LIV GOLF CHICAGO

September 24, 2023

Bryson DeChambeau

Anirban Lahiri

Charles Howell

Paul Casey

Rich Harvest Farms

Crushers GC

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Let's welcome Crushers GC. We are joined by Paul Casey, our captain Bryson DeChambeau, Anirban Lahiri and Charles Howell III. Congratulations on your second team win of 2023. We'll start down the line and just kind of talk about this week and what it was like. Were you surprised by the win today or did you know you were going to pull it out all week?

CHARLES HOWELL III: First off, you've got to commend the play of these two. Holy cow. Yeah, Paul and I were on the golf course. We were trying to play and be a part of it, but watching the leaderboard for these two, and man, you can't talk enough about the golf they played all week. It got windy yesterday and windy again today. The golf course is not easy by any measure, and 13- and 12-under par for the week is phenomenal golf.

Q. Ban, I know this is a little bit bittersweet for you. Does having the team win take the sting away from the individual a little bit?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No. No. I mean, I think all four of us would agree that you're trying to win the tournament outright first. At least that's how I look at it. Anyone else who says otherwise is lying.

But yes, the team win was something that we all knew that we needed to pull off, and we knew we should pull off. If you look at the last three, four events, I don't think we've been off the podium, and we've had one or two bad days.

We had a tough day yesterday, as well, but it just shows how much depth we have in the team and how solid we are behind each other. I think all of us together really want this.

We were not happy with how things ended last year. We want to correct that, and I think our late-season form is trending, and we want to take it forward for two more weeks.

Q. Bryson, you had a sneaky win today --

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Came out of nowhere. I can't even believe it still. It's really wild. I really wanted Ban to make that putt --

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Me too.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It's one of those things you never want to see a teammate go through. But it is what it is, and I think he's learned a lot, obviously, throughout the course of his time at LIV. You've had a bunch of seconds, and your time is coming.

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Thanks for reminding me.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: What I'm saying is he's been an unbelievable player as well as Paul and Charles, supporting us from the depths, unfortunately --

PAUL CASEY: From the back.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: But what I can say, though, is these guys mean the world to me, and when I was going through my tough times, I can't tell you how many times they would talk to me personally and say, hey, man, there's a reason why you're here. Come on, you're better than this, let's go.

To have that support system is just amazing. I can't thank them enough.

We really just got to get the job done this year in Miami. That's the most important thing. Winning tournaments is important, but Miami, we want to get that win.

Q. Paul, heading into Miami with you guys being in this great form, do you guys as a team now have a little bit more confidence heading in than you did last year?

PAUL CASEY: No, we had plenty of confidence last year, we just didn't get it done, plain and simple.

It's the beauty of -- to reiterate what these guys have already said, we're such a close unit.

On paper it doesn't look like -- how are these four guys going to be friends?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: It's the beginning of a joke; you've got an Englishman, an Indian and a Texan walk into a bar.

PAUL CASEY: We're happy that -- at least we're somewhat happy right now that we've kind of solidified hopefully a seat -- I don't know if we've done that, but I think we probably have, top 4. Mike, have we done it, solidified top 4? We're in a strong position going in.

Look, this is the beauty of -- this is why I love what we're doing. It's the individual and the team element, and it's the individual element is rewarding to a certain level, and the team element is rewarding to a whole 'nother level. They're different. You can't compare them, but boy, does it feel good to play good with these guys.

Q. Would it be safe to say that it gives you something to play for every day?

PAUL CASEY: Yeah. I was a great example this week. I struggled with the game, and Ban and Chucky saw it the first day. I played some really good golf and then just struggled.

This is a difficult golf course, but the motivation to back these guys up and contribute and -- whatever I shot today, 3-under, I pulled that out of nowhere, and it was really, really important in the end.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: We won by three, right? Or was it two?

