	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 14, 2007

HALMSTAD, SWEDEN

PAM WARREN: We're joined here by Americans, Cristie Kerr, Nicole Castrale, Paula Creamer, and Morgan Pressel. Each contributed today to America's 4 1/2 points. Each start by making an opening comment on your day.
CRISTIE KERR: Well, I'm glad to be inside. It was a day of survival, and the team played really well together. And, you know, we know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we're up for the challenge. And we're going to get a good meal, some good wine to night, and come out tomorrow and play our hardest.
NICOLE CASTRALE: Yeah. You know, I think we got off to a great start this morning and in alternate shot. That just -- it had some momentum for us going into the afternoon, and we played well and hung in there, you know, when the crowd was against us, and we still have a lot of golf left and we're just looking forward to bringing the Cup home.
PAULA CREAMER: It was pretty bad out there. The fans were great coming out. There was a lot more people out there than I thought there was going to be.
But it was. It was a tough day. Battling everything out there. We gave it our all. Put our hearts on our sleeves. We have two more days left. We can't be really satisfied with this day. We've got two more big days ahead of us.
MORGAN PRESSEL: I don't think we get these conditions too often in South Florida, so, you know, I think -- not that we all live in South Florida, but...
CRISTIE KERR: Hurricane Andrew was kind of like that.
MORGAN PRESSEL: I guess. But, you know, the team played really well. I think this is the first time we're up since the first Solheim Cup. So that's a big deal, and we're looking forward to playing really well the next two days.
PAM WARREN: Questions.

Q. Nicole, as a captain's pick, obviously you come here this week with maybe a few more butterflies in your stomach. Can you talk a little bit about what your expectations were and what the day panned out to be?
NICOLE CASTRALE: Everyone kept saying that there would be more pressure on the picks and everything, and I have to think that the rest of team agrees with me that we didn't come over here, ten players and two picks. We came over as 12, and we're going the play as 12, and, you know, just see what happens.
I feel Laura and I, we played well this year. And so our year pretty much speaks for itself and why we were picked, and this is a team and it's not individual, and I just feel like that's how we're playing right now.
CRISTIE KERR: I played with Nicole when she won the tournament in South Carolina, the Ginn Tribute. Once you hit the first tee shot, she wasn't a rookie anymore. She played great on the front-9 and I played great on the back, and, you know, as far as I'm concerned, they're not rookies anymore.

Q. This is for Paula and Morgan. It would have been very easy to get very demoralized when you saw Laura do what she did on 16. Did you guys talk about it? How did you stay in there and manage to finish out?
PAULA CREAMER: What are you going to do? We're walking by. Where's your ball? Oh, I'm just hoping I get through those trees, you know. What are you going to do? She makes par. We all -- it's kind of a gift at first, everybody hitting it way right, and, you know, I knew after that -- Morgan and I talked about it. We had two holes left. It's not over. It was halved. At that point it was all square. There's a lot of golf left, and 18 played tough, but, you know, that's match play.
MORGAN PRESSEL: I think that we both kind of looked at each other and just went, "Wow."
PAULA CREAMER: What do you do?
MORGAN PRESSEL: In match play you always expect your opponent to hit a great shot and make a putt.
CRISTIE KERR: Probably the best par you've see in history.
MORGAN PRESSEL: I think that's the par of the century. I don't know how many people actually saw where her ball was, but it was in the weeds.
PAULA CREAMER: It was unbelievable. First of all, to get it out. Second of all, to get it over the water.
MORGAN PRESSEL: Chip it in. We kind of had it going against us on that hole.
CRISTIE KERR: That's Laura. That's sometimes how she plays, and she's brilliant at making pars when you don't think she's going to make pars. That's why in match play you never give up and you're never out of holes, and that's why you see some real interesting stuff out there.

Q. They were very, very impressed, a lot of people were, with your decision to go ahead and concede the last putt. Was that just kind of a natural decision?
PAULA CREAMER: I think we both felt that we played very good. We both deserved to win that match with the finish that we had on the last couple of holes, and it was -- I think that's the way you play Solheim Cup.
We grinded it out the whole day, playing in that, and they both had good looks at it. Morgan and I felt as a team that's what we needed to do. We both deserved to win the match.

Q. This question is for Cristie from the morning match. You guys were in control of that match -- think back that far -- almost the entire way right until the end. Then it looked like it could go. You made a great putt to save par. How do you walk away from that? Is it like a win, you got a half point?
CRISTIE KERR: I think in Solheim putts, the half points are really underrated, especially in the alternate shot format. We were up pretty much the whole time, and then, you know, I hit a bad putt on 16, you know, got way by the hole and Pat wasn't able to make it. Then I hit a bad chip on 17, and she almost made it.
And then, you know, I said to myself, "I'm not going down like that. I'm not letting my partner down," and there was no way I was miss that putt on 18.
To redeem yourself, that's what Solheim is all about. It's digging down deep into the pit of your stomach and being able -- to use Paula Creamer's word -- gut check yourself on a shotly basis. Because whoever wants it more, whoever has more heart, that's who is going to win.

Q. Considering that the weather information calls for even colder and windier conditions tomorrow, what is your plan to sort of combat this horrible weather that you're facing here?
PAULA CREAMER: We had good practice from it today. That's for sure. It was very wet, very -- it was pretty cold out there, very windy, never let up. Just have to go through it.
The captain makes the final decisions with everything, and we go out and support our team. I think we're all ready to play in every kind of condition every hole by hole, a new match on every hole. That's a big part of it.
MORGAN PRESSEL: I think the teams played pretty well today in these conditions.

Q. I was going to say that most people would probably think that the Europeans have a leg up in these kind of conditions, just considering what they grew up playing. Now, you talked about being from Southern Florida, Morgan. How do you practice this kind of golf?
MORGAN PRESSEL: You practice it here when you get it. We don't play in it very often, maybe the British, maybe a couple of really bad days really in the season on Tour.
CRISTIE KERR: This course is very, very long, and, you know, with these conditions it's almost too long for them. I told Nicole today -- you know, we played with Sophie and we played with Gwladys Nocera, and I said, "Two balls in the fairway, wedging to a par 5 is better than having one long hitter in the group." That's the truth.
PAM WARREN: Any other questions?
CRISTIE KERR: Thank you guys.

End of FastScripts

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297