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THE PRESIDENTS CUPDecember 14, 2019Tiger WoodsErnie ElsMelbourne, Australia CHRIS REIMER: We'll begin our pairings process for Sunday's final round singles matches here at the 2019 Presidents Cup. I'll turn it over to John Mutch to get things started. JOHN MUTCH: Welcome to round five pairings of the Presidents Cup. Round five will be singles format and have 12 matches. All 12 players will be selected for play. Team totals are Internationals 10, United States 8. The United States Team selected first in round four, so the International Team will select first in round five. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Abraham Ancer. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Abraham Ancer. Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Tiger Woods. JOHN MUTCH: The United States Team has selected Tiger Woods. Captain Woods, your selection, please. CHRIS REIMER: Reminder, Tiger and Abraham were paired together at the México championship earlier this year. TIGER WOODS: Tony Finau. JOHN MUTCH: United States Team has selected Tony Finau. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Hideki Matsuyama. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Hideki Matsuyama. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: C.T. Pan. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected C.T. Pan. Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Patrick Reed. JOHN MUTCH: United States Team has selected Patrick Reed. Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Dustin Johnson. JOHN MUTCH: United States Team has selected Dustin Johnson. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: We're going Haotong Li. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Haotong Li. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Adam Hadwin. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Adam Hadwin. Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Bryson DeChambeau. JOHN MUTCH: United States Team has selected Bryson DeChambeau. Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Gary Woodland. JOHN MUTCH: The United States Team has selected Gary Woodland. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Sungjae Im. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Sungjae Im. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: We're going Joaquin Niemann. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Joaquin Niemann. Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Patrick Cantlay. JOHN MUTCH: United States Team has selected Patrick Cantlay. Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Xander Schauffele. JOHN MUTCH: United States Team has selected Xander Schauffele. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Adam Scott. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Adam Scott. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Byeonghun An. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Byeonghun An. Captain Woods, your selection, please. (Two minutes.) Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Webb Simpson. JOHN MUTCH: Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Justin Thomas. JOHN MUTCH: United States Team has selected Justin Thomas. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Cameron Smith. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Cameron Smith. Captain Els, your selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Louis Oosthuizen. JOHN MUTCH: The International Team has selected Louis Oosthuizen. Captain Woods, your selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Matt Kuchar. JOHN MUTCH: United States Team has selected Matt Kuchar. Captain Woods, your final selection, please. TIGER WOODS: Rickie Fowler. JOHN MUTCH: The United States Team has selected Rickie Fowler. Captain Els, your final selection, please. ERNIE ELS: Will be Marc Leishman. JOHN MUTCH: Thank you, gentlemen. The first time will be 10:02 a.m. The United States Team has the honor on the first tee. It's going to be 72 degrees Farenheit, 22 Celsius, with southwest winds 8 to 16 miles per hour. Good luck, gentlemen. Reminder there are no extended matches. If both teams have 15 points at the end, it's a tie until they meet at Quail Hollow in 2021. CHRIS REIMER: Captain Els, Captain Woods, congratulations on the exciting first four rounds here at Royal Melbourne. Start with some opening comments, Captain Els, 10-8 going into the final round, a look back and perhaps a look forward to the singles matches tomorrow. ERNIE ELS: Yeah, what a four sessions it's been. It's been really exciting. You know, it's been a lot of work, it seems like. I normally sleep quite a few hours a night but I haven't slept too many hours. I think the guys, our guys are very well, against this exceptionally great team, to be in the lead 10-8. It's been four really great sessions, and today was some of the most exciting golf I've seen for a long time. For us to scratch and scramble for one point, the guys were very excited about that. CHRIS REIMER: Captain Woods, Matt Kuchar was in here earlier, mentioned at one point looking at a scoreboard that could have been 9-1, to have it 10-8, talk about the fight of the U.S. Team today. TIGER WOODS: Yeah, at one point it looked like we were going to be down 1-9, and for the International Team only to get one point from that point on, for us to fight back and get eight points, was a huge, huge win for us today, and we're looking forward to going into singles tomorrow. ERNIE ELS: (Chuckles). CHRIS REIMER: It might be true; Kuchar was lying. ERNIE ELS: You're the absolute optimist, aren't you, my God (laughter). Q. Could you talk a little bit about your rookies, specifically, Ancer, Joaquin Niemann and Byeonghun An, who were the guys who had to scratch out that one point that really kind of -- who knows what difference it will make, but it was something, right. ERNIE ELS: It was unbelievable. You talk about coming back from the dead; 5-down and 4-down, you know, through eight and nine holes, come back and get that result, I mean, that's a turnaround. That gets momentum. I mean, you know, we had a lead. It looked like it was going to be wiped away, and the guys absolutely played with their guts and I could not be more proud and more happy for those guys in that cabin tonight. They are as excited as you could ever see a team be, losing a session 3-1, I can tell you (chuckles). It was some unbelievable golf, and my hat's off to those guys. Q. Is the Patrick Reed situation an irritant or a rallying point for you guys? TIGER WOODS: No, we came here as a team. We rallied around our teammate and we're excited about tomorrow. Q. That crowd out there is really building and it's really getting fired up. Keen to get your thoughts on where you think that ranks or how it compares to Ryder Cups you've played in? TIGER WOODS: Well, I think it's different. There aren't as many people at this venue because it's so small, a lot of bottlenecks. There's obviously some yelling. There's people who have had a lot to drink and have gone over the top. Bipartisanship is part of playing