LPGA MEDIA CONFERENCE

October 13, 1999

Pat Bradley

PAT BRADLEY: Yes, I'd love to, Kirsten. Myself and Debbie Massey who is assisting the Solheim team of 2000 and I arrived in Glasgow on Wednesday morning. We took a 20-minute drive to the hotel and then from there we went directly to Loch Lomond and just kind of got a feel for the site. I was extremely impressed. I have watched the European Tour play a tournament, but just from the television set, so it was really quite exciting to be there in person and walk the same fairways that these great Europeans play each year there at this tournament. It is a golf course that I feel very, very comfortable being at. It does have a little touch of an American look to it being maybe -- maybe being that Tom Weiskopf was the architect in the design. I feel that it has a tremendous variety and a lot of options for setup for the players to contend with. It has generous fairways and I think they will stay that way. I asked if they would bring and tighten up the fairways and I think they are planning on leaving them as they are at this time which -- it was quite generous. The greens were -- they are smaller than I anticipated. I thought they would be larger so your iron-play will definitely be a premium with this golf course. But I was, as I say, I feel that it is a terrific Match Play golf course. It played soft at this time of the year in October. They had seven inches of rain in their September month so it made the golf course play quite soft and if that holds true next year in October, it will allow the players to be very aggressive and feel confident with shooting in at the pins. I think it will generate a tremendous excitement and I feel very comfortable that my players will adjust to this golf course and feel quite at home with it.

PAT BRADLEY: I am not sure I avoided being -- I am not sure what your question is.

PAT BRADLEY: I am not positive on what the difference is. But I do know that the European players, they play over in our country on such a regular basis that I believe they feel as if this is their second home. They have become friends of ours as well as competitors of ours. They have really struck up a great relationship with the Americans galleries that are over here. They actually live in the United States when they are over here and I think they are considered -- this is their second home. I know that they are highly received by our galleries because they support this Tour as greatly as they do that they are highly accepted.

PAT BRADLEY: Thank you, Bob.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, that -- I have thought of that also, Bob. That is why I think -- I feel that the U.S. players will adjust quite easily because there won't be the bump-and-run that European golf is so known for. I also believe that because the European players play in the States as often as they do, they have adjusted quite nicely to that American style or that American feel. So I feel that that is what is going to balance it out and kind of keep everyone equal is because the Europeans are very familiar with our type of golf because they are over here playing it so much and then with us going over there, there won't be that big of adjustment to a bump-and-run and I believe that that will help us in adjusting to that golf course.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, you are very right, Bob. In fact, I kind of made a mental note that there were some of them that were on the same scale as the country club; especially on the shorter par 4s, they had them -- they were much smaller greens and they were well protected. Now, on a longer par 4, the greens -- or par 5, the greens seem to be much larger and they weren't quite as protected as maybe a short par 3. So I do feel that it will generate a lot of a Match Play atmosphere, a shoot-out atmosphere because you are definitely going to have to be on your game with your irons especially.

PAT BRADLEY: Thank you, Bob.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, I believe the nucleus will be the players that have been in the Solheim Cup the last two Solheims for sure. Of course, I have Juli that is sitting at the top of the list and has had such a great year and, you know, I feel that Juli and Dottie and Meg and Kelly Robbins will be my rock. These four players will be my rocks and I look forward to being right alongside with them. I also have an eye out for some young players that I am watching very closely and hoping that next year, with double points, you know, we will see some movement in the standings and it will be very exciting as crunch time comes down the stretch.

PAT BRADLEY: I have talked to Judy Rankin and Judy told me that it will probably be one of the toughest decisions that I will ever have made in my career is deciding, (1) who my pick should be or will be and, (2) putting the right pairings together. So I really won't know. I am sure it won't be as obvious as one might hope. But yet I feel that the quality of the players that I have, that I can interact with most of them and I feel like I can come out with a winning formula. But it will be something that I know will be nerve-wracking and I will be aware of that and just could the best I can.

