SOLHEIM CUP

September 23, 2023

Stacy Lewis

Angel Yin

Cheyenne Knight

Finca Cortesin

Team USA

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right. I think we're ready to get started, if you guys don't mind. Welcome back to the media center here at the Solheim Cup. I'm pleased to be joined by the U.S. captain, Stacy Lewis, as well as Cheyenne Knight and Angel Yin.

Stacy, I just want to know the overall feelings for you coming out of today's matches and heading into singles Sunday tomorrow.

STACY LEWIS: I mean, we're in a good spot. We certainly would have liked to have won a few more points today, but I'm not upset about our position. I thought the girls played really good today. Europe just played a shot or two better in a lot of these matches.

So I was just proud of the fight and proud of the way they hung in there and made them play a ton of holes there at the end and just tried to wear 'em out. I think we're in a good spot for tomorrow.

Q. Cheyenne and Angel, I know you both are up here because of this comeback victory we all saw in the afternoon. Angel, the sunglasses are killing me. Cheyenne, I'll start with you real quick, just overall, the feelings of that match that you had and just how you feel stepping away heading into tomorrow.

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: Yeah, me and Angel played pretty well today. We just weren't really making anything at first. Gave each other kind of a little bit of a pep talk on 11, and we were kind of wearing 'em out, like, giving -- like, we both had opportunities and just had to stay patient.

It was so fun playing with Angel, and just winning three holes in a row, the momentum definitely changed. And Angel's drive on number 18, I feel like just, like, solidified the energy of the match. So I had a blast playing with this one.

ANGEL YIN: 7th hole, Cheyenne chipped it in. I mean, that really change the momentum because we were both off the green and they were really close. I think Anna Nordqvist probably had an 8-footer and we were, like, we need to do something. So I was trying to do a drop and then Cheyenne just -- I looked up and then the ball goes in, and I'm like, I don't need no drop no more. And so I think that really helped us.

I looked over on 10 after we hit our tee shot on that par-3. It was all blue. We didn't like that blue. So I looked at her and I said, We just need a red. We're going to do it. And we did it. Cheyenne freaking was there for me. She had my back. We just meshed well. I think that's what we did. Arf, arf.

Q. Before I open it up to questions real quick, Cheyenne, I can see that it is tough not to smile around Angel and tough not to laugh. What's it been like to foster this kind of team chemistry between you two, especially after a day like today?

CHEYENNE KNIGHT: It's been so much fun. Angel has such an infectious personality. I haven't spent a ton of time with her, but honestly, on the media day, we just had so much fun and we've been saying sayings, like, to each other and quoting Deion Sanders from Colorado football. So she's got the Deion shades on rights now, so you know, we've just been --

ANGEL YIN: We keep receipts. We keep receipts.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Questions?

Q. Stacy, your team is tied for the best ever position that they have been in heading into Sunday. Knowing that KPMG Insights has a team on site, how critical have they been to your success, how critical were they to the match today and helping you really put those pairings together?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I mean, these stats and the insights by KPMG have been so beneficial. That was really where this pairing came from, was out of there. I don't think there are two personalities that you would say, hey, I'll send them out together, but you know what? They made it work and their games meshed so well that, you know, after that first session on Friday, it was just -- I just had to keep telling myself to keep believing what we've been working on because it's right.

So we're just trusting our gut and trusting the stats and what we've been working on the same way going into singles tomorrow.

Q. I know obviously the Texas connection with Cheyenne sitting next to you. Just as a rookie and not really having a lot of team play experience representing the U.S., just how proud are you of her, of this effort that she's shown the last couple days?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, I'm really proud of her. You know, she's a little bit older than a lot of the other rookies and just to see the way she's kind of bonded with them and figured it out. I know she was probably a little bit nervous coming in that she's not the same age as these girls, maybe doesn't hang out with them as much, but I just -- I think she's gotten out of her shell a little bit this week and it's been really cool to see, and then getting with two good pairings and winning those matches was really big for us.

Q. Stacy, how big a role do you think momentum plays in an event like this and where do you think the momentum lands right now?

STACY LEWIS: I mean, if you look straight at the scoreboard, you would say momentum goes to Europe, but I can tell you the way the girls feel and -- the way the girls feel and the way I feel about how we played today, I mean, I like our momentum. I think it's all a perspective thing internally. I mean, externally, you guys are probably going to write Europe, but I just -- I think internally in our team room, I'm really happy with the way everybody played and the position that we're in.

Q. You've been in this position many times before. What do you tell the rookies who have never been on that tee on Sunday in a singles where you're exposed?

STACY LEWIS: Go take care of your point. I mean, that's the message. Go take care of your own match. Don't look at the leaderboard. Put your head down and go win your point.

Q. Over the past decade in particular the U.S. has kind of shied away from playing all five sessions having a U.S. player. You've been a part of so many of these teams over the years. Why do you think that is?

STACY LEWIS: I think we've always wanted our players to be fresh for Sunday. That's the biggest thing. Because this thing, it always comes down to Sunday. So we wanted our players to be fresh. I mean, this golf course and this walk is brutal. I don't care what kind of shape you're in, it is a hard walk.

So I just wanted our players to be fresh and, truthfully, we were fortunate to get off to such a good start on Friday that it didn't force our hand. We weren't forced to go play anybody five.

Q. I know you had signaled earlier in the week, Wednesday it might have been, that you said that no U.S. player was likely to play all five. Did you have any second thoughts just seeing the way that some of the girls played over the first two days?

STACY LEWIS: Not at all.

Q. Stacy, you talked a lot about how you use the stats to help pair your players together, but how have they helped you to shape your lineup for tomorrow and how you chose to kind of stack your players?

STACY LEWIS: Yeah, so we have strokes gained data on how everyone has played this week because a lot of times you see these matches -- like, that match Danielle had today, they were 9-under par and they lost. So clearly they did not play poorly.

So we have data that shows their strokes gained for the whole week, per match, driving, putting, everything, and so that's really a big influence on where we're putting people.

They also have some data on historically what number in the lineup has clinched the Solheim Cup, has clinched Ryder Cups, so we used all of that to come up with a singles lineup.

Q. Depending upon the outcome tomorrow, will you tell us some of that information of where those spots might have been?

STACY LEWIS: Probably have to keep most of it quiet because I got to do this again.

Q. Angel, were you made to putt something very, very short, maybe on the 11th that kind of got you riled up a little bit? Were you made to putt a very short putt that you might have thought was conceded and that got you --

STACY LEWIS: On the last hole?

ANGEL YIN: Are you asking about 11?

Q. Maybe about the 11th hole, somewhere around there.

THE MODERATOR: A short putt. They didn't concede it. Did that fire you up?

ANGEL YIN: Short putt? I mean --

THE MODERATOR: Like, around 11, 12, in that range. Did you have to putt a short one that you thought was too short?

ANGEL YIN: No, I don't think so. Honestly -- I mean, I've only played in two prior to this. This is my third one. Our opponents today were, like, extremely respectful.

Yesterday, we had a putt that was, like, 2 feet that was not conceded. I made it. I like it. Like my putt, make my win, let's go on to the next hole.

So the only thing that was a little bit, like -- you know, was 18, but that's okay. I mean, it's just golf. I think Anna and Caroline were class acts, class opponents. They played really good golf. We just played better.

THE MODERATOR: All right. I think that will do it for Team USA. Thank you guys for coming up.

STACY LEWIS: Thank you.