THE RYDER CUP

October 4, 2022

Zach Johnson

Luke Donald

Marco Simone

Media Conference

SCOTT CROCKETT: Distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen on behalf of our Chairman David Williams and our Ryder Cup Director Guy Kinnings, thank you very much for your attendance on what is a very special day for everyone associated with the 2023 Ryder Cup.

My name is Scott Crockett, head of communications for The European Tour Group, and I'm delighted to welcome you all to the official press conference of the year to go celebration.

It's wonderful to see so many guests and so many media here with us in the heart of Rome, and we are also joined by many members of the media, the international media around the world on Zoom.

Before we get underway, I want to acknowledge some very important people. To President Chimenti, to Italian Executive Ryder Cup Director, Gian Paolo Montali; and to everyone, everyone from the Italian Golf Federation thank you for your continued support and your dedication to the 2023 Ryder Cup.

To Lavinia Biagiotti, Emilio Carbonera, and to everyone at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club, thank you for allowing us the use of your home which will be a truly wonderful stage for golf's greatest contest in a year's time.

To our many commercial partners, thank you for your continued commitment, the appreciation of which is shared by our partners in Ryder Cup Europe, namely the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland and the confederation of professional golf represented here today by CEO Ian Randell.

Last but by no means least we are delighted to be joined by many of our dear friends from The PGA of America, together with whom, of course, we stage this great contest: The president, Jim Richardson; the CEO, Seth Waugh, and indeed everyone from this wonderful organisation which does so much to promote this great game of ours in the United States, it is a pleasure to have you all here with us this week in Europe.

Now to business and time to fill the two chairs currently vacant on the stage to my left. Firstly, please show your appreciation for a man who has played five times for the United States in The Ryder Cup, as well as having served as vice captain in the last two matches.

Ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to the captain of the 2023 United States Ryder Cup Team, Zach Johnson.

Welcome, Zach. (Applause)

And to join you on the stage, a man who has played four times for Europe in The Ryder Cup and who like Zach served as vice captain in both Paris in 2018 and in Wisconsin in 2021, ladies and gentlemen, please give a warm welcome to the captain of the 2023 European Ryder Cup Team, Luke Donald. Welcome, Luke. (Applause)

Zach, to kick us off, it's your first visit to Rome as you said last night and indeed Italy. Give us your thoughts, if you would, please, on your first few days here in the eternal city.

ZACH JOHNSON: How much time do we have, Scott?

SCOTT CROCKETT: As much time as you need.

ZACH JOHNSON: It's been unbelievable. It's been overwhelming in a great way. It's been absolutely something I will never forget and without question, come back to.

I so appreciate, certainly, history, the culture, and more importantly, and most importantly, the people of Italy and Rome in particular. Unbelievable hosts. Unbelievable hospitality.

You can tell there's a lot of passion and desire to just want to host us and certainly The Ryder Cup. I'm grateful for that. But it's been -- it's been a whirlwind. Whether you are talking the Pantheon to the Colosseum to the Spanish Steps to Marco Simone, I've had a taste of it all, and on that note, a lot of great food.

My wife and I have enjoyed our stay so far. Thankfully it's not over and cannot wait to come back, you know, sooner than laughter. It will be our first stop but not our last, and so excited.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Luke is a country that you and Diane have visited on many occasions in the past. What do you particularly enjoy about your visits here Luke.

LUKE DONALD: We've been coming here for the last six or seven years now. Little did I know back in 2016, our first visit here, that I would be sitting here right now at Ryder Cup Captain.

But we certainly have come back many times because of our love for Rome and Italy in general, just what it represents. We've always had the best of times enjoying the history, walking around Rome, enjoying the food, enjoying the people. It's just a very special country and yeah very excited to be here.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Zach, you mentioned Marco Simone, and you got your first look yesterday when you played all 18 holes. Give us the thoughts on the test it's going to provide for your team and Luke's team in 12 months' time.

ZACH JOHNSON: That's what you want. You want a facility and a venue that tests all aspects of the players.

I feel Marco Simone is a very high-character golf course. I feel it requires everything. I mean, it has a lot of hills, so it's the battle of the fittest, which makes sense, and then the character side of it. It's got left, right, up, down, every which way. There's not -- it's going to require everybody on both sides to have all elements of their game to be on, and I think that's a true test of the golf course.

