WEETABIX WOMEN'S BRITISH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 30, 2003

Laura Davies

NEAL REID: Thanks for joining us today. If you could just start off maybe talking about how you feel coming into this week. You had a couple good rounds last week and then a couple bad holes that turned good rounds into mediocre rounds, I guess.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, I'm playing well. I'm hitting the ball well, just not scoring great in every round at the moment. I've just got to keep playing and not -- the confidence level is getting pretty high now. I'm driving the ball well. I feel like I'm putting well, not making a huge amount, but making some, which is obviously very encouraging because that's the only way you're ever going to win.

The irons are good. Everything seems good. But for some reason, I'm not getting the results.

NEAL REID: Just trying to put it all together?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, trying to put four good rounds together. I either have three good rounds or just the two good rounds. I haven't been able to put four since the Dinah Shore, really, when I finished fourth.

NEAL REID: What about this golf course? You've played it a couple times this week.

LAURA DAVIES: I like it. It's one of the hardest we play in the rotation that we've got now. If you hit it in the bunker, you're dead. If you can miss the bunkers, you've got an outstanding chance of winning. But if you start getting in them, you get in one and then another one, you can't do anything but just move it probably 15 yards would be a maximum you would ever want to try to come out of it.

NEAL REID: So course management is a premium.

LAURA DAVIES: Absolute premium. We are going to hit a few drivers, but we are not going to hit many because the downwind holes tend to be the longer holes. So you can just hit your irons into play and steer clear of bunkers, like I said and give yourself some birdie chances.

NEAL REID: Where will you hit driver this week?

LAURA DAVIES: No. 6. Possibly No. 7, but that might be too long for anyone, that's like 542, and probably going to play a three-shotter because we don't want to make any big numbers out there. Probably driver on 11, definitely driver on 11. Driver on 13, driver on 14, driver on 15 and probably driver on 18, as well.

Q. If you don't use driver, what do you use?

LAURA DAVIES: I've got a 2-iron and a 3-iron. Just straight wood on the 3-iron. On this golf course, they are going a lot further than they normally would. If it was normal conditions, the 2-iron goes about 235, 240 and the 3-iron is going to go 220.

Q. How many events have you played at this course?

LAURA DAVIES: This is the second time I've been here.

NEAL REID: Is it a golf course you enjoy playing? Does it suit well for your game?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, I think it sets up good for anyone who is a good ball-striker. You don't necessarily have to hit it high. You just have to be confident . When you step up to the shot, you have to make sure you go through with it, because if you let it go in certain places, missing a green you're going to make bogey or worse every single time. You have to have full confidence once you're over the ball.

Q. Is this tournament always the biggest week of the year for you?

LAURA DAVIES: I mean, I love playing in the U.S. Open and tournaments like that, but nothing quite compares to the thought of playing this one.

NEAL REID: What do you think about having another chance to get those last two points for the Hall of Fame?

LAURA DAVIES: Well, that will happen one day. I'm in no hurry. Obviously this would be the dream scenario, to win the British Open, get in the Hall of Fame and that's the absolute dream. But I'm certainly not worried about it. If I win, it will happen and that will be that. It's not that I think I'm never going to win again and that's pressure to win. But there's no two ways about it , I'll be a very unhappy person if I don't.

Q. What will you do this week to not put too much pressure on yourself?

LAURA DAVIES: Just start out as a normal week and try to get into position on Sunday. That's all you can ever do. You can never win it on Thursday. You can only win it on Sunday. If I'm in with a chance on Sunday morning -- if you go on to win it is another thing. You try to get into position on Sunday and see what happens on Sunday because that's all that you can do.

Q. How many Europeans do you think will be in the top 10 this week?

LAURA DAVIES: How many Europeans? European Tour players or Europeans? Europeans -- I think Annika might be in the Top-10. I think that's a fair chance. I think the European contingent will do pretty well. Obviously, like I said, Annika has a chance. Hopefully myself. Mhairi McKay might be because she's used to playing this sort of golf course; I assume that's what she grew up with in Scotland. She's playing very good. She could be a good chance.

Q. Evian wasn't a deciding week for the European Solheim Cup points standings.

LAURA DAVIES: No, I don't think -- the Solheim Cup points, everything stayed as it was. But that's the big factor; you've got the best Americans come over and all year they put up with not getting any points when we play in their tournaments, so they get their own back. With all of got Koreans and Australians, there's not too many points flying around on the LPGA anymore for the American players.

Q. Is there a chance this week that a lesser-known player could win here like what happened at the U.S. Women's Open and the men's British Open?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, there's so many players. Having said that, this course is a bit different. The U.S. Open course that we played, it set up perfectly for short hitters. So Hilary played absolutely magnificent golf, but the leaderboard did tend to have quite a lot of short hitters up there. All you can do is play the course the way they have it set up for you. And Hilary, all week, her game was absolutely magnificent. It was a surprise to everybody and she will probably surprise us all again somewhere and win very quickly. What can you say, that's just top stuff, just like Ben Curtis. Look at who he held off; some big names he held off. Maybe he's going to be a star of the future, you just never know.

Q. You don't think it's likely to happen here though?

LAURA DAVIES: I don't think it is. I think the chances of someone new, probably not one of the top ball-strikers, I think people who don't really strike the ball well will do particularly well this week. I think a lot of the greens, you're hitting uphill, various little slopes. You cannot run the ball ; it's links golf, but you should be able to, but this is not a typical links course. It doesn't set up well for that sort of play, I don't think.

Q. Are the greens holding out there?

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, there are. Obviously, with the rain we've had, it has made it a completely different course than what we were expecting. Trish came up here a few weeks ago and said it was like concrete. So the mindset we came into was going to be pretty much like the men were playing a couple of weeks ago, and it's not going to be like that at all.

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