U.S. WOMEN'S OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP

July 12, 1997

Alison Nicholas

ALISON NICHOLAS: I'm absolutely delighted. I played really well today, and I was pleased that I did play well. And I just tried to hit fairways and greens, and obviously made a few putts, as well. It worked out very well for me.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Yeah, I was nervous, but I enjoyed the day. That was my main goal. And it was just a terrific feeling to be out there and to be playing and to have the crowd watching. It was terrific.

ALISON NICHOLAS: I'm sure she has a few more than I have, here.

ALISON NICHOLAS: She's a great girl, and a legend.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, I shall draw from my experience, really, in the Solheim Cup and remember that. I know Nancy reasonably well, and she's a great lady. And I think we'll go out and have fun and play and see what happens, enjoy the day, and enjoy the moment out there, and that's all I can do.

ALISON NICHOLAS: I hit a 6-iron to about 10 feet. Holed the putt, obviously. No. 4 I hit a massive drive down No. 4. I think it was about 280. I could have gone for 2, but I didn't have a good second shot. Ended up in the green-side bunker and got it out to probably about 20 feet. On No. 6, that was a tough hole today. We had a bit of a delay there. It was into the wind and I had to hit 4-wood into the green. But I tried to keep it to the right, because it was a dangerous shot. And I went into the crowd. I had to make -- I had to have a drop, because I was on someone's blanket. And I was disturbing them. They didn't want to get up, actually, I don't think (laughter.) I dropped it into a bit of a hole, unfortunately, which wasn't very clever. And I chipped, actually, over the green, just off the green near the side. And then nearly made the putt. So I bogeyed that hole. And then No. 8 I hit a 9-iron to about 6 feet. And then No. 15 I hit a 6-iron to about 15 feet. And No. 18 I hit a sand wedge to about 8 to 10 feet.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, I was nervous inside. But I felt a calm and a peace. I know my roommates prayed for me this morning. They prayed for me to be calm. I just had fun out there. And I think that was it, because you've got to enjoy the experience. And I love playing golf, and I love people watching, so I just tried to enjoy the occasion.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, I don't think she had the conversation with me, I think she had it with the press. But -- or did she? I don't know. I can't remember. She either had the conversation with me or the press, it was at Lake Nona at the Solheim Cup, the first ever Solheim Cup. And I think she suggested I should have another go, and that it takes time to adjust over here and to quit after about four or five months -- she understood the reasons, but she felt like I should have another go. In fact I think I do remember she spoke to me, because I played her during the singles.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Yeah. I lost 6 and 5, I think.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Yes, in the same Solheim Cup.

ALISON NICHOLAS: I don't know. She's a very classy lady, so I think that she just had a great score, and I said the same to her, we respect one another and we'll go out and play. We both obviously want to win and we'll see what happens.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, basically there's still another 18 holes to play. And a lot of golf to play. And I should just concentrate on those 18 holes, and try to hit fairways and greens. It's not done until the 18th, and I've got to just be trying to remember that. And I'll try very hard not to think about it too much.

ALISON NICHOLAS: 3 shots is obviously better than two. But I've still got to play well tomorrow. Obviously there are some great players behind me, and I'll just see how it goes tomorrow.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, I've had some rounds in the 60s in Europe before this coming week, to presumably we're talking about America. I played very well in Europe the three weeks I was there and had some low rounds, so that gave me the confidence to come out here and my goal was to play well here, and I've achieved that so far. And I hope to continue that. But golf's a funny game, you know. You can play one moment and not the next, and I've worked quite hard, and I just like the golf course and I've played well this week.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Absolutely. I don't think I've got much to lose, really.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, with the help of my coach, Lawrence Farmer and my fitness man, Paul Darby, they've got it right, basically. And I've got a lot of club head speed through the ball, and that obviously generates the length. I've never felt it a disadvantage to be small. I'm very strong, and Paul particularly has worked hard on various areas of my body to strengthen those up to do the things Lawrence wants me to do in the swing. I went to him in '95, and I wasn't hitting the ball very long then. We made adjustments and I've been working on them ever since, really. And it has produced more power in my swing.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Tomorrow, we could be looking for some long ones, there, if it goes like that. I might have to take the 3-wood occasionally tomorrow, if that's the case. I just hit the ball very well today and felt a great rhythm and my timing was spot on, so that explains the bit of extra length and also the occasion, you get pumped up and excited, and sometimes the adrenaline is flowing, and it sometimes produces extra yardage.