You know, growing up where I grew up, I was spoiled with greens and the way they rolled and the trueness and the purity of greens and that was evident, too. I cannot believe how well the greens rolled.

So I mean, it's going to be a perfect venue. A lot of the golf holes almost feel like there's going to be a stadium alongside of it or behind the green or what-have-you. They have done a great job. They should be very proud. I know they are. Just going to add to it. Just going to add to the fact that Rome is hosting The Ryder Cup on a great facility.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Following on from that, you've seen Marco Simone play in tournament conditions in the past two Italian Opens. Give us your thoughts on course and the key holes that will make the difference in a year's time.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, obviously I was here a couple weeks ago for The Italian Open, and played The Italian Open the year before and have seen course played twice in competitive conditions. It's really stood up to some of the best players in the world playing against it. 13-under won a year ago; 14-under won this year, which in today's standard with the players' calibre of golf, you know, that shows that it is a good test of golf.

I think it's going to be a great match-play course as you said, Scott, there's some exciting holes, a few drivable par 4s; 16, a pivotal moment in any match, potentially a drivable par 4. 17, as we both found out yesterday, Zach, not an easy par 3 with water in play and really nowhere to miss it.

You know, if the matches do come down to 18, another spectacular par 5 down the hill and water by the green.

I think it has amazing elevation changes which will give crowds amazing viewpoints to see some amazing golf, and I can't wait to see this course packed with some passionate fans.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Rome, ladies and gentlemen, is of course a city steeped in history. And nowhere is that more so the case than the world-famous Colosseum. Zach and Luke took the opportunity to visit the legendary amphitheatre this morning. Let's have a look at what they got up to there.

(Video played.)

SCOTT CROCKETT: Before we move to questions, that looked like a pretty cool experience.

ZACH JOHNSON: When you turn professional and play games for a living, that's not one that's going to be on the list.

But given the opportunity, you're going to take full advantage of it. It was an unbelievable morning and to share it with, certainly, Luke and Diane and my wife was special. I mean, it's almost surreal. The backdrop of the Colosseum, certainly the Temple of Venus, it's something that you just kind of pinch yourself. Very spectacular. I appreciate that opportunity, so thank you.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Luke, you've played golf around the world on the PGA Tour, and indeed on our DP World Tour, but perhaps you've never hit a pitch shot with that backdrop behind you.

LUKE DONALD: Slightly worried to hit one thin and cause some damage to the Temple of Venus, I must say.

But the Colosseum obviously is iconic when it comes to Rome, built back in 80 A.D., I was reading up about it. Still the biggest many if I theatre ever be to built. It's amazing they were able to do such amazing things back so many years ago.

So to have that as a backdrop was a great showcase for Italy and a great showcase for Rome.

SCOTT CROCKETT: We're now going to open the floor up to some questions from the media.

Q. I start with this first simple question: Zach and Luke, we all know you are great friends but we are here and you are here as opposing captain for The Ryder Cup 2023. How is it being here in this special role?

ZACH JOHNSON: Unbelievable. I mean, I don't know how else to coin it. It's an opportunity of a lifetime. Again, one that I've said it, you know, I've had aspirations; I've had goals as a professional golfer. One of which was to be a part of a Ryder Cup Team, and fortunate to play in a handful and be represented in a couple others.

And so now sitting in this seat, I can honestly say that my dreams never reached this far. Of my five that I've played in, I played in three in Europe and I hold those in the highest regards. I love the fans over here. I love the passion over here. I love the enthusiasm, the respect, and what I do know is just seeing Italian fans in general, it will be all of that and more.

So my excitement is hard to really quantify and we still have a year to go. So I'm going to have to take some deep breaths but it feels like we should start competing tomorrow.

I am blessed and very, very excited.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Luke?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, I mean, similar to Zach. It's no secret that a lot of my best moments on golf courses have been in Ryder Cups. It's so special to come together as a team to work together and to play for something greater than yourself. I've been very fortunate to have a lot of success in Ryder Cups and couldn't be more excited to go up against Zach.

I've known Zach for a long time. I have much respect for what he's done in his career. I feel like we have similar games in a way. We've never really overpowered golf courses. We've got a lot of our success through being good at what we've been good at and making the best of that.

So it's going to be a great, fun week in a year's time. I'm super looking forward to it, and couldn't be happier that it's in Rome, a place that's very dear to my wife and I's heart.

SCOTT CROCKETT: We are delighted to be joined today also by Mr. Giovanni Malagò. Mr. Malagò is a very busy man. We are delight, delighted he's made the time to join us today. Mr. Malagò, you are most, most welcome.

Q. In which role do you think is Tiger Woods going to be here next year? And the second question is for Mr. Donald: How can Italy help Europe to win with the best players, Italian best players?

ZACH JOHNSON: Good question. Only took two to get to Tiger, didn't it. (Laughter).

Well, I'll say this. Tiger, over the last seven, eight years, we've just gotten closer and closer. I consider him a dear friend.

You know, given who he is and what he's all about, I can't tell you right now: I don't know where -- if he will be here next year but he will be a part of this team in some capacity. He will be -- he already is, frankly.

I can't put this mildly: He loves The Ryder Cup. He has made it a priority of his, and certainly Team USA. He wants to be a part of it as best he can. Obviously he's gone through some things as of late that make it difficult whether it's travel or what-have-you.

But he and I will be in constant communication. I will welcome that. He has great ideas. Has great encouragement. He's always positive, and you know, the beauty of where we are as Team USA is we have got some really great youth that are participating now at a high level.

I guess the negative is, is we've still got to compete against them but the positive is they are great kids and they compete at a high level. Their role model on the golf course is Tiger Woods. I mean, that's -- he's two months older than me; so that dates me.

But he's very much a part of Team USA. I don't know what's going to happen next September, but you can rest assured that he will be in constant communication with our team.

SCOTT CROCKETT: Luke, your part of that question?

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, obviously my goal is to have the best 12 players to come next year. But I would dearly love there to be some Italians on that team.

I was so excited to see Guido win a couple of weeks ago in France. I'm excited to have Edoardo Molinari as one of my vice captains already. He's been a huge help. And his brother, Francesco, obviously he has had a lot of history with The Ryder Cup and already starting to show a lot of return to some of his best form, playing well in Italy a couple weeks ago.

I'm sure both of those guys will be pushing very hard to make that team.

Q. Two questions. One to you, Zach. America has not won away from home since 1993. What's your theory on why the United States haven't won for 30 years on the road? And to you, Luke, obviously these are unique times in the game of golf at the moment with different influences coming in. Can you encapsulate how significant The Ryder Cup is in maintaining the importance of the history in the game at a time when the sport is somewhat fractured?

ZACH JOHNSON: Well, my theory is that the European Team has scored more points than us when we participated over here.

No, joking aside, it's just difficult. Just the mere fact that when you come to a hostile, foreign environment, it's hard. Not only that, but coupling that, I should say, you've got these passionate fans over here, who I adore, cheering and rooting really hard for their team, as they should.

So you know, I don't know why we haven't. There's a lot of hypotheticals and theories that you can come up with.

What I do know is that 2023 will be an opportunity of a lifetime, and that will be my message, pretty simple. Let's embrace the difficulty. Let's relish in the moment of being in Rome, competing in a sport you love, and representing a country that you're from. I mean, that's an opportunity of a lifetime. So that's how I'm going to go about it.

LUKE DONALD: The history of The Ryder Cup is vital, really. I think what's so great about The Ryder Cup is that it does garner an interest of new generation of fans, of players to this game.

I think it's always an inspiration to the fans, to anyone, and that will continue to be there. The Ryder Cup is bigger than any individual player and it's a great way to unify everyone, and I think it will continue to do that like it has done throughout history.

Q. Following up on the Americans not winning over here for so long, do you sense a difference in the team room the last time and also the recent Presidents Cup that gives you confidence that there is that little extra, not motivation, but there's just something there now?

ZACH JOHNSON: Well, I'll say, certainly you can find confidence in winning but at the same time, the 2022 Presidents Cup team and 2020 Ryder Cup Team are two totally different teams. I'm going to case -- I'm going to go on assumption, which I don't really like to do, but we're going to have a different team.

The facts are, those two teams were great and they rose to the top and one, both on U.S. soil. The other facts are, there's a lot of youth in the States right now that are really, really good. I kind of alluded to that earlier. They are hungry. They are prepared. They treat it very professionally.

I feel from my vantage they really understand their role, kind of what Luke just mentioned; that they are not above the game. They are certainly not above this Cup. I think that's a great posture to have when going to battle as a team.

