DOW GREAT LAKES BAY INVITATIONAL

July 12, 2022

Mel Reid

Leona Maguire

Midland Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome inside the virtual media center here at the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. I'm pleased to be joined by Mel Reid and Leona Maguire. Is there any team name formulated?

MEL REID: We've come up with a couple. I think just Best Friends because obviously that's clearly what we are. That's probably what I'm going to go with. Leona has left it up to me.

LEONA MAGUIRE: Executive decision.

MEL REID: Yeah, probably just Best Friends.

THE MODERATOR: Mel, when did thinking of this tournament kind of come into the mind frame for both of you and who asked whom to be partners this week?

MEL REID: Yeah, so obviously I played with Carlota last year. She told me pretty much at the end of last year that she wasn't playing so I was having to find my second pick.

Obviously like we did so well at Solheim and she's somebody I really enjoy playing with, and obviously she's a great player, so I was the one that initiated it. I was the one that started the relationship.

Yeah, I put my heart out there first, and she took about a week to reply. And I was like, cool, just blank me for a bit, and then finally just said yes. I'm excited for the week. Obviously Leona is playing great. It's a fun week anyway. It's a really good tournament.

THE MODERATOR: Leona, a lot of smiles so far in this press conference. What is it about teaming up with Mel that makes you so comfortable?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, we obviously had a great week at Solheim last year, so, yeah, make it an annual affair. I suppose that's probably enough. Yeah, we'll have a few good days regardless.

Yeah, we'll both have some fun, hit some good shots hopefully, and lots of laughs out there this week.

Q. Mel, team competition seems to bring out the best in both of your games that we've seen. Mel, T12 last year like you said with Carlota, but also with Solheim with the two of you. What is it about this type of tournament that is different than a week-to-week basis for you?

MEL REID: Obviously you're kind of playing for somebody else, as well. I always find that fun. It always brings out a bit more passion in me. Yeah, I just think it's a fun format, playing foursomes and four-ball.

Yeah, it's a tough format but it's good. I just love team events. That's all I can say really. I enjoy being with a partner and I enjoy not saying sorry, as well, and I was able to do that with Carlota. Carlota hits some wild shots, I hot wild shots as well, and hopefully I won't need to say sorry too much to Leona.

But, yeah, I think that's what it is, it just brings out the passion in me and I want to fight for them as much as myself, and that's kind of what it does for me.

THE MODERATOR: Leona, what has it been like preparing for this week? Are you thinking of the way the two of you meshed so well during Solheim?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, we didn't think too much about it in Toledo, so kind of going with a similar approach, not trying to read into it. We've both played a lot of team golf growing up. I mean, when I played Ireland, she played for England, we played team golf all the time. Foursomes isn't a new thing. Four-ball isn't a new thing.

Not going to over complicate it. We didn't at Solheim, so there's really no reason to do it this week, either.

Q. Leona, you're coming off a really interesting event out there in Ireland. What was it like to be playing over there at the JP McManus Pro-Am?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, it was a really cool week, one of those once-in-a-lifetime-things. Poor Mel. I mean, I did meet Tiger last week, so it's a little bit of a step down. She's lucky I'm here. No, got some good tips off Tiger, so we'll bring it into this week.

MEL REID: She pissed that Tiger got the helicopter and she didn't. That's what she annoyed at.

Q. Also just being the lone woman professional in that field, being able to see the masses - as we talked about earlier this week, kind of felt like the entirety of Ireland was watching at the JP McManus Pro-Am - what does it mean to be the lone woman professional in that field?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, it was a special few days. I think there was 35,000, 40,000 people a day. The crowds were insane to have people sort of shouting your name and little kids wanting pictures and autographs.

Yeah, it was incredible. The atmosphere was like a Solheim Cup, like a Ryder Cup, and I think the lads are going to be very lucky to be there in a few years' time. You never know. Maybe a Solheim in a few years, too.

Q. Leona, if Tiger reached out you wouldn't ghost him for a week?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Probably not. Maybe a day. Not a week.

MEL REID: No, it's just me she ghosts.

