	products recent interviews FastScripts archive about ASAP Sports

Our Clients:

Browse by Sport

Find us on

Subscribe to RSS

Click to go to
Asaptext.com

View our
e-Brochure

THE PRESIDENTS CUP

October 8, 2015

Songdo IBD, Incheon City, Korea

CHRIS REIMER: Welcome, everyone, to the draw for the second day of competition at The Presidents Cup 2015.

Start with Match No. 6. Here to officiate the proceedings, we have Vice President of Rules and Competition for the PGA TOUR, Steve Carman. Steve, you may begin.

STEVE CARMAN: Format for the second round will be fourball matches. International Team selected first because the defending team deferred, so the U.S. will have the first selection in the second round.

Captain Haas?

JAY HAAS: The U.S. Team will start with Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth.

STEVE CARMAN: U.S. Team selections, Mr. Dustin Johnson and Mr. Jordan Spieth.

NICK PRICE: Okay. We select Louis Oosthuizen and Branden Grace.

STEVE CARMAN: International Team selects Mr. Oosthuizen and Mr. Grace.

Match 7, International Team selects first.

NICK PRICE: For Match 7, we select Danny Lee and Sangmoon Bae.

STEVE CARMAN: International Team selections, Mr. Lee and Mr. Bae.

U.S. Team selection?

JAY HAAS: U.S. Team will match with Rickie Fowler and Jimmy Walker.

STEVE CARMAN: U.S. selections, Mr. Fowler and Mr. Walker.

Next selection is the U.S. Team for Match 8.

JAY HAAS: For Match 8, the U.S. Team will post Zach Johnson and Phil Mickelson.

STEVE CARMAN: U.S. Team selections, Mr. Zach Johnson and Mr. Mickelson.

International selection?

NICK PRICE: International selection, Adam Scott and Jason Day.

STEVE CARMAN: International Team selects Mr. Scott and Mr. Day.

Match 9, International selection first.

NICK PRICE: For Match 9, we select Marc Leishman and Steven Bowditch.

STEVE CARMAN: International selection for Match 9 is Mr. Leishman and Mr. Bowditch.

U.S. selection?

JAY HAAS: For Match No. 9, the U.S. puts out J.B. Holmes and Bubba Watson.

STEVE CARMAN: U.S. selection for Match No. 9 is Mr. Homes and Mr. Watson.

U.S. Team has the last selection for the match in the second round.

JAY HAAS: Match No. 10, the U.S. will post Bill Haas and Chris Kirk.

STEVE CARMAN: U.S. selection for Match 10, Mr. Haas and Mr. Kirk.

International selection?

NICK PRICE: Charl Schwartzel and Thongchai Jaidee.

STEVE CARMAN: International selections, Mr. Schwartzel and Mr. Jaidee.

First tee time tomorrow is 9:35.

CHRIS REIMER: Thank you, Steve.

First off, just like to get some opening comments, start with Captain Price on today's round and then follow that with comments about looking forward to tomorrow.

NICK PRICE: Obviously today was a really tough day for us. I think some of the guys on the team were a little nervous, which is to be expected.

But we take our hats off to the U.S. Team. They played really well today. There were a lot of birdies made out there. Hit a lot of great shots, made a lot of putts. So a tough day for us.

Having said that, we are only five points into 30. We still have another 25 points left out there. So we've got a long way to go, and that's what I told my team. I said, "Don't worry about where we stand right now. There's still, as I say, a long way to go." Just to keep their chins up and do the best they can tomorrow.

CHRIS REIMER: Captain Haas, comments on today's round.

JAY HAAS: Well, I watched Phil and Zach play. I thought that was a big match; that they were able to beat Jason. All the guys seemed to play really well, the few shots that I did see. But the guys, they came out and they really, really played well.

I think the team room has got a good feeling. Obviously it was a great start for us, but I think they all realize it's a long series right now. Kind of like shooting a low round in the first round of a tournament; there's a lot of golf to be played. So I don't think that anybody's getting too giddy. Just hopefully we can continue to play well, play aggressively, and come out tomorrow and hit the first drive and see what happens.

Q. Some people thought it was a controversial pick to take Phil Mickelson. What did you like about his performance today, and share a little bit of what you talked about driving back?
JAY HAAS: I was just real proud of him. I told him so. He's dealt with pressure before, obviously, in many situations. Being a pick this time probably added to it a little bit. I'm happy for him with the way he responded.

