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THE PRESIDENTS CUPSeptember 28, 2017Rickie FowlerPatrick ReedMatt KucharJersey City, New Jersey AMANDA HERRINGTON: We'd like to welcome three members of the United States Team to the interview room here. We'll go three each one of you with some opening comments and take questions. First we will start with Rickie, a 6 & 4 victory with Justin today. Talk about the team chemistry and what contributed to that victory. RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, obviously, funny getting paired up with J.T. Him and I, it's kind of obvious, we spend a lot of time together. We're good buddies. We're next door neighbors, basically. It was a perfect fit to go out and play alternate-shot together. We know each other's games very well. I think it was just a part of -- J.T., being his first big International Team event and him settling into the round, just like settling into a major championship. It's a little different feeling being in these team events. I mean, we all know it. There's no hiding. There's nerves out there. Being my fifth team event, there's still nerves standing up there on the first tee. I'm just glad I hit a good one today. After the second, we settled in and got things rolling. It was a fun day. J.T. and I did a good job just executing, hitting the shots, missing in the right spots and kind of keeping it moving forward on a tough, windy day. AMANDA HERRINGTON: No bogeys on the card, talk about the conditions today and the toughness that that brought to the competition. MATT KUCHAR: This was an extremely difficult day. To play in these winds, to play alternate-shot where you don't get quite the rhythm you get in your normal round of golf, it was challenging. I had a great partner. Dustin is playing some amazing golf. For us to go bogey-free is quite a feat today. Going all 18 holes, we had a great match. Both Jhonny and Adam played really steady solid golf. We were 2-down through two and seemed to be just a whole lot of ebb and flow. I don't think we finally got a lead until the 16th hole. We kind of just kept hanging around, hanging around, and it was quite a battle. We finally got a 1-up lead through 16 and glad to hold on. AMANDA HERRINGTON: Patrick, a pairing everyone has been looking forward to between you and Jordan, a 5 & 4 victory with a lot of solid play on the greens today. PATRICK REED: Yeah, you know, it was one of those days when it was as windy as it was today, and being alternate-shot, you have to just leave yourself in the right spots, because you're going to have some golf balls be in the wrong positions and you have to be able to manage that. To have a guy like Jordan, who you can trust from any length on putts, it was allowing me to free up and be a little more aggressive on some chips and try to give him runs. We just tried to wear them down with short game and make a lot of pars and have them make birdies to try to beat us. Q. You and Jordan have become old hat at this point. Is there anything that you do when you're teamed together that amazes you; what you're able to do on the golf course performance-wise? PATRICK REED: Not really. You know, playing a lot of golf with Jordan and stuff, I expect him to pull off the crazy shots. You know, it's a lot easier for me because I'm playing from the fairway. I don't play from the fairway very much at home. To be able to play from the fairway, I'm able to be really aggressive. He feels like he can be really aggressive, as well, since I usually chip the ball pretty well. It's just kind of one of these things that when we go out there, it's just see how many birdies we can make. Today I felt like it was a little different kind of mind-set going out there because of how windy it was, and being alternate-shot. It was more on just not giving up stupid and free holes. Make them earn everything and go out there and just allow our short game to work because, you know, it was hard to get the ball close. Q. You guys obviously have played a lot of major golf tournaments but I'm assuming you've never teed off with three American Presidents ten, 15 feet behind you. Just talk about that experience today. How much did it add to the excitement, the atmosphere, the nerves; what was that like for you guys? MATT KUCHAR: I think golf is truly a unique game. There's just no other event, certainly no other sport, that's bringing three Presidents together. The game of golf is a powerful instrument. What we do with the game from a sportsmanship point of view, from a charity point of view, from a kind of being good stewards and good ambassadors; it's so unique for us to be around the people we're around. To have three Presidents be with us at this event, it's quite remarkable. It was very, very cool sitting on that first tee. RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, I've never been in front of three Presidents and having to hit a shot. Maybe one. I've had the opportunity to be around all three of them and this is the first time three in one spot. So to be able to have them on the first tee, to have them showing their support of The Presidents Cup and all of us out here playing, it was pretty cool to be able to shake their hands before hands. We saw both President Clinton and President Bush last night, but to see them back out here today on the first tee, and luckily I hit a good one, so it was a weight off my shoulders. It did add a little extra to the first tee pressure, though. PATRICK REED: Yeah, you know -- AMANDA HERRINGTON: Cameron -- oh, did I cut you off? PATRICK REED: It's okay, Amanda. (Laughter). RICKIE FOWLER: It's okay, Amanda. PATRICK REED: It's all right. It's okay, Amanda. We'll move on. I'll second what they said (laughter). Go ahead, Amanda, the floor is yours. (Laughter). AMANDA HERRINGTON: Cameron. Q. They say match play is about momentum swings. With you guys playing the second hole the way that you did, kind of giving it to them a little bit there, talk about the chip-in on 3 and how much did that settle you guys down? And then for Matt, what did the -- can you talk a little bit about Dustin holing out from the bunker and what that did for your match? RICKIE FOWLER: So we got off to a nice start. Just a good, solid par on 1. I hit a good