LIV GOLF TUCSON

March 17, 2023

Louis Oosthuizen

Abraham Ancer

The Gallery Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome Louis Oosthuizen, the captain of Team Stinger, and Abe Ancer, on Fireballs GC. You guys both had great rounds today.

Louis, you were on a birdie train at the end. I think you had six birdies. Can you tell us a little bit about your round.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I wanted to try and keep going really, set the second round going the way I was playing. I had to make a bogey to realize that I need to pull my finger a little bit out because Abe was playing really nicely, and I just finished really well.

Q. Abe, how about you, tell us about your round.

ABRAHAM ANCER: Yeah, I was grinding there at the beginning. I started hitting it pretty short and crooked off the tee, which is a terrible combo, and grinded it out to make some good pars and keep the going round, and then I hit some nice iron shots, kept the ball in play off the tee and made some good putts. I left some out there. I hit some really good shots there on some of the par-3s and missed a short one on 16 that really hurt, and couldn't convert on 17, the par-5. But other than that, I played really well. So very happy with the round.

Q. How were the crowds out there today?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: They were good. Look, I don't want to be someone walking around here. I think it's a tough walk for them. But yeah, it was good. I mean, 16 had a great vibe and 18 was really good. I hope the guys are having fun.

ABRAHAM ANCER: I was actually very surprised because in the practice round you see the terrain, you're like, this is going to be a nice tough walk for the crowds, and there's a lot more people than I was expecting with the terrain. There was a crowd out there. A lot of Mexicans out here, which is nice for me. Definitely had a lot of support, which was great. Bubba and Louis always have support, it doesn't matter where they go. It was a great vibe out there; it was good.

Q. It's pretty packed at the top. What do you have as your strategy going into tomorrow? Have you looked at the weather for tomorrow? What are you thinking?

ABRAHAM ANCER: Tell me. What's the weather tomorrow? It's going to be the same, no?

Q. It's going to be little bit windier.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Well, we'll cope with it tomorrow then.

Q. What's your strategy going into tomorrow to keep climbing the leaderboard?

ABRAHAM ANCER: For me it's the same thing, I'm not really looking at the leaderboard or anything. Just trying to play the best shot I have in front of me, and that's it. I can't really worry about what anybody is doing, just my game and that's about it.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, same thing, just keep on plodding along and only really pay attention the last few holes maybe on Sunday, on the leaderboard.

Q. Louis, did you hurt your back earlier in the week?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No.

Q. You're okay?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I'm good.

Q. Your left elbow is okay?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Yeah, that's another story. It's hanging in there. I'm managing it nicely. Just a bad tennis elbow.

Q. When you get on a streak like you did, what's going through your mind? Is it like the hole looks bigger?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: No, to be honest, I was 1-over all of a sudden like after I don't know how many holes, and I feel like I'm hitting it a lot better than that. I should be scoring a little better. So you just need that one or two putts to go in to get yourself to level and 1-under, and then all of a sudden things keep going.

I started just hitting it a little closer, and I'm seeing the lines pretty good, and I'm rolling it nicely. You know, I just gave myself great opportunities coming in, and you get those runs. I can't remember when last on my six in a row. It must be years ago.

Q. What did you take from Mayakoba coming into this week?

ABRAHAM ANCER: What did I take? Completely different golf course. Not much. I felt like I hit the ball really well except for three tee shots that cost me six shots, so that was like the difference from where I finished to being, I guess, third or something like that on the leaderboard, so I knew I was rolling it nicely. I knew I was hitting it good. Just got to tighten up a little bit of things and just keep that good frame of mind. Before Mayakoba, I had the nice win in Saudi Arabia, which was some good golf. Just want to keep that momentum going really.

Q. I know you have a pretty good relationship with Mark Wahlberg. How is it like playing with him and how did you form that relationship?

ABRAHAM ANCER: Well, it's fast. I mean, 18 holes, they go fast. He plays under two hours, which is insane to me. I get to my ball, he already hit twice. Like I need to read the putt, he's like, all right, let's go to the next. He's shooting videos at the same time. It's like, what are you doing. So it's crazy just the speed of everything in his whole life, not only golf.

I really admire how much he gets done in a day. Wakes up really early, works out like at 4:00 in the morning, sometimes even earlier than that, and he grinds, man. He's a great partner, and we both share a great love for golf and also business, really.

Q. Also I know you have your own tequila company Flecha. Is that the secret to your post-round recovery?

ABRAHAM ANCER: Absolutely. You've got to have at least a couple before you go to bed.

Q. Abe, you and I talked yesterday and just being in a place that has such a contingent of Mexican Americans. What does it mean to be in the southwest in Arizona with so many Mexican fans that are just here to see you?

ABRAHAM ANCER: It was really nice. There was a bunch of Fireballs hats out there, some Flecha hats, some Mexican hats. It was really nice. I feel like we Mexicans travel really well, but I know there's a big presence here in Arizona, and it definitely feels nice to have a crowd out here, and we're really passionate, so you can really feel how much they're pulling for you. It's definitely really, really nice to be out here and playing.

I also heard a lot of "Boomer Sooner" out there from OU surprisingly, which was nice, too.

Q. My comment is about your team colors, your team outfit. You guys both look fantastic. Where can the average fan get that stuff? They're wanting it. They want to buy that gear. Where can they get it?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: You'll get it. Just be patient.

ABRAHAM ANCER: We're definitely working on it, but this is our first week wearing Black Quail. This is a project we've started maybe like three, four years ago, and it's really cool and fun really to have the Fireballs wear a brand that I'm deeply involved with. It was kind of like a fire drill, last second thing. It was a lot of moving parts, so we've got a lot of things to work on, but we're really excited, and everybody seems to like it.