Q. I think it was two.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: If it was two, even more important.

Q. Bryson, can you take us through your range of emotions there. I watched you after Ban missed the putt, and you won the tournament but yet you had your head down.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: To be honest with you, I was actually sad. I really wanted him to make that so we could go battle it off in a playoff and finish it off the right way. That was the first emotion that I had.

Secondly, you've got people coming over and congratulating you, and it's just like, oh, I really didn't feel like I won it. This isn't the normal feeling I usually have when you win a tournament.

So it was definitely a huge mix of emotions.

I don't know what to say. I missed a putt on the last hole thinking that that was to get into a playoff, and then to go have it be to win, I don't even know what to say. It's really a weird mix of emotions. But very blessed, very happy, and it gives all of us something to continue to keep pushing for.

We all have the ability here to do it. Ban has showed numerous times, Paul has unbelievable skill set to get it done every single week, as does Mr. Chucky Three Sticks over there at Mayakoba. You blow fields away. We've got some crazy good firepower here. And turning it back to my man, I love you, Ban, but I'm sorry. I felt so bad.

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, no, we're all trying to win.

Q. When did you think there was something special going on? Was it like the 12th hole I assume?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, the 12th hole -- look, I still had to birdie 14, par 15, par 16. I birdied 17 and 18. So there was a lot of still had to do before that point. I just kept trying to hit as many fairways as I could and hit the irons close and make some putts, and that's ultimately just kind of what happens when I get on a roll; it just doesn't stop. Kind of like uh-oh, here comes the train.

Q. Where does this stretch right now rank in terms of how you've played since you turned pro?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I think it's probably some of the best for sure. There's always stuff you can improve on, but consistently some of the best. Bedminster I was still driving it really well. Three-putted seven times, I think, and that's ultimately -- I would have been in second place had I not three-putted. I cleaned that up this week and hit it pretty well.

A little under the weather all week, but I don't know, sometimes you've got to be wary of the sick golfer, right?

PAUL CASEY: We all had a team visit to the pharmacy, didn't we.

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: That's what the team does when they're away. When we're off the course we go to the pharmacy.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: We were all feeling a little throaty I guess you could say. I don't know if that's a better way to put that.

PAUL CASEY: No, it was the pro-am party, and it was very loud music and talking, and it just felt like scratchy throats and he said he was sick, so we hit the panic button and we went to the pharmacy and bought the whole pharmacy.

Q. Ban, can you take us through your day? Obviously you got the lead and you were sitting on the lead for most of the day after you overtook Seb. Were there times you were looking at the leaderboard and you saw Bryson charging, and it's like, what are you doing to me, Captain?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No, it's actually quite weird because today was one of those days where I played really bad, to be honest. I was fighting my swing the whole day.

I missed so many fairways right. I wasn't turning on my backswing very well.

But I just kept grinding it out. Even though I wasn't hitting it good, I wanted to make sure I take the big numbers out of play, take the 5s and the 6s out, which I've done really well this week. I kind of did that. I hung in there, made a few birdies. The par-5s kind of took advantage a little bit.

Yeah, I think just towards the end, I guess you could say I three-putted 18 and I three-putted 15, but I never hit anything very close except for a couple of wedges. So I was kind of fighting my swing.

In my head I knew I had to get about 15 or 16 to be honest because Sebastian came back really well. I know he fell off a little bit in the end, but I was just trying to look forward because one of the things with this golf course is if you're finishing on 18, you've got a pretty tough stretch of holes to finish up.

But if guys are starting on say 3 or 4 or a little further up, you've got 1, you've got 2, those are gettable holes.

So I knew that I had to get to 14, 15, 16. I was just pushing to go forward.

Unfortunately wasn't able to do that coming in, so that was that. I really didn't see much of what was going on. I knew he was playing well because the team was up, and that's what I was happy about. I'm never going to not want the team to do well. I was just trying to focus on what I needed to do.

