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THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 24, 2011

DUNSANY, IRELAND

BETHAN CUTLER: We'd like to welcome Laura Davies and Melissa Reid who just beat Brittany Lang and Michelle Wie by 4 and 3. Congratulations, ladies. Laura that was a special moment for you because you've just gone above Annika Sorenstam as the leading point scorer in the Solheim Cup history at 24 and a half points. Are you pleased about that fact?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, obviously, the more you play in it, the more points you should have. So as I've played in all of them, if I didn't have the most points, it would be a bit embarrassing. It's nice to finally get past Annika who obviously has a spectacular record, and it's nice to have done it before the singles.
Now I can go out there and not worry about oh, I want to beat the record because I might never be here again, so at least I've done it and gotten it out of the way.
BETHAN CUTLER: How does it rate among your special Solheim Cup moments?
LAURA DAVIES: Well, the way Mel played and the way I played today, it was one of the best matches I've ever been involved in on a winning match. We played great yesterday, but, unfortunately, it's never the same when you're on the losing end of a great match.
Mel just puts confidence in you. She's always very solid and doesn't hit many bad shots, and she was reading the greens for me today, and she read them great.
BETHAN CUTLER: Mel, you played magnificently. How does it feel to get your first point on the board?
MELISSA REID: Obviously, very nice. Like Laura said, we fell a bit hard -- yesterday afternoon we played really well and we lost the match. So, obviously, to be playing with Laura again was awesome. We get on really well, and we kind of feed off each other which is great. We're a really good partnership.
So, obviously, to get Laura's little record breaker here was nice, and also to get my first point was a special afternoon, really.
BETHAN CUTLER: How important is it to get that momentum going for the rest of the team?
LAURA DAVIES: Oh, absolutely. The first match out I always feel has a huge responsibility. They wanted Suzann out first, obviously, because she's our leader, our play leader, and we got the role. You really do feel you have to get out of it and get some blue on the board because it does encourage the rest of the team.

Q. Not just getting blue on the board, but getting blue in your game, especially for Mel having been pipped in two matches yesterday. How important was it to get 1 hole really quickly? I think you were 4 up after 7.
MELISSA REID: Yeah, we should have been 5 up after six. Yeah, I missed a short putt, but it was great. Like I said before, we fed off each other, more so even this afternoon, I think, than we did yesterday afternoon. We played great yesterday afternoon, but we fed off each other. When I had a bad shot, Laura put it in there close, and we just had a great partnership today.
So to get a few holes up early was nice, but still with these guys, they're great players and you've still got to finish them off and still got to hang in there and try to make birdies every time.

Q. Laura, we're used to you outdriving everyone. But have you putted this well in a while?
LAURA DAVIES: No, I went to an old putter. I went to the storage shed and got one out, and it's the one I used between '94 and '96, and I won about 24 tournaments with it in those years. So Johnny said try to find one of your old putters. So I went on last Monday and found it.
It's got good memories. It's not the nicest looking putter to look down on with all the modern day ones with all the nice features, but it works. The ball is really rolling off it nice. Like I said, Mel gave me confidence with her reads, and Mel Reid's (Laughing). That worked.
Yeah, it's a Maruman putter. I used to play Maruman clubs, and it's one I got years and years ago.

Q. Laura, on that approach on 15, could you just tell us as you were looking at it what goes through your head when you see it heading closer and closer and closer?
LAURA DAVIES: Well, the putt?

Q. Yeah.
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah, it's one of those that's sort of a hit-and-hope. Mel read it just inside the bunker so that's exactly where I hit it. She read it perfectly, but it's all about the pace. But, fortunately, I got the pace right, but I must admit, I thought it was going in. That would have been a nice moment. But we still had to worry about whether Michelle would hole her chip or not, but it was nice.

Q. Was the record on your mind coming into this week at all?
LAURA DAVIES: Someone spoke about it early in the week. Not really pressing, but I heard someone say I need a point. I thought that would be nice to have it done before the singles. I only had two chances to do it, unfortunately. Yesterday we didn't do it, today we did.
It just clears any extra pressure, because singles is about as high a pressure as you're going to get in any golf when you're trying to win a major championship. It's that sort of pressure, singles. So it's nice that that little bit of edge isn't there. I haven't got to worry about that.

