USA Press Conference With Captain Carol Semple Thompson,

Stacy Lewis and Alison Walshe

St. Andrews, Scotland

STEWART McDOUGALL:  Carol, Alison and Stacy, first of all, congratulations on winning the Curtis Cup.  It was a big victory, and we wish you well for the future.

            Carol, can I just ask your feelings now that the match is finished?  Is there a great sense of anticlimax or have you still got a buzz?

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  Oh, it's definitely not an anticlimax, but it is a relief.  I think we're all very excited.  It's quite something to actually hold that Cup and to have a right to hold it now that we've actually won enough points.  I'm ecstatic over the whole thing.

            STEWART McDOUGALL:  Stacy, how do you feel?

            STACY LEWIS:  I'm just really excited, just excited to be here, just at the home of golf.  I thought it was pretty cool, just Alison's match, the last match of the day to end on 18, it was kind of a perfect setting for everything.

            STEWART McDOUGALL:  Alison, did you want to keep playing on, not just walk in?

            ALISON WALSHE:  I didn't want to keep it going, but it was great to finish on the 18th with everybody waiting there, and to finish with a win was just icing on the cake.

            Q.  Carol, congratulations.  Inevitably people on this side of the Atlantic start saying do we need to call in Europe.  Would you like to play America versus Europe or would you like it keep it as GB & I?

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  I like the idea of the tradition of playing against GB & I.  I can understand Great Britain and Ireland would be a little frustrated at this point since we've won six in a row, but I think that the level of their play is fantastic, and the matches are always well-fought, and there's plenty of talent on both sides to make it a good match.  So I would vote for keeping it against GB & I.

            Q.  Carol, would you mind telling us what you think the difference was between the two teams?

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  I think my players were just a tiny slight edge maybe better.  They were able to acclimate themselves very well to links golf.  I thought they played the running shots and the long putts very well after only four days of practice, and I think that made the difference.

            Q.  When you prepared, do you go somewhere where you had greens that were even remotely similar to the greens here, and did you put in extra time practicing those shots that you've just been talking about?

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  No.  The answer is no to all of the above.

            We did have a short weekend in Orlando, Florida, at Lake Nona, where there is Bermudagrass.  You couldn't roll anything into the greens.  But we did have a nice time getting to know each other even a little bit better than we did before.  So it was more of a bonding weekend than a specific practice weekend.

            These players came out on Monday of this week and learned the Old Course very quickly, not that they conquered the old course, but they had very good help from their caddies, and I think the caddies were key for all of their games in both advice and bonding there.  I think the caddies were a lot of fun and made it a lot more fun for the players.

            They just learned to play the golf course in a few days and played very, very well.

            Q.  Just going back to the European question, is there a tipping point where you might have to introduce Europeans?  It's now six in a row.  I mean, if it goes to 10 or 12, do you then consider it?

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  I suppose there could be a tipping point, but for the foreseeable future in my opinion we should stick with GB & I.

            Q.  I just want to ask how it feels to go undefeated and if you had a personal goal there.

            STACY LEWIS:  Coming in I wanted to play as much as I could and win every match.  It was kind of a goal for me coming in.  With match play you're never really sure what's going to happen.  I'm very happy that I got all the wins, and thank you for Carol for letting me play yesterday afternoon because I was playing well and I asked her if I could go out again because I wasn't supposed to, so I was glad I got to go out again.

            ALISON WALSHE:  Same.  It was definitely a goal of mine to come in and be undefeated, and to win every match is just a great feeling and contributing to the team win.  Even though I only played three matches, it still just was great.

            Q.  How do you celebrate, because most of you girls aren't old enough to drink?

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  They have such fun together, they don't really need to drink to celebrate.  They've been laughing and high-fiving.  I guess we could learn how to celebrate without booze.

            Q.  Stacy, this is your first time playing in this type of format, in match play.  Which did you enjoy more, which type, foursomes?

            STACY LEWIS:  I really liked alternate shot.  Every shot mattered and it was all important, and we got along well together and our games are similar, so I enjoyed alternate shot the best.

            Q.  Stacy, can you talk a little bit about what it felt like to clinch the winning point even though I think you might not have been aware of it at the time, just your reaction to winning that point?

            STACY LEWIS:  I knew we had won two matches already but I wasn't sure if Amanda was done or if I was done.  It was an awesome feeling just to win my match there, and I turned around to celebrate and there was nobody there (laughter).  But I celebrated with my parents and then a couple minutes later they drove up in the cart.  So it was kind of surreal, and just being here at the Old Course, I don't really know how to describe it.

            Q.  When did you find out you had obtained the winning point?

            STACY LEWIS:  When they drove up in the cart.  They told me that they heard over the radio that I had won as Amanda was putting, so that's how I found out.

            Q.  Can both of you talk a little bit about what it's like to play for Carol here this week?

            ALISON WALSHE:  Oh, man, it's great.  I mean, Carol is totally laid-back and she's such a great player and has so much experience herself, so just playing under her is an honor.  She's played here-- did you win here?  Medalist, she was a Medalist here, so she knows the course, and she helps out for any questions we have, and I really, really enjoyed playing for her.

            STACY LEWIS:  I think just the greatest amateur player to ever play, and I think we can all learn something from her.  She let us kind of do our own thing.  I don't know, it was kind of a perfect team, I think.

            Q.  Carol, are you staying on as captain for the next match, and how many of your players this week do you think will be available for selection in two years' time?

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  Well, I doubt that I'm going to be the captain the next time, at least I would not expect to be.  I think two times in a row is probably sufficient because there are other people waiting in the wings who should have this wonderful opportunity.

            I don't know exactly how many of these players will be available for selection in two years.  I would imagine not very many.  But maybe Alison and Stacy would have more of a feel for that.

            ALISON WALSHE:  The younger ones I think will probably still be around.  It's hard to say; so much of women's golf right now is up in the air.  I think it's kind of hard to say.

            Q.  How about the two of you?

            ALISON WALSHE:  I'm turning pro this summer.

            STACY LEWIS:  And me also in the fall.

            Q.  Will you be captain for the Espirito Santo, and is your attention turning to that now?

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  No, I will not be captain.  Marsha Luigs, who is the immediate past chairman of the Women's Committee of the USGA, will be captain.

            Q.  I'm just wondering what you meant by that remark that so much to do with women's golf is up in the air?

            ALISON WALSHE:  Well, just so many kids are turning pro at such a young age that it's hard to say.  We're a rarity that we stayed in college for five years now.  But I think-- the reason I stayed amateur was to play in this tournament.

            STEWART McDOUGALL:  Carol, Stacy and Alison, thank you very much.

            CAROL SEMPLE THOMPSON:  Thank you all for the coverage this week.  It's been great.

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