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WGC MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIPFebruary 19, 2020Abraham AncerCarlos OrtizMexico City, Mexico MICHAEL BALIKER: Guys, thanks for joining us to talk about the week ahead. Exciting things going on. Carlos, let's just start with you. Obviously had a good fall kind of leading into this year, and just some initial comments from you on getting ready to play in this golf tournament. CARLOS ORTIZ: Obviously I'm really excited. It's been a long three years that I've been coming as a spectator, and honestly, I prefer on the other side. I like to play, and I'm really excited about this week, and it's a great opportunity they gave me this week, between Grupo Salinas and PGA TOUR. I have to thank Abe for playing great and getting in on his own, but it's going to be a great week. I'm excited; I can't wait to take the opportunity, play good with this opportunity. MICHAEL BALIKER: Abe, this being your third time around in this event, obviously had a big year last year, culminating in the Presidents Cup. What kind of confidence did that give you, and how does this make you feel a little bit different this time around? ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, well, I'm always really happy to come back here. Like I said, this is probably one of my favorite weeks all year, and this tournament has helped me a lot. I haven't played my best, but it's put me in some positions where I'm really nervous, either because I'm playing with big names or playing with a lot of people in front of me, a lot of -- because I want to play good in front of my people. And after that, I've realized how I perform under a lot of pressure, and I've been able to get better at that. So in a way this week has helped me a lot. I've always been able to play better after I come here, even my first year, so I'm really thankful for this opportunity, and excited to get the week started. MICHAEL BALIKER: We'll open it up for questions. Q. Abraham, all of these repetitions under pressure that you have had the last month, how do you think that is going to help you in such a special week emotionally for you and to allow you to be calm? ABRAHAM ANCER: Well, I believe what has been the most important part for me, I believe that's probably what I've improved the most. I think I am way more comfortable now under pressure. The Presidents Cup and these tournaments have helped me a lot for that, and these two have been obviously full of pressure and I can tell what are the things that I have to improve, the things that I do well, as well, when I am under pressure, and that is what has helped me a lot throughout the year. Q. For Carlos, how do you think you can do so that it seems that this is another week when you know that you're playing in your country? CARLOS ORTIZ: Well, it seems to. Of course it is another week. We are in our country, of course, and you want to play better, of course, when you're in front of your people. Actually a month or two months ago, I was asking Abraham about pressure, and I was talking to him about the Presidents Cup and about how he felt, and he said, well, after playing with Tiger in Mexico I had never felt that type of pressure, and after that, from then on, it has helped me a lot, so now I have the experience of how I can react, and I believe that I have had some similar experiences in the last years trying to understand and learn what works and what things I have to improve, and I believe that I am in a moment where I am more solid mentally, and that is what we need in weeks like this one. Q. Could you please tell me a little bit about how the course is? I believe that you have played here in many other occasions, so how do you think it is this week? CARLOS ORTIZ: Well, I think that I have been here before. I played with Abraham on Monday, and I believe that this is a course that has a lot of things and I can play very differently. Abraham gave me his tips how he does it or his experience of how he tackles it, and this is a course where you have to pay a lot of attention and it challenges you from the tee. Afterwards, of course, you can concentrate about the rest. But the big challenge is to be able to hit the fairway and to have a good position off the tee. Q. Abraham, talking about maybe a different topic, what is the main motive for you to be a sponsor of tequila? Would you like to become an ambassador of the PGA TOUR in Mexico because you are one of the main references for this sport and also for Mexico, so maybe giving this image and sharing it a little bit? Adam Scott was talking to us and he told us that you talked to him a lot about tequila. ABRAHAM ANCER: Well, yes. My partner in tequila, we both are fans of tequila, of course. We both are Mexicans. And the truth is that we were talking, it was a few weeks before this tournament last year where we had the idea, and I was talking to him and I told him that I would love to have my name in a tequila or something that I really like, something that I'm passionate about, something obviously apart from golf. And so we started talking about it, and after this week, my partner came to the tournament, as well, and he saw the interest from the players and from all the foreigners, as well, not just from Mexicans about tequila, and we saw how there was a stigma in the United States about tequila because of course in college, in the universities, you take a shot and then you start throwing up immediately and all of that. Our idea is to sort of change that stigma, to give them a little more, maybe not education but make them aware that tequila is actually an amazing drink, if you drink it as you should. In my case, if I drink tequila and I don't mix it with anything else, I don't really have any issue and I can go play at 7:00 a.m. the following day without any problems at all. And so that is something that honestly we are very passionate about. We have been working on this for more than a year, and hopefully at the end of March we're going to be in the U.S., we're going to start first in Texas, but yes, that is the idea. We wanted to give it our best to try to produce the best tequila that we can with the best presentation that we can in the U.S. in Mexico of course we have tons of options, so we would like to maybe