Speaker 1: The guys from paying. They've kind of showed me how
Speaker 1: much the equipment matters. I just love that I can
Speaker 1: hit any shot I kind of want. We're gonna be
Speaker 1: able to tell some fun stories about what goes on
Speaker 1: here to help golfers play better golf. Welcome back to
Speaker 1: the Pink Proving Grounds Podcast. I'm Shane Bacon, no Marty today,
Speaker 1: but I'll say we have a couple of high level
Speaker 1: people stepping in, Alison Corpus and Leona Maguire joining. Can
Speaker 1: I ask you guys a question off the top that
Speaker 1: has nothing to do with Solim Cup because it's something
Speaker 1: I've been battling with. Alison, I'll tee you up on this,
Speaker 1: and Leona you can jump on the back end. What
Speaker 1: is y'all's caffeine intake tournament days? Because I'm having a
Speaker 1: hard time tournament days understanding. Do I go like a
Speaker 1: regular day amount of coffee or do I kind of
Speaker 1: scale it back because I'm starting to get the kind
Speaker 1: of caffeine jitters on the golf course. So Allison, where
Speaker 1: do you go caffeine wise, you know, on big days
Speaker 1: of tournaments.
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I am actually pretty no caffeine in my
Speaker 2: entire life. I'm really sensitive to caffeine, and yeah I
Speaker 2: use it at Bay in college, like if I needed
Speaker 2: to pull an all night or something. But I play
Speaker 2: my best golf pretty low energy, so I don't need
Speaker 2: the bump.
Speaker 1: Leona, do you go coffee in the morning or tea
Speaker 1: or anything like that? Or you do you follow Allison's footsteps?
Speaker 2: There?
Speaker 3: No, pretty similar, don't. I don't drink coffee. I don't
Speaker 3: need to drink tea if it's like a cold day
Speaker 3: and I need to warm up or something. So when
Speaker 3: I'm home in Ireland kind of for the winter a
Speaker 3: little bit. But tournament why is not really now?
Speaker 1: So what you're saying is stop drinking caffee and stop
Speaker 1: drinking coffee in the morning. I will take you guys
Speaker 1: advice for that. Obviously. Solheim Cup is upon us, one
Speaker 1: of the great events in all of golf, one of
Speaker 1: my favorite events in all of golf. Leoner, you had
Speaker 1: an unbelievable solimn Cup at Inverness. I wanted to start
Speaker 1: with that. If we can go back to that, when
Speaker 1: you were thinking about the Solheim Cup in your brain
Speaker 1: as you were a young player into you know, competitive
Speaker 1: and or golf and then into professional golf. What you
Speaker 1: thought of the Solheim Cup versus what it was? Was
Speaker 1: it close? Was it not even close? How is that
Speaker 1: experience in your first one versus maybe what you thought
Speaker 1: the experience would be, Like, Yeah, I.
Speaker 3: Mean you grow up watching the Solim Cup on TV.
Speaker 3: I suppose I was fortunate enough to pay two junior Solheims,
Speaker 3: so kind of got the experience and on a little
Speaker 3: bit of smaller scale obviously got to play, and then
Speaker 3: we got to watch the big teams compete and watch
Speaker 3: them inside the ropes and it just seemed like the
Speaker 3: coolest thing ever. And then yeah, you obviously it's It's
Speaker 3: one of these things you build up in your head, right,
Speaker 3: You build it up and build it up, and sometimes
Speaker 3: it can't possibly live up to what you've built it up.
Speaker 3: But I mean for us in invern As, it went
Speaker 3: pretty much as well as it possibly cut up a
Speaker 3: little bit surrealized with the no fans, But yeah, I mean,
Speaker 3: cant I suppose that that's my first one and it's
Speaker 3: set a pretty high barer for for all of my
Speaker 3: Solngs to come.
Speaker 1: Well, and I know you're going to compete against Allison,
Speaker 1: but what are one or two things that you would
Speaker 1: tell anybody playing in their first Solheim Cup about just
Speaker 1: the preparation for the week.
Speaker 3: I'm not going to give her too many secrets, but
Speaker 3: it's just a long week. I think everybody says that
Speaker 3: there's a lot of demands on your time, a lot
Speaker 3: of media stuff to do, a lot of extra dinners
Speaker 3: and things like that, and it's a weird week in
Speaker 3: that you actually spend more time preparing than you do competing.
Speaker 3: There's such a long build up and by Tuesday you're
Speaker 3: just you're ready to go. You want to just play,
Speaker 3: So it's kind of pacing yourself I think as the
Speaker 3: week goes so that you're not completely shattered by the
Speaker 3: time Sunday comes. And then one mistake I made last
Speaker 3: time was not going to the merchandise tent early enough.
Speaker 3: And then by the time I actually I didn't figure
Speaker 3: out that we needed to get flags early in the
Speaker 3: week to get everybody to sign them. By the time
Speaker 3: I set my sister leased to get them, they were
Speaker 3: like nearly all gone. So I would definitely recommend going
Speaker 3: to the tent as early in the week as.
Speaker 1: Possible, Alison, shopping early is good advice. I think for
Speaker 1: kind of anybody at any golf tournament. Alison, when did
Speaker 1: the Solheim Cup become a reality in your brain? Because
Speaker 1: I mean you've had an unbelievable season, obviously with the
Speaker 1: win at the US Open, but I mean the major
Speaker 1: season has been incredible for you, and we'll get into
Speaker 1: that in a bit, But when did that start to
Speaker 1: set in that this was actually going to happen.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean behind the scenes, Stacy's put in so
Speaker 2: much work as our captain and he actually started having
Speaker 2: you know, bigger dinners with like all of the potential
Speaker 2: team members probably last year in preparation for this Sulheim Cup.
