THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 24, 2022

Davis Love

Trevor Immelman

Quail Hollow Club

Press Conference

MICHAEL BALIKER: All right. We'll get started with our pairings for round 5, singles, and for the final time this week, John Mutch, it's all yours to oversee the pairings process.

JOHN MUTCH: Thank you. Welcome everyone to round 5 pairings for the 2022 Presidents Cup here at Quail Hollow Club. Round 5 will consist of 12 singles matches. All 12 players from each team will be selected to play.

The international team will select first for match 19.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: We are starting with Si Woo Kim.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Si Woo Kim, match 19.

Davis, your selection.

DAVIS LOVE III: Justin Thomas.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Justin Thomas.

Davis, you will select first for match 20.

DAVIS LOVE III: Jordan Spieth.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Jordan Spieth.

Trevor, your selection, please.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Cameron Davis.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Cam Davis.

Trevor, you will select first for match 21.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Hideki Matsuyama.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Hideki Matsuyama.

Davis, your pick.

DAVIS LOVE III: Sam Burns.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Sam Burns.

Davis, you will select first for match 22.

DAVIS LOVE III: Patrick Cantlay.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Patrick Cantlay.

Trevor, your selection, please.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Adam Scott.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Adam Scott.

Trevor, you will select first for match 23.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Sebastian Muñoz.

DAVIS LOVE III: Scottie Scheffler.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Sebastian Muñoz.

The United States team has selected Scottie Scheffler.

Davis, you will select first for match 24.

DAVIS LOVE III: Tony Finau.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Tony Finau.

Trevor, your selection for match 24, please.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Taylor Pendrith.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Taylor Pendrith.

Trevor, you will select first for match 25.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Corey Conners.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Corey Conners.

Davis, your selection, please.

DAVIS LOVE III: Xander Schauffele.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Xander Schauffele.

Davis, you will select first for match 26.

DAVIS LOVE III: Cam Young.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Cameron Young.

Trevor, your selection, please.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Sungjae Im.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Sungjae Im.

Trevor, you will select first for match 27.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: K.H. Lee.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected K.H. Lee.

Davis, your selection for match 27.

DAVIS LOVE III: Billy Horschel.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Billy Horschel.

Davis, you will select first for match 28.

DAVIS LOVE III: Max Homa.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Max Homa.

Trevor, your selection for match 28.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Sungjae Im -- excuse me. Tom Kim.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Tom Kim.

Trevor, you will select first for match 29.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Mito Pereira.

JOHN MUTCH: The international team has selected Mito Pereira.

Davis, your selection, please.

DAVIS LOVE III: Collin Morikawa.

JOHN MUTCH: The United States team has selected Collin Morikawa.

Davis, you will select first for match 30.

DAVIS LOVE III: Tiger Woods.

(Laughter.)

JOHN MUTCH: We're going to go ahead and put in Kevin Kisner there.

And Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Correct.

JOHN MUTCH: Thank you, gentlemen. 12:02 will be the first time tomorrow. The international team will have the honor on the 1st tee for each match.

The weather will be a chance of showers starting in the afternoon. High of 80. Winds 8 to 14 out of the southwest.

Thank you very much, and play well tomorrow.

MICHAEL BALIKER: Thank you, gentlemen. We'll take some questions for our captains now. Assistant captains are excused.

Q. Trev, could you talk about that light momentum shift, the energy, especially from Tom today with those huge putts, what he's brought to the team, and the belief that brings, I guess, going into tomorrow. And maybe, as a follow-up if you had any thought of putting him out early to continue that sort of, you know, up tempo.

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Look, today was a great day for our team. We were in a deep hole. We've been fighting our guts out all week, and we've just been trying to stay patient to wait for some putts to go in. And, finally, this afternoon, some putts started to fall for us.

So, you know, I'm really proud of the guys for staying patient, as tough as what it was when you're playing a team that's that good and you continuously feel like you're getting a punch in the guts.

But when it comes to Tom Kim, you know, this young kid has burst onto the scene in the last six months, and it has been such a tremendous -- he's been such a tremendous gift to our sport.

He has an ability to be a global superstar, this kid. I know he has the game. We've seen he has the game. But what I've learned about personality and his heart and what he stands for this week, man, I am a huge fan.

I thought something that was so cool on the final hole today, he's about 240 yards out. He's probably 60 yards behind his opponents. He's over the ball. I look back, I see the who's who of American golf in golf carts behind him.

I see Thomas, I see Spieth, I see Finau, I see Homa, I see Morikawa, all of them sitting on carts 15 yards from him. And this kid pures a 2 iron to 10 feet and makes the putt. To me, that's impressive stuff.

No matter who you're rooting for, that made my heart warm right there. So extremely proud of him today. He went out. He did his job. He earned two points. And that is fantastic.

As far as putting him out earlier, you know, I've been saying this all week. A lot of people have been laughing. But, you know, we have our system, and we try and run it. If we're 10 up or 10 down, we run our system, and we see what happens.

Q. Davis, it seems like as a captain, you're destined to be up four points after Saturday. I'm curious, the way you set the lineup today, what would be maybe the biggest lesson? Obviously, two very different outcomes at Medinahh and Hazeltine. What do we see on that board that you did with that knowledge?

DAVIS LOVE III: I didn't have to sit anybody out. I've been looking forward to this format for three or four weeks so I didn't have to sit anybody out.

We put some, obviously, some guys that are playing really well up front, and then we put some guys in the last four matches that we trust.

But honestly, we didn't want the clock to run out. We're having fun. In my Presidents Cup history, this format, this night is the most fun of the pairings. You know, their team did get on a roll. Trevor said it last night, we got to make some putts. Today, they made some putts.

Steve went to the putting green with some players and putted, and, you know, hopefully we make them tomorrow.

