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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

December 10, 2019

Patrick Reed

Melbourne, Australia

Q. Reaction from the fans on first hole?
PATRICK REED: It was great. Any time coming to an event like this, especially coming overseas, you expect to have the crowds against you, not on your side, so that's the name of the game. So to get the banter back and forth is awesome, especially this week, first time to Australia, and it's been nothing but amazing and I look forward to the week to get started.

Q. What are you expecting, do you feel there will be a bit of backlash?
PATRICK REED: I hope the fans aren't cheering for the U.S. side. As an away team, you would expect the fans to be on the other side. The fans so far this week have been great, and everyone I know from Australia is a really class guy. I look forward to a great week and can't wait for Thursday to start.

PATRICK REED: While I was in the waste area, I didn't feel like it was intentional or anything, and if I would have saw the sand move, I would knew immediately if it did, that's a penalty. I didn't see it move and because of that they were able to show me afterwards and because the sand moved, it's a penalty. That was last week, and we're glad that we've moved on and hopefully continue playing some good golf with these guys this week and bring home the Cup.

Q. You didn't shake --
PATRICK REED: No, of course not.

Q. How does it make you feel when the word cheat is bandied about?
PATRICK REED: It's not the right word to use. At the end of the day, if you do something unintentionally that breaks the rules, it's not considered cheating and at the end of the day that's what it is. If you're intentionally trying to do something, that would be considered cheating, but I wasn't intentionally trying to improve a lie or anything like that, because if it was, it would have been a really good lie and I would have hit it really close.

Q. Because it was against a guy --
PATRICK REED: No. They're not supposed to talk good about us and we're not supposed to talk good about them leading into this event, that's normal. At the end of the day, all I can do is control me and what comes out of my mouth. Can't whole what comes out of theirs.

It's just wrong, it's just not right. Especially afterwards when I saw it, and when I talked with Slugger immediately, both of us knew that it wasn't from intent or anything like that. If you intentionally try to do something, then it is considered cheating but if you're not intentionally trying to give yourself a good lie or intentionally breaking a rule or something like that, that's not considered cheating. It's just considered breach of rule.

Q. Does it hurt you --
PATRICK REED: It goes from wanting to beat those guys to it now turning personal, so it's going to be a fun week.

Q. Some of their guys have been outspoken.
PATRICK REED: Of course they are going to speak out, because they want to get their crowds going and get on their side. That's the name of the game. At the end of the day, all I can do is control what I can do and how I play, and so it doesn't matter who I'm playing on the other team. My job this week as Captain has told all of our guys, "Go out and win your point."

Whenever your name is called, you have to go out and win your match and that's what we're going to try and do, go out and win the point. Not to do anything wrong, but strictly win the point for myself and our team and my country.

Q. Have you ever carried what anyone said about you?
PATRICK REED: Not really. At the end of the day, you can't control what other people say about you. All you can do is control what you do and if you feel like you're living the right way and you're going about things the right way, you're living life the right way. But at the end of the day, with having so many different opinions on everybody, you can't please everyone.

Q. Have you addressed the situation with your teammates?
PATRICK REED: That was easy. All the guys on my team know it wasn't intentional and yeah, it was a breach of rules, therefore, it's a two-stroke penalty, and you accept the two shots and move on the next day and try to win the golf tournament.

Q. Is that what Tiger said to you about that?
PATRICK REED: That's about it.

Q. If you found yourself matched up against Cam Smith, how would you feel?
PATRICK REED: It's an opponent. It's one of their 12 guys. Go out and play against them. My job is to go out any time my name is called, go out and try to win a point. Doesn't matter who it is I'm playing on that team. I know to try the best I can to win a point for my team and my guys.

Q. Is it hard to block that out?
PATRICK REED: You know, you can always think it's personal, but at the same time when you get behind the ropes and you get inside the ropes, it's just and you the golf course and that one guy you're trying to take down. Crazy thing in match play, sometimes it takes 63 and you win a match and sometimes you shoot 63 and lose a match. Just play the best golf you can and hopefully you get a point.