Speaker 2: So it was kind of on my radar, but I
Speaker 2: was more on the bubble leading into this year, so
Speaker 2: it was definitely a huge goal of mine. And then
Speaker 2: I mean, yeah, I got off to a pretty good
Speaker 2: start to the year and just kind of kept on
Speaker 2: my name climbing up in the rankings. So yeah, I'm
Speaker 2: super excited for my first one.
Speaker 1: Well, it's so interesting in golf with these cups. I mean,
Speaker 1: obviously Silim Cup, I mean, Walker Cup, Curtis Cup, you know,
Speaker 1: obviously you know, into the President's Cup, everything like that.
Speaker 1: They all are typically at the end of seasons, right,
Speaker 1: and in golf, a lot of the bigger events are
Speaker 1: earlier in the season. I mean you think about Chevron
Speaker 1: or Summer Is obviously that's really impactful, both on the
Speaker 1: men's and women's side. What's cool about the Cups is
Speaker 1: it gives you something to quote unquote play for towards
Speaker 1: the end of the season. So as you're seenior name
Speaker 1: Allison kind of pop up in text and obviously going
Speaker 1: to these dinners, and then your name's moving up those
Speaker 1: rankings as you're playing this season the game is as
Speaker 1: dialed as it is. Is that motivation to kind of
Speaker 1: push through the end of the summer even though you've
Speaker 1: had already a great season, one you're gonna remember for
Speaker 1: a long time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, definitely. I mean I like to look at it
Speaker 2: not so much as pressure, but more just an added
Speaker 2: bonus if I do make it. And I mean I
Speaker 2: think it's always such an honor to be able to
Speaker 2: represent your country. I mean, I played in one Curtis
Speaker 2: Cups and two Palmer Cups, and it's just always fun
Speaker 2: just to switch from the individual sport to a team
Speaker 2: sport as well.
Speaker 1: Leona, what's a mistake that people make, not necessarily in
Speaker 1: a Solheim Cup, but in a team format. I mean
Speaker 1: this could be amateur golfers that are playing in a
Speaker 1: best ball tournament at their club. You you know you're
Speaker 1: playing for, so that's obviously alternate shot. But if you're
Speaker 1: playing four ball, it's best ball, but you are in
Speaker 1: fact playing your own ball. What do you feel like
Speaker 1: as a mistake that players tend to make when a
Speaker 1: team event pops up versus when you're playing an individual play.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think forms and four balls are
Speaker 3: really different. Forsum's is a little bit more about the
Speaker 3: combination and the personalities, and I guess you have to
Speaker 3: get along pretty well to sort of gel well together.
Speaker 3: I think four balls anybody can play together, and it
Speaker 3: really is about just playing your own ball, focusing on
Speaker 3: your own things. Sometimes in four ball matches it turns
Speaker 3: into you have two players, two caddies, and everybody reading
Speaker 3: every pot and all of that, and it takes six
Speaker 3: hours to play, and I think that's by the end,
Speaker 3: everybody's just so tired they've completely lost track and focus
Speaker 3: of everything. So definitely sticking to your own own game,
Speaker 3: regardless of whether you're playing with a big hit or
Speaker 3: a short hitter, whatever it is. I think, especially in
Speaker 3: the four ball matches, you're still you're still just trying
Speaker 3: to get the ball in the hole the quickest and
Speaker 3: hopefully your partner sort of backs you up on the
Speaker 3: holes that you can't come in on.
Speaker 1: Leona is something I've always noticed that I feel like
Speaker 1: he's like a super nerdy golf thing. But I pay
Speaker 1: a little bit of attention to this as you mentioned it.
Speaker 1: I mean, there's two players, there's two caddies. Is it
Speaker 1: hard to remember to high five everybody when something good happens,
Speaker 1: because you know, you're typically high five in one person
Speaker 1: if you make a long putter, you hold out a
Speaker 1: bunker shot, but you know you got to go you
Speaker 1: maybe you go your caddy and then you go your teammate,
Speaker 1: and then you go the air caddy. Like it's a
Speaker 1: lot of high five and fist pumping.
Speaker 3: Yeah. I remember last time Emily was playing with Charlie
Speaker 3: in one of the games and she hold a big
Speaker 3: pot I think for a win on one hole, and
Speaker 3: she said she looked around to give Charlie a fistbumper
Speaker 3: high five, and Charlie was just gone. She was on
Speaker 3: the next team already. She had definitely forgotten about that,
Speaker 3: but yeah, there's definitely a lot more going on. There's
Speaker 3: a lot more energy actually, like in Solam Cup. But
Speaker 3: it's a good energy. It's pure adrenaline, I think that
Speaker 3: week so you kind of just it's all kind of
Speaker 3: a blur and you just sort of go with the flow.
Speaker 1: Alison, have you been to Spain before?
Speaker 2: Now it'll be my first time?
Speaker 1: Nice? What are you looking forward to outside of the
Speaker 1: golf anything?
Speaker 2: I mean, I heard that the area is just beautiful.
Speaker 2: I heard like the hotel that wre AT's really nice,
Speaker 2: the course is going to be great, and I mean
Speaker 2: I'll have some family there as well, so just looking
Speaker 2: forward to having them out for the week.