Q. You two did extremely well in the Solheim, but there's a difference between team match play and team stroke play. How are you approaching this week in terms of the way you're going to approach the event?

LEONA MAGUIRE: Yeah, I mean, I've never played team stroke play before, so it's all new for me. I guess Mel is the veteran here, so she's going to have to take the lead a little bit on that one.

But ultimately we're just playing our own games, trying to play as well as we possibly can, not put too much pressure on ourselves, and yeah, just have a fun week.

MEL REID: Yeah, I mean, stroke play is definitely different. Yeah, look, you're just trying to hit the best shots that you can and you just try and eliminate big numbers, especially in the foursomes.

It can happen on a couple holes around here, but you just go play sensible, to be honest. If you make a few birdies and you kind of just play steady and try to keep as many bogeys off the card as possible to make it as easy golf as possible, you've got a fine chance going into the last day.

Q. Have you been able to give Leona any suggestions about the golf course or was there anything from your experiences here before that carry over?

MEL REID: No, not really. She doesn't really need any advice from me. Look, I just went through the holes yesterday, just talked about odds and evens for the foursomes. I'm going to talk to her about that in a minute, but that is really the only strategy that you really need. You just need to see who is hitting the most approach shots, who's more likely to have more putts, who will hit kind of tough tee shots or maybe need to be a little bit longer on tee shots, so that's the only strategy that you're kind of taking forward just for the foursomes.

Q. Scotland is in the news right now; is there such a thing as an English and Irish tartan? And if so, do you guys have one?

MEL REID: I don't think I've worn a skirt since I was about two years old and it was forced on me. I mean, I'm guessing that's what you mean. A kilt, right? Or do you mean actual tartan?

Q. Tartan.

MEL REID: Oh, I was thinking of kilt. I have no idea.

LEONA MAGUIRE: I think each family has like a family tartan I think if you go to Scotland, but not like for weddings and stuff we don't wear tartan like they do in Scotland, no.

Q. Do the Maguires have a tartan?

LEONA MAGUIRE: I'm sure they do. Maybe in Scotland it's MC. Maybe not. MA. So it might be different. Megan is smiling.

Q. Leona, I'm curious, obviously a fun, different week, but also two legends in the field this week in Annika and Karrie. I'm curious, what you think of that and how cool that is for the event.

MEL REID: Yeah, I think it's awesome. Obviously I'm really close with Webby. She's helped me a lot over the years and we played a lot of golf when I lived down in West Palm, so obviously really nice to see her back kind of dusting off the clubs.

And obviously having Annika at any event, she's one of the legends of our game, well the game of golf in general to be honest with you, so to have them in the field is only a bonus for all of us.

Yeah, and it's obviously an honor to be playing a tournament with them still. It's really nice to have them here.

Q. Mel, what's it like having an event like this as we go into two more majors and just the fact in general that we have this big summer swing, but a kind of chill, laid-back event before heading into a big onslaught of events?

MEL REID: Yeah, obviously the next kind of three weeks are huge. Two majors in three weeks is a lot.

But yeah, the reason I didn't want to miss this event is because, listen, it's still a big event, don't get me wrong, but it's a little bit more laid-back of a format, so it's very nice.

It finishes on a Saturday so we get to get to Evian in time and have a little bit more time recovery.

Yeah, like I said, it's one of the events on the schedule that I try not to miss, and yeah, I think it's good prep going into three really big weeks, kind of see where your game is at, where you need to get a few reps in and see where it's at. We've had two weeks off so I didn't need any more than that.

Yeah, I think it's going to be just a -- for me I feel like it's going to be a pretty laid-back week, and we'll see what happens.

LEONA MAGUIRE: I think it's nice as well to come to a community that's so excited to have the event, as well. You see all the grandstands, it has a little bit of a major feel to it just with everything that's going up, even the amount of people that's here today for the pro-am day.

Nice to be a part of an event like that that they have invested a lot in this community, so it's nice to sort of give back and be here and sort of share in the excitement that everybody has for us to be here.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys.