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THE SOLHEIM CUPAugust 21, 2009Paula CreamerNatalie GulbisJuli InksterChristina KimSUGAR GROVE, ILLINOIS MIKE SCANLAN: We'd like to welcome the victorious members of the U.S. Team today. We'll start with Natalie and Christina, a 4 & 2 win earlier. Christina, we'll start with you. How did it feel to get that first win under your belt this year? CHRISTINA KIM: Well, you know, this match and this point has been four years in the making for me, so it was pretty darn special out there. I had a wonderful time, and I had some great memories, having played with Natalie, both of us in our first Solheim together, and I couldn't have asked for a better partner. The energy out there was palpable. It was truly incredible. NATALIE GULBIS: We were really looking forward to playing together. We had talked about it on the first tee, it's been four years since we first played together, and we had such a great time the last time we played together in the States. We were looking forward to the match and we had a great time out there and got off to a really good start and just kept going. MIKE SCANLAN: Paula and Juli, a nice 2 & 1 win there to finish up the day. Juli, we'll start with you, we enjoyed your celebration on the final hole there. JULI INKSTER: Yeah, it's about time my partner made a putt, I'll tell you. (Laughter). No, it was good. I mean, we had some sloppy play in the middle, I did. But the thing with alternate shot, you've just got to try to ham-and-egg it and do the best you can, make some pars and grind it out, and we were fortunate enough to throw a few birdies in there and came away with a win. Paula made a phenomenal putt on 17, and no, I'm not going to spell phenomenal. MIKE SCANLAN: Paula, you're the only person today to go 2 & 0. Just talk about how you played today and how it feels to be so successful. PAULA CREAMER: You know, I played this morning with Kerr, and she played great. It kind of was a little wake-up call for myself going out there leaving my partner kind of hanging in the morning. But I came around on the back nine, and this afternoon I just wanted to come out and play good golf. I love playing with Juli. We have a great chemistry together on the golf course. We know each other. We need to talk to each other and when we need to pump each other up, we just have that good connection. We went out, we played good, we got up early and we just stayed there. Q. Can you kind of talk about, Christina, your interaction today with the fans? It looked like you were having just a little bit of fun since really the getgo. CHRISTINA KIM: You know, like I said, every moment of this entire week has been four years in the making. I had suffered the tragedy in 2007 of not making my way onto the team and deservedly not being picked, so I have -- I was chomping at the bit since 8:05 this morning sending off the groups, and I've still got a little bit of voice left in me for tomorrow. Going to save up, taking a vow of silence, but I'm just -- how can you not? They have so much faith in us and they're supporting us so much. They're putting in time, effort, money, all that stuff just to come watch us play golf and defend our country, defend the Cup. The least we can do is get into it with them. Paula has done a great job as well as Michelle and Morgan, all the girls really. It's been pretty phenomenal. Q. Can any of you talk about the difficulty of this course? There seems to be some par-4s. One of the matches I was watching, one of the shorter players was having some trouble hitting some of the par-4s in regulation, and I'm guessing this is a pretty difficult track. CHRISTINA KIM: Well, yeah, this golf course is a -- it's a damn good challenge. It really makes you hit every single shot out there. You have to be able to -- it puts a premium on hitting into the fairways, and you have to be able to get it onto the green from there, and that's not always easy. You've got rescues, fairway clubs; some people might have to go driver off the deck. Especially with the cold weather, the wet weather, it's a damn good challenge, and I think we've come out really strongly today, though. We've made a statement coming out on top. But it's a beautiful golf course, and it's a great, great challenge. Q. For Paula and Juli, you're now 3 & 0 in foursomes. What is it about that format that's so special for you two? JULI INKSTER: I don't know, I just feel really comfortable with Paula. She's a hell of a player, so it's pretty easy to ride a stallion (laughter), so I just kind of go out there and say "giddy-up" and she goes. I don't know, I've always -- she reminds me a lot of me when I was her age. CHRISTINA KIM: Young and hot. JULI INKSTER: Well, golf-wise, I should say. I never wore the heels she wears. But I just really enjoyed playing with her. You know, I think it shows. PAULA CREAMER: Same. You know, Juli has always been my partner, if you look back at it. We get along really well out on the golf course. We know how to talk to each other, like I said. I know Jules is trying just as hard as I am out there, but at the same time I know when she needs a little push, and I know when she's kind of trying to rein me back in. But at the same time, I've always looked up to Juli, and I never want to let her down as my team -- JULI INKSTER: Believe me, you will not ever let me down. PAULA CREAMER: But on the same point, it's a lot of fun. I just truly enjoy going out there with her, and we've been lucky enough that we have been 3 & 0 in those matches, and we've played great. Q. Juli, can you just talk about the length of