Speaker 1: When you travel somewhere cool, you know, I mean you
Speaker 1: go to France for a major championship or you go
Speaker 1: to Scotland for the Open, do you ever set aside
Speaker 1: time to do stuff? Because I think when you know,
Speaker 1: people that travel a lot get in this rotation of
Speaker 1: travel a lot of the time. You get where you go,
Speaker 1: you unpack your bag, you go to the golf course,
Speaker 1: you do your thing, and you go back to the hotel.
Speaker 1: Do you ever put put aside a little bit of
Speaker 1: time to go see kind of the culture or the
Speaker 1: city or places around it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it really depends on the week and like how
Speaker 2: the schedule looks, and also the area. But I'm a big,
Speaker 2: like food person, so I do generally try to go
Speaker 2: into the city and get some food or something, and
Speaker 2: then if there's some like historical site that I know
Speaker 2: is there that I've been interested in going to, I'll
Speaker 2: try to put put some time in to go there.
Speaker 1: Well, let's talk about the year. Obviously there is Alison
Speaker 1: Corpu's pre Pebble Beach, and then there's Alison post Pebble Beach.
Speaker 1: What has been the biggest change, What's been the thing
Speaker 1: that has maybe shocked you or been you know, eye
Speaker 1: opening for kind of your life post what you did
Speaker 1: at Pebble.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think I've I have a much better appreciation
Speaker 2: just for all the other ladies who have won. Just
Speaker 2: been way busier since the win. But no, I mean,
Speaker 2: not much has changed in my life as far as like,
Speaker 2: you know, my friend's family, like everything has been kept
Speaker 2: pretty much the same. But really just excited for all
Speaker 2: the opportunities that I've had since then. And yeah, I
Speaker 2: mean I think there's been maybe a few rounds that
Speaker 2: I have a little more confidence in, you know, like
Speaker 2: why can't I make this spot like I won the
Speaker 2: US Open, you know. But yeah, I mean not much
Speaker 2: has changed, just kind of trying to keep things.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a great point you said about why can't
Speaker 1: I make this putt?
Speaker 3: Right?
Speaker 1: I mean, I had this unbelievable week, one of the
Speaker 1: biggest major championships really in the history of the LPGA Tour,
Speaker 1: just in terms of anticipation and excitement, and you play
Speaker 1: so well when you have a down week, you don't
Speaker 1: play great in the first round, things like that. Do
Speaker 1: you feel more pressure considering you're now the US Open
Speaker 1: champion or in a way do you feel less pressure
Speaker 1: because hey, I already checked off my big moment of
Speaker 1: the year.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think I've always played better kind
Speaker 2: of feeling like the underdog. So for me, there has
Speaker 2: been maybe trying to reset my expectation levels. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, like, I'm really happy with how the
Speaker 2: year is gone, and yeah, just really trying to stay
Speaker 2: grateful for everything that's come my way.
Speaker 1: The major season has been incredible. I mean I was
Speaker 1: looking through your results obviously went with the US Open
Speaker 1: T fourth, the Chevron T six, at the British T fifteenth,
Speaker 1: at the PGA, I mean you made all five cuts.
Speaker 1: That's tough. Golf. Major championships are supposed to test everybody's game,
Speaker 1: complete game. Why do you like you thrive in that environment?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think a lot of it had to do
Speaker 2: just with like the goals that I set at the
Speaker 2: beginning of the year. I mean, my swing coach kind
Speaker 2: of said like, hey, you're a great ball striker. There's
Speaker 2: no reason why these courses don't shoot your game. Well,
Speaker 2: just you know, make sure you're putting in the right
Speaker 2: prep for those weeks and make sure you know you're
Speaker 2: doing the right things nutrition, exercise, rest. So really just focused,
Speaker 2: not that I didn't focus on my other tournaments, but
Speaker 2: definitely went into those weeks knowing like, hey, like these
Speaker 2: weeks are big, these weeks are big, and just really
Speaker 2: trying to prepare my best for those.
Speaker 1: Speaking of solid seasons, Leona, I was diving into your results.
Speaker 1: We love talking about winning in golf. I like to
Speaker 1: talk about consistency. It's something I've always kind of pushed
Speaker 1: in this sport because only one person wins a week.
Speaker 1: You've missed one cut this season, You've been incredibly consistent
Speaker 1: on the golf course. What do you look at in
Speaker 1: terms of your year, Where do you rank it in
Speaker 1: terms of your professional seasons, and what's kind of been
Speaker 1: the good and the bad from twenty twenty three with you?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, like you said, it's been been pretty consistent.
Speaker 3: I think I got off to a nice start this year,
Speaker 3: got a few sort of top tens under my belt
Speaker 3: dirty and then I suppose that the highlight of the
Speaker 3: year was the win at Meyer. After finishing second two
Speaker 3: years in a row, is nice to finally get over
Speaker 3: the line and I get that win, So that was
Speaker 3: definitely the highlight. Obviously took that into the week at
Speaker 3: Bostral after leading through three rounds, would have been nice
Speaker 3: to get the win there, but felt like I pled
Speaker 3: some really good golf and it was a huge learning
Speaker 3: sort of experience for me. So yeah, I feel like
Speaker 3: my game has been really close all year, Like every
Speaker 3: piece is there, just not quite there every week. So
Speaker 3: on those weeks like Meyer, when it all clicks together,
Speaker 3: it's great, and then the other weeks it's still a
Speaker 3: really consistent performance. And I feel like the standard of
Speaker 3: the upp j is just getting better and better every year.
