THE SOLHEIM CUP

October 22, 1994

Mickey Walker

MICKEY WALKER: I am very pleased that we are going in tomorrow with a match level because one time it looked as if we might only get a half a point out of the final match today. I think psychologically it was a great boost to the Europeans that we got the point out of the final match. The match couldn't be closer. I mean, it is going to be a great day tomorrow. JoAnne has said all week and I have said all week that we felt that the match was going to be very close and it is going to come down to the wire. JoAnne has obviously tried to do some second guessing and so have I. I wanted some strength at the top and a lot of strength at the bottom because I think it is going to come down to the last matches. We are playing well. I felt today that Dottie and Brandie outputted Alison and Laura. I think Brandie putted really well today. She made a lot of putts and Laura and Alison from tee to green hit it well. Laura hit it close a number of times and couldn't make any putts. I was delighted with the performance of Lora and Dale. I think they have been absolutely fantastic this week. Lora especially, the way she has performed I think is absolutely brilliant. She has been putting very well this week and I think that out of all the Europeans, she has putted the best of any of them.

MICKEY WALKER: I think she has got a very good putting stroke. I think if you had spoken to any European player and they said what do you think of Lora Fairclough and her game, they would have said her strength is her short game and what a great putter she is. I think really good putters, they would always rather putt on fast greens than maybe more slow greens and these are fast. She has a very smooth putting stroke. I think -- as I say, if you are a good putter, you'd always like to putt on fast greens and they obviously suit her.

MICKEY WALKER: The question was, how do you explain that Lora Fairclough, who hasn't ever played in America before this match, how come she is putting so well on such fast greens.

MICKEY WALKER: I think you can develop a good stroke. I think the hardest thing when you putt on poor greens is working on maintaining a good stroke when the results don't necessarily reflect your stroke, it is mental, when you putt on poor greens you miss a lot of putts and if you then begin to doubt your stroke then you are dead. But if you think well, I have got a great stroke and you are putting on poor greens, then it doesn't affect you. I mean, I think Lora, she has great confidence in her putting stroke when she putts on good greens, she holes a lot of putts.

MICKEY WALKER: The question was, could I talk about my strategy; whether I feel that I have outthought JoAnne or she has outthought me, and she believes that she has outthought me. JoAnne is going to say that I think the draw has worked out well for us, and the answer to that question will be known tomorrow without doubt. It is so much the cliche to say it, but the people who win tomorrow are going to have played good golf and each and every one of the Europeans has got no illusion that they are going to win a soft point. I mean, everybody has it in their mind that they have got to go out and play some good golf, whoever they are playing. And I mean, some people might be a bit more intimidating in terms of who they have achieved or the way they have been playing or their reputations, but every one person, you know, is potentially beatible. So I think it has worked out quite well for Europe. I am pleased with the way it has worked out.

MICKEY WALKER: I think that is such a strange remark, really. I mean, I thought about what I wanted to do in general and, you know, Laura -- I was going to put Laura somewhere in -- that's sort of strange how she knew I was going to put Laura. I didn't know I was going to put Laura 7th until a minute before I had to have my pairings in, so I mean, she can't say that she knows I am going to put Laura out 7th. I mean, it is just a freak. You know, that it has come out that it is a rematch of the top match at Dalmahoy.

MICKEY WALKER: I certainly don't think it is a nothing sort of position. I think it could be a very critical position. I feel there is a lot of strength at the bottom of the European team. And I think that is a very critical position. I don't think it is a nothing position at all.

MICKEY WALKER: I think the bottom line, if -- I mean, I spoke to everyone in the team about where they would like to play, and at the end of the day obviously it is my responsibility to make a decision about where I put people and, you know, you have a gut feeling about something and this is my gut feeling about what I wanted to do; put a lot of strength at the bottom. I feel there is quite a lot of strength at the top. I mean, I don't think there is especially a weak player in the European team and there certainly isn't in the American team.

MICKEY WALKER: The question was, do I get very concerned about Laura's defeats having a very negative affect on the team.

MICKEY WALKER: I don't think so. I think Laura is an inspirational person, she is an inspirational team member and she is human. I mean, she is the best player in the world at the moment, but she is in a match-play situation. She is beatible, just as Beth Daniel is, just as any one of the Americans are, you know. So, inevitably, she is not going to win every single time she plays, but we expect her to win every single time she plays.

MICKEY WALKER: No, I don't think that at all. I don't think so. I mean, you know, you could have said that yesterday because Lotte didn't play very well, and she is one of the best players in the world at the moment. And she -- you know, she played poorly yesterday, but she played well today. And no, I don't think that has a psychologically negative affect on the team at all.