THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 17, 1998

Laura Davies

Pia Nilsson

KIRSTEN SEABORG: Pia, I'm sure everyone is anxious to hear the status of Trish Johnson. She is staying, obviously.

PIA NILSSON: Yes.

KIRSTEN SEABORG: How is she feeling?

PIA NILSSON: She is feeling good. She got up fairly early this morning and hit some golf balls and even though she felt stiff, she felt free to swing and then she got -- I think it was massage treatment and then went out to play and so I followed her for a while and we talked and she feels fine. She can -- just felt better and better now and I feel her -- there is no problem for her to play, so she is in.

PIA NILSSON: Last night, she had this special treatment and I can't you exactly what it was, but she got help in different ways yesterday. Now I think it's mostly massage she is going to keep on having, and so we're very happy about that.

PIA NILSSON: Yeah, I think Laura and Trish are one of the best foursome pairs in golf -- in women's golf and I wanted them to play there and they wanted to play there, so that was an easy one.

LAURA DAVIES: Me. (Laughs). It's true. It's because long hitters should play on the odd holes and more accurate players and the straight hitters on the even holes. Few lay ups -- all the par 3s are evens and all the par 5s are odds. It's pretty straightforward, I think.

PIA NILSSON: Nichirei? I wasn't there. Of course, the thinking on the pairings is they go throughout the whole cup, but I'm not going to tell you about that. So this is one 5th of the part of it. So I wanted to get off with a four very good foursome pairings because they're very important; to play in foursome requires a lot. First match in THE SOLHEIM CUP and you only hit every other shot. So I wanted a lot of our players who have been around a long time and feel more comfortable. Only rookie is Catriona Matthew and she has the kind of game and mental attitude that she very well has a handle this. That's the thinking to put it together. But the thought is, for me, broader in the mornings, but it felt very good to start off with four strong foursome pairings.

PIA NILSSON: You'll know that by tomorrow at 11:00. (Laughs).

PIA NILSSON: Yeah. Helen and Alison, they're the two -- they really get along well, really like to play with each other and they feel very comfortable and so it was when I was speaking to them individually, we brought up one of their favorites. I think it was the first time at the Solheim up two years ago that they played together and liked it a lot. Lisa and Liselotte, the two of them are more alike in their mentality and how they are and Lisa is playing extremely well right now, very confident, Liselotte is naturally one of the best players in the world and a consistent player which I think will be very good for the foursomes. The Annika and Catriona pairing feels very good. The two them play well, similar games, get along well and it feels very solid.

PIA NILSSON: I think many of the players feel that they can do that and since all of our players have been jogging all week, I think several of them might be able to do that.

LAURA DAVIES: What do you mean, even Laura? I've got more energy than those young kids, I can assure you. (Laughs).

PIA NILSSON: It's true. I think it's something to take into consideration and, then, going into the matches and talking to the players and feeling it, we all -- I make the decision after talking to them and you will know that by Sunday -- Saturday, I guess. Everybody is playing on Sunday.

PIA NILSSON: I got it recently, so I haven't been able to look at it carefully, but it looks like -- this is going to be a great SOLHEIM CUP, four great foursome matches. I think it's going to be great fun for everybody.

PIA NILSSON: Pretty much.

PIA NILSSON: Well, how the players are feeling, just health wise. Yeah. Most would have to do something that I can't even think about now.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah. That's what makes it fun. You're scared of losing the point for the team and scared of messing up and that's the thing that gets you going. That fear inspires you to play much better and it's one of the reasons I think I put so much better in that swing. I've holed a couple today. I haven't done that all year. And if I get on the green, I'm going to hole a putt and if I could just carry that over to the rest of the year, it would be amazing. Something about this week -- I think the fear factor gets you going, simple as that.

LAURA DAVIES: It was good. I needed that one

-- (inaudible) -- apart from the BRITISH OPEN. I struggled a little bit this year scoring -- I've played well all year, really quite well. Finishing 2nd, like I did, that's good. That's always nice, to be feeling like you've got things on track, although it has been good in Europe, anyway.

LAURA DAVIES: Yeah. Any traditional style Jack Nicklaus course is good for me because he tends to be very generous off the tee and very nice off the green. I'm obviously not the straightest hitter in the world, but I can get it out there, and as long as fairways give you a chance like these do, the irons -- (inaudible) -- although people talk about my driver all the time, you've got to be very, very accurate. If you get it wrong around here -- like a water hazard -- (inaudible). It's a very clear golf course.

PIA NILSSON: She was fine. Before she came up here, she knew what the situation was, so she was fine. So she is here and she still gets to learn what it's all about and get the feel for it for the future. So she is fine. I think she is happy to be here and just felt good that she is here to help out the team just in case something would have happened.

PIA NILSSON: I don't know. It's just the rules that they have for the competition. I can't answer. You have to ask them. I don't know why, but that's the way it is.

PIA NILSSON: I don't have any -- I haven't the time to think about -- really think about it. We could take her on the street and she could practice at another place. I haven't felt any need to think about it right now.

PIA NILSSON: By the opening ceremony today.

KIRSTEN SEABORG: Any more questions? Thank you.