Speaker 3: You have to do so many things right every week
Speaker 3: to finish in the top ten alone win, and you
Speaker 3: also need a few people around you to help you
Speaker 3: out as well. You can still play unbelievable golf and
Speaker 3: still not win. So ultimately, I'm just trying improve every year,
Speaker 3: get a bit more comfortable, figure out which which benues
Speaker 3: suit me best, and yeah, no, it's it's it's been
Speaker 3: a solid year and hopefully we can finish off as
Speaker 3: strong as possible.
Speaker 1: When you guys, I want to ask both of you
Speaker 1: guys this question because I'm interested in the way you
Speaker 1: go about your business on a Sunday when you're not
Speaker 1: in contention. So let's say you guys both make the cut,
Speaker 1: you don't play great on Saturday, you're in fiftieth place.
Speaker 1: What is the motivation and what is the conversation with
Speaker 1: yourself and with your caddy about that final round when
Speaker 1: you're not gonna win. You're probably not going to finish
Speaker 1: in the top twenty, but you still got to go
Speaker 1: out there and go about your business. Leona, I'll start with.
Speaker 3: You, Yeah, I mean for me, it's it's just trying
Speaker 3: to move up any spots I can. I think there's
Speaker 3: always still something to be played for. I think even
Speaker 3: if it's not that tournament, it's it could help you
Speaker 3: in the next tournament or five tournaments after that. So
Speaker 3: it's more a mentality thing. I think about never giving
Speaker 3: up and just always always trying to squeeze every last
Speaker 3: drop out of every event. And for me, like at
Speaker 3: Chevron this year, I was I think four outside the
Speaker 3: cut when I made the turn on Friday and ended
Speaker 3: up making the cut, and it wasn't so much important,
Speaker 3: I think for that event as it was for events
Speaker 3: down the line in the season. It's when when you
Speaker 3: have to play golf and sort of make make a
Speaker 3: cutter Bertie Bertie hole when you need to. It does
Speaker 3: not really matter what the situation is. I think that
Speaker 3: stands to you. Whether it's in a major, whether it's
Speaker 3: on a Friday, whether it's on a Thursday morning, whether
Speaker 3: it's on a Sunday, it's still the same skills and
Speaker 3: mentality that you need.
Speaker 1: Allison, what is your thought process or going through your
Speaker 1: brain and the conversation with your caddy when you just
Speaker 1: don't quite have it on the weekend. But obviously you
Speaker 1: made it to the weekend.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean definitely really similar to Leona, just trying
Speaker 2: to get as many berdies as you count on the board.
Speaker 2: It's always nice just you know, finish with a nice
Speaker 2: final round. And like she said, I mean, it's all
Speaker 2: about showing up when it matters. So if you can
Speaker 2: figure out how to show up, you know, when you
Speaker 2: don't quite have everything together, then someday in the future
Speaker 2: there's going to be a day where everything's clicking and
Speaker 2: you know, the nerves are starting to get a few
Speaker 2: or something and it's like, hey, like I've been in
Speaker 2: this position before, like I made a few birdies coming
Speaker 2: in at this event or whatever, like made the clutch
Speaker 2: pot there, and it's really just kind of carrying that
Speaker 2: forward into the future.
Speaker 1: Leona, you mentioned no fans at the last Solheim Cup.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like this is going to almost feel
Speaker 1: like a completely different event considering not only are there
Speaker 1: going to be fans, but European fans at that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, it's it's I don't really know what to expect.
Speaker 3: I think I've talked to a lot of people that
Speaker 3: are that are going over from Ireland. A lot of
Speaker 3: people from Ireland have like winter homes down in that
Speaker 3: part of Spain, and I have friends of family going
Speaker 3: and I feel like the really cool thing about the
Speaker 3: Solon Cup is a lot of people tune in that
Speaker 3: don't normally watch women's golf, don't normally watch golf in general.
Speaker 3: Some people it's a it's a two year trip every
Speaker 3: that's that they plan around it every single time. And
Speaker 3: I can just drawn from the times that I was
Speaker 3: there as a junior, bought in rich Harse Farms and
Speaker 3: in Ireland when it was in Kleean Castle, and you
Speaker 3: know the singing on the first tea and how it
Speaker 3: is and it'll be nice. I suppose this time Ryan
Speaker 3: to have cheers when you do something right rather than
Speaker 3: do something wrong, as suppose.
Speaker 1: They when they actually the fans actually lift you up.
Speaker 1: What is practice like in the winter in Ireland? Is
Speaker 1: it pretty brutal? Like when you were growing up? Was
Speaker 1: there a lot of practice days like January fifteenth? Or
Speaker 1: do you kind of put the clubs away?
Speaker 3: No? I mean it's it's one of those things when
Speaker 3: you grow up in Ireland you can't wait for a
Speaker 3: nice day or you won't practice very often.
Speaker 1: So what's a nice day in the winter?
Speaker 3: I mean I compare a lot to Seattle kind of
Speaker 3: once it's dry, I mean it's we get a little
Speaker 3: it's a little bit frosty. Sometimes in the winter. We
Speaker 3: very rarely get snow. We get snow every few years.
Speaker 3: Everybody panics at a couple of inches and then it
Speaker 3: goes away and we go back to normal. But I
Speaker 3: mean we have we have indoor facilities as well, so
Speaker 3: work on the track man, work on potting inside as well.
