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THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 9, 2005

Nancy Lopez

CARMEL, INDIANA

Q. Nancy, just start talking about the day.

NANCY LOPEZ: All right. Beth and Paula, they felt like they played very well. They were up and ended up halving, which I think that it came down to the last hole, and they had an opportunity to not win the last hole, and I'm happy with that half that we got there.

You know I would like to see them take a whole point, but I'm happy with it. This morning it was tough. I knew we were going to have these tough matches.

I think the group of Laura Diaz and Michelle Redman probably really could have won that match very easily, but sometimes you get a little comfortable when you're too far ahead. They learned from it. They gave me 100 percent. Unfortunately, they did lose one, but they're ready to go tomorrow.

Christina Kim and Pat Hurst played great together and just came out with a half, so I know they were disappointed. They would like to have won the whole point there also.

Cristie Kerr and Natalie Gulbis, they played well. The Europeans just played better, and Laura Davies is playing great. She made a lot of putts today, even in the afternoon they played super. She made, I think, seven or eight birdies during that match, and it's pretty hard when you run into a steamroller to try to win that kind of match.

Juli and Paula, they just kept playing, kept playing as hard as they could.

And then Annika and Pat Hurst and Wendy Ward, it came down to 17. Wendy made good putts, and Pat's playing great. They ran into somebody playing a little better than they did.

Cristie Kerr and Natalie, I thought that group was going to win this morning. They have really good chemistry, and I'm glad they won this afternoon.

Rosie Jones and Meg Mallon, they're two tigers. I knew they would do well for me this afternoon, and they did. Rosie putted outstanding, so it's fun to watch that kind of golf when you see Rosie and Meg, who are two veterans that play with their heart, when they're out there on the golf course.

Q. Everybody has a copy of the pairings. Start by talking about the pairings. You haven't seen the Europeans'. This is your first glance at it as well.

Just general comments about that after today going into tomorrow's matches.

NANCY LOPEZ: Okay. Well, I'm putting Christina Kim and Natalie Gulbis out. I think Christina can get us going in the morning. She's got a lot of enthusiasm and is playing well. That's a great match up there for me.

Paula Creamer and Juli Inkster, I'm sure they'll be happy to see that one. They will like to be able to have a little revenge, hopefully, in the morning.

Laura Diaz and Wendy Ward, they're both playing well, and they're long hitters, and pretty straight hitters also.

Cristie Kerr and Pat Hurst I think that's really strong on my team. Of course, Annika is playing well. She started off not playing that well early and kind of pulled herself together, and I think that's going to be an awesome match right there.

Q. We'll open it up for questions now.

Nancy, can you talk about being up in six of the eight matches today. What is it about the back side? Does it favor them, or what is it about the back side?

NANCY LOPEZ: Well, I think that the back side is tougher, and you have to no matter how far you are up or down, you know, it can go good or bad for either team. It's just the type of back side that you can't be too aggressive. You try to be, and you've got to be smart and give yourself shots, and I think alternate shot is probably even tougher, the back side is. You've got so many difficult holes.

But, like I said, I had one team that was way up, but sometimes you get a little relaxed when you're up like that, and that's a mistake you make, and it's something, especially when you haven't been there for a little while, and especially match play, and ultimately alternate shot that can happen.

They have to expect something like that can happen. They have to stay on their toes the whole time. When they're ahead, they need to keep going.

Q. Could you just talk about what was going through your head when you looked up and saw three matches comfortably ahead, and about an hour later, everything had changed so suddenly?

NANCY LOPEZ: Well, I never celebrate early. I don't care how far ahead you are, you've got to finish the match. I wasn't sitting there going, okay, well, we're going to win it. I just said, okay, you all just keep it there, keep going. I always feel like you've got to bury the team, no matter who it is.

You've got to finish the job, and sometimes it's hard to do, but I've never celebrated early. I'm superstitious, too, so I don't like to do that kind of thing. I was excited. I saw some good golf and I'm very proud of my team, and I want them to get some rest tonight and go out and play well tomorrow.

Q. Nancy, when you get with your team tonight, what will you tell them about the position they're in and what they have to do different, better tomorrow?

NANCY LOPEZ: I probably won't have to tell them anything. I think each one will get up and tell me the way they feel. I think that will motivate all of us. They're a great team. We have really bonded, and they're not afraid to express their feelings to each other, and I think that tonight they will be doing a lot of the talking, and I'll pretty much tuck them into bed and get them to get some rest.

Q. Nancy, you essentially threw the rookies into the deep end of the pool. How did you feel they reacted to this atmosphere?

NANCY LOPEZ: I think they did great. I mean, if you look at Paula Creamer was a little nervous, I saw, on the first hole, and she was nervous, but I told her to expect it. She was going to feel nervous. That first hole is overwhelming, just what goes on and knowing you're there playing for the United States, but I told her it will be the first hole, and believe me, you'll be fine after that.

Natalie, I think, was a little nervous. Cristie wasn't. I think she was really prepared to go. She was probably nervous, yes, but you might have seen a little bit more in Natalie than Cristie.

Christina Kim, I don't think it really phased her much. She was pretty excited. If you're that kind of player, like all the players are that are here, you're always going to be a little nervous. You're excited to be getting ready to play, and there is a nervous excitement you feel. Christina didn't show it.

So, to me, my rookies and my younger players are some of my best players on my team. I have to put them out there. I think it's good to get them comfortable, so they know it's not going to bite them when they're out there. I think they're going to blossom as each day goes on, even more so than today.

Q. You mentioned yesterday about having a little reservation about playing Natalie and Cristie together. You're not playing them tomorrow. Is there anything you saw today why you won't play them tomorrow?

NANCY LOPEZ: No, I think to play alternate shot, I thought I would just mix it up for them. I always think about a team they played well. They didn't lose because they didn't play well.

I could have put them back together. I think sometimes when you have that little bit of feeling well, we lost yesterday, they may try too hard tomorrow. I think it was good to change them and see what happens.

Q. Can you talk briefly about Juli's finger.

NANCY LOPEZ: Juli's pointing finger, she had a little bit of an infection in it and didn't really realize it until night before last, and she couldn't sleep very well, and there was it got kind of swollen and real tight looking. The doctor felt he needed to go in there and get that out of there. They numbed her feeling and took the infection out and she was great today.

You know, I think I needed to give her a rest this morning to make sure she had a chance to play this afternoon to give that finger some time to heal the best we could. We did it pretty early yesterday morning. I felt like I could put somebody else in there because I felt like I have a really great team. I told her, "You need to rest and let's go play in the afternoon."

Q. Thank you, Nancy.

End of FastScripts.

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