PAT BRADLEY: To tell you the truth, Ken, I captained the Nichirei at one time in my career, early back, but that was a team-type atmosphere on our Tour, but I think this will be definitely a whole new experience for me. It will be -- you know, you go through life trying to go get through challenges and this will be a challenge but it is a challenge that I look forward to. When I talked to Ben Crenshaw last Thursday -- I mean, Thursday of the Ryder Cup, he said it will be probably one of the toughest jobs that I will encounter but yet it will be one of the most challenging and one of the most rewarding jobs. I look at it with that excitement and I look forward to that challenge.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, one young player that has impressed me very much-and I have played with her a number of times and she is a native of your land-and that is Janice Moodie. This young player is mature beyond her years. She really has a great attitude about the game and about how she wants to play it. Each time that I have played with her, I have always enjoyed my day with her and she can play. She is going to be a great asset to the European team.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, I do like her disposition. I mean, I do like her attitude. She has got a good head on her shoulders, but physically, she is a strong ball-striker. I mean, she can -- she really can hit that ball a long way. She is working very hard on her putting. I think, if anything held her back at all, would be adjusting to the different types of greens and the different types of speeds that we play each week. But this young lady is going to be a force on the LPGA Tour and she is definitely an asset, not only to the European Tour, but she is an asset to the LPGA Tour. She is a delightful young laid key.

PAT BRADLEY: I don't think it is far off at all, sir. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't come early next year.

PAT BRADLEY: Yes, Bob, I saw him on the driving range on Thursday. We just gave one another a hug and I wished him good luck and he just had a big smile on his face and he went off and running. But I do hope to get in touch with Ben. We play a tournament in April down in Austin and I am hoping that maybe after things have settled down that we can maybe get together and I can pick Ben's brain a little bit on how things went and I am also very fortunate that I do have Judy Rankin that is not far from this Tour that I can call and talk with. In fact, I saw Judy in Columbus, Ohio a couple of weeks ago before I left for Loch Lomond and we sat and chatted a little bit. So I really feel very fortunate that I have two terrific people that are on either side of me that I know if I needed any help or needed a little bit of advice I can go to these people and get the very best.

PAT BRADLEY: Yes, I do, Bob. I did notice how Ben did use Billy and Bruce. He leaned on those two guys about quite a bit. I know those guys were thrilled to be able to, you know, have Ben lean on them if he needed it. The Solheim Cup has grown tremendously in the last few years and Judy, you know, had (inaudible). . . A kind of a throw things off or bounce things off and things like that. So I have asked Debbie Massey who is a two-time women's British Open Champion. She is a former LPGA President of our Tour and she has been a good friend of not only my friend, but a friend of a lot of the players out here and I think she will be a tremendous help for us all.

PAT BRADLEY: I agree, Bob. I noticed that and made mention of that to our commissioner when I saw Bruce Edwards there and I thought it was a terrific idea because things are happening so fast and everybody is kind of spread out that it was a marvelous idea and that is something that we are keeping -- that we are keeping in the back of our minds. I talked to a few of my players and they mentioned that in the past they have elected, like one of the guys that is there that week, they, among themselves, elect somebody as a captain to kind of keep an eye on one another and help one another out. But there also might be a need to bring someone over that will just cater to the guys because they are going to be busy too. It might be very beneficial, Bob, you are right.

PAT BRADLEY: I just got together with them before I went over to Loch Lomond and we went over a few thoughts and a few ideas. I think one of the key things that we are working on right at this moment is thinking of each other as teammates, possible teammates. So like when we get over there a year from now and we get pulled together and it is Solheim Week, it is not like, oh, geez, we have got to adjust now to being a teammate. So we are starting now in pulling ourselves together and looking at one another as teammates. I think that right there is a terrific start in helping us adjust to the challenge that Solheim will give us.

PAT BRADLEY: You are absolutely right, Ken. It really is an exciting feeling. It is an exciting moment to be out there and, of course, see all the red numbers that your team might produce and then I have to also say it is a very tough feeling to look up and see the different colors, the blue color of the Europeans. It really is a type of snowball that comes from within. I mean, it is a never-give-up-mode. Match Play things can turnaround in a heartbeat. That is why we get to keep telling ourselves that we must hang in there all the way to the end. But when it starts to light up, it is just -- it is a very exciting feeling and it is from within. Unless you are involved in it or you are a part of it, it is really -- it is tough to explain, but it is a feeling that definitely is from within and it really -- it is like electricity that goes throughout your body. It registers in your mind that things are going; things are rolling, and you just want to stay in that positive mode.

