Laura Davies: The finest golfer of the nation
Where do you stand on gamesmanship?
I think I’m fair, the only thing I will sometimes do is make them putt a short one from time to time just to unsettle them. There is nothing worse than being made to putt from one or two feet, you’re not going to miss it but having to do it is another thing.
I don’t say things, golf is a different mindset to cricket or football and people who try it normally come unstuck.
In a practice round with mates I’m all over it but I never chirp in a Solheim Cup.
What is the worst bit of gamesmanship that you have been on the wrong end of?
Rosie Jones in the first singles matches in 1990. We were going down a par 5 early on, I had hit an iron, and she said ‘have you got a few screws loose in that driver?’
My driving had been horrendous but I replied something along the lines of ‘I don’t need a driver to beat you mate, you’re too easy’ and that was about the most confrontational I’ve ever got. And I beat her 3&2.
The most famous incident came at Loch Lomond in 2000 when the Americans, instructed by captain Pat Bradley, made Annika Sorenstam replay a chip, that she had holed, for supposedly playing out of turn. Would they have done it you?
That was disgraceful. Beating Annika was a massive feather in their cap and maybe they were trying too hard to win the match. Me and Kelly Robbins are good mates and Pat Hurst is a very good friend so I’m not sure, Pat Bradley was a fierce competitor in her playing days so she was no different as a captain.
How would you have reacted?
I would have conceded the hole and walked to the next tee. Even if my partner didn’t agree I would have given them whatever they had and walked to the next tee.
I’ve got no time for that. If that didn’t upset them then nothing would.
That incident reduced Annika to tears, how emotional are you as a player?
The only time I remember crying – not boo-hoo crying, but I had tears in my eyes – was at the World Ladies Championship in Korea. I had about a 10-foot eagle putt and she had gone through the back of green and had what looked like an impossible up and down, it was a death chip, so I thought I had two putts to win.
She holed it and I missed – it was the only time I have been devastated by the whole thing. It was more anger than tears, I couldn’t believe what had happened. It would have been a big win for me.
If we’ve had a miserable Sunday then there is no point trying to talk rationally to me that day, I get upset – ask my caddies.
You make out that it’s bigger than it is but it’s only in your own mind, nobody else could give a damn really what has happened.
Who are your top three best Solheim players from both teams?
Carin Koch had a brilliant record and Janice Moodie had great self-belief so that would leave a choice between Annika and Pettersen.
Annika had a great record, and this is no slight on her but she always had good partners, though she was always the best player. But I think I would go with Pettersen.
For the Americans Dottie Pepper, Juli Inkster and Rosie Jones – her game just made me angry, she was just so good at saving par from anywhere.
How did the punchbag, with Dottie’s face on it, come about at Muirfield Village in 1998?
Annika brought one along as a stress relief and someone wrote Dottie on it. Dottie chipped in or holed a putt on 18th against Marie-Laure de Lorenzi and we still had a 20-footer for a half.
Dottie kept winding up the crowds and, by the time things eventually died down, Marie had no chance of holing it. Then, when we got back to the team room, Annika stabbed it.
In your 30 years as a professional have you ever used a sports psychologist?
Never, I think it’s just common sense and I think I’ve got lots of it. I don’t like reading but I have listened to Bob Rotella and there was another American guy who I had some cassettes of when I was having some real problems with my driver.
Then every time I listened to it I just thought it was common sense and it was a waste of money and I never listened to one again. I’ve still got the cassettes, I found them when I was moving house recently but I haven’t got a tape player.
What sort of driving problems did you have?
I had the driving yips three times. In 1990 I remember the shot that sparked it all off, I hit one way right and that’s why I don’t hit a driver off a tee. I worked through it and hit lots of good drives on the range and eventually it was good enough to take it to the course.
Then five or six years later I went through the same thing and then again about four years ago.
You are only one or two good shots from righting the ship, everyone talks about Tiger being done, well he’s not, he’s just a good round away from righting the ship I think.
Do you know when you are in trouble?
I get a knot in my shoulder when I’m walking to the tee, I don’t know if it’s someone sat on my shoulder but you try and shake it off and you can’t.
My way of dealing with it is that I remind myself that the worst I can do is hit one bad shot. It is quite painful when it doesn’t work out as you have hit it in Row Z and you have then got to reload.