Q. Are you getting support from your teammates --
PATRICK REED: The biggest thing is all of us are out here and I feel like we are all having a good time, meshing really well. We got out there, it's been a long trip, so today was kind of the first full day and felt like last night was great with all the guys and today when we were playing, there was a lot of friendly banter going back and forth, having some good time. I feel like it's been great week so far. Biggest thing is to continue to grow as a team and become one and go out and play the best golf we can.

Q. Getting fired up --
PATRICK REED: It always helps. It is kind of awkward whenever do you come over and the crowds are cheering for you because you almost feel like you're at home. I'll never forget my first event I ever played team-wise was The Ryder Cup in 2014 at Gleneagles, and there's nothing like that banter back and forth with the fans. It's a lot of fun.

I think the great thing about it is how everyone whenever we're out there, whether you're at home and they are giving it to the international team or whether you're away and you're on foreign soil, is even though there's friendly banter back and forth, they never cross that line. You always say on the respect side and I think that's the biggest thing, which is so fun and unique about these events is you can give it back and forth and still be respectful of the guys.

Q. Was it a show of support, nice having Tiger there to draw attention from yourself with the crowd, first time out of the course with the fans?
PATRICK REED: Oh, today? I mean, it's always great playing with Tiger, because he kind of frees you up. You know, everyone's focused on what Tiger's doing.

The good thing is whenever you're playing with Tiger, you are also learning a lot. Not just on the golf course, but kind of a way to think around golf courses, etc., especially at places like this where you've never seen before and the greens are really firm.

Q. How do you think you're going to feed on the crowd being away -- you seem to feed on that?
PATRICK REED: I don't know. I've just always enjoyed it. I've always enjoyed being, I guess you would call it the underdog, since you're the away team, everyone wants you to be -- when you're at home, you're the home team and everyone is pulling for you.

So when you're on the road, if you're the away team, I just think you have more to prove because if you're not playing that great, the fans are giving it to you, and you know, but if you're at home and you're not playing that well, you have your crowd to try to pick you up. Well, you just have your teammates and yourself out there to pick you up, so just kind of shows you how strong you really can be.

Q. Do you feel like you have something to prove this weekend?
PATRICK REED: Not at all, whether it's this week or any week it is. You go out in The Presidents Cup and try to play the best golf you can. I don't feel like there's ever been a year where it's like, I have more to prove this year or that year. Biggest thing is go out and do your job, whether you're playing five matches, two matches, three matches, four matches. You have to go out there and any time your name gets called, go out there and try to win a point.

Q. How do you compare Tiger to other captains?
PATRICK REED: He's playing. (Laughs). It's hard to compare all the different captains because they are all different. They are all unique in their own way. But any time you can have Tiger in your corner on the field and also off, is amazing. I mean, he's great. You know, we get to see a different side of Tiger. Growing up, we saw the Tiger Woods that didn't really speak, was throwing fist-pumps and was out there intimidating everyone.

Now we're actually being able to get to know him off the golf course, which is amazing, to actually get to know the softer side of him off the golf course. You know, when you get on the golf course, there's nothing like the ultimate competitor and you're able to feed off that and grind with him.

Q. The pairings --
PATRICK REED: Even if he did, I wouldn't tell.

Q. What did you think of how he played today?
PATRICK REED: He played solid. All of us after being on the flight for so long, want to get out there and hit balls and get the body moving again. I felt like our group played solid the entire day.

Q. How is the golf course?
PATRICK REED: Golf course is unbelievable. Once I knew I made the team, I actually watched a lot of 2011 Presidents Cup, and seeing how firm and fast. It was brown, really brown, and now all of a sudden you saw how green it was. I'm sitting here, okay, it's going to be relatively softer.

Not the case. I still won't forget that 85 percent 9-iron I hit into 3 today and that front flag, landed right next to the hole and bounced over the green. You have to get used to doing that and with how slopey the greens are, you have to be creative. That's the kind of golf I love, to be able to see different shots and play different shots. There's no one way to play any of the golf shots out here.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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