teach them what true tequila really is, a good one, obviously, that is Mexican. So we would like to move a little more on that aspect so they can understand a little bit better that part. Q. This new league that you are promoting, do you have any proposal? Would you be interested in participating? ABRAHAM ANCER: I don't really have any idea if that is just rumors or if it is true or it is actually going to happen. I try to focus on what I'm doing right now. I'm so happy at the PGA TOUR. If it happens, well, I honestly don't even know how it would be. I have read some things about it, but I don't even know if it will happen. I have no idea how to answer about that. CARLOS ORTIZ: Just the same as Abraham said. Same thing. Q. Talking about the Olympic Games in Tokyo, how much are you being together thinking about a trip that you could actually be part of together and that you would be together that week? CARLOS ORTIZ: Well, we have talked about it. We've been talking about taking a physical trainer with us. I already met him. He treats Abraham. So we're thinking about taking our coach with us. So we are thinking about how we are going together and how we can prepare as best we can for the Olympic Games because it's also something very important. Q. Will you be playing together a little more from now on? ABRAHAM ANCER: I think yes. The form is not as a team. You each are going to play separately, so it doesn't really matter how much we play together or as if it was an alternate-shot. It doesn't really have an impact. But any time that we can, yes, we play together. Q. Jon Rahm had said when he plays the Spanish Open he feels incredible support and also a little bit of pressure but it's also uplifting. I'm curious what you've found the last two years, particularly here, and playing with Tiger I think the first two rounds last year. Did you find more -- the support is always there, but internally did you find more pressure than you would have felt maybe at other tournaments? ABRAHAM ANCER: Definitely feel a little more pressure. Well, last year was different, obviously playing with Tiger for the first time and doing it here in Mexico. I'm always nervous in this event, I always just want to perform so well in this tournament that you add Tiger to the equation, it was obviously really a big thing for me. But it helped me a lot. At the moment, I didn't realize how much it was going to help me. I was just trying to make birdies. I played okay. I felt like I played okay. I didn't play my best, but I guess I played better than my first go-around here. And yeah, like I said, the situations where I put myself in this tournament and the Presidents Cup have helped me so much feeling now when I step on the first tee -- I still feel nervous but I know how to control it in a way. But yeah, I do feel a little more pressure because I really want to play good here. Q. More than the Masters? ABRAHAM ANCER: No, I don't think so. I think I will feel a little better or a little calmer this year. Q. For Carlos, actually both of you, I think when they announced this tournament, it was probably your first year on the PGA TOUR. When they played it, I think you might have been on the Web at the time. How much of a goal was it to play when they first announced it, and did it seem like a long way off, or something that was easily achieved? CARLOS ORTIZ: I mean, since then it's been a dream of mine to play it. As I said, it took me three years, and it's been a long three years of watching from outside, especially because I have to come here. But I'm excited. It's going to be my first go-around, and it's always amazing to play in front of the Mexicans, and being back home, it's just a week that I really enjoy. I think Abe has said it; it's just the food and everything for us, we don't have it in the U.S., and coming here and having all that culture back, it's amazing. Q. Carlos, do you think that the second place at Mayakoba could maybe help you? We know that of course conditions are different in another type of city, but that experience of having that second place, do you think that could be the answer for this week? CARLOS ORTIZ: Yes, of course. Every time that you are under pressure, it helps. It's like what Abraham was mentioning. It's like when you're at the Presidents Cup, and last year playing with Tiger; when I was for that Mayakoba title, these are situations where you're under a lot of pressure, and sometimes you do well and sometimes you don't. And so you learn how to react to that type of pressure. The pressure is going to be there, and of course we're all going to be nervous, but how to react to that, that experience is what definitely gives you the learning that you need, and that is what you take with you so that you can become a better player. Q. Do you remember when was the last time you played here, how long ago, here in Chapultepec? CARLOS ORTIZ: Like yesterday. Q. But before yesterday and before Monday. CARLOS ORTIZ: I played -- I honestly don't remember, maybe two, three years ago. Actually I think it was just once. I don't really remember it that way, but the course, the first time that I saw it, was on Monday. And as I mentioned, Abraham was giving me all the tips that he had and he learned in the last years. And so I'm going to try to do my best this week. Q. Abraham, in the press conference you mentioned that it is a little hard for you with the altitude in Mexico City. How have you prepared for that specific aspect, because of course the ball flies a little more? ABRAHAM ANCER: Well, I was actually trying to use a different golf ball. It is a different brand. I'm not going to be very technical about this, but the last years, yes, I have seen that even if I give a solid strike, it sort of fell down. It didn't have enough spin to be maintained in the air. And so if I didn't give a perfect strike, it wouldn't really go where I wanted it to, and sometimes it would go beyond where I wanted it to. So this year I think that maybe I have a little more consistency with that ball. That is what I have worked on the most and what is most important for me this week. THE MODERATOR: Abraham, Carlos, thank you for your time, and good luck this week. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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