Speaker 3: But you kind of get out there. You put four
Speaker 3: or five layers on and you just you can put
Speaker 3: your beanie on it. You just get on with it
Speaker 3: and don't really complain.
Speaker 1: I moved to the North Feast a couple of years
Speaker 1: ago from Arizona, which obviously, you know, you're not really
Speaker 1: thinking about winter in Arizona at any point. And I
Speaker 1: did the double air pants, which was huge, and I
Speaker 1: got one of those like the quarterback pouches that heats up.
Speaker 1: Oh what a game change of that thing, is it.
Speaker 1: I mean, you have to carry multiple batteries for a
Speaker 1: full round. But I'm all in on that. Keeping the
Speaker 1: hands warm very important when it's cold outside.
Speaker 3: You know, yeah, one hundred percent. Keep keeping your head
Speaker 3: on your hands warm, I think your head as well.
Speaker 3: The beanie is definitely a big one for me as.
Speaker 1: Well, Leona. You know, for Allison, you play in the
Speaker 1: Solon Cup and you're wearing your country's flag, you have
Speaker 1: you know, USA, You've got I mean, you could have
Speaker 1: stickers on your face, your head covers had the American flag.
Speaker 1: It's a little different on the European side. What do
Speaker 1: you do to give kind of a slight nod to
Speaker 1: Ireland when you're playing under the quote unquote European flag
Speaker 1: for the Solheim Cup.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean I think whom I have made me
Speaker 3: shoes that have like an Irish flag on one shoe
Speaker 3: and an European fag on the other, So we love that.
Speaker 3: And there was I'm pretty sure there was an Irish
Speaker 3: flag in our golf tag the last time. But I'm
Speaker 3: sure they'll be. There'll be plenty of Irish people there
Speaker 3: with with try colors and flags and all that. But
Speaker 3: that's the special thing about the Solo and Cup. You're
Speaker 3: you're not just playing for yourself, your team, your country.
Speaker 3: It's you're playing for your continent and you're you're part
Speaker 3: of something so much bigger than yourself and it's just
Speaker 3: a really special thing to be a.
Speaker 1: Part of Leona. How much swag do you get to
Speaker 1: take away? Obviously, I mean the flags you got to
Speaker 1: go shopping early, but I mean how much Solheim Cup
Speaker 1: stuff are you getting? Because obviously you have the outfits
Speaker 1: and the golf bags and the head covers and I
Speaker 1: mean on and on and on. But like, was this
Speaker 1: like a ship at home type of situation for you
Speaker 1: from Inverness?
Speaker 3: Yeah, one hundred percent. There's I think there's still maybe
Speaker 3: potentially boxes and bags that I haven't opened since uh
Speaker 3: since Inverness. But then again, there was a lot of
Speaker 3: people after the fact looking for for gifts and things
Speaker 3: like that, so it was it was quite handy to
Speaker 3: have to to sort of divvy up. But yeah, there's
Speaker 3: there's a lot of extra gifts. I think every night
Speaker 3: we used to go back to the room, there would
Speaker 3: be something something new waiting on the bed for us.
Speaker 3: So it's it's a it's a really cool week and
Speaker 3: it's it's one of those things you walk into. I
Speaker 3: don't know the US team does it, but when we
Speaker 3: walked into our room last time, it was like it
Speaker 3: was like Christmas morning sort of all the all the
Speaker 3: adfits were on sort of hung up and everything was
Speaker 3: laid out on the bed and it's it's just a
Speaker 3: really cool moment. And yeah, if like twelve year old
Speaker 3: Leona could see it, it's it's pretty special.
Speaker 1: This is yours. You don't even have to pay for it,
Speaker 1: this is they just give you this. This is amazing. Alison,
Speaker 1: what's the conversation like, as you get closer to the
Speaker 1: Solheim Cup and you're starting to think about who you're
Speaker 1: gonna play with, what format you're going to play in.
Speaker 1: Is there is that a conversation with the captain like
Speaker 1: I feel more comfortable with this person, I feel more
Speaker 1: comfortable with this format or do you kind of lead
Speaker 1: that up to the captain.
Speaker 2: We have discussed potential pairings, and I think it'll just
Speaker 2: kind of be like, hey, like we'll maybe send you
Speaker 2: out with this person and if it works great, we'll
Speaker 2: keep it. If not, this is maybe another person that
Speaker 2: you'd pair well with. And yeah, just leading up to it,
Speaker 2: trying to play a few packed rounds with potential teammates
Speaker 2: and yeah, really just trying to the team chemistry going.
Speaker 2: And I mean I grew up playing your golf with
Speaker 2: most of the girls on the team, which is really nice.
Speaker 2: And yeah, just having all the team dinners that we've
Speaker 2: had has helped a lot, I think in getting to
Speaker 2: know each other.
Speaker 1: Alison us In the media, do we overrate this person
Speaker 1: needs to play with a great putter, or this person
Speaker 1: needs to play with somebody that hits fair ways. I
Speaker 1: mean you, like you said, you've played golf with these
Speaker 1: people most of your life. You've played team events with
Speaker 1: a lot of the people that are on this team.
Speaker 1: You understand what works and what doesn't. But this is
Speaker 1: what we talk about. I mean, we do it for
Speaker 1: the Ryder Cup, we do it for the Solheim Cup.
Speaker 1: Do we overthink that in terms of how the business
Speaker 1: goes about itself or is that stuff massively important?
Speaker 2: Yeah? I mean I think there's definitely some value to it.
