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THE SOLHEIM CUPAugust 17, 2013Meg MallonPARKER, COLORADO THE MODERATOR: Like to welcome U.S. captain Meg Mallon to the interview room here at the 2013 Solheim Cup, following Saturday play. Meg, obviously not the day you were looking for.  If you could just sum it up for us. CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Yeah, it's funny, when you look at your lineups and you're like, we have got a lineup to‑‑ which I still feel good about. I mean it just came down to, obviously, a lot of putts were made on the European side. And I'm standing there on 17 tee, and looking at Anna Nordqvist shot in the air, and I'm thinking that's going to go in the hole. And it did. Things like that just don't happen. But today for the Europeans it was a magical day for that team. And for us, it was one of those days that putts didn't drop. We had matches in that turn of events at 15, 16 and 17, that could have gone our way and didn't. It's literally shocking to see us lose all four matches in the afternoon. THE MODERATOR: We'll take questions for Meg. Q. So I guess the question is, what do you tell the players to try to get over that? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Well, I've been a part of two teams, one Solheim Cup team and one team that we represented the LPGA in Japan that we were behind and won. In Wales we won, I believe, 10 and a half points on Sunday. So it can be done. And that's when you go back and say to your team is, take care of your match, and it can be done. There's 12 points to get out there tomorrow. I think that we are a stronger team and we can do it tomorrow. And that's what I'm going to tell them. But they have to take care of their match. And we have to win one match at a time. And it will be fun seeing this crowd get behind that. Q. So how does what happened today affect your lineup for tomorrow? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Well, the good news about today is that the players that struggled a little bit yesterday played much better today. So I feel like, overall, my whole team's playing better, they feel good about how they're playing. You can call it front loading, but I feel like every player can win their match tomorrow. But I'm starting out with my strongest players and that's what we have to do. We have to win one match at a time, starting with the first match. Q. Can you say what happened on the 7th hole? Did a caddie from the European squad lodge the concession. That's what triggered ‑‑ CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Yeah what happened on the 7th hole from, and I got the story from the group itself. What happened, I was on the 11th tee and they told me what happened, but apparently Paula was going to show Lexi her line, which is a match play situation. And went to putt. And Annika had walked up to the group of players and caddies, European players and caddies, and said, give her the putt. So Jodi Shadoff's caddie yells out, that's good, as Paula is drawing her putter back. So Paula stopped her putt, and then because I heard it two or three times, you hear things, whatever, I wanted to make sure what had happened was true. I called in Sue Witters. I said I've heard it from more than three people, so there must be some validity as to what happened. And sue said we have already called the USGA and there is no breach of any rule whatsoever. And so I accepted that, if the USGA, obviously, knows their match play rules and so it's a moot point, really. It wasn't good etiquette, but it's a moot point. Q. Just to follow‑up, I would think a caddie in that situation would be part of the team, but I wonder about assistant captains. Does that fall under giving advice? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Well that was the question. Was Annika giving advice. And they said it was not considered that, but they're going to speak to the assistant captains, because they want to make sure that they do not intervene in any of the situations, like going forward. And they probably need to be more specific on what the role of the assistant captain is. For example, I send the assistant captain out to the par‑3, caddies and players can tell them anything and then they tell me. They can't give advice. But apparently under the USGA, this was not considered giving advice. So you can talk to the USGA about that. Q. I would rather not. (Laughter.) Meg, going to ahead to tomorrow again, you said take care of your own match. Some golfers are scoreboard watchers regardless of‑‑ in a normal situation. Do you tell them to ignore everything else? Is that something that you tell them in the morning? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Yeah, obviously we have to get nine points. So there's not much they can do about the scoreboard, can they? I mean they have got to take care of their own match. This a perfect situation where it doesn't matter, looking at the scoreboard, all they need is three and a half points. So dig in, bury in, take care of your own match, don't look up at the board. Definitely that will be a part of our talk to them. Q. For the second day in a row, there was a lengthy ruling. What can, or needs to be done, to prevent this from happening with this regularity? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Yeah, I think what was interesting about the whole thing is they said they had it on TV. And then all of a sudden they didn't go with what they had on TV. Apparently, TV only caught part of the ball. So then they went back to the people on the ground. You're going to have to ask Brad Alexander, because I never got an explanation from him. I was under the assumption that when Beatriz went back behind the hazard that that was done. And then all of a sudden Cristie hits her shot, and I see Beatriz up by the ball over there. And Brad was gone. And I never got an explanation, except from the official that was there, who said that they went back to a person that was watching on the ground that said it hit on the ground and bounced into the hazard. My question was, Beatriz Recari was on the tee box, and in mid‑air said get right. So if you were asking the ball to get right, where is your ball? And then I asked Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore, who were standing on the back of the tee box, and to their eye line they said it went straight down the middle of the hazard. But their opinion didn't count. The opinion of the person that was, whoever they had asked, on the side, counted. Took precedents over TV, which was the first reason why Beatriz went back, because they said on TV that it went over the hazard and then all of a sudden it didn't, because they didn't catch the whole ball. And then whoever it was on the ground said, no, it bounced and then went into the hazard. And that took precedence. And I'm not, I still haven't gotten an explanation why, but it doesn't matter, because we won the hole. So it doesn't matter. Q. Right, but it also took the final group to darkness because of the delay. CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Yeah, they could see the ball. It wasn't dark. They could see the ball on 18, and we saw it very clearly going in on 18, unfortunately. (Laughter.) THE MODERATOR: I've just got handed the official pairings, and they will be available as you walk out, but I want you to comment on the the first two matches you put out Stacy Lewis first. Europe put out Anna Nordqvist who has played well this week. Second Paula Creamer, and they put out the youngster, Charley Hull. If you would just take a look at those and make a few comments. CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Yeah, I like it so far. I like my lineup. I've got a team‑‑ I love my team. I know they're upset and, I know they're motivated and I'm looking at this lineup right now and I frankly I like it a lot. As I'm looking at‑‑ looking down on it. Do you guys have it? Q. No. Of course not. CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Come on, Mike, let's go. THE MODERATOR: We wanted to get you in here so we could get you back to your team. So match three, Brittany Lang versus Azahara Munoz. Match four Pressel versus Ciganda. I should actually say, match 21, Michelle Wie, Caroline Hedwall. That will be a good one. CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Um‑hum. THE MODERATOR: 22, Piller, Matthew. 23, Salas, Pettersen. 24, Korda, Sergas. 25, Lexi Thompson, Caroline Masson. 26, Lincicome, Ewart Shadoff. 27, Stanford, Recari and the final match, Kerr versus Icher. Why put Cristie Kerr last? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Because she can handle it. You saw it today. Cristie was going to make that putt on 18 today. So she can handle being there. I needed to have someone in the back. And I knew Cristie could handle being in that situation. It's totally different than anywhere we have been. We have to win nine points. So I had to leave someone in the back to take care of our business, if we need it. Q. How did you feel after the morning session, and I'm assuming you felt pretty good, and at what point did your feelings change in the afternoon? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Even ‑‑ I still had, I still felt like we could get a half out that have last match. And I talked about that and I talked to you about that. Every Solheim Cup, it seems, comes down to that Saturday afternoon last match and momentum that happens after that. I'm hoping, in this case, that it's a momentum of my team turning it around tomorrow. So it's, obviously it's daunting. I'm not being Pollyanna about this, but I really feel like the lineup I have, and this team, can do it. I love this team. They are all engaged. They all played their hearts out today. No one gave up on me today. Not one player. And I know they're not going to give up on me tomorrow. Q. Have you thought about bringing Crenshaw in here to wag his finger? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: I talked to Ben about that. I said, you know, sounds like we're going to need one of your speeches tonight, Ben, so. Q. Someone compared Caroline to the Ian Poulter of Solheim Cup. What do you think? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: She dresses better. (Laughter.) THE MODERATOR: Should we leave it at that? CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: Yeah, let's do it. THE MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. CAPTAIN MEG MALLON: All right, you guys. Thanks a lot. And go USA tomorrow. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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