SOLHEIM CUP

September 11, 2026

Angela Stanford

Bernardus

U.S. Team

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We will open it up here with Angela Stanford after Friday's round. Angela, I'll open it up to you for comments first.

ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah, first off, thanks for being out there all day with us. I mean, we feel like we had all four seasons at some point. So I know it's long for you guys too, and I just kind of wanted to get in here and get rolling and talk about the day. I know you guys have a lot of work to do, just like we do. So appreciate y'all coming in, staying late and listening.

THE MODERATOR: All right. If there's a question, please raise your hand.

Q. It was such a roller coaster of a day. What's your overriding emotion?

ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah, I told the team afterwards that I felt like we've really -- I mean, I expected -- I expected them to throw the kitchen sink at us right off the bat and they did. And I thought we held up pretty well. Playing on the road, fans were loud, they're great out there, all the different elements. So I'm really proud of where we are and how we fought and how we handled those last two matches.

Well, Angel's match, she was the first match in the afternoon, and they got down early, got a half point. And then Lauren and Nelly came off the green talking about how tough that match was. So to get a half a point, you know, even though -- they were up, but they were down most of the match. So I felt that they fought today and they held up.

We have to do that one more day and then singles, we can really roll. That's kind of -- I'm hoping that we're close when it gets to Sunday. That was kind of the goal because, again, I know how hard it is over here. So I thought if we could just hang around, I feel like take their big swings and just kind of stay in there, we would be okay.

Q. Obviously Angel a question mark coming into this week. We saw on TV some emotion from her. Do you know more about that?

ANGELA STANFORD: You know, I don't. I was trying to get back to the other match, and when I saw her, it looked like maybe some people that she knew. So I just kind of assumed that it was kind of an unloading of emotion. She's been through a lot lately. I haven't personally asked her about it yet. I'm not sure -- I'm one of those people that, you know -- sometimes personal stuff can be personal stuff. So to me, it looked like it was kind of a relief and release of emotions is what it looked like to me.

Q. Were you satisfied with the half point, obviously going up against the formidable pairing of Lottie and Charley.

ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah, I mean, I'm really proud. I mean, that birdie on 17 by Yealimi is one of the best birdies I've seen. And her caddie's like, Yeah, Angela, help us out in the beginning and then we brought it home. So a half point there was really big for us.

Q. Your overall thoughts on the atmosphere on the first tee this morning.

ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah, super proud of the fans and the fans of women's golf. You know, I was standing there talking to somebody, and I'm like, These people show up because they love golf, and they just want to support, and they want to have fun, and they want to sing, and they want to encourage. And there's never anything negative on our first tee at Solheim Cups. And I'm just super proud of our fans.

Q. Could you talk us through what goes on on a Friday night at the Solheim Cup, how much does the view of Friday and how much are you looking forward to Saturday and when does the excited chatter turn into time for bed?

ANGELA STANFORD: It's certainly going to be earlier tonight than it has been. We had a pretty solid plan for both days coming into today. And we're going to make some tweaks and I like where we are. Again, I think if we could just keep hanging around, that's -- look, you're not going to come over here and just blow these guys out. That's not what happens. They're good, they're at home, they got their home fans. So we're just trying to hang around. So I think we did really good and, like I said, we're going to tweak a little bit, but we'll stick to the plan.

Q. In terms of the dynamics of what happens when you get back to the hotel, is it all quite quick before everyone settles down? Are you a bit tired after today?

ANGELA STANFORD: Yeah, everybody's tired. We try to get on the bus, get 'em back, let 'em drop their stuff, maybe shower quick, have dinner, and then we talk about tomorrow, and we go because it's a 4:00 AM wake up tomorrow.

Q. We saw you talking to the team after. What was the message and what was the general mood of the team?

ANGELA STANFORD: I just told 'em that I was proud of 'em again. Same kind of thing I just said to you-all. We took a big swing from 'em today. When you send out Charley and Lottie out first, both sessions, I mean, they really -- you know, we took some of their best body blows today. So I just told 'em I was proud of 'em and they hung in there, and I'm excited about tomorrow because I feel like we're a heavyweight fighter. We fight with our mentality and we're just going to see how long we can last, and I feel pretty good about how long we can go.

Q. We ran into Woody Austin out on the golf course. Do you have any other special guests over the next few days?

ANGELA STANFORD: No. I realized early on in this captaincy that sometimes it's tough to travel to Europe for certain celebrities, and I'm okay with that. My helpers are some of my best friends, and that was on purpose. I wanted them to be a part of it, but they also played on tour, so I know they know golf. So, yeah, I would say Woody Austin is our big man in the helper room.

Q. What did you see out of Nelly this afternoon compared to this morning? I think people will look and see that she's the only one that didn't win a hole this afternoon, but what did you see specifically in her game?

ANGELA STANFORD: Well, honestly, I didn't follow her match. Paula was with her all day. So tonight I'll talk to Paula and just kind of get all that feedback.

But look, we know by watching Ryder Cups and Solheim Cups, regardless of the No. 1 players on the European side or the American side, it's the same for men and women. There is a huge target on her back. And to play in a Solheim Cup -- I mean, I talk about it. I know Suzann Pettersen wasn't No. 1 when I got to play her, and then I got to win in 2015 against her.

But Nelly is always going to be the one everyone wants to beat. So I think she did great today. I think she always puts up a fight. She was there in the end. She had a putt to win the match that they battled all day. So I'm so proud of her and the way she played today.

Q. You held onto the four people who had won their matches in the foursomes. Did you do that because they won or were you just following the script that you had beforehand?

ANGELA STANFORD: Ask me that again.

Q. The four guys who won in the morning, they played in the afternoon. Did you select them again because they had won or did you just follow the script?

ANGELA STANFORD: It was part of the script. Yeah, they were going again no matter what.