home

jobs

	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE SOLHEIM CUP

September 7, 2005

Catrin Nilsmark

CARMEL, INDIANA

Q. I would like to welcome Catrin Nilsmark, the 2005 European Solheim Cup team Captain.

Catrin, thanks for coming in. Last time around in Sweden you devised a winning strategy. Tell us, are you going to do things the same or differently?

CATRIN NILSMARK: I don't think I can say anything like that. No, I think pretty much the same, you know. We won last time, so I think we did some good things last time. Probably improve a few things, but not necessarily do them differently.

Q. And can we take some questions?

I would like to know what you were singing this morning?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Yeah. No, I was it was just a song I really like, and it happened to come on in the locker room, it's called You're Beautiful, and my team is beautiful.

Q. How does it go?

CATRIN NILSMARK: You're beautiful. You can play it on the Internet, James Blunt.

Q. You guys played nine holes yesterday. What's the schedule today? Is most of your team out there already?

CATRIN NILSMARK: We teed off at 9:30, 9:45, 9:00. We're playing 18 holes today, nine holes foursomes and nine holes individual shots. It's the best ball against the other two girls. We play match the whole way around.

Q. Have the missing clubs arrived?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Yes, this morning, on the first tee.

Q. Catrin, how important is it for Europe to win in the United States, not only for your team, but also for The Cup, for the event?

CATRIN NILSMARK: You know, I think it would be wonderful. You know, I don't think it the future of the European Tour depends on if we win here this time or not, obviously, but it would be wonderful for the European golf. It would be a boost for the girls, the Tour.

We have gone through some rough times, and many of these girls, like Laura said yesterday, she has been around for every single Solheim Cup. We have a few others who have played quite a few. We have become pretty close over here, and everybody would love to win here.

Q. Laura said she would hate to end her career without winning a Solheim Cup on US soil. Do you feel the same way?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Yeah, sure.

Q. Can you elaborate on that?

CATRIN NILSMARK: No, I mean, you never know in golf. No, it wouldn't be Laura has played in each and every one. It's a little different for her. She's achieved more in her career anyway. She's had 50, 60, 70 wins all over the world. I haven't had that many. For me, there are other things I could achieve, not as nice as winning the Solheim Cup on the American soil. I have yet to do other things. This is one of them. This is one of the very few things she has left to do.

Q. From an American standpoint, some of these events have really taken off, once they lost something, they've taken it for granted. And even though no one likes to lose no matter where you play, there is a feeling that if Europe were to finally win on US soil, that the event itself might really become big?

CATRIN NILSMARK: I totally agree. To break that barrier would be big for not only us, but for the Solheim Cup as a competition, and, you know, the more you they would lose on home soil, it would be even more hype next time to win it back on American soil or come win in Europe. It's probably a natural effect of that happening.

Q. Would you plan to get every player to have to at least play four balls or foursomes before the singles?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Yes, it's a rule that everyone has to play four before the singles. That will definitely be the case.

Q. From the first time you came here and played the course when it was really soft and played really long, you maintained this is a long hitters golf course. It's a little firmer and faster now. Is it still a long hitters course, and if so, why?

CATRIN NILSMARK: I'm not sure anymore. It's changed a little bit. It doesn't play as long. It's I would like to change that a bit, probably, too. It's an accurate irons hitting course. The fairways are pretty wide, so chances are you're going to hit the fairways.

It will be about hitting your irons really close. The greens are tricky, they're really fast, and the breaks are quite dramatic. One of the keys, it's always many things, you know, in the game, but the key is to hit your irons close to the pins.

Q. You mentioned the LET going through some tough times. That's not going to impact your team, is it?

CATRIN NILSMARK: No, no, definitely not. It's more of an organizational factor, and most of the girls play here anyway, and they're not totally involved with the running of the Tour over there.

Q. Catrin, which team do you think is the favorite?

CATRIN NILSMARK: I mean, we're in America, it's definitely the Americans, if you look at it from their point of view. Probably the Americans.

Q. Do you think they've got an advantage in that they've played two or three practice rounds before this week?

CATRIN NILSMARK: I don't think so. I mean, I hope not, no. I mean, normally we don't really even if we come to a big championship like the British Open or whatever, we don't really practice more than two rounds anyway. That's the way we prepare for championships, so I would say no.

Q. There was a difference in philosophy last time where Patty tried to get all her team involved at all times. You played only Sanchez once. Do you have any qualms about doing that, seeing someone not in form holding them out, is that difficult to do?

CATRIN NILSMARK: No, I don't have any problem with doing that. I think that's part of the way I coach, and it was last time, and it will be this time, but if, you know, some players, if they don't feel like they're in great shape, they might not want to play more than once. Some players do get disappointed, and it's always you would like to make everyone happy all the time.

They're wonderful girls, and it's a wonderful team, so but, I think they're very much up for the event as a team, and if that means you're playing four times or one time, I think everyone is very set on being happy with however many times they're going to play.

Q. Catrin, the spirit in the team, do you detect it is as good as last time?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Oh, definitely. We are having a great time. You know, we just made the draw for the table tennis tournament this morning. We have an exciting night coming up.