Speaker 2: I mean, you don't want to be playing with someone,
Speaker 2: especially in foursomes, like Leona said, with a completely different
Speaker 2: game from what you have. But I think it's also
Speaker 2: just really important to have the team chemistry and yeah,
Speaker 2: just know that you're out there with someone that you
Speaker 2: really like.
Speaker 1: Leono, do you get to tell the captain who you
Speaker 1: play with? Since when you go four h and one
Speaker 1: as a rookie, is that like part of the deal.
Speaker 1: You're like, hey, listen, I know how to do this.
Speaker 1: This is going to be my call.
Speaker 3: No, I mean I think I think our team is
Speaker 3: quite different this time. I think obviously last time that
Speaker 3: me and mel that pairing, I don't think either of
Speaker 3: us saw coming. That was one that Beanie sort of
Speaker 3: had up her sleeve and ended up working out really well.
Speaker 3: And like Alison said, it was never the plan to
Speaker 3: play us as many times as we did, but it
Speaker 3: was working. So it was like, I'll do whatever you
Speaker 3: need me to do. And if that's if that's five matches,
Speaker 3: that's five matches. If it's two matches, it's two matches.
Speaker 1: Do either of you guys know much about the golf course?
Speaker 1: What is it? Is?
Speaker 3: It?
Speaker 1: Think a court to scene. I feel like I looked
Speaker 1: that up a couple of times today on YouTube to
Speaker 1: try to say it correctly. Have you guys seen flyovers?
Speaker 1: Have you guys seen much of the golf course? Leona,
Speaker 1: I'll start with you. Do you know much about the place?
Speaker 3: We were there last November at the end of the year,
Speaker 3: so it's yeah, it's a great golf course. It's I
Speaker 3: think it'll be a really fun match play and plenty
Speaker 3: of options with teas and in terms of setup and
Speaker 3: things like that. I think you'll see quite a different
Speaker 3: golf course foremost four some singles, so it'll be a
Speaker 3: nice variety to it and a little tricky for fans
Speaker 3: just to get down some of those. I think there's
Speaker 3: gonna be a lot of grandstands parked in certain areas,
Speaker 3: but overall, I think it's gonna be really exciting mash
Speaker 3: play golf course, Allison.
Speaker 1: What kind of information do you get sent or you
Speaker 1: know you can dive into it. By the way, this
Speaker 1: is a whole new world for me played in the
Speaker 1: US Amateur and seeing the breakdowns of the golf courses
Speaker 1: that you guys get week to week and like strategy
Speaker 1: and I mean, it's unbelievable. I didn't even know this
Speaker 1: existed in the space. I'm assuming you get those types
Speaker 1: of things. What do you feel like this golf course
Speaker 1: will play too, in terms of, you know, skill set
Speaker 1: and what is maybe something to avoid?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, I've just seen a lot of the
Speaker 2: breakdowns that the Solheim Cup has kind of posted as
Speaker 2: t series leading into the event. Like Leona said, I
Speaker 2: heard it's going to be a pretty hilly course, and
Speaker 2: I mean there's always going to be a premium on
Speaker 2: good ball striking. I heard it can get a little
Speaker 2: windy and never hurts to have a hot potter as well.
Speaker 1: I think that helps it almost every golf course, no
Speaker 1: matter what. Obviously, the name Solheim, you know, carries a
Speaker 1: lot of weight, especially in the Ping family. How cool
Speaker 1: was it to be a part of kind of both Allison?
Speaker 1: I mean you obviously have, you know, the Ping affiliation,
Speaker 1: and then now you're gonna be representing the USA in
Speaker 1: the Solheim Cup. What does that mean in terms of
Speaker 1: both you professionally and you personally?
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's really special. I mean Ping has been just
Speaker 2: a great supporter of mine. I mean even before I
Speaker 2: turn pro, used paying clubs through high school through college.
Speaker 2: So it's just really special to kind of have both
Speaker 2: of those worlds.
Speaker 1: Means Leona, I mean the same for you. I'm assuming, like,
Speaker 1: I mean, a brand that obviously does an amazing job
Speaker 1: of supporting professional golfers, but it's done a really good
Speaker 1: job of supporting women's golf, you know, for decades and decades.
Speaker 3: Yeah, absolutely, I think the Solim family has done so
Speaker 3: much for women's golf. And I mean I remember back
Speaker 3: to two thousand and nine when I got to play
Speaker 3: in the Junior Solam Cup, and one of the big
Speaker 3: things with that was that you got an entire ping
Speaker 3: fitting right through the bag and lasered our names onto
Speaker 3: the clubs, which at the time was I had never
Speaker 3: seen that before, so that was that was really cool.
Speaker 3: And I still have a putter from from the one
Speaker 3: Clean Castle that they did like a custom one and
Speaker 3: put your name on it and never think so it's
Speaker 3: it's those extras, but it's it's also the visibility that
Speaker 3: the Solimn Cup and the Pink Family have given to
Speaker 3: women's golf as well. There's, like I said before, there's
Speaker 3: a lot of people that tune in every tw years
Speaker 3: for the Solimn Cup that would never normally watch women's golf,
Speaker 3: and it just it gives sort of an extra platform
Speaker 3: and extra visibility to the women's game, and people sort
Speaker 3: of realize and appreciate the skill that's on show on
Speaker 3: a week like that.