I thought, well, all four shots at 18 were amazing, but I thought Phil's drive at 18 was a big statement for him personally. You know, we just talked about -- and I said that; I said I was proud of him and keep going.

And actually, of all the teams that Zach and Phil have played on together, that's the first time they have been paired together. I said, "Why has that happened?"

He said, "Kind of because we can go with a lot of different people." It just worked out. We thought that maybe they would be better in better-ball than the fourball, but you know, just laid out that they would go out in alternate-shot, and I thought they played extremely well. To beat that team was quite an accomplishment.

Q. I don't want to read too much into the order of the pairings, but looks like you're just trying to put strength out first and maybe put some pressure on them. Is that the thought process going with Dustin and Jordan right out of the chute with Rickie and Jimmy right after them?
JAY HAAS: Kind of a gut feeling I guess. The guys, we talked about it. I know we've gone with Bubba and J.B. today, and Bubba has gone out first a lot, and he likes that spot. But he said it does not matter to him.

I don't know, Jordan didn't have a problem going first. Just kind of a gut feeling. You know, when you say the strength, I think we have a strong team. I think both teams are very, very strong.

Q. I guess he's No. 1 --
JAY HAAS: No. 1 in the world, he went last today. We're giving him a morning and afternoon time I guess. All the guys are used to playing in the last groups or they wouldn't be here. I didn't want him sitting around all day. So he's ready to go.

Q. How is Charl, who has not been well? And I see you've kept your winning partnership together today but you've mixed up the others. Can you explain a little bit the thoughts that went into that?
NICK PRICE: Sure. Charl is doing really well. He had a day off yesterday. I think he spent the majority of the day in bed yesterday. The doc went to see him and he felt a lot better. Hit some balls this morning and chipped and putted, so that's good. He gave me the green light at lunchtime today. He said he's ready to go.

Obviously we only won one match, so I didn't want to split that team up. I think Louis and Branden, they have played an awful lot of golf together and I think they played very, very well today.

Looking at the other pairings, it's a little difficult when you're doing the foursomes the first day, when you're putting guys together who you try -- you have to sit guys out. That's obviously one of the difficulties of the format.

But to try and figure out who is going to play well with who, I think that's been probably our Achilles' heel in the International Team for the longest time. If you look at the 12 guys on the U.S. Team, they play -- every second week they are out there together.

For us, it's a difficult format because there's very few people who know each other well, you know what I'm saying. Thongchai and Anirban predominately play The European Tour; Louis and Charl play there a little bit, as does Branden. But you're still a little limited as to who you can put with who. Also, there's a little bit of a language barrier.

Tomorrow, we are trying something which I think is what I think is a strong five teams for us. I think we've got some good pairings there. But you know, it's still pretty much guesswork. You go and talk to the guys, but you want something to click. That's what you want. You want that click amongst the teams and we didn't have it today.

I think the youngsters, the rookies today, played a little apprehensively, which often happens when you play with a partner. But we had a really good chat in the room afterwards, and things all sorted out. I wish we would have had a couple more points, but I think the guys have got the idea now. The first day blues or shock is over.

Q. Given the history of these matches, what was the feeling like for you seeing so much red on the board for so much of the day, and how would you characterize the importance of tomorrow?
NICK PRICE: You know, that's been a general trend, I think if you look over the years. And some people would question why we did fourball first, as opposed to best-ball. But I felt that the teams that we had chosen together, we had rookies together; it's really difficult in our situation to two guys who are compatible, and as I said earlier, guys that have that click factor.

It's tough when you go out there and you see the first three or four holes, all the red and we're down, we're down in matches. You know, you just try and do your best, that's all. That's all I'm doing now is I'm talking to my team and I'm saying to the guys, "Don't get down. It's early days."

I'm certainly not despondent about the whole thing. We are not in the situation we'd like to be after the first round, but there's an awful lot of golf to play. And to be honest, I think this team is going to bounce back a lot quicker than maybe any of the other teams we've had. I don't know, we'll have to wait and see.

But I think we've got five pretty good teams out there tomorrow.

CHRIS REIMER: Gentlemen, thank you, and good luck.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

ASAP Sports, Inc. | T: 1.212 385 0297

THE PRESIDENTS CUP

October 8, 2015

Nick Price

Jay Haas