From what I can tell, their 2023 goals will be listed and one of them, if not at the top of the list, will be this.

Does not mean it's going to be successful. I mean, we understand that. There's going to be a winner and there's going to be a loser. But the preparation, the process of getting to September of 2023, that's on me. My goal is to provide a similar platform that they had both in Wisconsin and in Charlotte to give them success. They have got to go hit the shots.

So they are hungry. I mean, they want it. You know, it's still removed, but I've always said, after any Cup -- and I haven't won as many as I've lost in The Ryder Cups -- you almost wish you could take a week off and go right back to it. But we've got to wait 12 months. That's okay. That's the beauty of it.

Q. On that home record, Luke, how much is it significant for you in team talks, etc., about the dominance Europe have had on home soil?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I think being at home is certainly worth something. We see that in all of sports.

But no doubt we are going against a very, very strong opponent. I think the U.S. Presidents Cup team was the strongest they have ever been on paper, World Rankings. They have some phenomenal teams that seem to be tough to beat. You know, guys like Schauffele and Cantlay, Justin and Jordan; these guys have records that are north of 80 percent win records. It's going to be a tough challenge. It's going to be very tough.

I fully expect us to be underdogs despite that home percentage of wins over the last 30 years. But again, my job is to try and get the team to a place that will give them the highest chance to succeed, and it's nice to be a home captain.

Q. Just want to get your thoughts on the start of the European points race. Obviously you mentioned Guido there, but how pleased are you with the start the Europeans have made, considering our last three winners on this tour?

LUKE DONALD: I couldn't be more happy to be honest. You look at the first event, Wentworth, some of our established players, Shane winning, Rory second, Jon Rahm second or third, those top three established players that you would hope would be on the team playing extremely well.

And then the last few weeks, Bob MacIntyre winning around Italy in a playoff against Matt Fitzpatrick, another guy that's played a couple Ryder Cups. Guido, obviously the Italian connection. Two guys looking at Bob MacIntyre and Guido who, a few months ago felt like they lost their games a little bit, and they talked about that. I think seeing the importance of The Ryder Cup and how motivating that is, has somewhat turned around their games, completely turned around their games. And to see them going from missing cuts to winning tournaments is great for me.

So seeing a bunch of established players along with this new blood, new generation of players playing well, it's been the ideal start.

Q. What's the reason behind the change in formation of The European Team?

LUKE DONALD: The change in the qualification?

Q. Yes.

LUKE DONALD: Yeah, the main reason is to give myself the strongest team possible.

I think there's definitely been times in the past where some players have managed to win seven, eight months out and been kind of almost guaranteed to make the team.

I think giving myself more picks will give me an opportunity to pick the best in-form team. I think that's hugely important to have those guys leading up to The Ryder Cup with a great opportunity of playing their best golf.

So that was the main reason behind it, really. A good statistical deep dive by Edoardo. He really helped form and shape that process a little bit. But it's to give myself the opportunity of having the strongest 12 guys there.

Q. First of all, you're going to probably have a tremendous amount of rookies on this team versus other teams where you've had a lot of veterans. Can you talk about your approach to that and how you'll spend the year, basically probably introducing yourself and learning some of these guys?

LUKE DONALD: Well, I'll go to the second part of that question. It is my plan to travel a lot more and be over in Europe a lot more.

You know, hopefully it wasn't a coincidence that I got to play with Bob in Wentworth; he won the next week. I got to play with Guido in Italy and he won the following week in France. So hopefully my calming influence has had an inspiration to them.

But yeah, I look forward to being more in Europe and being the with players a lot more. There will be some team dinners and just me being available and being open to lots of communication with these guys because, yeah, there could be more rookies, there could not be. That's still a year in the making. We'll see how the team shapes up over the coming nine to ten months.

Q. And Zach, you talk about Marco Simone being the battle of fitness or battle of fit; can you talk about how that will change since the time you've spent here, a day on the golf course, will that change your thought process on pairings, how you'll much you'll play a person versus maybe what it would have been before this?

ZACH JOHNSON: That's good, no, I mean, I've actually briefly talked to some of my team, PGA of America team and the like, about that very notion.

I mean, it is -- somebody told me Marco Simone is hillier than Augusta National. I'm like, okay, right. It is. It is. I think it is, to a T. It's got everything.