Q. Trevor, is there an argument that these events are better when there are fewer matches in each pair session, as in it makes it maybe more competitive and gives you more flexibility? Or, I should say, the team with the lower world rankings more flexibility to strategize and make it sort of a better spectacle?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: We play by the rules that we agreed to when the captain takes his job and takes his position. I'm not focused on that right now at all.

Q. I'm wondering, as you're standing there, as Tom is standing over his putt on the 18th green, what is going through your mind there? What are you thinking?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: I just want him to make it. I want him to make it because I've become such a huge fan of this kid.

You know, I met him for the first time in person at The Open this year on the 4th hole at the Old Course, and immediately he made an impression on me, like immediately. And we kept in touch since then, and he's just wired different.

And I know how much this week has meant to him. I know how much he wanted to make this team because from that moment that I met him and I gave him my number on that 4th fairway, like, he was texting me pretty much every day.

And he was so desperate to be on this team, and I just wanted him to have that moment. I thought it was so impressive for him this morning. You know, he beat the world No. 1. This kid's 20 years old.

So he and his buddy, K.H. Lee, who's a rookie, who got his first point today for our team, which is a big deal, they went out there and they beat the world No. 1 and Sam Burns, who is pretty close to being the world No. 1.

And then he steps it up, and he beats Schauffele and Cantlay, which, I mean, you look at their record, hard to find two players that are a better match than those two guys. So it was a huge day for him. Huge day for him.

And for him to give up that 50 or 60-yard advantage and stripe a 2 iron in there and make that putt, man, that shows some guts. I've been in a few moments like that in my career. There's some turmoil going on inside in those moments. You're excited, you're anxious, you're nervous. You got some belief in there. Like there is a lot going on, man.

And he pulled it off like -- we were damn proud of him.

Q. Davis, can you just maybe talk a little bit about the U.S. mood. Three guys that were in here, Jordan, J.T., and Xander, used the word pissed off about six or seven times. Just curious, what were the guys thinking, saying, feeling?

DAVIS LOVE III: Yeah, they were pretty mad. We wanted to win every session, and we tied one and lost one today. So that wasn't part of our plan.

So as I said, this is one of our best formats, and they're going to come out mad tomorrow. So I hope they're mad. I'm confident that they will channel that into playing tomorrow.

We're going to have some fun tonight. They're up there eating, enjoying a good meal and watching the end of the football games, and they'll get right back at it in the morning.

Q. Trevor, what are your thoughts about Sebastian yesterday and today, how he played and what he gives to the team? Also, what do you expect from him tomorrow playing against the No. 1 in the world? And also, what are your thoughts about international team fans?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: So Sebastian has been an amazing presence in our locker room. Not because he is overconfident or talking too much, it's more the other way. He's very peaceful and very calm. And he's very measured in his responses and clear thinking. So he's been a fantastic asset for us.

In a lot of ways, he doesn't act like a rookie. He acts like a veteran.

And really, in the last two days -- you know, I've been saying for a while, we're trying to build something with the international team. We're trying to build from the ground up. And in a lot of ways, the last two days the partnership between Sungjae Im and Sebastian Muñoz shows the growth that our team has. Because years ago, a Korean player and a Colombian player would not be paired together. They barely understand each other.

So for those two athletes to go out there and earn a point and a half in the last two days, playing against this kind of competition is really, really impressive, and I'm extremely proud of them.

And as far as it goes with playing against Scottie Scheffler, he's world No. 1. He's the player of the year. He's the Masters champion. He won four times this year. Sebastian's going to have to bring his A-game, there's no doubt about it. Can't wait to see what happens.

Q. Trevor, what's the vibe like in the team room this afternoon or tonight when you left, versus maybe the first couple days?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: Pretty hungry. It's been a long day. Don't know if you smelled the Braai. I'm going to use the South African word. It's South African evening tonight, Rex. So we specially brought in South African grills, and we've got some open fires going out on the range, and the boys are hungry, ready to eat.

The vibe is -- the vibe is hopeful. The vibe is hopeful. Today was a big step for a very young and inexperienced team. Eight rookies. We have had a lot thrown against us, and we're here competing against the best on their home turf.

Today was a good day for us.

Q. One for each. Trevor, just briefly, was it part of your plan or system to sit Mito and Bez today, or was it something about -- did something else come up that led to that?

TREVOR IMMELMAN: We have different options, and unfortunately for those two players, because I have full belief in them, unfortunately for those two players, that was just the way it worked out.

They knew the news at about 9:00 a.m. this morning. I spoke to them both personally before they left the hotel. And just like when I called players to make that they weren't getting picked to be on this team, they handled it like true champions. They understood that we were trying to make our best decisions.

And they got out here, they did a little bit of work, and they got out there and supported their team because they knew that we were trying our best to put ourselves in a position to have some kind of chance tomorrow.

Q. Davis, just given the way it ended, with big moments, with big emotion, with flipping, remind you at all of Medinah at '12? Back then, it was just Poulter. Today, it was kind of a tandem.

DAVIS LOVE III: Well, a little more than Poulter.

Q. I know, but that's the one we remember.

DAVIS LOVE III: For some reason, we remember him, don't we? But yeah.

Q. You've still got a four-point lead, but it feels like there was so much like emotion and moment.

DAVIS LOVE III: I think we both said it. They got some momentum today. They started making some putts, and we're going to have to turn around tomorrow and come out hot and try to get the momentum back.

Yeah, four points is four points. It's been a big number. I've been four behind before too, you know. We've been four ahead, four behind. We've watched the Solheim Cup be four ahead. So it's a magical number.

MICHAEL BALIKER: Gentlemen, thank you so much, and we wish you the best of luck tomorrow.