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LPGA TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

December 2, 2010

Laura Davies

ORLANDO, FLORIDA

Q. Tell us about your day, nice finish.
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, it was a nice way to finish. I bogeyed 17, hit a poor -- well, it wasn't that bad of a tee shot, but dreadful bunker shot and made a silly bogey. Certainly 18, that's a top hole, so, yeah, nice birdie.

Q. Early on, you got off to a sluggish start?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah wasn't good, I hit a poor -- again it wasn't that bad a tee shot but I hit it really well. It went in the hazard and then took a drop and laid up and knocked it in the front bunker and didn't get up-and-down; and I doubled to start with and I really hit -- not hit a poor shot.
But just nothing bad was happening; nothing good was happening, either. And then I birdied the par 3, and that sort of settled me down a bit and I had another birdie earlier on I think on No. 4.
So turned at level, having not played that well, I holed a bunker shot for a par and a chip for a par early on. I chipped in at the first for a par and chipped in on No. 6 for a -- No. 7, holed a bunker shot for a par.
To turn at level par was a pretty good effort and played well on the back nine, played really well actually.

Q. How far was 7?
LAURA DAVIES: The bunker shot, I hit it -- I was in the bunker for three, my second shot come just in the hazardy bit and I didn't quite carry the bunker and yeah it was about a 15, 16-footer and just landed on the green and went straight in. It was good, because it was travelling, as well. So it was a bit lucky.

Q. How long was the chip-in on the first hole?
LAURA DAVIES: Just a regular 15-footer I suppose.

Q. How much fun are you having this last summer?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, it's been a poor year in America but it's been a good year in Europe. If I can just have a couple good weeks, and this one and the next week in Dubai, I would consider it a really year; whereas probably by June, it was not that great a year. I had had one win early in the year in New Zealand but other that that, I had not really done a lot.
So, yeah, it's been a lovely finish.

Q. How do you explain it?
LAURA DAVIES: It's all confidence. You have a couple of good weeks, the win in Germany certainly really got my confidence going. And from that point onwards, I played pretty decent. Even over here I played decent. Portland, I had a good chance and only finished 8th in the end and I didn't hole any putts on Saturday and Sunday. Disappointing in Arkansas, missed the cut there having played pretty decent.
It's just been a strange year, and the confidence in Europe, for some reason, Austria, I played really well and won that one. Won a four-way playoff in India the other day. I think my playoff record before then was 2-12, but then you get in a four-way, and you win it on the first extra, so perhaps only four-way playoffs.

Q. Are you kind of oblivious to your age?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, the end of the day, you are as old as you are and as long as you're confident and as long as you can -- if you can physically walk around the golf course, you can be a professional golf course. So at this stage, I can still walk.

Q. The putt that you holed there at the last -- I hear you've been putting great.
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, I putted really well in Europe but I haven't putted well over here but today I putted very well. Holed a number of good par putts, and also four or five really nice -- the birdies, actually, I hit the ball in close on three holes, I had three tap-in birdies really, but did hole another couple of nice ones. If you don't putt well on the LPGA, you don't win. It's as simple as that.

Q. Have you changed anything? Have you changed why you are stroke?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, when I'm hitting a putt now, I just kick down through the ball. If it's a 30-footer, I don't watch the first 15, 20 foot of it. I might look up toward the end. And if it's a short one, sort of 15-foot in, I just listen for it to go in and that's what I've done. I've started doing that in Wales I think it was and since then, I've putted much better.

Q. Did somebody point that out to you?
LAURA DAVIES: No, everything was missing. We were lipping out left, right and center, and I just thought, I've got to change something.

Q. This is an old topic, too, but you are so close -- or a fresh topic, you're so close to the Hall of Fame. Do you find people kind of rooting you on?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, I think the thing is, there's no point getting excited about it until I get one point away, because there's only four majors a year. I was only in three of them this year. I missed the U.S. Open and they are the only tournaments I can win to get in.
So until I win another one, then, obviously, if you're in contention, then it will be interesting. But at the moment, it's a bit of a moot point, because you can't get in. If I did well this week or beginning of next year won one, still doesn't put me in it. It just gives me the chance to win one more to get in.

Q. I think a lot of people think, Laura Davies, she is a Hall of Famer; how do you feel about that?
LAURA DAVIES: The LPGA Hall of Fame is pretty straightforward. You win 22 points, you're in the Hall of Fame. If you don't do it, you don't get in, and I abide by that. People have said, oh, it should be changed. Well, it shouldn't. It's the hardest Hall of Fame to get into. And I've had 23 years out here, and if I'm not good enough to win 22 points, that's my fault, no one else's.

