THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 10, 2003

Juli Inkster

LAURA NEAL: Julie, thanks for coming in. Welcome to Sweden.

JULI INKSTER: Thank you.

LAURA NEAL: You got pulled off the golf course a little early, but maybe give us your impression so far.

JULI INKSTER: I think the course is in excellent shape. I played Compaq here about four years ago, I guess. We're playing a lot of different holes, but I think the course is -- I think it's going to be a fair test. We're looking forward to getting started.

LAURA NEAL: Some questions?

Q. What is your feeling, the scenario of the final playing Annika. And what can we expect from the clash?

JULI INKSTER: For me playing Annika?

Q. Yeah.

JULI INKSTER: I wouldn't mind that. I played her two years ago at Loch Lomond. It's a hard match up. You've got our captain that puts in twelve. Their captain puts in twelve. It's hard to match up that way. I would love to play Annika. I have a lot of respect for her. I know I'd have to play my best to beat her, but it can be done. You just can't make any mistakes.

Q. There's a bunch of you, you and Meg and Beth who have been here many, many times, how important is experience in the competition?

JULI INKSTER: I think it's important, but I think it's also important to be playing good golf coming in. A lot of our younger players are playing well right now. We've talked to them and tried to tell them try not to make it bigger than it is. Have fun with it. Enjoy it because this is really what it's about. It's playing as a team, camaraderie. Telling old stories, Solheim Cup stories. Once you play on a team, you're that team forever. You're going to have those memories forever. Each day enjoy what you've got.

Q. How frustrating is this weather today and obviously the European team knows this course better than the American team.

JULI INKSTER: You know what, we go to a new golf course and we play two days and you're ready to go. The course, they've played it a lot, but sometimes it's better not knowing and going out there and just playing your own game. I don't foresee that as a problem. Yesterday was a beautiful day, and the week is supposed to be great. We got a full 18 in yesterday, and we'll get probably some more today, and we'll play tomorrow. You can get to know a golf course in three days. I played the Compaq here even though the holes are different, structure different. It's basically pretty much the same golf course.

Q. Julie, you say you've been regaling the youngsters with some Solheim Cup stories. Can you pick one of them out?

JULI INKSTER: My favorite one is we're playing at Muirfield. I was playing with Meg Mallon. I'm sure you guys have all seen it. We were playing Lotta and -- shoot. Anyway, Lotta hit this great shot on 17 at Muirfield from the left hand bunker to a right hand pin. We were 1-up going into that hole. We were playing a best ball. And Meg was in the bunker, the back bunker, and I was far left. And Lotta hit one of the best bunker shots I've ever seen. It was like one of the hardest bunker shots. A 30-yard shot. And she hit it up to gimmie range. Then I was kind of next to putt. And Meg, who is a great putter, she read all my putts for me, told me where to hit it and I hit this probably 60 foot putt and it was going and going and going and I'm looking at it and I'm thinking this thing is going in, it's going in. And then when I made it, the roar from the crowd was awesome. Just stuff like that, you make those putts on your own to win a tournament or during a tournament, and it means a lot. But it just doesn't mean as much as when your team is out there watching you and rooting for you and you make a putt like that. It was one of the best moments that I've had in golf.

Q. Just a question about your captain. Can you give us insight into the qualities of Patty Sheehan?

JULI INKSTER: Well, Patty is very laid back, very loose. The team kind of takes after that. I feel like we're a lot more relaxed this year. I think it's easier when you're playing away. You don't have the outside distractions of tickets for everybody. We just get give them all to the Swedish players because they're going to have lots of people here. I think she's very organized. And Jane Geddes, the vice captain, they feed off each other because Jane is kind of organized and Patty kind of rolls with the punches and just kind of flows with it. I think they compliment each other very well. If you know Patty at all, it's just being Patty. Very laid back and making sure we're all taken care of and having fun.

Q. Hi, Julie.

JULI INKSTER: Hi, Rick.

Q. I asked Patty yesterday of the 12 team members, which one is the class clown, the cut-up in the bunch. And Jane was there, and they didn't hesitate. They said, "Oh, Julie, she's the team cut-up".

JULI INKSTER: No, that's not true. I'm the serious one, the serious one. That's just kind of my nature. I'm kind of the sarcastic one of the group. I try to keep everybody -- I don't let anybody get a big head on them on our team. We make sure everybody is playing as a team and working as a team. That's just kind of my personality.

Q. How much extra pressure do you feel with the men losing the Ryder Cup, the men losing the Walker Cup? Do you feel any extra pressure?

JULI INKSTER: No. I think we have enough pressure trying to -- I think the Europeans have one of the strongest teams ever. I think Catrin Nilsmark did a great job in picking her extra five as far as being competitive and playingwise. We all know that in order to win this thing on foreign soil that we're going to have to play the best that we can play. We don't need any extra pressure from the Ryder Cup or the Walker Cup or the Curtis Cup or whatever. We know what we have to do, and I think the key for us is getting off to a little better start than we did in Minnesota.

Q. Tomorrow is September 11. Could you tell us a little bit about what it means to you, the American team and what you did that day?

JULI INKSTER: I don't think anybody will ever forget where they were September 11 and what they were doing and the sacrifices that our troops go through every day for us to have the freedom to play golf and the freedom of free speech. It's a tragedy and I was fortunate that I didn't lose anybody in the towers or the Pentagon. It's something our kids are going to have to grow up and remember and we remember. And hopefully no one will ever forget because it was a tragedy. I don't know why we just can't all get along. That's what everybody says, Europeans and the Americans and whatever, but you know what, we fight for the same freedom of speech and being your own person. It comes down to it's just a golf match. On any given day. On any given day anything can happen. What our troops are doing and what our country is doing is really what it's all about.

Q. What do you recall about Mr. Solheim, the late Mr. Solheim? And just a thought on his contributions to women's golf.

JULI INKSTER: He was a great guy, and he loved the game of golf. I'll never forget -- I don't remember what year it was. He came out with that putter that we hit that went ping, you know, ping, I had an old Bulls Eye I was putting with. We were at Moon Valley Country Club. And I was putting around and he comes up and he goes, "What kind of putter are you?" I said, I'm a pretty good putter. He was watching me putt. Of course I missed every one I putted. He goes, "Try this putter". So I tried it. I said, oh, that's nice, kind of being cordial. And I went back to my putter, and little did I know that thing would revolutionize the game of golf with the putter and the driver and irons. But you know what, he loved the game of golf, and he was a huge supporter of women's golf. For a man of his means and his vision to believe in women's golf 20 years ago, 15 years ago meant a lot to us and our organization. And Mrs. Solheim has kept on that tradition. Hopefully one day when someone says "Solheim Cup" you won't have to say, "Oh, it's the women's version of the Ryder Cup", everybody will know what the Solheim Cup is. It's going to be a great tradition down the line.

LAURA NEAL: Any other questions?

JULI INKSTER: All right. Thank you very much.

End of FastScripts.