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PGA TOUR MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 12, 2016

Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida

THE MODERATOR: With us is Tim Finchem, joined by our guests for today's announcement.

TIM FINCHEM: Thank you, and thank you all on the media -- among the media for joining us for this announcement, this exciting development in the ongoing history of the Presidents Cup. I'd like to add a thank you to the Fireman family, Paul and Dan, who created this wonderful golf course at Liberty National. We appreciate their support over the years.

The Presidents Cup has, since 1994, each and every play, grown. And certainly after the 2015 event at Incheon City, South Korea the tradition has continued that every event thus far has been bigger than the last.

We had a great Presidents Cup in Korea and one that resonated throughout Asia, for sure, and around the globe and an interesting lead-in to our play in the Olympics this summer.

Regarding Liberty National as a host in 2017, it's hard to imagine a better place. Over the years when the Barclays has been played here we've gotten more e-mails all over the planet about the incredible views of the Manhattan skyline, Ellis Island, the Statue of Liberty. It's just a great setting for an international competition.

2017 will mark the first time an international team competition has been hosted this close to the New York City area and we think that in and of itself is a special development.

This is a most prestigious global competition, and I can't imagine a place domestically where it could be better staged than the New York/New Jersey area. I certainly want to thank the officials from New York and New Jersey, the states and the cities involved over the last couple of years to prepare for the Cup and thank them in advance for the additional work that needs to be done and will be done between now and the fall of 2017.

We have noticed a tremendous excitement and buzz from the public and the political and public side of the equation as well as corporate partners and we're very pleased with our preparation.

Hosting the event here also gives us a chance to do even more for the First Tee and charity. With the help of the Fireman family and the Presidents Cup has already pledged $5 million to the First Tee, giving us an opportunity to grow the game even further.

I think everybody on this call is aware that the Presidents Cup is a gentleman's competition focused on sportsmanship. In its brief history we have been fortunate to have some of the most revered figures in the game serve as Presidents Cup captains, and all of them represent what's best about the game of golf.

David Graham, Peter Thompson, Gary Player and Greg Norman on the International side, and Hale Irwin, Arnold Palmer, Ken Venturi, Jack Nicklaus, Fred Couples and Jay Haas for the United States -- and I should have said Nick Price as well because he was a captain last time.

It's my honor to announce today that Nick Price and Steve Stricker have agreed to serve as captains when the 2017 Cup is played here at Liberty National next year. No two men represent more of what the Presidents Cup stands for than these two gentlemen.

Nick has now served as the captain for the International Team twice, and his passion and support for the Presidents Cup has been unparalleled since the day the event came into existence, putting him at the top of the list for the role yet again for 2017.

Nick is often called the Presidents Cup favorite event in golf, and that is high praise from such a successful international player who has competed and won events all around the world.

Nick is a quality player, of course, former world No. 1, and World Golf Hall of Fame member and even higher quality person as exemplified by a resumÃ© that includes the Payne Stewart Award and Ambassador of Golf Award. He led the International Team to one of the most closely contested playings of the Presidents Cup last year in Korea.

So we're excited to see Nick continue with his leadership again in 2017 here at Liberty National. Nick, please let us know your thoughts about leading the International Team for the third time.

NICK PRICE: Thank you, Tim. It's again an honor and third go around is I'm looking forward to this one just as much as I looked forward to the first one. The camaraderie and just the friendship that we've forged through the week with all the players is -- from all different countries, from India to Thailand, from Australia, to New Zealand and South Africa and Argentina -- it's just wonderful when all these guys get together and bond and form as a team, albeit just for a week.

We had an incredible Presidents Cup last time. And it was just a wonderful young team that I captained and I'm just absolutely thrilled to have been asked to do it again.

I think the venue is going to be spectacular, and I'm excited and I want to congratulate Steve, because he and I have played an awful lot of golf together. He's not only been a wonderful friend and a companion to play a golf tournament with or round of golf with but he's also a firece competitor, and I expect no less from him coming September next year. So thanks again, Tim, for asking me and giving me this privilege to enjoy the Presidents Cup for 2017.

TIM FINCHEM: Thank you, Nick. As Nick is, so Steve has been recognized as somebody who really does represent the values of the sport as well having been recognized in that distinction with the Payne Stewart Award a few years ago.

Steve has had invaluable experience as a team member and has earned the respect of his contemporaries which is why he was selected. He has a calm and collected personality, and that will help guide his team at an amazing course in one of the beloved U.S. cities that he has played well at over the years.

In addition to his five appearances on the United States Presidents Cup team and as a competitor in last year's appearance as captain's assistance to Jay, he competed in the U.S. Ryder Cup teams three different times, in '08, '10 and '12, and will serve as vice captain this year to Davis Love III at Hazeltine. Steve, please give us your thoughts about being named the United States captain for the first time.

STEVE STRICKER: Thank you, Tim. And I want to say thanks to the opportunity to lead this team next year. I never thought this opportunity would come along. But I'm very grateful and humbled by you asking me.