Speaker 1: All right, Allison, We're going to fast forward to Sunday
Speaker 1: of the Solheim Cup Singles. Sunday, you get paired up,
Speaker 1: matched up with Leona, the first tea you shake hands,
Speaker 1: obviously it's cordial. How much conversations happening after that in
Speaker 1: this match? Like, how much are you guys saying to
Speaker 1: each other throughout a match with this much on the
Speaker 1: line and this much pressure and all of those types
Speaker 1: of things? Is there much at all? Or I mean,
Speaker 1: are you guys talkie golfers?
Speaker 2: I mean, I'm generally pretty quiet on the course in general,
Speaker 2: and I think match played, it's maybe even more difficult
Speaker 2: to be talking with your competitor. But now, I mean
Speaker 2: I enjoy watching good golf. I enjoy playing good golf,
Speaker 2: Like I'm definitely you know, a big like nice shot person,
Speaker 2: but maybe not too much bad conversation going.
Speaker 1: On, Leono. Have you guys played a decent amount of
Speaker 1: golf together over the years.
Speaker 3: Yeah, so we've actually put quite a few pats strands
Speaker 3: together this year, it seems like, and we've been paired
Speaker 3: together a few times. But I think, like Alison said,
Speaker 3: I think in when it comes to singles and match
Speaker 3: I think you're very much started. You you go from
Speaker 3: that was the thing I noticed was you went from
Speaker 3: having a partner every day before that to all of
Speaker 3: a sudden it's you by yourself, So I think you
Speaker 3: and your caddy almost become a little mini team in
Speaker 3: the single session. And I mean, just going off my experience,
Speaker 3: I don't think me and Jen talked all that all
Speaker 3: that much on Sunday last time.
Speaker 1: But how you doing all right on eighteen?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean it's it's it's just one of those days.
Speaker 3: I think you're you're good friends off the course, but
Speaker 3: then when it just for those four hours, you're it's
Speaker 3: kind of all business.
Speaker 1: Okay. Again, not trying to get too much into your strategy.
Speaker 1: I get that it's kind of a personal thing, but
Speaker 1: I want to ask both of you guys, because it's
Speaker 1: something I'm always interested in in match play. Leona, what
Speaker 1: is your philosophy with giving putts? What what do you
Speaker 1: think about when you're considering giving a person a putt
Speaker 1: versus not giving them a putt?
Speaker 3: I mean, I think it first off, how good of
Speaker 3: a putter they are? Okay, there's some people. I mean, like,
Speaker 3: I don't know, if you're playing invY Park, you're not
Speaker 3: going to be making invY Park put a through utter.
Speaker 3: You know what's going in. So I think it depends
Speaker 3: on the person. It depends on the situation, what time
Speaker 3: it is in the match. Probably early on you probably
Speaker 3: give a few more. As it starts to get a
Speaker 3: little bit more important, maybe maybe make them put a
Speaker 3: few more. It really depends on the flow of the
Speaker 3: match and and also what they're giving you. I think
Speaker 3: it becomes a reciprocal thing. If you're giving they're giving,
Speaker 3: everything flows a little bit better. I think it's not
Speaker 3: really any fun for the fans or for anybody when
Speaker 3: everybody's holding out from a foot and a half just
Speaker 3: for the sake of it. So I think you just
Speaker 3: have to take it as it comes.
Speaker 1: Allison, who typically like who brings up good good? Like?
Speaker 1: Is it like you look in at each other on
Speaker 1: a good good situation? Is it like if you have
Speaker 1: a little bit of a longer putter, are you the
Speaker 1: person that brings it up versus them?
Speaker 3: Like?
Speaker 1: How does that conversation work? Because I know you've played,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of team competitive golf throughout your life.
Speaker 1: What is the who kind of I guess starts the
Speaker 1: conversation of good good?
Speaker 2: So I'll preface this by saying I'm generally pretty generous
Speaker 2: about what I give, but I never initiate good goods
Speaker 2: because I only think it ever makes sense if they're
Speaker 2: closer though, if if it is that situation and at
Speaker 2: that point, I'm just like, you know, I'm going to
Speaker 2: make my putt.
Speaker 1: Well, it feels very like when you watch the highlights
Speaker 1: of team events. It feels very like a very alpha
Speaker 1: move to initiate good good you know, Like I remember
Speaker 1: watching a Tiger match a few years ago. He was
Speaker 1: playing I think it was somebody who was his first
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup and you saw like Tiger walk in. You're like, well,
Speaker 1: of course the guy's gonna say yes to Tiger, right,
Speaker 1: it's Tiger Woods, Like, what's it gonna say no? Putt it?
Speaker 1: I mean, it almost feels like there's a little bit
Speaker 1: of seniority that's involved with good good But yeah, I'm
Speaker 1: always interested in that because you always see kind of
Speaker 1: the player side by each other and it's we're both
Speaker 1: two feet you know, they're kind of straight. Should we
Speaker 1: just pick them up? And uh and yeah, I guess
Speaker 1: it's it's up to whoever feels like that, maybe the
Speaker 1: friskiest I'm throwing that their way.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I normally like give the putt like
Speaker 2: pretty much directly after they put it if I'm going
Speaker 2: to give the putt. So I'm not in too many
Speaker 2: situations where that that comes up. But I've never offered it.
Speaker 1: Never offered to see leone got to think about this.