Q. It doesn't seem like -- I always thought, if she were snapping clubs or whatever, you could understand it, being that close for so long but it doesn't seem to bother you.
LAURA DAVIES: No, I want to do it. Don't get me wrong. I want to do it. But until I get that one point away I'm not going to get excited about it.
I might change my attitude if I get to within one win of getting in, because then obviously if you have a chance on Sunday, you're trying to get into the Hall of Fame. That would be exciting. But at the moment it doesn't even interest me. The topic doesn't really worry me.

Q. Is golf more fun now than it's been in a long time?
LAURA DAVIES: It is more fun because I've won five times this year, and I love winning. But the fun times was when I was winning eight and ten in a year in 1993 through '97, I think I won 24 times in those five years. That was really good fun.
But, you know, five wins in a year, I'm certainly loving it. The win in India was extraordinary, because I didn't get my clubs till Thursday morning. Just a chaos week and ended up winning the tournament.

Q. Was it a Friday through Sunday?
LAURA DAVIES: It was Thursday-Saturday. I got them three hours before I teed off and they would not even release them. Customs would not let me have them. They said I could have them Saturday morning.

Q. They just didn't show up on the flight?
LAURA DAVIES: No, they didn't. It was Air China. We came from Jeju Island to Beijing, Beijing to Delhi; so if you are ever going to lose your clubs, that's where you're going to lose them. The thing is, there's 12 of us on the flight. 11 people were players, got their gear and I didn't get mine.

Q. You were just playing with two players who are in the ranking for No. 1 who can win No. 1. And looked like you should be competing for No. 1?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, but they have got the consistency, that's the difference. If I had their consistency, you never know. But I'm a bit more hit and miss. They are more consistent. Na Yeon's driving, if I drove it like her with my extra distance, the golf game would be very easy.

Q. Do you feel like when you're on, that anybody -- you can take on anybody?
LAURA DAVIES: Absolutely, in any given week, I can easily be the best player in the world for one week. But over the period of a year, perhaps my day is gone for that sort of thing; well, it is gone, I'm 49th in the World Rankings, that tells you the story.

Q. Someone said, "It must be a cold day if Laura Davies is wearing pants and not shorts." How do you feel about that?
LAURA DAVIES: It was very cold out there, and it's going to be colder tomorrow, as well.

Q. Pants again tomorrow?
LAURA DAVIES: Absolutely.

Q. Tell us about the course. It's pretty challenging. What do you think of it?
LAURA DAVIES: This one? It's my favorite course in Florida. We played here years ago in the late 90s and 2000. It's always been my favorite course in Florida. I like the grass here. It's better. It's not so -- the weird grass that Florida has. I don't know the difference between them but it's much spongier and I like it.
The layout is fantastic, but the grass is good, too. I don't know what they did with the greens. Someone went mental on the greens. I don't know what happened there. Someone said Jack Nicklaus did it, but I don't believe that. Someone said Jack changed it; well, he must have been having a very bad day. (Laughter).

Q. Someone said that he had to oversee it for it to remain a Nicklaus design.
LAURA DAVIES: Well, he might have been in a helicopter above (laughter) or flown over and said "that will do" or something. There's no way Jack Nicklaus designed these greens. They are mental.

Q. Going back to Se Ri Pak, you played with a lot of the great South Korean players, and they continue to come on the scene. Can you talk about their ascension and what they are doing in women's golf.
LAURA DAVIES: They are amazing. There's always three or four of them in the top 5 or ten every week. Na Yeon, she's one of the very best of them. But that drive on 18, you have three, maybe four yards to work with and she was right in middle of it. It was extraordinary. I can't imagine hitting it like that. And they are all the same. They hit it dead straight; doesn't matter if it's a long course, short course, they are always up in contention. They all put really well. Great short games.

Q. You were just chatting away with your caddie the whole way up the last fairway, I was curious, it was about golf or something else?
LAURA DAVIES: What were we talking about? We talk such nonsense. I don't think it means a great deal.

Q. You were mic'd up today.
LAURA DAVIES: We were turning it down, I assure you. We were talking about how Na Yeon had hit driver up the last. I couldn't believe it. It was ridiculous. She threads it through a five-yard needle, and fair play to her. I couldn't do it.

Q. Being mic'd up, how was that?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, doesn't worry me. They tell you if you swear, they have an eight-second gap to take that out. (Laughter) We try not to swear. There were a few. I think Johnny said something at one point which hopefully they didn't pick up on.

Q. What's Johnny's last name?
LAURA DAVIES: Scott.
No, I don't mind it. I wouldn't want to do it every round, because that battery thing gets on your nerves.

End of FastScripts

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