It is going to be a difficult physical test when you play four sessions in two days. So you have to take that into account. I'll just say this, as a player, it's hard. I can't even imagine being a caddie, okay. And trying to walk potentially 72 holes in two days.

But you're right. The notion of, hey, you know, let's -- hopefully I have enough depth that I don't have to play a guy or two all five sessions. That would be a luxury. Doesn't always work out like that. When I say depth, I mean experience; I mean physically able to withstand that, and a caddie, right.

Yeah, there's going to be a lot that goes into it. I do know personally when I was playing, if I was given the option, I'd rather play four than five. I say that, but it's like, I don't like resting. It stinks to sit on the bench. But that's part of the beauty of The Ryder Cup.

SCOTT CROCKETT: As I mentioned at the start of the conference, we do have international media joining us on Zoom. My colleague, Clare, is moderating the Zoom part of this conference from back in the U.K.

So Clare, can I hand over to you? Because I think you have a couple of questions from our media with you.

CLARE BODEL: Thanks, Scott. Yeah, we have a couple of questions from U.K. media here.

Q. Zach, do you really think that the Europeans are underdogs?

ZACH JOHNSON: Did he say Zach? Oh, sorry. (Laughter).

Do I really think the Europeans are underdogs? I can give you a one-word answer: No. They are not underdogs.

They are on their home soil. You hear the notion of, "well, on paper." Well, I understand that but on paper can be subjective as well. I don't think it's all that objective in my opinion. I understand that.

But at the same time, there's something to be said about having confidence and momentum where you're comfortable, and evidently, they have been very comfortable over here for 30 years. So, no.

Q. I've covered quite a lot of Ryder Cups, and in the broadest terms, the team that putts better wins. That's a generalization. Do you agree with that, either or both of you, and if you don't, then why not?

LUKE DONALD: You know, certainly being someone that had a lot of success on the golf course through great putting and I've had some success in match play through amateur career through professional through Ryder Cups, yeah, it's annoying to your opponents when you make putts. It's great for momentum when you're playing someone and they think they are out of the hole and you get up-and-down and make a putt, sometimes that halve is worth more than a win because it gets in your opponent's head.

So putting is extremely important, but as I said, it's not everything. You know, today's game, the easiest way to gain strokes on the field is through great driving and hitting the ball far, and that's certainly dominated our game the last ten years, as well.

So there are lots of other factors but it certainly doesn't hurt to be a great putter.

ZACH JOHNSON: I agree with exactly what Luke said. I've studied it and I've got some individuals, actually in the room, that study those kind of statistics better than I do.

Yeah, the putter's always been the equaliser. I think it's definitely more of an equaliser in medal play rather than match play. In match play, especially when you're playing foursomes, getting the ball in the fairway and giving yourself an opportunity ton the greens becomes more of an advantage than actually making putts in my opinion.

It shows, certain golf courses lend themselves to certain attributes of the game, and so again, as Luke mentioned, an individual that drives it hard and drives it state, you're at an advantage. But then you've got some, you know, putters like Luke and I that can be an advantage, too. It depends on the how the course lays out and it depends on odds and evens. There's a lot of factors involved there. I don't think you can pinpoint to one aspect of the game.

Q. Question for Luke. We've already referred to the 30 years without a home defeat. I'm sure put simply, it's a question of, not on my watch but you're up against a team with probably greater camaraderie as well as ready-made pairings. Does that make it tougher, and what's the one factor that could tip in your balance?

LUKE DONALD: Sorry, hard to understand. What was the one factor that's contributed to 30 years.

Q. The one factor that could tip it back in your balance; the balance back in your favor.

LUKE DONALD: Being at home is obviously a big advantage. You know, creating the right energy for the team room, I think that's always been a big key in our success. And that's something I'm certainly focused on. But creating the right environment to give the 12 guys best opportunity for success.

Q. Does the course allow for it to be set up in such a way that it can favour the home team rather than the away team?

LUKE DONALD: Well that's one nice thing about being a home captain is you do have some control over how the course is set up. Like every year, we look at statistics and look for marginal gains.

It's no secret there that the teams are usually very pretty evenly matched when it comes to long game, short game, putting. There's very minute differences. There's only so much you can do to the golf course but you try and set it up a little bit. But again you don't really want to over think that stuff because the teams are usually pretty evenly matched when it comes to statistics.

