIPHAIBOONTANA: Yeah, great question. As you mentioned, Stacy brought this up to our team in wanting to look at this, the point structure and how the U.S. team qualifies.

Currently the structure only allows points for top 20, and we felt with how deep the fields are now it wasn't really a full comprehensive look at the talent that's coming through.

What we did is looking at the 2024 points structure, considering '23 was already locked, had already been announced, we were already midway through and couldn't really change anything, that we wanted to set 2024 with this new structure.

What we did is took the current points scenario when we were doing this research and ran a bunch of different points structures that existed within the LPGA space using CME structure, the Rookie of the Year structure, the current Solheim structure, and just built out a bunch of scenarios.

And then Stacy and I just basically looked at all the different scenarios, compared them to what the players were in the Rolex Rankings, and essentially...

STACY LEWIS: How they were playing.

TOMMY TANGTIPHAIBOONTANA: And how they were playing, and essentially gave us the one that you see today is the one that we'll put in place starting with Hilton Grand Vacations in 2023.

THE MODERATOR: Awesome. Thank you so much, Tommy.

Stacy, as we said, this was something you maybe wanted for '23. Didn't quite work out because we were already through.

STACY LEWIS: Yes.

THE MODERATOR: But I think this is a good legacy that's perhaps going to help captains down the road.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I honestly was hoping we could maybe retroactively go back and change it, but Tommy didn't let me do that, which I understand.

But, yeah, I just felt like as a player you finish 21st, and that's a pretty darn good week now, and we're basically saying that's the equivalency of missing a cut.

I think it'll help players in their psyche and just the way they're playing to be a little bit more encouraged by it. I think it'll help the captains especially.

Probably doesn't change those Top 5 very much, but it's going to change the 5 through 15 even. It's going to help us as captains make picks down the road or them as captains I guess make picks down the road.

And then it'll justify it more to the players, so there is not so much debate I think once captains' picks come around.

Q. I want to ask a question for all three of you, that the No. 1 and 2 players currently in the standings are Lexi and Danielle. What are your thoughts on their talents and what they can bring to a setting like this?

STACY LEWIS: Their talent, I mean, speaks for themselves. Lexi is one of the best ball striker's on this tour.

And then I think they both -- and Danielle too. Danielle is a great ball striker. They're going to bring the experience to Solheim Cup. They've been around the block, they've been there.

We are going to rely on Lexi and there is really only a couple that have actually won a Solheim Cup and been on a winning team, and so that was part of bringing these girls on, was bringing people in. And Natalie, Natalie was on two winning teams herself.

So bringing that experience in for those that have -- we have a ton of players that haven't won a Solheim Cup, so we're going to rely on them a lot.

MORGAN PRESSEL: Yeah, talent level obviously speaks for itself with their results, but I think it's the passion that they bring. They both are very passionate about wearing red, white, and blue, about being on past Solheim Cup teams. I don't know if there is any two players with bigger hearts in terms of really wanting to get the job done on Sunday afternoon.

Those are the players that you want in your corner.

ANGELA STANFORD: I think they're very different, also. Lexi is very much kind of quiet about it, but when she does say something, you listen. But when she goes out there she does it by action.

Danielle is more, hey, we're in your face. This is what we're going to do. I think that helps, to have two of those on a team instead of the same personality.

I think they're just very dominate players, and that's what you need in a Solheim Cup setting.

Q. The U.S. Ryder Cup team about go out this fall. They haven't won on foreign soil in 30 years. Solheim Cup has won some on foreign soil. What is the biggest challenge of a road Cup?

STACY LEWIS: I think it's mainly the crowd, to be honest. I think keeping the momentum on your side. I mean, I know Ang loves overseas Solheim Cups, just because the team environment is a little bit more intimate. I think they're more fun. They're a little bit smaller, not so many people around. But you're a little bit out of your comfort zone food-wise and things like that.

But it's more the crowds, and Spain is going to be no different. It's going to be loud. Fans will be a little bit limited by the size of the golf course, which will probably help us out a little bit.

So it'll be a challenge, but at the same time, our girls don't have anything to lose. I mean, I think Europe has the pressure on them. They won the last couple. We're going to their home soil. You know, they have beaten us. I just would like the pressure to switch to them and let our girls go freewheel it a little bit.

Q. As you look to get a team to bond, is it maybe easier to do that when you're in a foreign environment like that?

STACY LEWIS: I do. I think especially this environment we're going to be in. We're staying on property and it's just going to be the players and caddies, a really small kind of team that's on site.