Q. How many putters were in the storage shed?
LAURA DAVIES: About 270, I think. It took me a while to find it, because I've got about 12 of that particular model. But I wanted the specific one that I used to -- because it's worth a lot of money. I kept saying to Maruman, send me more. I need to try another one because they're worth a lot of money. So I have a lot of them hidden away there. But I found it.

Q. What was the identifying mark?
LAURA DAVIES: I just remembered it because I used it a lot, where most of the others were virtually brand new. This one had a little thing in the corner of it that distinguished it from the others. It's definitely the one. The grip was well worn, and the other grips weren't as well.
I can sell you one. They're only about $2,000 each if you want one. They work well.

Q. Did you use any mind-clearing techniques?
LAURA DAVIES: Well, thinking, I don't know, really. We just fed off each other. Our thing was not to give the Americans a chance. That was our state of mind out there. Just always be inside them and, if possible, if they do hole a putt on you, you answer them, and we did that.

Q. Did you just go into your center where you get that?
LAURA DAVIES: Yeah.

Q. Mel, I think you were 4 years old when Laura first --
LAURA DAVIES: Thank you for that. She's like the daughter I never had. It's lovely to be sat here with her.
MELISSA REID: Cheers, mum.

Q. I just wondered what your view was on the scale of her accomplishment over 12 Solheim Cups? She maybe inspired you in the early stages of taking up the game?
MELISSA REID: Yeah, I've told Laura this before after a couple of beers, she is the reason I took up golf. You know, she was the first lady golfer that I looked up to, and it's great now that I say that we're quite good mates. Because anything that Laura says, I do take in. I respect her, obviously, as a player. Yeah, you know, she's all right as well.
It's just nice. It's nice that we have been able to play a lot together. You know, I just feel very, very comfortable around Laura, and it's nice to have someone on Tour that is a legend like Laura that you can feel very comfortable around.

Q. Looking ahead to tomorrow, what do you think the key will be for the singles? At least we'll be level at the very worst, so talk about the pressures.
LAURA DAVIES: Well, we've messed up the singles so many times. This time we need to go out there and not worry. Try not to look at that scoreboard, because in the foursomes you tend to feed off the scoreboard. In the singles, I think you're better off -- I'm a big leaderboard watcher.
But I think not to look at the leaderboard tomorrow, because if you see a lot of blue, you might start thinking I don't need to do it. And I think we've done that. It seems like we've done that in the past because we've been beaten so badly over there.
I don't know what the stat would be in singles, but it would be gigantic against us. I know that much. So tomorrow we have to go out and win our point. It's easy to say, but that's what we've got to try and do.

Q. Did you tell Mel that?
LAURA DAVIES: No, I've just told her now, I think.

Q. I'm sure you'll go where you're put, but would you like to go out early to get some momentum or would you like to bring the one that brings it home?
LAURA DAVIES: Well, Juli and I have never played singles against each other. So I've told her to go number four slot, and I've told Ali I want to go number four slot, so we'll see what happens.
Juli's probably winding me up. She'll probably go out first or last or something. It would be nice to play against Juli, because over the years I've never played singles against her.

Q. Mel, would you like to get it out of the way or be the Graeme McDowell?
MELISSA REID: I don't mind. Obviously I envision myself holing the winning putt to win the Solheim Cup. But wherever Ali wants to put me, I'll be quite happy, and I'll do my best to get my point.

Q. Laura, Alison last night here said she wanted the crowd to be louder and more vocal. Did you get that impression going around today?
LAURA DAVIES: Well, I think you earn the support of the crowd by hitting really good shots, knocking it close, getting them excited. It shouldn't be the other way around. They shouldn't have to get excited to get you playing well. So the better you play, the louder they get. It's as simple as that.
I think you have to earn the support even of the home crowd. There are so many Americans out there. You want to keep them quiet as well by hitting shots in.
But I'm not one big cheerleader type person. I wouldn't go around trying to whip the crowds up. I'd hope my golf would do that.

Q. The putt on 13, were you afraid the wind was going to blow that in?
LAURA DAVIES: Oh, that was incredible. I stood below the level of the green looking at my chip. I don't know how it didn't go in. I'm pleased it didn't, obviously, because you don't need that to happen. It flicked it out of the way.
To be fair, once I looked close and when I got up there, there was at least that much.

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