Q. With so many young American players coming through over the last couple years, do you think you'll have a stronger team in 2023 than in Whistling Straits, even without the LIV players?

ZACH JOHNSON: I appreciate that. I don't know. I mean, I don't really know how you'd measure that. I guess there's a number of ways to look at it.

I don't think it's fair, necessarily, to compare the 2020 team to the team we'll have here in 2023 or even the ones prior to that. There's so many elements that are involved there. Our qualification system has changed throughout the years, and just don't know the form of some of these guys coming into a Ryder Cup.

I don't think it's really fair to compare them. The commonalities would be, certainly, from 2020 to 2023, you said it, the youth will stand out. But again, what's your definition of youth?

I mean, 2020, we had a rookie Ryder Cupper who had won two majors. So that's not normal, and I don't know if you call that youth -- or inexperience, or you call it a professional that's playing really well at a young age. I don't know how you coin it.

I'm not into comparisons. All I know is I'm going to try to form the best 12 guys for Marco Simone. I have some liberties, obviously, with six picks, much like Luke and we'll be strategic in those. It's no secret I'm going to have those six guys that do qualify take some ownership in this team as well. It's their team. I'll utilise all the resources I have to form a team of 12 for 2023.

Q. After Whistling Straits, do you think this one was always going to be a fresh start for the European Team with lots of changes even before the LIV events?

LUKE DONALD: It's still 12 months out. I really don't know what my team is going to look like. But I know, I'm assuming there will be some established players and some guys that are hungry, new, young players that want to make this team.

So we are excited to be here and have that home advantage but again, it's a little bit early to know what that makeup of the team will be like.

Q. In The Presidents Cup 2022, the captains and two assistant captains were provided permission to provide advice on the course with certain limitations. Ryder Cup has not made a significant change since 1979. Might we see the same thing next year at Marco Simone? Zach, what do you think, and Luke, what do you think, in particular, could help you considering Edoardo Molinari and his statistics?

ZACH JOHNSON: Sure, that's a good question. I can give you some history on the Presidents Cup. I've been a part of quite a few of those teams. And really, the change in the advice role, right, by the vice captains or the leadership was because of Australia in 2019 when our captain, Tiger Woods, was actually playing, as well.

And so in a roundabout way, he and I, the captains, figured out a strategy to kind of shift the advice within using our microphones, using the rules officials, to our advantage on par 3s and things of that nature. That was the Presidents Cup. They wanted to add -- it's got its own personality, as it should. It's different.

What I appreciate about The Ryder Cup is that, well, one, this Cup has withstood the test of time, and I think any major change now, I'm not suggesting they wouldn't be warranted, may not be needed because of what's already established. The beauty of this Ryder Cup is that it needs very little change. It needs very little massaging because it's pure at its core, and I think you can't lose sight of that. That's the beauty of The Ryder Cup.

LUKE DONALD: In terms of Edoardo, as I said earlier, he's already been very, very helpful. He's very knowledgeable. He works with quite a few players through the statistics, and the last few Ryder Cups that I've been a part of, statistics have played a much larger role. Technology in our game is changing constantly and statistics are getting more and more in-depth. We can really tell a lot about statistics.

But when it comes to forming pairings, statistics are important but it's also important to rely on your instincts which is what we relied on before. So it's a mixture of using technology and using your instincts to get the win.

SCOTT CROCKETT: If there are no more hands in the audience, which I don't think there are --

ZACH JOHNSON: Can I ask the young lady -- can I ask you a question, were you talking about advice on the course?

Q. On the golf course.

ZACH JOHNSON: Okay. That's what I thought. Phew. (Laughter) Sorry, just had to get that out. Otherwise I had a different answer for you.

SCOTT CROCKETT: When I asked for more questions, I didn't necessarily expect one from the captains. But that's the wonder of The Ryder Cup.

ZACH JOHNSON: I wanted to answer her question appropriately.

SCOTT CROCKETT: And quite rightly so.

If there are no more questions, in all seriousness, all that's left for me to do is thank you, ladies and gentlemen, for your attendance this afternoon, and one again recognise our two captains.

Zach and Luke, thank you for your time today, and we wish you and your respective teams the very best of luck at Marco Simone next September. Thank you everyone; grazie a tutti.