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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

December 10, 2019

Abraham Ancer

Melbourne, Australia

Q. So I talked to you at BMW about looking forward to this now that you were on the team. Now that you're here, what's the reality?
ABRAHAM ANCER: It's so exciting, man. The golf course is unbelievable. The atmosphere, the team atmosphere is great. I think we had a great thing going over here. It's a really fun golf course, a really fun type of golf. You have to be on your toes here. You can't not hit any shots not completely focused. I feel like every single shot out here you have to be doing your whole routine and really, really think about where you want to pitch the golf ball, which is some sort of golf that I really enjoy.

Q. What would you say is the biggest challenge on this golf course?
ABRAHAM ANCER: On this golf course? I mean. Just the firmness and the wind. Being able to land the ball exactly where you need to because you can't just go at the pins. So you have to really pick your spots and just let the golf course give you some chances. You can't really push anything. You can't really be super aggressive and -- I mean, you can, but you're probably going to pay the price.

Q. This golf course, I know you've only seen it for a couple of days, is there a comparison to another course that you've played?
ABRAHAM ANCER: I think it's very, maybe, linksy in a way, just with the firmness and how you can play some shots around the greens. But it doesn't really look that way. So it's, I think it's a very, it's a tough to compare, but I will say maybe like the firmness of Carnoustie, and then with some trees and bushes around, which it's a good mix. But I feel like it's like an inland kind of links, although we are pretty close to the ocean.

Q. What's the feeling back in Mexico right now? What have you heard from your family and friends now that you're here this week?
ABRAHAM ANCER: I think everybody is really excited. I've been talking to a lot of friends. Some of them made the trip. Saw a couple of Mexican flags out there on the golf course, which is awesome. And everybody's excited. Obviously, want to do and perform really, really well for my country. But not only for that, the family, but also my teammates and then my captain.

Q. Speaking of the captain, what's it like playing for Ernie Els, somebody you've watched on TV for so long?
ABRAHAM ANCER: It's awesome. He's been doing a great job. He's doing everything in his power for us to feel comfortable, to feel like a team, somebody that I admire, that I look up to. He's played some really good golf on this golf course, so I think we couldn't have a better captain for this week and it's been a lot of fun.

Q. Has it been easy to buy into his new methods that I know are new to you anyway because you're a rookie, but the things he's trying to achieve?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, like I said, he's trying to do everything possible for us to give us the best chance to win the Cup, and it's good. You can see how passionate he is, you can see how invested he is in the team, and I think it's unbelievable. I think it's great.

Q. Do you envision having many nerves on the first tee?
ABRAHAM ANCER: I think so. It's going to be a lot of people, a lot of expectation, obviously. And just the nerves of playing in your first Presidents Cup, I think is normal and I want that. I want to feel the nerves. I want to see how I do under the gun. And I think it's going to be a great week.

Q. How important is your history, especially from last year in Sydney and Melbourne going forward?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Well, it gives me a lot of confidence and just in general just good vibes. I had a really good two weeks in Sydney and Melbourne last year. Been doing the same this year. And I just feel comfortable around here. The people are great. They really buy into the pushing whoever is up there. And first time in Sydney there was three or four Mexican flags out there and I thought they were Mexican guys, but they were actually people from Australia, which that was really cool to see. And they're really great supporters out here, which is a lot of fun to play in front of them.

Q. Is it different this year than last year?
ABRAHAM ANCER: There was more people out there in Sydney this year --

Q. Supporting you? Knowing who you were?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, which was really cool. Last year was my first time every in Australia and, obviously, having the W helped for people to know who I am. But it was really cool to see everybody really, really invested and just like really pushing me to play good golf out there, which is really cool.

Q. Is there anything about your teammates that you didn't know from this time last year? Have the interactions been really personal?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, I think that's the main thing of the Internationals. I would think in years past of what I've heard is it's really tough because we're from different cultures, different countries, different languages. So the biggest thing is for to us feel like a team. Once we get here to feel like a team, and I feel like we have done a really good job of that. I think we really all feel comfortable around each other and we're ready to go.

Q. Do you feel saddened at all by the past International losses?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, obviously, the record is not the best, but I think we use it as motivation to change it moving forward. I think Ernie has been doing a good job and motivating us and doing all the right things.

Q. Have you spoken to Ernie about Patrick Reed?
ABRAHAM ANCER: No.

Q. What's the talk in the locker room?
ABRAHAM ANCER: We haven't really talked about it at all. That's not our problem, so we'll --

Q. You would have read the comments that some of the Aussie boys made in Sydney. Do you agree with that?
ABRAHAM ANCER: I like to just stick to my game plan and not really focus on what they're doing, I'm sure that maybe the crowd will let him know, but that's just on him, I'm not going to really comment on that.

Q. I guess I'm asking more from the crowd aspect. Would you like to see the crowd fire up and he's given them a reason potentially to do that?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Well I don't know if he is going to like that or not, but I mean we'll -- I'm curious to see what the reaction will be from the crowd, really, yeah.

Q. Could it backfire?
ABRAHAM ANCER: I think he's a really good player, obviously, and he's had great success in Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, so we'll see how it all goes down when the tournament starts.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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