JM EAGLE LA CHAMPIONSHIP

April 24, 2024

Emma Talley

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right, here with Emma Talley at the JM Eagle LA Championship presented by Plastpro.

Emma, teeing it up, this will be your first start of the season. How excited are you to be here?

EMMA TALLEY: I am so excited to be here. I'm so thankful for the sponsor invite. I got to spend a big day with Walter and Shirley yesterday who are amazing people. It was great to get to know them.

This is one of my favorite golf courses of the year. I've met so many members over the years and I usually stay with a member who was a sponsor of mine, and ServPro is a sponsor this week.

I have a lot going on, but it's all good stuff and very happy to be here.

Q. Let's talk about some of those things going on. I think Sunday you were present at the IndyCar race in Long Beach. Take us through the day and some of the things you did out there.

EMMA TALLEY: Yes, it was insane. I was not an IndyCar fan but I totally am now. The guy we actually followed lives in the same part of Nashville that I do, so we're going to become besties.

But it was cool. We started off with a two-seater in the morning so I got to go around the track, 180 to 200 miles an hour. It was insane. Got to wear the fireproof suit and everything.

I thought a really cool aspect was I got to put on a headset during the actual race so I got to hear Colton and his team talk about the gas and the turns and the wheels and like everything going on during the race, which was so cool.

The fan engagement at IndyCar is so amazing. It is so cool behind the scenes. It was an experience of a lifetime. I am still pinching myself. And the drivers were awesome, too.

It was really nice. And I got to meet Dylan Sprouse from Zach & Cody, so that was cool.

Q. Can you put into perspective how the experience translates to the golf experience? How are these two things related to each other, yet so different?

EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, obviously we're all professional athletes. I thought it was amazing, their training mentally, physically. I thought that was crazy how much it related to each other; how much media and fan engagement was insane. I think we can do a little bit more of that in the golf industry.

It's almost like fans will be coming out and getting our clubs out of the bag. They were up close to the cars right before they started their race. It was insane to see how much fan engagement there is in an IndyCar race.

At the same time, it's amazing to see how the training and the preparation is very similar.

Q. Let's talk about some of the other things you've been up to. I know just got the coaching job a couple weeks ago. Tell us how excited you are to transition into coaching young players now.

EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, it was kind of a random thing. I'm going to go off topic, but last fall kind of got injured and had a rough year on Tour.

I think because of the coaching and all the media stuff I'm doing at the moment, golf -- I didn't know it -- but golf had become my whole identity. Now that I'm coaching these girls who are amazing and I'm doing media, so talking to girls about golf, it's almost like it's been a light bulb moment for me.

Oh, life a really easy. It's like a chess game. You hit it here and then you do that, you make moves.

On the second side of that, it's really given me perspective that I'm more than just a golfer. I think we lose perspective of that because it's such a grind out here. You're trying to play your best golf week in and week out.

It's given me a lot of perspective and I feel so much freer and I am having so much fun doing all these different things.

Golf has become something I do and not who I am in a bigger circle.

Q. What are some of the things, I am curious, that you tell these girls that comes from your experience? Like you've been at the top, a professional golfer. What are some of the things you think you've learned from this experience that you try and pass on to the girls?

EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, it's been an amazing experience. I think for me. For me, I had mentors in college. I actually met with one lady like every Friday for coffee. I want to be a mentor because they're like at the time in their life where it can go one way or the other.

I just hope they're close enough to me where they can be honest and vulnerable with me and I can help them, and not just on the golf course, but in life.

And then on the golf course I've experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows. I feel like I can relate to them and help them practice, get practice plans, and just kind of keep it efficient.

I think that's the best thing, quality over quantity. It's been great. Course management, time management, all the things. It's been a great experience so far.

Q. Emma, on the golf side, for you, I know you've begun a little bit of media; mostly a player. What's it's been like from your perspective watching Nelly's run?

EMMA TALLEY: Oh, my gosh, insane. I actually picked her last week again, because like why not? She's absolutely killing it at the moment. I really want to ask her from a media perspective is she actually playing the best golf of her life or is her B Game just way better than everyone else's games at the moment.

She's insane, she's playing great golf, and whatever she's doing, just keep riding the ride.

Q. You talked about from a media perspective, golf world, doing more activation type stuff. What are some of those things that come to mind that you would like to see the golf world do?

EMMA TALLEY: Great question. I think the fan engagement -- obviously we get pro-am day. You get a big fan engagement that day.

But I don't know. Obviously we can't meet and greet before we tee off, but maybe meet and greets after we play. It's a bit different kind of -- we're on the golf course for six, seven hours between the practice and the play, so I don't know exactly what we need to do, but definitely more fan engagement.

I'm open to it, so I can be the woman to start something new.

Q. One of the things you have been doing a lot, I've seen you on LPGA, social media, and you mentioned you love talking to the players out here from that perspective. What sort of has been your experience behind the camera or in front of the camera and why is that something you enjoy doing so much?

EMMA TALLEY: I think the main thing is I love the girls on Tour. I actually care about these girls, genuinely love these girls, and I want to grow the game. I truly believe that we need some visibility and I think some fun.

Like because I'm a player these players relate to me a little bit. It's just been such a cool experience. I didn't know I liked doing media, and here I am and I absolutely love it. It's been so much fun.

I just hope to grow the girls' stories, because there are some amazing stories these girls have to offer. Hopefully it keeps going. I don't know where it's going to go, but I'm ready for the ride.

Q. Are you surprised the amount of work that goes into it? I saw you at Ford a couple weeks ago writing down notes. Are you surprised about how much work, or how are you enjoying that work?

EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, I absolutely love the work, but I'm shocked the hours that the media has to put in to make this all happen. It's insane. From editing -- never done that before -- editing and preparing, it's a lot. So kudos to all the media people for sure.

THE MODERATOR: Megan Khang, you have questions for Emma?

MEGAN KHANG: I feel like I'm coming late to this, but on a scale of one to ten, how much would you say you enjoy the media side of it?

EMMA TALLEY: I love it. I would say 12. I know that's not an answer, but the media has been great. I have so many ideas and I'm excited to see what happens.

Like I said, I just want to tell the stories of the LPGA Tour players. I think there are so many stories that world doesn't know and they need to know. So we'll see.

THE MODERATOR: Megan loves media 12, too, right, Megan?

EMMA TALLEY: Should we put on a show?

MEGAN KHANG: You know how the Kelce Brothers have their Podcast. I always joke I want to do one of those that way I can say what I want to say.

EMMA TALLEY: Yeah, that would be crazy.

TOGETHER: (Chanting) Nelly's not here, Nelly's not here.

MEGAN KHANG: We have a chance.

EMMA TALLEY: (Laughter.)

MEGAN KHANG: We will miss you, though.