DOW GREAT LAKES BAY INVITATIONAL

July 20, 2023

Jodi Ewart Shadoff

Emma Talley

Midland Country Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: All right. Here with Jodi your Ewart Shadoff and Emma Talley after the second round of the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. First off, what's your team name so I can refer to that?

EMMA TALLEY: Our team name is "Hot John's Girls," aka her caddie (laughing).

THE MODERATOR: "Hot John's Girls."

EMMA TALLEY: He secretly loves it.

THE MODERATOR: I'm sure he does. Anyway, "Hot John's Girls," take us through the round today. Lots of birdies. Who was dropping the birdies out there? What did the team effort look like out on the course today?

JODI EWART SHADOFF: Yeah, I mean, we got on a roll really early on. We seemed to have birdies on opposite holes, so that really helps.

When we weren't having such good holes, we were there for each other with pars or birdies. So it was a real team effort I think.

Yeah, my putter got on a little bit of a streak on the back nine, so that was kind of nice.

EMMA TALLEY: Her putter was hot. I kept saying, "This girl is on fire," after every putt. It was so fun. It's really cool when you have an 8-footer and she makes a 20-footer on top of you, so that was like -- it was really fun just to watch and be a part of it.

I had a good day, and she had a better day. So it was really nice to be in this place going into the weekend.

THE MODERATOR: There's still time to submit that as your team song for tomorrow if you would like. What is your team song, by the way?

EMMA TALLEY: "Hot In Herre," by Nelly.

THE MODERATOR: Love it. Sticking with the hot theme. Love that. Any sort of highlights out there for you today? Any birdies that stick out or really good shots off the top of your mind?

JODI EWART SHADOFF: Emma almost had a hole-in-one on number 7.

EMMA TALLEY: Then she made it for birdie before I could putt.

I don't know. I really feel like we just really were good at just staying on one shot at a time. For me I felt like 16 I made my first birdie, and that was big for me to just kind of get in the mix. I think that was important for my momentum, but she kind of had it all day, which was really nice.

THE MODERATOR: Switching back into the first format tomorrow, which is alternate shot, can you sort of talk us through your strategy there?

EMMA TALLEY: Well, I think alternate shot is obviously hard. It's kind of hard to get in a rhythm, but Jodi and I have been playing together. This is our third year.

So I think for me it was a bit more comfortable than it was in years past just because we've done this together, and we kind of know what holes that we're going to play.

We didn't have to decide whose golf ball to hit, those kind of things. We already knew what we were going to do, where.

So it is difficult. It's obviously the day that a few under par is a good day. So, yeah, I'm excited for tomorrow. We had fun yesterday, and I'm excited for tomorrow.

JODI EWART SHADOFF: You know, alternate shot, pars are always great I think. With best ball it's much easier to be more aggressive, and I think we went out there and did that today.

So, you know, switching back into alternate shot is just kind of, you know, fairways and greens and take the opportunities when they come really. That's kind of the game plan.

THE MODERATOR: How important was today for you guys knowing that it's a tricky day tomorrow?

JODI EWART SHADOFF: Yeah, absolutely. I think the more birdies you can make in best ball format, the better off you're going to be come the weekend. It was definitely nice to get that round you should our belt.

THE MODERATOR: You mentioned, Emma, you've played here multiple times before; right? This is your third year; right? How often do you guys play together maybe outside of this format, and how maybe did this partnership come around originally?

EMMA TALLEY: Shout out to Marina. She just told me three years ago that Jodi was looking for a partner. I'm kind of like the Walmart greeter out here, so I talk to everyone. Jodi is one of my good friends, and I make it into her top 5.

JODI EWART SHADOFF: Yep.

EMMA TALLEY: We're friends. We don't play a whole lot together, but we're good friends. I think we balance each other out, our personalities.

She's quiet; I'm loud. She's calm; I'm obnoxious. Yeah, we just balance each other out well. Like I said, I think we just jive well out on the golf course together.

THE MODERATOR: She mentioned your personalities jive well. What part of your games complement each other, Jodi?

JODI EWART SHADOFF: Emma is a great putter. With alternate shot and best ball when you see your partner in the middle of the green or on the fairway, it's much easier, and I think we're both -- we're hitting the ball really well.

So I think just the momentum is there for us. It just helps that both of our putters are really hot right now, so yeah.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, ladies.