You have got a good memory for scores. How well do you know your overall Solheim record?
I do remember the good ones and the bad ones. I lost to Paula Creamer 7&5 at Crooked Stick, you have to remember the bad stuff so the good stuff is memorable.
I imagine singles-wise it is a mixed bag, I would guess foursomes is my best and my fourballs would be on a par with the singles.
You are W9 H1 L7 in foursomes, 8-3-6 in fourballs and 5-2-5 in singles..
There you go, not far off. My singles record isn’t that bad, the Americans knew I would be in the first few matches virtually every time so they could get to pick me.
What is your preferred singles position?
I love going out first for no other reason in that I like playing fast and you don’t have to watch people taking forever over a shot. And that is purely my basis for playing first; no statements, no tactical reasons, I just love to have a clear golf course in front of me.
Did you arrange to play Juli Inkster at Killeen Castle in 2011?
I said to Ali if you put me at No 4 I think I might play Juli as Juli was going to say the same to Rosie Jones. And we got the match.
It was great, I wish she hadn’t got up and down from 40 yards away in a bunker at the 18th but it was a fantastic shot.
You passed Annika’s all-time points’ tally in Ireland, how much does that record mean to you?
All it means is that I have played more than anyone else to be honest with you. If Annika had played more matches she would be way ahead of me. It’s lovely to have it and the fact that I managed to play in 12 is the impressive thing rather than the points.
What is the secret to your longevity?
It is going to be a very simple statement and it will sound flippant but it is the lack of hours and hours beating myself up on the range and not playing golf every day at home. When I come to a tournament I want to be excited and looking forward to it.
When I was a junior my mum would drop my brother and I at the local course in Guildford in the morning and we would play 54 holes and practise so I put my time in as a youngster.
On tour practice rounds are torture as they take so long. And I think you can hurt yourself by hitting a lot of balls. Look at Michelle Wie, I love her but she looks like the bionic woman and she’s still so young. You wonder if she hit too many balls when she was younger.
I ruptured my Achilles two years ago but that was playing football and I play tennis and cricket so I am naturally quite mobile.
I play all my sport by mimicking what I see on TV, growing up my brother and I would watch Seve or Langer or copy Curtis Strange’s followthrough.
What type of cricketer are you, a cavalier No 6 batsman?
Not bad, I did something with the England women’s team recently and they said I looked right when I hit a few shots. I got clean bowled three times but it looked OK.
I would be a medium-pace bowler and probably bat at 5.
Which Solheim defeat has hurt the most?
St Pierre in 1996, we should have won it. The captain, Mickey Walker, made what I thought was a terrible decision. I heard their captain Judy Rankin speaking to Pat Bradley and I heard Pat say ‘I’m ready to lead us out skipper’.
That’s all I heard. Pat wasn’t playing particularly well and Pat had given Trish a real beating at Lake Nona.
I went to our vice-captain and said ‘Just give Trish Pat, she owes her a beating and it would be lovely for her’. Plus Annika was going out top and it would be a waste to play Bradley.
I thought that information had sunk in and it was a done deal. And then Mickey went Annika out first.
I thought what the hell is going on? Annika beat Pat but she could have beaten Dottie Pepper or someone stronger. I was angry that the information wasn’t used properly and that we had got drubbed and played so badly in the singles.
We were 9-7 ahead but then Annika was the only player to win.
What is it like to be in the middle of that type of turnaround?
Horrible. It gets to a point where you keep hoping and hoping and then it washes over you and you’re gone and it’s miserable.
The European team was having a party and they were having fun, it was about 11 o’clock and I thought I’m not enjoying this so I packed my bags and drove home.
I got home about 3am.
The only Solheim you have missed was in Colorado in 2013 after 12 straight appearances. You ended up being at the matches but as an analyst for Sky Sports. Europe then won away for the first time. What were your emotions like that week?
Lotta Neumann rang me after I had missed the cut at St Andrews and she wasn’t going to pick me which was fair enough, I had given her no reason to though I thought I might have a chance as there were so few players with a lot of experience. It didn’t happen and she made the right decision as we won by a country mile.
Then my manager Vicky rang and said there was an offer from Sky. I said no to start with, then I did go and everyone was coming up to me and saying I should be in the team. I thought this was the biggest mistake I had ever made but once the golf started it was brilliant. I’m glad I did it.