It's going to be very intimate. I think our biggest task is if we can get the girls to care about each other and cheer each other on and want that other person to be more successful than themselves, that's my big goal in this whole thing.

You know, to make sure that whoever has this winning putt, that everybody is there to celebrate with them.

THE MODERATOR: Angela, I am going to go to you for a second and change gears a little bit. You're here with multiple caps on this week. You are going to be making your debut as an on-course analyst with Golf Channel. Maybe another captain on the other side, captain in training with Morgan. What came about to this decision and what are you looking forward to this week?

ANGELA STANFORD: You know, I think it's been a couple years in the making. I think I wasn't quite ready to maybe go a different route yet, and this year has been a very challenging, different year of my life. It just seems like it's time to maybe stop playing professional golf.

I want to play the majors next year and then that's probably it, and I'm totally at peace with that decision. The a little bit of TV that I did in Toledo I liked a lot more than I thought I would. I think it's something that you have to do and, I think you find -- my personality, I know one way pretty quickly.

Morgan has been great. I actually talked to her at Evian this year and just kind of wanted to pick her brain and just find out -- you know, I had some questions, and what is it like being a player going to TV, and so Morgan has been great.

Everybody has. But Karen and Kay, the players that are on that side, they -- I think they get it on a little bit different level.

THE MODERATOR: Morgan, you're basically a year into the transition now of full time in the seat next to Grant and Terry in the booth. What's that transition been like for you, and what are your tips for Angela? We're getting more and more players active in telecast. What are your tips for sharing these stories and getting the word out about the LPGA?

MORGAN PRESSEL: I think it's great. That's kind of how I see my role essentially, is as a storyteller trying to share the tremendous stories that we do have out here on a daily basis to the viewers at home and really let them into kind of the world we know so well and almost take for granted in a sense, but share that with the rest of the world.

Tips for Angela, I don't think she needs any. She's going to be fantastic. You know what? It's going to be nerve-racking wracking. I still get nervous at the beginning of every telecast. It's something new, but I think she's going to just jump in quickly and really adapt well.

Even from what we saw in Toledo and behind the scenes, what people don't know is Angela has been sitting in the truck a good bit. She has been listening, having the headset on, really trying to do a lot of prep, which I actually never did.

So I didn't have that opportunity, so I think that'll be really good for you.

THE MODERATOR: Do you think this maybe somehow helps with the Solheim Cup planning? You're going to be out seeing stuff a lot closer than you were when you're competing I would think.

ANGELA STANFORD: Well, I'm grateful for the opportunity for that reason, too, to be able to watch the girls from a different perspective. When you play with them, like Stacy said, I think that's best case scenario, to get to play with them, because you get to see them up close.

But to take a step back and watch every little move, because when you're playing beside them you're not always watching their body language and diving into they're numbers. So I'm grateful for this opportunity with the Golf Channel just to see things in a different perspective.

Q. Morgan, what's one challenging thing about television you might not have known a year ago?

MORGAN PRESSEL: There is a lot. I don't even know if there is one. I mean, I think on Angela's point of being able to watch players from a different perspective, I watched players a little like when I was competing against them, but I didn't watch them in depth. I wasn't calling their coaches and trying to find out what new clubs they have in their bag or something they're working on or something that might be interesting to our viewers at home.

So I think it's a lot of that communication that goes on behind the scenes that maybe people at home don't realize, all the prep work. I mean, the idea is you're usually just way over prepared and you use about 20% of the information that you curated prior to a show, but you need to have that. That's a lot of work behind the scenes that a lot of people don't see.

THE MODERATOR: So we've got two TV people here and then we have one in the middle, the captain still competing.

STACY LEWIS: Still playing.

THE MODERATOR: It's a big week on multiple levels.

STACY LEWIS: Yes.

THE MODERATOR: Currently in the CME field, hoping to keep it that way. How is the game feeling? It's been a couple weeks off. You didn't play any in Asia.

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, and I needed a break. The ball striking has been not very good the last couple months, so I needed some time to work on it. It's really feeling a lot better. I got a little bit of help on the points list from a couple girls not playing, so that was kind of a little bit of a cushion.

But, yeah, I really want to be there next week. I'm going to be there regardless working on this stuff, but I really want to play next week. I like the way things are going.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you for a great year. Really excited for next year and see what we can bring together for Finca Cortesin.