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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

December 14, 2019

Melbourne, Australia

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: We'd like to welcome International Team players Marc Leishman, Abraham Ancer and Adam Scott.

Start with Marc, you and Abe, 5-down through seven, talk us through that and how important was that tie at the end.

MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, it definitely wasn't the best start we've got off to, fair to say. I didn't play great golf early, and then I think the crowd really got us -- the whole time when we were 5-down, they were into us, like, come on, you can do this.

We were talking about it; that we could do it whether we believed it or not, I don't know. But the crowd, we did it for the crowd. They were awesome out there today. Walking to that 18th tee, that's something I'll remember forever, just people basically screaming and high-fiving and we were still 1-down. I felt like we were about 4-up.

That was a good day, to get a halve out of that. Confidence-builder for tomorrow. But we've still got a lot of work to do. You know, we need to enjoy this for a little bit and then back to business tomorrow.

Q. It seems like the second night we are talking about who has the momentum going into tomorrow. I'm guessing you feel like your team does, but why is that?
ADAM SCOTT: Well, it was a big last hour for us today. Certainly feel like it showed our intentions as a team. There's a lot of heart sitting here next to me. That was huge for us, and also Ben and Joaquin Niemann digging deep and finding a halve. It goes a long, long way, the half-points. The score line is really good for us, considering what it was looking like with a couple hours to go, you know, but tomorrow is another day. We're in the middle of a fight and we're all going to be up for it.

Q. When did you truly first believe you could pull this off during that back nine, and where does this rank in terms of your golfing careers?
MARC LEISHMAN: When I holed that putt on 16, I thought we were a chance. Abe holed a great putt on 15 to keep the match going.

I holed a good one on 16. I said, you know, they are going to be thinking about this. I've been in this position where you're a few up and you lose a couple holes, and you're thinking, I shouldn't lose this, but he's coming. I guess, then.

Then walking to that 18th tee, the way Abe has been playing this week, you know, I somehow knew he was going to hit a good drive, and then, you know, I was lucky enough to hit an iron shot.

But yeah, I guess walking to that 17th tee is probably when we first truly believed because we both made great putts and I think showed a lot of heart. Well, first had to come back from 5-down to 2-down or 3-down, and then obviously square the match.

Q. Where does it rank?
MARC LEISHMAN: That's probably as good as I've felt on a golf course, and I only halved the match. We've all won up here; we've won tournaments, but we don't get chances to play with a teammate very often.

You know, to be successful with a teammate would be pretty cool. You know, we had a taste of that today, but I think if we can play well and do our jobs tomorrow, what we felt today is going to probably be pushed aside for what we may feel tomorrow. So it ranks pretty high for me.

ABRAHAM ANCER: Well, for me, I never really lost hope. We were 5-down through ten, and me and my caddie, D.A. le, we were talking about, hey, been here before, just playing and college playing match play. I've come back from 5-down before, and I just told Marc, "Hey, we're still in it, let's just keep pushing and see what happens." And we did.

Once we start making putts there and seeing the ball go in -- I think even 11, 12, obviously were huge, seeing some putts go in, hitting some good shots. Like, hey, okay, we're back in this. We knew we needed to make something happen, and we did it. It was really special. Obviously it wasn't going to be easy. We knew we needed some help and we needed to execute to perfection, and thankfully, thankfully we did. It was just an unbelievable experience, something they'll obviously never forget.

MARC LEISHMAN: I spoke to Ernie going down 12, and he was just saying, get as far as you can. Take it as for as you can.

I'm like, "Hang on. Let's not talk about losing this yet. We're going to fight this out," and yeah, we did.

Q. You've led the rallying cry for this team; with that in mind, were you always intends to go play all five matches, and going into the lead in the Sunday singles with a bit of momentum; that exactly where you wanted to be?
ADAM SCOTT: Absolutely. This was the goal starting the week. We're in great shape. You know, today is a long, tough slog out there. There were lots of up-and-downs. We finished on a high with these guys, and with Ben and Jaco digging us out of a hole. Hopefully, well, everyone on our side needed to see, to know what can happen out there tomorrow. If we go out there and play the way we've been playing, we can do this tomorrow.

Q. Were you always going to play five?
ADAM SCOTT: Was I always going to play five? I just do what I'm told.

Q. How did you feel physically? You had such a short break between your matches, and what are you sort of going to do tonight to recover and I guess you're hoping that you get a later start tomorrow?
ADAM SCOTT: Look, it's a long day out there. I played 35 holes, and it was a grind because things weren't going my way this afternoon. Things were feeling pretty good for about 27 of those holes, and it was a struggle the last nine. The putts started lipping out and Louis and I, unfortunately, went down.

But tomorrow, I'll be rested. I've played a lot of golf. I've played a lot of these five-match things, and you know, I can come out and leave everything I've got out here tomorrow for 18 holes.

Q. You couldn't really escape Justin Thomas in the pairings these first three days. Along with all the other reasons that it's great to get that half-point, is one of them that it keeps him from going 4-0 and maybe pierces the bubble of inevitability or dominance or whatever that he kind of has built up?
MARC LEISHMAN: Yeah, he did well for the first 2 1/2 matches, he did dominate. It was pretty good to, you know, show some fight there at the end. Maybe, you know, as far as his confidence goes, it might take a little bit of a hit for tomorrow, I don't know.

But you know, hopefully that will help the team, because I mean, he's playing well. Obviously winning his first three matches, he's playing good, so I think, you know, what happened this afternoon, hopefully that will help our team tomorrow. At the end of the day, we just need to play well tomorrow, as simple as that. If we don't play well, we're not going to win. If we play well tomorrow, we've got a chance.

Q. We noticed you had a friend out there today, Gonzalo, carrying the Mexican flag. What was it like to have him out there, and was he talking to you a little bit when you were down a few on the back?
ABRAHAM ANCER: Well, he was there every single hole. He's a buddy of mine that we grew up playing together in México when we were like six years old till I was 15, and he was my college teammate at Odessa for a year before I went to Oklahoma. So it's really nice to see a really good friend of mine here with his family and friends, and carrying the Mexican flag, obviously motivating me out there.

We couldn't really talk that much, but he was always there pushing me. With the Aussie crowd and them, it was really easy to get pumped up. Once we get a putt rolling, birdie to fall in, it was easy to feed off of that, so it was really nice.

Q. Leish has already spoken about the crowd. What's it like to be "Aussie Abe" so far away from home?
ABRAHAM ANCER: It's awesome. I've got asked that question before, and since last year I was here for the Aussie Open and the World Cup, same thing in Sydney and Melbourne, and everybody's been awesome to me.

Really thankful that they brought me on as if I was an Aussie guy. It's really cool to play in front of all these people that really just love golf and understand golf really well, and they have been super nice to me. They have been huge for the event, I believe, really pushing us in the right direction, and it's been a lot of fun.

CHUAH CHOO CHIANG: Thanks, guys, and good luck tomorrow.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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