THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 23, 2022

Justin Thomas

Jordan Spieth

Billy Horschel

Max Homa

Quail Hollow Club

Press Conference

RACHEL NOBLE: We'd like to welcome Max Homa, Billy Horschel, Jordan Spieth, and Justin Thomas to the interview room.

Q. Billy, congrats on the win. Just curious, you wanted to be on one of these teams for a long time. Today was your first match. Did it live up to everything you thought it might be?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, even this morning lived up to it. I woke up this morning and felt like I had to throw up for three hours straight.

It was the most nervous I've been ever before any round of golf in my entire life. I think it's just the anticipation of wanting to be on these teams for so many years and missing out and finally making one.

When I finally started warming up, that feeling finally went away. Yeah, it lived up to everything that I expected. To see this guy right here perform at the end was truly special.

Q. You halved a lot of holes coming down the stretch, and Max obviously -- question for both of you guys. Max obviously hit the two big putts. Do you feel like you ham and egged it pretty well?

BILLY HORSCHEL: Yeah, I think we ham and egged it pretty well today. I felt bad I missed a couple of putts early on No. 7 and No. 11 to halve the holes. It was one of those things where I don't feel like we were getting our fair breaks out there today. I hit a shot that hit a sprinkler head just off the fairway and bounced 30 yards left into the trees, and they hit a couple of shots that they got away with.

But I felt we were just hanging in there, hanging in there. And I just knew Max was going to show up at some point. I kept saying, hey, it's your time. You're going to hit a some good shots here. Do your thing. It was awesome to watch him the last few holes.

MAX HOMA: I thought we played solid for the first nine holes and kind of did what we were supposed to. Then they started to playing some great golf and making some birdies, and we just couldn't get a putt to fall.

I felt like I was personally playing a little defensive and just trying to make sure that we were on the green. I just kept feeling like I had 20, 25 feet.

The swing felt really good all day so it was nice that -- Billy made two enormous putts on 14 and even the short one on 15. Those were really big because I was out of the hole. Or actually, I had a putt. As Joe said, that would not have been a fun one to hit had Billy missed on 14.

So it was nice that he could keep us in it, and I felt like I was freed up because he did that coming in and was able to make a couple on those last two.

Q. You talked about, even last night, feeling like you were going to throw up all night. I said something to Si Woo Kim when he said about how he never felt nervous like that either. I'm curious. When did the nerves finally go away for you on the golf course? And Max, what was it like watching Billy with his first experience being out on the golf course?

BILLY HORSCHEL: I'm always sort of anxious and nervous before a round of golf. Now doing it for 14 years professionally, it's not too bad because I've been in every scenario there is. So this is the first time being part of this and everything.

It was really when I woke up this morning. Last night, I was fine. This morning, waking up, I was working out, and I kept checking myself a little bit. Usually it all goes away when I start finally warming up. That's what it did when I got here and I started hitting putts. It all dissipated, and I was good to go the rest of the day.

I honestly felt very comfortable out there all day long. So it's nice that I've got that under my belt. And hopefully, I won't feel that way tomorrow.

MAX HOMA: It was really fun watching Billy. Obviously, I had my first yesterday so I knew what it feels like, and it's an exciting thing. It's really cool.

So to be able to walk those fairways with Billy, you know, I know he's a high motor guy, as they say. But when he hit his bunker shot on 1, I mean, Billy's a gamer. He's a guy you want to play with. He's a competitor, and he's clutch as can be. So I knew he was going to be in his environment.

Q. Justin and Jordan, you guys are two of the more experienced players on this team now. With how big of favorites you guys were coming in and now with the start you are off to, 8-2, what's the message in the team room? Is there a target number, or how do you keep the pedal to the metal?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I think we just keep doing what we're doing. I think Davis has done an unbelievable job of -- very, very similar to Strick at Whistling Straits last year. He understands he has 12 really, really good players, and he's taking information in that he needs and sees fit.

But he fully understands and thinks that we are capable of playing well enough on the course. It's almost just kind of like a stay out of the way type thing. This is when you're playing, and just make sure you get to the tee on time kind of thing.

He's been great. All the captains have been great. In terms of what we can do, we just have to keep playing golf. We have to keep the pedal to the metal and try to get as many points as we can, win each session. And every single person on our team that goes out tries to win a point. If we all do that, then it will be good enough.

JORDAN SPIETH: I was just going to say, get to 15 1/2 as quickly as you can.

Q. Max, I was wondering if you could just take us through that feeling standing over that last putt and then watching it go in.

MAX HOMA: It was pretty surreal. The atmosphere out there is insane. There's so many people, you can feel them on the back of your neck.

I feel very thankful. I'm not super, super close with anybody on this team, but I have always respected and gotten along with everybody, and it's been amazing to watch these 11 other guys who are incredibly good, incredibly acclaimed, so many accomplishments, cheering us on coming down the stretch. I've been in the last match both days, and to be able to see that is special for me.

