Women’s World Cup of Golf
Gary Player Country Club
Sun City, South Africa
Jan. 18, 2008
First-round interviews
Eun-Hee Ji & Ji-Yai Shin, South Korea; 61 (-11)
Birdies: 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11, 15, 17, 18
(via translator)
MODERATOR: Team Korea, very well played, 11-under-par. Did you have a score you were aiming at the start of the day that you thought would be good enough to lead?
JI-YAI SHIN: We expected about 7- or 8-(under) today, but the front nine, we played really well, so we changed the plan to have that score be our nine-hole score.
Q. Where were you on the rain delay?
JI-YAI SHIN: 13.
Q. Can you comment on the golf course and the way it’s set up and the difficulty of the rough?
JI-YAI SHIN: I played last year, so I knew the course and I heard it was rainy here around this time, so I’ve been planning on the different ways to play the fairways, so I was fine.
EUN-HEE JI: I got some hints of where to hit the tee shots from my teammate, so we are playing like we are supposed to be.
Q. Tomorrow is a different story. You have alternate shot. How does that change the strategy for tomorrow?
JI-YAI SHIN: Foursomes is more defensive, but she’s doing better today with her shots. And my putting’s better. Eun-Hee will try to take care of the shots and I will take care of the putting to make a good score. We both were playing well today, but we will be expecting each other to be strongest with our shots and putting. So, hopefully we will have a good result tomorrow.
Q. You said you thought at the start of today, 8-under would be a good score. What do you see as being your target tomorrow in the foursomes?
JI-YAI SHIN: Three-under because the foursome play is harder. It’s not like you take the best shot. We don’t want to lose our tempo, so 3-under will keep us in the lead.
Q. What would you say was the key thing on the course today for shooting so low?
JI-YAI SHIN: The fairways are narrow and the rough is long, so we tried to place our tee shots in the fairways. Making birdies on holes eight through 11 was because of good tee shots in the fairways.
Q. Ji-Yai won nine or 10 tournaments last year?
JI-YAI SHIN: The 2007 season, I won nine. But the 2008 season on the KLPGA started in December, so they counted 10 in the year of 2007. But the 2007 season is nine wins and December was one.
Q. To have three birdies in a row to start the round, that’s a good run.
JI-YAI SHIN: The course is hard on holes one, two and three, but I went first and then we both did well and it boosted our thoughts.
Q. Which tour will you be playing the most in?
EUN-HEE JI: LPGA.
JI-YAI SHIN: I will mainly play in Korea, but I will play seven or eight in the LPGA.
Gwladys Nocera, Virginie Lagoutte-Clement, France; 62 (-10)
Lagoutte-Clement birdied holes 3, 4, 5, 10, 12, 14
Nocera birdied holes 7, 8, 16, 18
MODERATOR: Gwladys is going to be answering the questions on behalf of team France. Very well played. Did you have a score in mind when you set out today?
GWLADYS NOCERA: If somebody had told us that we would shoot 10-under today, we would have sang yesterday. That is for sure. The course is playing tough. The rough is really, really, really big. Each time you miss a fairway, you are done. What was fun today was that when she was in trouble, I was all right and I was in trouble, she was great. It was fun.
Q. You had five birdies on each of the front and the back nine. Can you tell us where those birdies came?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Okay. We started with a par and made par on two. Virginie made a very nice birdie on three. Birdie four and birdie five for Virginie. I was just waking up. Then I woke up, so I had birdie on seven and eight. We parred nine but we had birdie opportunities so we felt good about it. We thought, ‘Let’s keep on going.’ She made a nice birdie on 10. We were both close and she holed the putt. On 11, we struggled a little bit. It was tough for us to make a par on this hole but we managed to do it. On 12, Virginie made birdie. Virginie birdied 14 and then we got stopped because of the weather and I told her, ‘It’s a good thing because I’m not feeling too good. I’m going to have a coffee and come back strong.’ And I made birdie on 16 and 18. (laughter)
Q. What did you hit on 18?
GWLADYS NOCERA: I had a 7-wood in. I hit 7-wood in every day on the practice day and on the pro-am. I knew she was going to be on the green in three for sure, so I knew I could go for the putt. I was a little bit chicken today on the putting.
Q. You were 10-under-par today, but it’s a very different story tomorrow with the foursomes. Do you see yourselves going out to defend that score or is it still a case of attacking the golf course?
GWLADYS NOCERA: I think we are on the same planet. We try to play our game and not to worry about the score. With a tricky format, you need to stay very patient and trust your partner and just go on. I don’t think you can think about a score. At least I won’t; I know Virginie won’t. We will just go for it.
Q. You have played here, Gwladys, for the last couple of years. Most players are pleased to have two rounds of best-ball because it allows you to attack the golf course a bit more.
GWLADYS NOCERA: I think it’s more fun because you can be more offensive and there are a couple of holes where you have the option of going for it or playing safe. We hit them all pretty much the same. It’s fun to play that way.
Q. You guys seem to be firing at the pins. Are the greens receptive and has the rain helped that?
GWLADYS NOCERA: Of course. Some pin positions were pretty tricky because they were just behind bunkers, but the greens were pretty soft. We can go for it.
Q. You didn’t have a bogey today so I presume that you were pretty good off the tees as well.
GWLADYS NOCERA: I missed a few drives, but I think today each time one was in trouble the other was perfect. In that format, it doesn’t matter if you miss a couple of drives as long as your partner doesn’t at the same time. That’s what happened today.
