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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

December 13, 2019

Melbourne, Australia

THE MODERATOR: The match had to feel like a win. Get your thoughts after sitting out yesterday, how everything felt today.

RICKIE FOWLER: I was definitely ready to go today. I knew there would be at least one match I would be sitting, and I told Tiger along with the other captains that my preference is alternate-shot. I feel like I've played some of my best golf in that. Gary and I were ready to go today. Definitely I have to say, I haven't played with Sungjae before, but I was impressed with his game, him and Cam played well and they put us in a hole early making Cam kind of hit a bumpy think 4-iron or 3-iron from off the green on 1 and made that and made another one from off the green on 2.

So Gary and I were fighting all day. I feel like tee-to-green we played some pretty solid golf, other than the two three-putts. So I'm happy with how we played and especially coming in the last really four holes. I said on 16, there's no reason we can't go birdie the last three. Once we got on 18 tee, I finally remembered that we birdied 15, as well.

Would have been nice to get four coming in, but really big getting a half-point there to close out the session, especially being 2-down with a few holes to go.

Q. What were you screaming at Tiger after the putt went in on 18? And do you think the Americans have the momentum going into tomorrow?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Should I tell them?

RICKIE FOWLER: I don't know what you said.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Remember the video this morning?

RICKIE FOWLER: Oh.

JUSTIN THOMAS: There's a video of Terrell Owens and he yells, to just being T.O., but he yells, "I love me some me." I showed it to the guys this morning. They had not seen it. It's a really funny video. I said, "My make a big putt today, I'm yelling it." Today that was a pretty big putt so I thought it was the appropriate time to yell it.

Q. Do you feel like you have the momentum going into tomorrow?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Into the hole?

Q. The team.
JUSTIN THOMAS: It was huge. After, you know, sitting here and looking up at the scoreboard, I think all of us, Rick and Gary bringing their match back, Patrick making their putt on 18, myself making the putt often 18, we had some great finishes, but at the end of the day we need to get over that. We're still 3-down. I know one thing, if we don't make those putts, this is a pretty deep deficit.

All of us on our teams fought really hard to even have a chance on 18 and put ourselves in that position. That's why we're on this team because Captain believes in us and we've earned our way on here to be in situations like that. Hopefully it will continue into tomorrow. Tomorrow is going to be a long day.

Q. What was the read on the putt on 18, and with the Internationals already in for par and a slippery putt, are you thinking about cozying it up there or making it?
JUSTIN THOMAS: They still had three, 3 1/2 feet or so after, so I knew that if I didn't make mine, they still had to make a putt. The read was -- I had it like a cup to a cup and a half out there. It was a putt, fortunately, to where you just had to get it to the fall line and even if I pushed -- as long as I had the right speed. That's the only thing I was thinking over the putt was just get the correct speed. I knew first off it was going to be extremely fast but second off, if I kind of got it to that fall line, gravity would take over and the hole would get in the way. Yeah, Tiger gave me a great read there.

Q. You made a big putt, too. What did you see there? How comfortable were you with the line and everything?
PATRICK CANTLAY: We had a tough match all day. Everybody in the group played well and I expect that the rest of the day; that all the matches are going to be tough like that, especially around this golf course. The putt was just really fast, and like J.T. said, a cup or so out on the right, and all you've got to do is really get it started. I like those really quick putts that are going down the hill like that.

I made a good read and I felt comfortable with it and rolled it right there.

Q. A lot will be made of the putt you made at the last, but the shot Tiger hit in was pretty pure.
JUSTIN THOMAS: His iron play is unbelievable. That was kind of our game plan going into today is we both -- iron play, I feel like is both of our strengths, and just kind of get it in the fairway. You know, I think we were -- I mean, at least 4-under, something like that today. We played really well to be going to 18 to try to win.

Obviously it wasn't as windy and the pins were easier, but that's why I was upset off the tee -- I obviously haven't played the hole enough, and thought I hit it right of the universe and it was only three yards in the rough.

Once I knew it was okay, and Tiger said going up there, I've got a great angle and after that it was me sit back and watch. I've watched him have moments like this as a kid and I was glad he was on my team hitting it and not going against me in a stroke-play event. I knew he was going to give me a good look there and he did.

Q. Was his initial read the same as yours, and if it isn't, what would you have done when your partner is the captain and also maybe the greatest golfer of all time?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Our reads are similar. Any of us will tell you, I would say a putt like that, at least for me, in a situation when you need to make a putt, I think it's easier -- like Patrick said, just get it started on line. I was playing with him at Augusta when he made an eagle putt on Sunday; it was down the hill sliding, just kind of get the ball on line. You know, obviously a lot more goes into that, but it was the same sort of thing and we both had a general area. I mean, you don't have to be perfect. Just kind of have to get it around the area. It's a big hole. It will catch the ball if it's around it. I was fortunate that it did.