in team matches, whether you're home or on the road; it's part of the deal. As long as, you know, the fans are respectful, and that's all we ask is for them to be respectful, and hopefully they will be excited tomorrow and into the matches and be very respectful of all the players. Q. It was probably predictable that Tiger would be playing early because he's a playing captain. When you put Abraham Ancer out there, was there a situation? ERNIE ELS: We figured it would be either Tiger or J.T. They have been going with that almost all week, and obviously Tiger we thought was going to play early, exactly for what you said. So yeah, you know, Abraham has been really playing well. He knows the course well. He likes the conditions. You know, obviously there's great matches all the way through, but that will be a top match, Abraham against Tiger. Q. For both Ernie and Tiger, can you confirm that you believe that all 12 will be able to play tomorrow versus an injury or a sickness? TIGER WOODS: I don't know. I know my guys will be ready to play. CHRIS REIMER: Are all 12 going to play. ERNIE ELS: Yeah, all 12 will play from our side, yeah. We had a couple guys that had a bit of food poisoning and a bit of flu, but everybody is good to go. Q. Just to clarify on Patrick, do you know who is caddying for him tomorrow? TIGER WOODS: Say again? Q. Do you know who is going to caddie for Patrick tomorrow? TIGER WOODS: We're still talking about that. Q. The comments you've made about the galleries, do you think it's become disrespectful and gone too far, particularly today? TIGER WOODS: You know, it has happened. Have people said things that have been over the top? Yes. I've heard it. I've been in the groups playing when it has happened, and I've been inside the ropes as a captain today witnessing it. As I said, all I ask for all the galleries is be excited but be respectful of the players, all 24 of us. Q. Was it your plan all along to sit out all day today, and obviously it worked out quite nicely in the afternoon, anyway, but did you have any second-thoughts about that with the deficit that you had and as well as you had been playing? TIGER WOODS: Well, we've had numerous plans going into this week (smiling). My obligation as a player was to play two matches. You know, one team match and one singles. We've had different scenarios, different pairings and different things happen. That's just part of playing team matches. We've had I think a good formula for this event, and unfortunately we're down 8-10, but we're excited about tomorrow and getting after it. Q. I think I'm still counting, but Ernie, I think you had four, maybe five guys who went all four matches. Tiger, you had three. Was there any consideration from either one of you on what you wanted to see in terms of how many guys went the distance, went all five by the end of the week? ERNIE ELS: My team couldn't care less who gets a perfect record if that's your question. Q. Playing all five. ERNIE ELS: It's about winning. Q. The ones who were going to play all five by the end of the week, who have not sat out a session. ERNIE ELS: Oh, I didn't really look at it that way. It was just the way that pairings panned out and how the guys played together in practice and the formula that we've been using for quite some time; we just went with that. So some guys have played all the sessions. I'm not sure who they are, but the guys know who they are, because they are pretty tired right now. Q. Tiger, did you have any thoughts on that? Was there a desire to keep as many guys fresh, or not? TIGER WOODS: Well, that's one of the neat things about playing in team matches. Guys are, in this format, are expected to play two sessions, and could go up to five, all 12 guys were aware of that. There were things that could happen and we could make adjustments on the fly, some guys would sit; some guys would go. Today, sitting out four players in each session is never an easy thing, and we got feel for who was playing well, who was ready to go, different pairings, and we went with it. ERNIE ELS: I just want to say one thing about the crowd. I've played in many Presidents Cups. I've played in the U.S. many times. If you look back at New York and how these players were treated in New York, this crowd is pretty quiet. I mean, we just get treated the same wherever you go as an away game, there's some heckling going on and we all know that, and you prepare for that, and that's just the way it goes. We shut up and we get on with things. That's what we did in New York. So it's part of the game. And I'm with Tiger; I absolutely, I'm against heckling. I'm against crowds being disrespectful to the players, but it happens. We as professionals, we move on. I think Tiger is one of the ultimate professionals that's ever played the game. I've played with him where he's been heckled in U.S. Opens and a lot of other places. He's taken it on the chin and he's moved forward. He's been an example. Same has happened to me. It's happened to a lot of players. But I must say, this Aussie crowd, okay, they got a little bit boisterous this afternoon with a couple of beers, but which crowd doesn't. You take it and you move on. Q. You mentioned food poisoning. Was that the issue with Adam and can you give us an update of maybe who else was impacted by it? ERNIE ELS: Yeah, Adam (Hadwin) came to the course. He had the morning session off and he came to the course and he said he felt ill. We didn't have him in the foursomes pairing for the afternoon, luckily for us, but he still came out and followed around supporting his teammates. Q. Based on what you said, do you feel a caddie having an altercation with a fan is a stain on this event? ERNIE ELS: You know, I can't comment about it. I didn't see it. I just heard about it. You know, it's unfortunate. I feel for both parties. The caddie must have been very hot. Obviously fed up with what he heard probably. I feel for the fan. He came to watch golf, and you know, that's probably the last thing he thought was going to happen. So I feel for both of them. Q. You've often spoken of your admiration for Royal Melbourne as a golf course. Has it delivered as a test so far this week? TIGER WOODS: I think Royal Melbourne, it's a dream to be able to play on such a -- it's how a golf course should be set up. It should be set up this way: Hard, fast, difficult, but extremely fair, and that's what the Aussie Sandbelt golf courses have historically done, and I think what Royal Melbourne has displayed this entire week is beyond a dream. This is how I think golf should be played. It doesn't have to be -- you don't have to have a par 3 240 yards for it to be difficult. That 5th hole is all you want in a par 3. And all the shots, the guys have from our side and from watching their side, have thoroughly enjoyed the course set up and how it's played. We wish there were more events on venues like this. CHRIS REIMER: Thank you, gentlemen. Good luck tomorrow. ERNIE ELS: Here, here. Great golf. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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