Q. They're maintaining that they're having just as good of time and their team spirit has never been other than excellent. Do you have any comment to make on that?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Not at all. I mean, like, I haven't been in their team room during the weeks. I have been there sometimes on Sunday night when we got there to start a party, so no, I really don't know. I think they have a good time.

Q. Catrin, other than the Captain's picks, what's the toughest decision a Captain has to make? Is it foursomes, pairings, one of them?

CATRIN NILSMARK: I think so, just putting the teams together. It's not just making one good combination, or two or three, but you actually have to make four really good combinations every morning, every afternoon. Sometimes you don't have a lot of time. I would like to see what's happening a little bit during the morning to decide the afternoon, and if you coach that way, you have very little time to make your mind up for the afternoon. I would say the time limit there is probably the hardest part.

Q. I'm trying to see if you can give us a timeline from last time. You were on your back, you were on crutches. When did you get better? When did you have the baby? Can you give us an idea of yourself up until now?

CATRIN NILSMARK: No, it was fate. Monday morning after Solheim last time I ran off. No, I got better gradually. Probably two months after Solheim I was pretty back to normal, whatever that is, but pretty good. You know, I was early pregnant, so during my pregnancy I was doing well, actually. But I did really well.

Q. Catrin, apart from her play, obviously, what does Annika bring to the team, anything special?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Yeah, you know, she's a good thinker. She has I shouldn't say has lots of opinions, but she has a strong mind, but she's not one to walk around and tell her opinion all the time.

If I ask her something, she has a good think about it, and I get a lot of good feedback from her. She loves it. She's a great teammate.

I think the girls, the new girls, they look up to her, and she's more than willing to give her to talk to them and give them some stories of when she was nervous. She gets nervous like everyone else, especially in the Solheim Cup. I think it's good for them to hear that. Even Annika can get really nervous, and how she handles that.

Q. It's kind of ridiculous to say it in this frame, but she hasn't won since June, Annika hasn't. What do you see is the state of her game from the standpoint she was chasing phenomenal goals early in the year, and they ended for her.

What do you see for her since then, since June on coming into this week?

CATRIN NILSMARK: No, I mean, I think she's I've just seen how she's playing right now, and it looks really good. I would say she's as strong as ever, and I don't know, maybe not getting her goals early on in the season, you know, had an impact on her. I don't know. I don't monitor so closely during the season that I could say what happened to her game, or how did she come back, or has she come back at all? I don't know. It looks great right now, and she's certainly very happy and relaxed and in a good state of mind, and so I think she's ready.

Q. Secondly, when you were making your Captain's picks, is one reason you considered Suzann because of her great partnership she had with Annika last time?

CATRIN NILSMARK: No, not necessarily in the partnership, but I think she showed her mind, like her winning attitude. She came out, she was a rookie no, sorry, she wasn't a rookie, but just her whole attitude, and her mind shows she's a great match player, and I think, you know, despite her problems early on, her back now is really very good, and she played well in Sweden and she showed she was ready to play again.

Q. Have you learned anything from last time that you wish to do differently this time?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Not really, not really.

Q. Are you still sort of collecting stats and following groups?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Yeah, yep.

Q. Catrin, does Laura still loom as charge as ever over these proceedings?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Yes, she really does.

Q. Can you just give a few examples or an example of her presence in the team room? Does she have this huge presence?

CATRIN NILSMARK: That's a tough one. No, but she's so funny. No, like this morning, she asked me, and she knew very well the answer, but she still had to ask me if she had to come to the meeting at 4:00. She said, but it's ridiculous, everybody can ask, "Can I give a putt?" She's mocking about, like trying to, you know, ask the questions that are going to be asked at the meeting. We all know what's to be asked, it's nothing we haven't talked about before.

She was making a big she's like a big theater, it was pretty funny. She said, "I'm done by 1:00, the meeting is at 4:00. What am I going to do?"

Q. In the past captains have said to Laura, "Yes, off you go." You obviously kept on top of her, you don't give her any leeway.

CATRIN NILSMARK: No, I don't. I did today, I have to admit, because yesterday I put her out last in our three groups, but it didn't matter so much yesterday because we had the Americans in front of us, so she couldn't really run off.

The 9th hole or something, she said, "Please, Captain, please, Captain, please put me on first tomorrow." I said, "I really don't think you were up there," and I looked at my schedule, and I had put her first, of course, so I'm like, oh, you happened to be up first. I'm trying to be nice to her. You can't do things the team really has to do and she would do differently.

I think in a way she's more of a team player member now than she maybe has been in the past. In the past, like you said, she would take her own car, and not go on the bus, and so forth. I don't think she would do that now. I think she realized if the one advantage we might have over the Americans is the fact that we do we are very much a team, and we have lots of fun, and that can mean early in the morning on the way to the golf course, just the practice day.

Q. Any more questions?

(Inaudible)?

CATRIN NILSMARK: She very well might have. She's great. She's very funny. She loves to sing. She's a fantastic singer. She's probably much better than me. Maybe not. She's a great singer so maybe she has.

Q. Is that the Solheim Cup on your fingernails?

CATRIN NILSMARK: Yes, that's the European colors.

Q. Any more questions? Okay. Thanks a lot, Catrin. Good luck this week.

End of FastScripts.

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297