ALISON NICHOLAS: I started playing -- my dad used to play -- he's played most of his life, but I used to go along with him and mess about in the bunker, but I didn't really take to it much, because I played team sports in school, and was more interested in team sports. And then on occasions when we were on holiday I sort of played the odd 9 holes with him, when I was probably about 12, something like that, but I didn't actually take the game up seriously until almost 17. I didn't have my own set of clubs until I was 17.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, the thing was I was at school and I'm not that academically minded, so I wasn't doing too well on that front. So I thought I'd like to do something in sports. So I was quite a reasonable tennis player, but being a little small, I think it was a disadvantage, so it's tough when you can't see the opponent on the other side of the net sometimes (laughter.) So I decided to have a go at golf and took to the game like a duck to water. I remember having my first rounds to get my handicap and I think my dad was trying to tell me just to not do too well, because my handicap was going to be too low to start with. I started off with a 30 handicap and gradually in about three or four years it came down to plus two.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Yeah, I haven't touched the Dunlap for a few years, but my dad is very keen, and very interested. I've been on a couple of great holidays to Tanzania and Kenya and so my interest was from those holidays from my dad. And I do a little bit now and again. But the last sort of two or three years I haven't really done a lot of it.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, it was in '90, I think. And I suppose playing in Europe I was always at the top of the field, in the top-10. And I was used to that. And I came out and played here and obviously played against better players, and there's more strength and depth over here, and I wasn't doing very well. So I'm a little hard on myself at the best of times, so I was just struggling, really, and felt homesick and I wasn't enjoying it, my attitude probably wasn't the greatest, I admit that and I had to readdress that. And obviously with the encouragement of various players, particularly my friends in Europe and obviously Nancy said something at the Solheim Cup in 1990, I just -- and the fact that the European Tour only had 12 or 13 tournaments, I felt that I had to come back, it was important for me to come back and that I was aware that my attitude had to change and that I had to really grind hard, and just hang in there. And I'm really glad I did.

ALISON NICHOLAS: It's Big Al she calls me, actually. I'd call her Little Laura, probably. It was actually quite a number of years ago that happened. She started that when I played with her in an amateur championship. It was called the Intermediate English Amateur Championship and we were both in -- we were playing matchplay in the final and that's when she first started calling me Big Al, and it stuck.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Yeah, Lisa is really playing well this year. And I think that she's a great player, and I think the only reason she perhaps didn't do well before or as well before, was a confidence level, and I think that the Solheim Cup she played really well. And I think that's really inspired her and given her great confidence. And she's a great player, and a nice person and I wish her all the best. I think it's great she's doing so well over here.

ALISON NICHOLAS: I don't know. I can't remember. I can't remember stats like this, I'm afraid. On occasions, you know, it does happen, I'm sure if you could dig out the record books some of my previous wins there's been occasions I haven't had many bogeys as well.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Well, that's a tough pin. I think that if you were going in there with wedge it wouldn't be too much of a problem. But it was against the wind today, and I think most people were hitting long irons or woods in. It's just incredibly difficult. And even if you hit the green on the right-hand side. So there was a little bit of hold up there. I hope it won't be like that tomorrow.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Those are two tough holes, and obviously that pin caused a lot of problems. No one in their right mind was going to go for the pin.

ALISON NICHOLAS: No, obviously Lotta's -- she started off the first hole was okay, and then I think she 3-putted the second from a short distance, and I was surprised but it happens, and it's a tough golf course under the circumstances, but she started to play really well in the back 9 but then she didn't hole a putt. So she was a bit unlucky on the back 9 because she started playing really well again. All I can say it's a tough golf course, and if you do hit one loose shot it seems to punish you that much more.

ALISON NICHOLAS: Yeah, very good. The greens are lovely. I've thoroughly enjoyed putting on them. That's one of my strengths. And when they're in such a great surface I thoroughly enjoy it.