Speaker 1: You got to be like, well, she's not gonna give
Speaker 1: you this. Obviously she hasn't brought it up yet. It's
Speaker 1: it's just so, I mean, there is there's not enough
Speaker 1: match playing golf. It is such a beautiful part of
Speaker 1: the game to watch, beccause I feel like with match play,
Speaker 1: let's say you have an hour at home, right and
Speaker 1: obviously this is going to be in Europe, so if
Speaker 1: you're state side, you got an hour in the morning,
Speaker 1: you can dive into match play and get really really
Speaker 1: invested in a match. And when you're watching stroke play golf,
Speaker 1: a lot of the time, if you're not watching the
Speaker 1: whole thing, you almost sometimes feel like, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: I don't need to pay attention to this, And I
Speaker 1: just feel like the flow and the song and dance
Speaker 1: of match play just makes it so much interesting. Because Leona,
Speaker 1: you said it, I mean, you don't get a put
Speaker 1: given to you on three and then all of a
Speaker 1: sudden you're going, I'm not gonna get this put on six.
Speaker 1: Like that doesn't come up in stroke play, you know,
Speaker 1: like those little idio secrecies aren't a part of stroke play.
Speaker 1: And it's such a fun part of match play. It
Speaker 1: just to me, I don't know, it just makes it
Speaker 1: so much more fun to watch.
Speaker 3: I think match plays it's dynamic, it's it moves quicker,
Speaker 3: it's it's more exciting for the fans. I think it's
Speaker 3: more exciting to play. And yeah, it's just a very
Speaker 3: different and momentum I think is everything in match play.
Speaker 3: I think you see someone go three up early and
Speaker 3: then someone makes charge down, then the back nine. There's
Speaker 3: there's always something to play for, and all it takes
Speaker 3: is one pod here there or something to change the
Speaker 3: momentum of a match. And yeah, it's it's just more
Speaker 3: exciting and it's fascinating to see on weeks like the
Speaker 3: Round A Cup or Solon Cup, where all of a sudden,
Speaker 3: everybody becomes an expert even more so than normal. Everybody
Speaker 3: this guy should have played with them, and they'll be
Speaker 3: the same with Solon Cup. But I don't envy the
Speaker 3: captains in that regard because everybody will have an opinion
Speaker 3: on who should have gone out first, and who should
Speaker 3: have played with who, and who should have hold that
Speaker 3: pot and whatever. But that's that sort of what makes
Speaker 3: it so fun.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the captain position on these team events is so
Speaker 1: interesting because if you win, you're a genius, and if
Speaker 1: you lose, you're an idiot. And there's really no middle ground,
Speaker 1: you know, It's like it's just such a Again, if
Speaker 1: if you're I mean you think about Paul Easing or
Speaker 1: from whatever that was eight, I mean, he is heralded.
Speaker 1: Is this genius right because of the process you went about.
Speaker 1: But the players still got to go out there and
Speaker 1: make putts and play and if they hadn't done that
Speaker 1: that week, and then Al Sutton on the other end,
Speaker 1: put Tiger and Fill together, they go oh and two
Speaker 1: and house forever known is kind of a not so
Speaker 1: great capa. And it's just it's a very very interesting position. Uh, Leona,
Speaker 1: you mentioned the Ryder Cup. Is there crossover conversation from
Speaker 1: Ryder Cup players to Solheim Cup players about what works
Speaker 1: what doesn't like? Is that do those teams come together
Speaker 1: at all, even if it's a text or something like that.
Speaker 3: Yeah, I'm sure so Zanne has spoken with some of
Speaker 3: the Ryder Cup guys, but me personally, I've spoken to
Speaker 3: the Irish guys, Protect Carrington, Paul mcginny's being a big
Speaker 3: help to me. I had a really good conversation with
Speaker 3: him last time before I went, and just things to expect,
Speaker 3: and there's some things are different, but there is a
Speaker 3: lot of crossover in terms of sort of the environment
Speaker 3: and what to expect and how you approach certain things
Speaker 3: and in terms of mentality and that. So yeah, I
Speaker 3: mean I'm a big believer of you can pick up
Speaker 3: anything from anybody, and it's all about gathering that information
Speaker 3: and then you can decide for yourself what works and
Speaker 3: what doesn't. But yeah, the guys have been sort of
Speaker 3: very forthcoming with their experiences and stuff, and I feel
Speaker 3: like you you sort of take it all in and
Speaker 3: sort of pick and choose what you use.
Speaker 1: Allison, if you had any conversations or bounce any questions
Speaker 1: off anybody that you know plays on the on the
Speaker 1: PGA tour, plays on Ryder Cups about what to expect,
Speaker 1: because I mean, obviously I know you've had, you know,
Speaker 1: plenty of conversations with players that have gone through the
Speaker 1: soul On Cup experience, but just interested is there is
Speaker 1: that crossover conversation happened on the American side as well.
Speaker 2: Honestly, I'm sure it has. I just don't know too
Speaker 2: many of the men too well. But yeah, mostly has
Speaker 2: been getting getting experiences from my other teammates.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean it's uh again. I can only imagine
Speaker 1: what that what the environment must feel like on the
Speaker 1: first tu you know, come come Friday, it's going to
Speaker 1: be pretty exciting. Well, good luck to the both of you.
Speaker 1: I know you both can't win, but I'll be rooting
Speaker 1: for the both of you guys. Thank you guys for
Speaker 1: the time, Thanks for the insight, Very very excited to
Speaker 1: watch one of my favorite events and all of golf,
Speaker 1: and I'll be pulling for you both.
Speaker 3: Besie, thanks so much.
Speaker 2: Shame.
Speaker 1: This is the Pining Proving Grounds podcast.
Speaker 2: Mm hmm.