The golf's amazing, but you remember that kind of stuff well into your days. So I feel very thankful for that.

I mean, I was nervous as could be over that putt, but it was fun. I was telling my wife, when we talk about things money can't buy, money cannot buy that feeling. And that was something that I will remember forever, and I will tell anybody who ever wants to hear about it how that felt.

(Laughter).

Q. You said earlier this week you don't do fist pumps, so what was that on 17 and 18?

MAX HOMA: I don't think I said I don't do fist pumps. That might have been Cam Young. One time J.T. almost punched me in the face with an uppercut fist pump. So he showed me how to do it.

Yeah, I think you might have been thinking of Cam Young. I think he just grins when something good happens.

(Laughter).

Q. For Jordan and Justin, this might be a bit of a reach, but is there any carryover from the Ryder Cup for you two guys as far as that feeling of a great win. And then just when you step on the golf course here, it's like we kind of remember that feeling and carry it over?

JORDAN SPIETH: Us specifically or the team in general?

Q. No, you two specifically.

JORDAN SPIETH: Let's see. We played in Paris, and then we played in the last Ryder Cup as well. So it's a comfort thing. Justin mentioned it yesterday a number of times after the round that we know each other's games about as well as we know anybody's game.

In a foursomes format, we understand that wherever we hit it, the other one is probably capable of hitting it there as well. And then getting out of trouble, we wouldn't choose anyone else in the world to get out of trouble and figure out a way to make a par. And then when we're on, we can dial it up and really get hot.

We've just wanted to play four-ball. We wanted to play four-ball in the Ryder Cup, and we thought that that would be our best format. We weren't put together in four-ball in the Ryder Cup. We got mixed up a couple times.

So that was pretty fun today to ham and egg and really -- we just did a great job making a lot of birdies on different holes, just what you need to do, and not making any bogeys or giving them any holes.

We just had a lot of fun from the 1st hole on today. There was a lot of smiling. In best ball, you can do that, right? You can take chances. The other guy can pick you up a little easier. So we had a blast.

Q. Max, you started making a habit of winning over the last couple of years. I'm not asking you to pick or choose, but how does the feeling today on that final green compare to some of the feelings you've had after wins?

MAX HOMA: A hundred times better. I am very close with my personal team; Joe, Mark, everybody. You feel like you have this little nucleus that relies on your good play.

But this is different. You've got captains that have won majors. You have players who have won multiple majors. You have the best golfers on planet earth relying on you. And to show up and show out for them is just nothing like a regular golf tournament.

I haven't had much success in majors, but I can't even imagine that that feeling right there would compare.

Obviously, goals and whatnot are to succeed at the highest level in the biggest moments. And some come with trophies and all that, but I wanted to be out here to help represent my country best I could and help represent these guys best I could. So this to me is top of the top.

Q. Jordan, obviously you guys are heavily favored. But still, is there any surprise at all that the margin is this big at this point?

JORDAN SPIETH: Not when you look in the team room at the players that are -- you know, what we're capable of doing as a team. But you just don't know exactly what -- you can't control what they're going to do, right?

It just seems in those pivotal moments -- yesterday for us on that 15th hole. We had another one today on the 15th hole. The end of the match, Taylor makes that putt on them, and then Max steps up and makes it.

These moments where matches flip, and it just seems like we've been on the right side of those for the margin to be where it's at. But the guys on our team have played incredible golf this week. There's been some fantastic scores, and this is not an easy golf course.

So the level of play has just been fantastic. You're going to get those moments when you're 2 down or you're 2 up. It can go to even pretty quickly, or you can boost that back to 2 or 3 up.

I don't know what everyone's match was like today, but we had a couple moments like that where we just ended up on the right side of it, and that's what these tournaments come down to is a hole here and a hole there in each match.

Q. J.T., you've played a lot of golf with Jordan, obviously, but does anything he ever do on the golf course surprise you, like some of the things he did late coming down the stretch?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Today? That was nothing. It's not even, like, remotely close to some Jordan Spieth golf that I've seen before.

I mean, I've said this in the team events before in the past. It's everybody in different scenarios, but it is just really, really nice having Jordan as a partner and him being over a 20-, 25-footer and actually being on his team. Or seeing him in a bunker and him being on my team. You know what I'm saying?

I love him to death. But no, I'm not rooting for them every single shot over the course of the entire year. This week, to be able to do that, is nice.

But, no, anything and everything he does on the golf course does not surprise me. I've seen crazier, that's for sure.

JORDAN SPIETH: I think when my ball bounces out of the water, I got a little different reaction from him than I would normally get in a tournament.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah. I was happy. But at the same time, it's Jordan. I was kind of pissed it didn't stay on the green. (Laughter). I feel like it very well could have stayed on the green, but you've got to take what you get, I guess.