drive. J.T. actually hit a great wedge shot. Just kind of got a little more help than we were expecting. A nice start there. We got out of position on 2 and ended up giving them the hole, which really was kind of the goal was not to hit a ball in a bad spot to where we were going to give them a hole. It was nice it get that out of the way early. And to go to No. 3, which is one of the harder holes of the day, and J.T. misses on the proper side where we had a decent shot at it, and I hit the chip shot perfectly. So to have that go in and kind of turn things around, we go and win -- I think we went and won the following two holes. To go from 1-down early to 2-up really quickly, that kind of, in a way, kind of set the tone and put us in control after giving them No. 2. But like I said, you can get away with giving them a hole early. You don't want to do that later on. I feel like we did a good job, as these guys said; on a very tough day, you have to kind of play defensive in some areas to make sure you leave it in a good spot. Like with Patrick and Jordan, just relying on short game and making sure that you can have a somewhat easy pitch back into the wind versus being 30 feet downhill, downwind, so you can have control of the golf ball. That was something that J.T. and I did a good job of today, just making sure we didn't get out of position after No. 2. MATT KUCHAR: The momentum swing on 7 for us when Dustin holed the bunker shot, it was certainly great. A 3 may have won that hole for us. A 2 certainly, definitely, won that hole for us. Any time you can get a win is a bonus. We were the sixth hole, thought we were going to win that hole. They had driven it in the right hazard and somehow made a four out of that hole, and halved us. To claw back -- any time you're able to get a win, no matter how it happens, it's helpful and you try to keep going from there. Q. You've been playing on the U.S. Team for a number of years now and it seems like you've had a handful of different partners. Do you feel like Justin could be the guy who maybe over the long term, could be your partner in Presidents Cups and Ryder Cups? RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, Justin and I are a great fit. Spending the amount of time we do away from the golf course, playing together, knowing each other's attitudes and what makes each other tick and how to pick each other up at the right time and when to say things -- especially in alternate-shot, I think a lot more can go into how guys fit together. 1-0 is a good start. J.T. is off to a good start for his first team appearance, and this is his first of many. Yeah, I'd love any of the chances I'll get to tee it up with him. I'm never going to say no to that pairing, and we'll just see where it goes. I'm not sure what the plans are for tomorrow and going through the rest of the week. But like I said, off to a good start, and we're definitely a good fit. Q. This is the sixth straight time that the U.S. has held a lead after the first day of The Presidents Cup. Can any of you speak to the psychological advantage of getting off to a fast start and playing with a lead in a team event like this? RICKIE FOWLER: I mean, since there's -- basically have the four sessions before singles, I mean, the first day, or first, depending on if you look at The Presidents Cup or The Ryder Cup, that first session is kind of key in setting some sort of tone. I mean, yeah, you'll see sometimes one team will go out, get a lead, but it flops in the afternoon; at a Ryder Cup, maybe the other team comes back with kind of a reversal. A little different here going from a Thursday, you play one match and go to a Friday. I think a couple of the guys talked about it last night; Jordan mentioned that this first session is pretty critical and we need to go out there and take care of business. I feel like as a team, we did a really good job of that. I think now, continuing to do that, if we can go and do the same thing tomorrow and win another session, it putts us in a great position to at least have somewhat of control with the lead. I would consider it to be like going into Sunday of a tournament; if you have a four- or five-shot lead, it affords you to be able to make some mistakes. If you're playing from four or five shots behind, you can't really make a mistake. You have to try and catch those guys. So we're off to a good are the is it a but there's a lot of golf to be played. Q. You said yesterday that you and Jordan tried to beat each other and actually Jordan said the same thing today. But how in the world do you try to beat each other in alternate-shot? PATRICK REED: Really just trying to be the guy who pulls off the shot or makes the putt. I only hit five putts today. I mean, all I had to do was either chip the ball close or, you know, hit a tee shot. Just kind of one of those days that in alternate-shot, to win is to put your guy in the right position. You're not making the full score on the hole, but if you put Jordan in the right spot for him to make a putt or put him in the fairway or at a good angle where he can go and attack the flag, then that's a win for you. It's just go out there and try to get them in the best position possible throughout the entire round, and you know, try to avoid the wasted shots. That's really all we do in alternate-shot. Q. So if you're that competitive, who won today between you and Jordan? PATRICK REED: Oohh, good question. That 40-footer on 11 was pretty nice that he made. I would say it was pretty close. It was hard to tell because we had a game plan going in there to play pretty conservative. MATT KUCHAR: Come on, give him an answer. They didn't come here for this. Like give him an answer. PATRICK REED: I really don't know that answer -- MATT KUCHAR: Got to catch the ferry. (Laughter). PATRICK REED: All right. Time to go catch a ferry. AMANDA HERRINGTON: Matt, you good? MATT KUCHAR: Well, I wish we could have gotten an answer out of him. I tried to help, I really did. I did. PATRICK REED: I don't know. RICKIE FOWLER: That 40-footer maybe give him an edge -- PATRICK REED: Maybe give him an edge. MATT KUCHAR: 1-up. PATRICK REED: 1-up. AMANDA HERRINGTON: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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