PAT BRADLEY: I remember we were all together at dinner and Judy had a few words of encouragement and telling us just to play our own games and to hang in there from the first tee to the last putt and not to let -- don't let our guard down. She was very much in helping us to stay within ourselves and, you know, we kind of got together and spoke of what we wanted to do. We wanted to come out early. We wanted to come out quick. We wanted to put the numbers up fast, to make people start to think about us and keep an eye on us, look over their shoulder on us and that is exactly what happened. We hit it up early.

PAT BRADLEY: Luckily I feel -- I feel that because of the Ryder Cup's excitement and growth in the last few years, it has just piggy-backed us into the thrust of things. I don't feel that we need to lose to make that change, but it has gained incredible excitement in a very, very short period of time. And with the European's younger players coming into the fold I think it automatically has brought a new level to the Solheim Cup and a new level of excitement. I really don't think that we need to lose to help it thrust it into another level.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, one of the best advices I have ever received is to go easy on myself. I, as a player, was always very, very hard on myself and very critical of myself when I played. I did not accept mediocre when I was playing. The advice that I received was to lighten up on myself; pat myself on the back a little bit more than I had been and embrace the moment rather than fear the moment. Those are the things that I keep with me today and those were the thoughts that I work on that help me to get into the Hall of Fame.

PAT BRADLEY: Yes, and he works with a number of great players on both the LPGA Tour and the PGA TOUR and that is doctor Bob Rotella.

PAT BRADLEY: That is an interesting question. I mean, I know I will play a role in this Solheim and I look forward to that role that I play, but it is my players that really should and deserve to receive the credit for their play. They are the ones out there that are actually going through the work and, you know, making the shots. I do look forward to the role that I will play and hopefully it will be a successful one. But my players are the ones that deserve the credit. They are the ones that are working day in and day out the rest of this year and all of next year to have the opportunity to represent their country. So I believe that they are the ones that deserve the credit.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, I mean, this is a team effort and my team will definitely be a part of it. But I will make the decisions. I am not opposed to discussing some thoughts with certain players or a player. But I will run certain things by people, but I will be making the decisions.

PAT BRADLEY: Absolutely, Bob. It is incredible, the Solheims have been pioneers in the game of golf, mainly the equipment side of it and here they are, they have been pioneers on the LPGA Tour. I mean, these people went out on a limb to be a part of the LPGA years and years ago and once again, they put together this Solheim Cup, again it was at first unchartered waters and they had the strength and the courage to step forward and put it together. We are beneficiaries of that courage. I am just honored and pleased to have the opportunity to be a part of this with this family.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, I was thrilled to death was my immediate reaction. I received a call from the commissioner of the LPGA and Ty said that I was chosen and I was thrilled. I was hoping. I wanted it. I wanted to have the opportunity. I wanted the challenge of this great moment so I was thrilled when Ty called me and said I would be the one for the year 2000.

PAT BRADLEY: Thank you, Bob.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, one young player that is in the standings at this moment is Kelly Kuehne. I am very impressed with this young player and how she has stepped to the forefront this year and played quite well. Obviously she has a terrific Match Play record in the amateur ranks, like Tiger Woods has, so this is a young player that I am hoping that will maintain her standings and build on what she has been doing and will be a terrific force come October of next year.

PAT BRADLEY: Yes, I will have two captain's picks.

PAT BRADLEY: Well, it won't have a major influence on it, but I do have a few players that I have my eye on. I am not going to give out any at this moment, but when it comes down to crunch time and when I make my picks I will probably explain more my thoughts and my choices.

PAT BRADLEY: I hope to have a great mixture. I mean, I hope to have the veterans. I hope to have maybe some young players that are showing some veteran stature. I am pleased that I have some more time left next year. With double points there will be a lot of jockeying, I believe, on the list, so it will be very exciting for all of us to watch.

PAT BRADLEY: Appreciate that. Thank you all, very, very much. Look forward to it.

End of FastScripts….