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RICOH WOMEN'S BRITISH OPENJuly 27, 2011Melissa ReidCARNOUSTIE, SCOTLAND THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, we have Melissa Reid here. She comes into the tournament in fourth place on the LET Henderson Money List having won the Dutch Open. Are you looking forward to the championship? MELISSA REID: Yeah, I am. I think -- I've never been to Carnoustie before, so it was my third time around yesterday, and I was kind of expecting it to be really quite difficult, and not that it's not difficult, but it's much more fair than what I was kind of expecting. But yeah, it's in fantastic shape. THE MODERATOR: Had you watched it on TV in Opens in the past? MELISSA REID: Yeah, obviously I've done some research on it having watched the Opens and things like that. I kind of knew what to expect. There's a few holes that are very different. 18, for example, I think maybe they could have moved that back a little bit, brought the burn a little bit more into play. But yeah, it's obviously very different when you play it yourself than on TV, but it's in superb condition. THE MODERATOR: Does it strike you as being a good course? MELISSA REID: Yeah, I mean it's definitely going to be one of my top five golf courses that I've played. I just think if you drive the ball well, which I would say is one of the strongest parts of my game, then you kind of eliminate a lot of the trouble, and you've got more chances than somebody who's not driving it great. THE MODERATOR: You've been playing very solidly this year. How do you fancy your chances going in? MELISSA REID: Yeah, I mean, I've played all right this year. I would quite like to have had a few more better results than what I have. I had a virus for a few weeks which kind of made me quite weak, so the win in Holland was actually very, very nice, came at a good time, and I certainly feel that my game is much more mature than what it was a year ago. My swing feels a lot better, and I feel very calm about this week. There's something about it; I just feel quite settled here to be honest. THE MODERATOR: Is that something different from normal? MELISSA REID: I don't know. I think maybe obviously the more British Opens, the more bigger tournaments, the more you play bigger tournaments the more comfortable you feel there. This is my fourth British Open, so obviously the whole arena and stuff is getting a lot more comfortable. THE MODERATOR: Do you rate this as sort of the No. 1 tournament of the year or is it something you think about? MELISSA REID: Yeah, I mean, obviously Evian is a big event for us, as well, but I think every single Brit, if they could have one tournament in their whole career, it would be this one. As a Brit obviously we do our best to try and prepare as best we can for this week and kind of get our games in good enough shape to perform well in this British Open. Q. You've played the course now. Do you feel that some of the tees could be back apart from 18? Do you feel some of the other tees could be a bit back and perhaps to your advantage? MELISSA REID: Yeah, I do. I feel like the par-5s you can reach with mid irons, and that's what I mean, I was kind of expecting you'd have to hit a really good 3-wood and then maybe you have a chance of getting on in two. But you're hitting mid irons into par-5s. I know the wind hasn't blown yet so tomorrow morning could be a 3-wood. But I think 17 they could have moved back, either moved that back or moved that forward and made it a par-4, either hit it on or lay up. And also 18, I was a little bit -- I was quite shocked with 18 to be honest. I thought the burn would definitely be in play on the drive, and it's just a driver-wedge. I've hit driver-wedge in there two days now, so it's a little bit -- I definitely thought they would move that tee back. Q. Which do you think will be the problem holes out there? You've mentioned a few are easy. Which are the hard ones? MELISSA REID: It completely depends on the wind. 15, 16 are definitely tough. The first seven holes you've definitely got your birdie opportunities, and then the mid six holes -- actually really all the way through from about the eighth hole or ninth hole all the way through to about 16 are the tough holes where you've got to stay very patient during them holes, and if you come out there level par, you've definitely picked a couple up on the field I'd say. Q. Mel, if you don't get any wind, will the scores be pretty scarily low? MELISSA REID: Yeah, I think so. I think you're going to have to be in double digits to finish top seven. I think the scores will be -- or even top ten. I think the scores will be very, very low if the wind stays down as it is, because that's the only thing that can protect this course really is the wind. I obviously would like the wind, but I know I played with Laura this morning, she'd like the wind up, as well, just because I feel like it would eliminate basically half the field because they're not used to it, whereas the Brits and the Europeans, we're a lot more used to the wind and used to playing in tougher conditions. I would prefer the wind up, but I've heard that it's going to be quite calm all week. If there's no wind, I think it brings every single player into it, whereas I think if the wind picks up it takes half the field out. Q. You talked about the sort of feeling of calm that you've got at the moment, and presumably that's very welcome, but can you elaborate on why you're feeling so composed? MELISSA REID: I don't know, really. I mean, I've got a lot of good people, I've got my manager here and my family, I've got my mom and dad coming in, my coach is here, my best mate is here, and I just feel I've got quite a good team around me to kind of take me away from the golf course. I played actually really well last week in Evian, I just didn't play great the first two days, so that gave me a lot of confidence. I'm working on a few things in my swing, and I'm starting to feel very comfortable with it now. Maybe that's why the sense of calmness and just have a little bit more self-belief, and if you don't have that self-belief you can get a bit shaky. But I don't know, I've just not really let it happen a few times, whereas this week I do feel that I'm ready to just let it happen basically. Q. Is this the first time you've felt like that coming into this tournament? MELISSA REID: I guess so. I mean, I felt confident last year to be honest, I just got off to a bad start. You've just got to be very, very patient in big tournaments like this, and I do feel that -- I've just changed a few things in my preparation like the way I've been practising and stuff, and it gives me a kind of bubble really. I'm not really paying very much attention to anything else apart from what works for me and just trying to get a bit of rhythm basically to my practice routines. THE MODERATOR: Melissa, thank you very much, and good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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