the day? Did you know going in that you were going to play both matches? JULI INKSTER: Yeah, I did. Q. How did you prepare for such a long day? PAULA CREAMER: She got 15 hours of sleep last night. JULI INKSTER: I was in bed by 6:00. The girls put me in and then they went out (laughter). No, you know, I knew I was going to play 36. As far as physically-wise, I'm fine. You know, I work out -- CHRISTINA KIM: She's fitter than nine of the other players on the team. JULI INKSTER: I was not worried about that at all. If you can't play 36 holes, you need to get another job. Q. Paula, could you talk about the putt you had to close out the match on 17 and get the U.S. out of the first day with a one-point lead? PAULA CREAMER: Just the putt or the whole hole? Just the putt? It was about 25 feet. JULI INKSTER: It was like five feet (laughter). PAULA CREAMER: Trust me, it wasn't five feet. I think it was about 20 feet. Oh, because you hit it. JULI INKSTER: She's a little slow. PAULA CREAMER: There's not much break at all. I played it straight. The biggest thing for me was getting it to the hole. It was a really slow putt. These greens, the last 10, 11 holes, they just kind of slowed up. I don't know if it was the heavy air. It seemed to me that I kept leaving putts just getting there, whereas in the morning they were going two-and-a-half, three feet by. We got a lot of dew on the greens. We talked about that out there. That was one putt I wasn't going to leave short, especially at that moment. I knew I had to make it. JULI INKSTER: It was right in the heart. PAULA CREAMER: It was right in the heart. It was a good putt. It was dead straight. Q. This is for all of you. Can you talk a little bit about the competition? You came into this as the heavy favorites, and you now have a one-point lead going into day two, which is unusual for the American side, looking at history. How do you feel about this other team? You don't know a lot of those players as well as you have in the past. Are they the underdogs that everyone is saying, and what do you think about the upcoming two days? JULI INKSTER: I mean, one point is nothing. It's very close. I mean, a lot of those matches could have gone one way or the other today with a putt here or a chip there. The European team has a very long team, and this golf course really plays to their advantage. CHRISTINA KIM: Absolutely. JULI INKSTER: I think this is one of the best European teams they've had. We know all of them, and we have to play really great golf to win. You know, you can say that we're heavily favored, but... CHRISTINA KIM: The media says a lot of things, though. JULI INKSTER: You guys are just sitting in here. Believe me, we know we're not heavy favorites and we know we have to play well to win. We're just trying to go out there and everybody is trying to win their match and do their thing, and hopefully by the end of the week -- Q. Were you surprised to see some of the European anchors like Sophie -- JULI INKSTER: But you know what, Sophie, it's truly who you run into. It's like Paula said, Cristie played great this morning, and Paula said Sophie played awesome. It's not really -- just because they lost, it doesn't mean they really played bad; they just might have run into a buzz saw. In match play that's what it's all about. It's just getting the momentum, keeping up, and it's just a different game. I'm sure they're going to come out firing tomorrow, and we'll see. CHRISTINA KIM: Two of their teammates are 2009 major champions. There's no way to say that they're the underdogs, in my opinion. We've got a very strong team, but so do they. Like Juli said, they're very long. They've got a lot of experience if you look at the number of Solheim Cups that they've played. They know how to grind it out. Like Juli said, a lot of these matches could have gone one way or another, and we're very fortunate to have a one-point lead going into day two. But again, anything can happen. We have to stay on our toes and play our best golf for the next 54 holes' worth of golf in order to come out on top. Q. Juli, you are now the all-time leading point getter in American history. I know the team means most to you, but can you just -- JULI INKSTER: That just means I'm the oldest. You know, it's a great honor. I mean, really, seriously, when I first started playing, I thought I'd play five years and quit, and here I am, I'm still here. See what you guys have to look forward to? It's a great honor. The Solheim Cup to me is the ultimate golfing venue. I'm honored to be where I'm at. Records are made to be broken, and I'm sure some of these ladies up here will probably break it, and I will be here to see it, so I won't miss one. Q. Just to follow up on that, to give us a little perspective, can you tell us about your first Solheim Cup, some of the memories that stick with you? JULI INKSTER: I don't even know when my first one was. I've had a lot of great memories, and the funny thing, it's not really golf memories, it's team memories. That's what this thing is all about. CHRISTINA KIM: Nicely done, Jules. Well said. Q. Any chance of playing a little faster in the fourballs tomorrow, please? PAULA CREAMER: Tell our pin placements to be a little bit easier in the morning, then. JULI INKSTER: Yeah, 8:00 o'clock in the morning, driver, 3-wood, hello. I mean, come on. CHRISTINA KIM: You've got to talk to all 24 of us. PAULA CREAMER: It's not like we want to be out there that long, trust me. JULI INKSTER: Yeah, it was a long day. MIKE SCANLAN: All right, thank you. End of FastScripts |
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