THE SOLHEIM CUP

October 22, 1994

Beth Daniel

Meg Mallon

BETH McCOMBS: Brandie Burton can't make it tonight. So we are going to first talk about Meg's and Beth's match, then we will move over to Dottie's. But after we do Meg and Beth's match, we will go onto questions for them. Then we will talk to Dottie about her match if that is okay.

BETH DANIEL: Well, I mean the way I feel about our match today, just generally, is that Meg and I played so well as a team that we just kept putting pressure on them and we never let up. And one of our goals today was to not let up on them because yesterday we had them two down and we let them get back in the match, and going down 16, it was pretty much anybody's game and they ended up taking the match from us. So, you know, we talked this morning and we said if we get them down, we are not letting them -- we are not letting them up again. And that was pretty much our goal and that is pretty much what we did and we did it through playing some excellent golf.

MEG MALLON: I think Beth set the tone in the first hole by birdieing the first hole, and she played so well firing shots in in the first few holes that it kind of put their backs against the walls a little bit, and, you know, I just tried to stay in there and say well, I am par for you, you can go do anything you can to make birdie. And that is pretty much how it worked today. She knew I was in play, she knew I had par, so there was nothing but birdies to get. She just played great. Then I followed her lead in the back 9 a little bit and had some of my own fun and made some birdies in the back. They didn't play that well today. They didn't play as well today as they did yesterday. So we took a much better advantage of that early in the round and just kept going at them and we wanted to go out there and get it finished early and go cheer everybody else on. The difference is we put our angels on today. Last year we made a commitment after my friend Heather Farr (phonetic) died to wear these guradian angels. A lot of the players -- my backing fell off last week, so I didn't have it on yesterday, so I figured that was the deal. So, I just stuck it in there today and it stayed in there all day. So Beth put her's in too -- she didn't have hers in there too.

BETH DANIEL: I forgot to put it in yesterday.

MEG MALLON: We felt like Heather was in there with us today.

BETH DANIEL: She kept us aggressive.

BETH DANIEL: Well, I mean, you know, who you want to play you don't always get because you really don't have any choice. It is -- JoAnne turns in her line up and Mickey turns in her lineup and you get who you get. So we had a discussion, we know where everybody is going and it evidently was turned in at seven o'clock. I would think when JoAnne comes in here we will find out what the pairings are. Here she comes.

MEG MALLON: Who are we playing? Do you have the pairings? (speaking to JoAnne Carner).

JOANNE CARNER: Yeah, but I don't have my glasses.

DOTTIE MOCHRIE: We will read it for you mamma.

MEG MALLON: First out we have Helen Alfredsson versus Betsy King. Second out -- oh, you get Catrin Nilsmark versus Dottie Mochrie. Third out Trish, Johnson versus Beth Daniel. Fourth out, Lora Fairclough versus Kelly Robbins. Fifth out, Pam Wright versus Meg Mallon. 6th match, Alison Nicholas versus Patty Sheehan. We got the two shortest players out there playing each other. 7, wow, Laura Davies versus Brandie Burton. Match 8, Annika versus Tammie Green. Match 9, Dale Reid versus Sherri Steinhauer. And the last match is Liselotte Neumann versus Donna Andrews. Looks like a great great matchup. You know, whoever I got was great, but, you know, Pam and I should have a good match. I watched her play a little bit today, she played a real good match today. So she was playing well. So hopefully not too good tomorrow. But I like the way as far as the team's set up. I think it is great in the way the matches are set up.

BETH DANIEL: I have been nervous all week. I mean, I told Greg to carry water in my bags because I had cotton mouth so bad the first two days, I was like, I need some water. I just think it is -- you know, it is a very nerve-wracking thing. There is a lot of attention on us this week, and I mean, what has gone on the first two days, I think in general, is just great for women's golf. Walking up that 18th hole today and seeing the crowds that we have, and everybody cheering and everybody really into it is just -- I mean, The Solheim Cup has gotten pretty big pretty quickly, I think.

BETH DANIEL: I played well yesterday. I mean, I think Meg and I both played well yesterday. I just feel like for our team the foursomes is a tough format because we never play it in the United States. When we play alternate shot, both players tee off the first hole and alternate from there. I think the Europeans are much more comfortable with foursomes play because they play it a lot. They play it more over there than they do in the States.

DOTTIE MOCHRIE: As juniors they play it.

BETH DANIEL: We never ever, except Curtis Cup, and this is the only time we ever play it. And I feel it is a very, very tough format, and I felt like I played well yesterday. I get -- like Meg played very well, and I know I am just a lot more comfortable in a four-ball match like we played today, especially when I have a partner that I know is going to be there for me all the time. I feel like I can be very aggressive and just go at it. And I think for the U.S. Team, I think that is pretty much the general rule, we all feel that way, that the best ball is a much better format for us.

BETH DANIEL: Well, when you are playing one-on-one match play, your partner pretty much dictates what you do. Whether you are aggressive or whether you are conservative, is -- I mean, certainly if, you know, no matter who I played, if they don't hit a green in regulation and a pin, I am probably not going to go for it. That is the whole thing about match play. That is the whole strategy behind it. That is one of the great things about it.

BETH DANIEL: Sure.

BETH DANIEL: Well, I mean, I have always felt like I have a slight advantage in match play because I hit the ball longer, so I could see what my opponent does and I have always felt like that that is an advantage for me in match play. And I think if you can get it out there on the tees and you can make your opponent hit the shot first, then you put more pressure on them immediately, so you know, I don't know, I mean I am -- I feel like I am playing very good golf right now. There is no reason for me not to be aggressive. There is no reason for me not to be go out there and try make birdies. That is what I am going to try and do.

BETH DANIEL: Well, I pumped so hard I thought my right arm was on the other side of the ropes. "Hey, partner, I can play the rest of the rounds with my left arm." It was just the excitement of it all, and you know, I think it set the tone for Meg and myself, I mean we went out; we won the first hole. We made a statement on the first hole "we are here to play."

BETH DANIEL: Sure, it did. But I mean, you know, Meg, she was right there and, you know, she was there all day, and then she started hitting shots so close I thought she was going to hole them out. I mean, she had gimmees, so I just think that -- I think that we were a great team, I really do.

BETH DANIEL: 20 feet on the first hole.