Nick and I, like he said, we competed against one another in the '96 Presidents Cup team. So I looked up that just the other day to see how that match came out. But it's been a great treat for me to get to know Nick over the years.

And he's nothing but the best that comes to golf and as a person, like you've said, and it gives me a lot of pleasure, and like I say, gratitude to be a part of this again and to hopefully lead this team to another victory.

Although, last year -- and I think all these teams have been a lot closer than what the final result has been. But last year Nick's team came all the way down to the last man. And the competition seems to be coming down to one or two matches every year. And I expect nothing but that again this next time around.

So thank you for having me and look forward to 2017 here at Liberty National.

TIM FINCHEM: Again, thank you, Steve. I think looking at these two gentlemen, their experience, the way their teams and players feel about them even before we get started, and their global recognition as representatives for the sport, we couldn't be more excited about the opportunity to have these two gentlemen lead two great teams coming to play at a phenomenal golf course in a phenomenal market in just 18 months.

Q. Nick, having had some time to look back at some of the positives that came out of Korea, what are lessons that you think you'll bring with you in 2017?
NICK PRICE: I think, the experiences that I gained over the last Presidents Cups are really going to help an awful lot. As the captain, there's so much going through your mind and there's so many things that you have to think about. Not only the pairings but keeping all the players happy and being -- you seem to need to be in two places at one time at times out there.

But in a nutshell, I think the only thing that I can really do is motivate the players, let them know how much I am -- how excited I am to be a captain again. I'll start spending a lot more time with them as we get closer to the event next year, going to more events and just making sure that we are a team when we arrive there.

So more practice rounds maybe together with the guys, prospective team members. And also just I think they're all excited. Most of the guys hopefully we'll have enough of the guys on the last team in Korea who will play next year here, will certainly -- they have a great feel for the Presidents Cup now.

And I think that's -- the close shave we had last year will motivate them a lot.

Q. Nick, as you mentioned, you guys came so close last time in Korea. Do you think you'll take a similar approach as you build up to 2017, or are there some things that you need to fine tune? And then for Steve, I'm just wondering what kind of influences have you had or what kind of things will you draw upon not only as a player but also as mentioned before, as assistant captain with Jay?
NICK PRICE: First off, from my point of view, I'm hoping that I'll have at least eight or nine guys from the previous team on the team. And in years gone by, the bottom five or six have always changed. But now I think with golf being more global, we're going to see, I think, more consistent Presidents Cup teams in the future.

It's difficult when you go as an international captain, when you get to the week of the event that you really don't know two or three of the guys' games very well. So you learn in that short Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.

You may have an idea with the stats and what they've done, looking at the World Ranking and their performances over the year and a half or the six months coming into the event and you just don't get to know them. So there is that sort of initial difficult area, difficult period.

But to be honest, it's all about teamwork and getting that team together as quickly as possible is the most important thing that I feel -- I can't tell them how to play golf. These guys all play golf so much better than I ever did.

The games have changed an awful lot since I was playing well, but it's just all about putting the guys who get on well together, playing together and making sure that your pairings are done correctly and just keeping everyone happy.

In fact, I think the best thing you can do as a captain is just show them where the first tee is and let them golf and play. Because these guys are all very, very capable.

STEVE STRICKER: And I think my feelings pretty much -- I've gotten that same feeling on both sides, as a player and then as an assistant captain the last couple of times.

And I think it is about keeping your players happy and listening to your players and listening to your assistant captains, because those are the guys that are talking to the players and making sure that you keep them happy, because you don't want to -- you don't want to throw any curves to anybody out there. They want to know the plan.

They want to know who they're going to play with and what ball they're going to play with, all those little things that come down to the playability part of things, you want to make sure they're all on the same page.

So I think for me this first time around it's going to be surround myself with a lot of assistants that have been there, have had a lot of experience, and then listening to them and making sure your players are happy.

Like Nick says, you let them go. You let them play. And that's what I learned, too, as a player, just you're responsible for that one point, and you want to do your darnedest to win that point, and win that point for the team.

Q. Steve, you mentioned some of the qualities that you've kind of taken along with you and having played in five Presidents Cups. Can you comment on some of the characteristics or the leadership qualities that you've seen in other captains that you would potentially portray in 2017?
STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, people who do know me, I'm pretty unassuming. I'm not one of those vocal kind of leaders, probably. But I'll just hopefully lead by example or, like I said, lean on my assistants a lot.

But I've learned a lot over the years playing for different captains, and then an assistant captain the last couple of years. And I've seen some things that have worked and I've seen some things that haven't worked.

So I can take those experiences with me next year. And hopefully come out on top. But it's going to be tough. These guys have got some momentum, I think, based off the last year's Presidents Cup. And it's going to be up to us to kind of stop that little bit of momentum they had.

Even though we won, it came down to a lot closer match. And so that's something that we're going to have to deal with straightaway.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

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