Q. What is it like having Tiger as a teammate in this situation? He might have been the best American player the first two days, and could you have imagined this, five, ten years ago, in this setting?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it's definitely not something I would have thought would happen. You know, like any of these guys, he's a teammate of mine, once we tee it up, I don't care who it is, I feel confident with any of our guys. We just want to go out and win a point, and it just so happens he's our captain.

We're comfortable playing golf. The three of us have played a lot of golf with him, as well. We're in a similar situation where he could go out with any of us and we would be comfortable enough to where we would kind of put the fact that it's Tiger Woods aside. We're trying to go out there and hit the best shots we can and make birdies and win points. We were able to do that for the team today.

Q. You're pretty laid back on the golf course. Can you talk about your emotions on 18? Do you love you some you?
PATRICK CANTLAY: In my own way I'd say I do for sure. There's no place I'd rather be than on the 18th green with a put to win. There's nothing like the focus that it brings out and the attention to the moment that it brings out, and that's exactly why I play the game and I think that's why we all play. Making those putts on 18 were so big for the momentum shift.

I felt like all day out there, it was another beating and we were getting beat up. I looked up on the board and we were down in almost all the matches all day. Being able to flip the whole deal; we're going to go to bed tonight feeling great and we're going to have the momentum going into tomorrow. We are still down but there are a lot of points up on the board for tomorrow, available points.

I really thought this afternoon was huge and I think it's going to be a big paradigm shift going forward.

Q. Do you have the same emotion right now?
RICKIE FOWLER: Gary and I, being the final match out there, it looked like we could be down, you know, seven, eight points pretty easily. So all we could do is really focus on our match at that point and try and get the most that we could out of it and keep pushing it. I think that's what everyone was trying to do, especially the matches that were close or down a little bit, just trying to keep pushing it and get to 18.

Like Patrick mentioned, we live for that moment, to have that opportunity. Whether it's for a half-point, if it's to win, that's why we play. You know, that little adrenaline rush that you get when you do make those putts, they are confidence-boosters. You know, we are still down, but like Patrick mentioned, we have a lot of golf to be played, but we dug ourselves out of what could have been a big hole.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I agree. It's crazy to think that if all three of us miss those putts -- it goes a lot more into Rick's putt that he made on 18. I mean -- and 16 and 17, as well. I looked on the board and Rick hit a great wedge and Gary made the putt. If we don't do those two things, we're 8-2 right now and that's a huge deficit.

It is big when you look at it in that standpoint, but again, we need to win these sessions coming out, but yeah, we live for it and we'll see what we've got.

Q. Do you feel pressure or stress? What were you thinking before you hit the last ball?
RICKIE FOWLER: I had to obviously trust my read and what I was seeing and what I was feeling. Really from there, I was just focused on getting the line on my ball and set up to the spot that I saw and what I thought the putt should do.

You can't make it go in. All you can do is hit a good putt. So literally all I was thinking about, because they were coming down -- from that side of the green, as well, it's very fast. Luckily I'm not having to worry about if there's a putt coming back. It's make or miss.

I had it about a ball out, a ball and a half out on the left, and literally the last thing I thought about was just returning the putter back to the ball the same place I'm taking it back from, so just starting the ball on line and letting it go from there.

Q. Can we go back to that T.O. video?
JUSTIN THOMAS: When he have a hour-long bus ride, you get into a deep hole on the Internet and that just happened to be one of them. Me and a couple of my buddies from Alabama, we'll see it jokingly. It's not like something we say very often, it's just a video we've seen and we think it's really funny. I happened to be texting both of them at home this morning on the bus ride, and actually Bud Cauley sent the video, and the guys just hadn't seen it before, so I showed it to them. It's entertaining. It's a ten-second video but it's just T.O. being T.O. and it's really funny.

Q. We're talking about the putts on 18, but can you talk us through 16? Did Gary's drive come off the buildings on the right and how good was your shot?
RICKIE FOWLER: Yeah, probably a good break. It would have been a good angle from the right over there, as well. But yeah, it did bounce off the pavilion.

Q. Was it the roof?
RICKIE FOWLER: I don't know where it hit. It's hard to see. It's all white, white golf ball against that. It's kind of tough to tell. It was a nice surprise to find out the ball was in the middle of the fairway. But like I said, I think the right side would have been a good angle, as well, and ended up with a really good number.

I think I had 167 front and like you guys know, a lot of it we're playing front numbers here and kind of letting the ball feed. It was in off the right and it was kind of just a 6-iron that I was trying to let get hit by the wind just a little bit, and drifted in there because there's a pretty big tier as you could see with how the ball worked in there. I did what I drew up, so that's always nice to see something work out what you were visualizing prior. It landed where I wanted to and obviously fed over the hole. But Gary topped it off with a great putt.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

December 13, 2019

Rickie Fowler

Patrick Cantlay

Justin Thomas