Lorie Kane & Alena Sharp, Canada; 64 (-8)
Birdies 2, 4, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15, 18
MODERATOR: Welcome Team Canada, well played. Did you have a number in mind when you woke up this morning that would be good to make?
LORIE KANE: No, I think for the first tournament of the year, first round of the year, you’re just out there trying to make good contact, shake a little bit of rust off and try to make some birdies.
Q. That’s a pretty good handshake that you use that seems to have worked throughout the day. A little bit of background on it?
LORIE KANE: The first year I played the World Cup—at Fancourt—Dawn Coe-Jones was my partner and, for the first couple of days, we hired a couple of local guys to help our regular caddies to give them some course knowledge and we got in with the natives and learned the handshake. It’s a little different here than it is in George, but the flipping of the thumbs is the same. I have to teach Junior, here.
ALENA SHARP: We changed it in the middle of the round. We did our own thing.
Q. A lot of smiles out there, you’re obviously having a lot of fun. Even when you went into the thick rough on 14, it looked like you could hardly move the ball, but you got it out to make par.
LORIE KANE: That’s the great thing about having a partner. You have to play your own ball, but it’s also comforting to know there’s still somebody there. So basically, all you’re trying to do is have a chance at par so your partner can have a birdie. Out of this rough, it’s like cabbage so you have to just get it out and try to give yourself a fairly decent number to get the next chance at par.
Q. Are you pleased in change of format in the change to best-ball on the final day?
LORIE KANE: Yeah, I think it’s fair for the tournament. So early in the year, there’s different strength of teams and this golf course is tough enough. I think the spectators want to see birdies, so getting away from this two-score aggregate is a good thing.
Q. Tomorrow is a different story. Will there be a different attitude toward the foursomes play?
ALENA SHARP: No, I don’t think so. Once we figure out which holes we’re going to tee off of, if we do what we did today, we never got in trouble on the same hole. I know we’re playing alternate shot tomorrow, but we’re both straight drivers and straight putters, so we could actually go really low tomorrow. I’m looking forward to it. Should be fun.
LORIE KANE: Alena drove exceptionally well today and I think she’ll carry that into tomorrow. Sometimes it just requires a 3-wood off the tee to get you in place and, if that’s what it takes, that’s what we’ll do.
Q. Alena, you made most of the birdies, is that right?
LORIE KANE: That’s right. (laughter) I’m not afraid to tell you.
Q. How many did you make?
ALENA SHARP: I made six and Lorie made two. A couple of the ones I made before she had a chance to putt them.
LORIE KANE: Thanks partner. (laughter)
ALENA SHARP: A couple of holes, we were both in there close and I was the first to putt.
Dorothy Delasin, Jennifer Rosales, Philippines; 65 (-7)
Birdies: 1, 3, 5, 12, 14, 15, 18
MODERATOR: Team Philippines, Dorothy, Jennifer, well played today. Perhaps you could start by taking us through the round. Just one dropped shot and plenty of birdies.
DOROTHY DELASIN: I wish I brought my scorecard! We birdied the first hole, third hole, fifth hole…I’m so sorry! (Laughter). We were having so much fun we weren’t even looking at our scores!
JENNIFER ROSALES: We were rock stars on 11!
DOROTHY DELASIN: Yeah, both of us were rock stars! We both bogeyed 11 so we made six there. We birdied 12, 14, 15 and 18.
Q. There was a good celebration to that birdie on 18. A good way to finish going into day two?
JENNIFER ROSALES: Was that a question? (Laughter). Yeah. I’m so speechless I’m sorry. It was a pretty good way to finish. We were just having so much fun, cruising out there. When I screw up she’s there.
DOROTHY DELASIN: We were ham and egging!
Q. Jennifer, you didn’t play much last year. What was going on?
JENNIFER ROSALES: I’ve been struggling with my injuries the past two years, but I’m almost there. I’m 85 percent now so I’m just happy I’m back here with my teammate.
Q. What injuries have you had?
JENNIFER ROSALES: My wrist.
Q. What was the key to the way you had fun?
DOROTHY DELASIN: I was in the rough a lot! If I had an X on the scorecard, Jennifer was there and if she did then I was there, so we were timing it well. It was one of those days when everything was going your way…except 11 where we were both in the rough.
I’m glad we got it under so we have some room for tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a challenge. I got my fair share of rough so I know how to hit it out of there. We are just going to try and hit a lot of fairways and greens.
Q. Have you thought about your strategy for tomorrow in terms of who is going to hit where?
DOROTHY DELASIN: Not yet. We are actually going to do that right after this. We are going to figure out who hits on the evens and the odds. We are going to work on that now.
Q. And you were almost finished when the delay occurred. Did it affect you?
DOROTHY DELASIN: It didn’t really affect me. Did it affect you?
JENNIFER ROSALES: No.
DOROTHY DELASIN: It was just a little bummer because we were walking up to 18 and then they blow the horn and it’s like ‘Oh well, let’s sit back and relax.’ We both hit good drives on 18. I hit it in the water and Jennifer was able to ham and egg it.
Q. The change of format should make it really exciting, shouldn’t it?
JENNIFER ROSALES: The first year we played really well in the combined scores so I’m glad it’s like this.
DOROTHY DELASIN: I’m glad it’s like this. It’s a lot more fun.
JENNIFER ROSALES: You can play more aggressive and it’s less stressful.