Q. This is the seventh second-place finish you've had since you joined LIV. You keep talking about being in position and one of these days breaking through. What's the thought right now?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Do this again next Sunday and again the Sunday after that and again the Sunday after that and just keep doing it because there's only so many times before I break that door.

Q. Has it gotten frustrating at all?

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: Well, if it was frustrating, I wouldn't be working as hard as I am.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Also that's what makes a great golfer. That's why he's on the team. That's why I love him to death.

Q. Paul, can you talk about Bryson's last month or so since Greenbrier, what you've seen, how impressed you are?

PAUL CASEY: I have Matt Minister on the bag this week because Johnny has got his health issues he's dealing with, so "The Reverend" as we call him. He used to work for Patrick. I just said, this guy is -- we saw his name pop up there, and we're like uh-oh, here he goes. Here we go, we've got another hot Bryson. It's some of the best golf I've seen him ever play.

ANIRBAN LAHIRI: No doubt.

PAUL CASEY: Going back to and including Winged Foot.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: We played at Augusta my first year as I was an amateur playing with Spieth. Do you remember that?

PAUL CASEY: I do remember that. I was giving you a lot of crap, wasn't I. I was asking you about the Van Halen asteroid belt, how they got through that. Don't worry, it's a rocket science thing. We've been friends ever since.

No, we've seen it coming. We keep harping on about it, but it's a unit and it's that support structure that -- this is no different from watching things trend, and right now this is -- like he's a buy. You've got to back this horse.

I think honestly Bryson is just scratching the surface. There's been a lot of -- if you want to go through it, a lot of things that he's worked on, and I guess obstacles, things like greens books, certain rule changes, things like that, equipment, the long drive thing, there's all sorts of stuff, you're building a house. There's a whole bunch of stuff that people know, that we know -- your house will never be ready. He's figuring all these things out and he's just ticking them off, and unless he has to then figure out or the more he figures out, the less of those questions, the greater he is.

I don't want to blow smoke, but he's got an unbelievable level of ability. It's not talent because there's talent but then it's hard work and the thought process and everything behind it. We're just along for the ride, the three of us. We're just tagging along. But it's great to be part of that and help in a certain way because we benefit from it, as well.

But I think this is -- yes, I think this is a level that we've seen before, but I think there's more to come.

Q. Charles, you've been around this game for a while now; how much fun are you having with this whole team concept, playing with these guys?

CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, it's wonderful. Paul and I have known each other forever, since college days. Bryson when he first came out on Tour, we played some practice rounds together and guys know each other. I like the way he sees the game and how he goes through things, and then Ban and I obviously played quite a few years back together on the PGA Tour.

It's been awesome. At this point in my career, I couldn't ask for anything better.

The guys push each other. You see these guys on the leaderboard, you want to catch up there, you want to contribute, you want to be a part of it.

Bryson has been a wonderful captain. He lets us do our own things, prepare the way we need to, but also together as a team, and yeah, I can't say enough about the job he's done.

Q. Bryson, obviously under different organizations, but third big win in your career here in the state of Illinois. How much do you like playing Midwest golf, and how has Illinois been to you?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Bluegrass, baby. It's that rye. It's that -- it's really the grass, the air. I don't know, there's something about the greens. I'm comfortable and I grew up on grass like that at Dragonfly River Bend.

I'm just super comfortable with the grass, and I know how it's going to respond. This is now the second time that I've won in kind of semi-rainy drizzly wet conditions which is something I've never done, so it's really cool to be able to win and win in a weird way. Like it just came out of nowhere, going from oh, I'm not going to be even in a playoff to oh, I'm in a playoff to oh, you win. What are those types of emotions as I'm on the 4th hole, the 4th green. I had no idea what was going on.

Q. You said at Olympia when you won the Amateur that you had played here a few weeks before in the Western Am.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: That's right.

Q. You said you felt this was a kick start how well you played here. Are you hoping it's another kick start into Miami and --

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, absolutely and beyond. I think there's going to be a lot of work in the off-season going on. I'm not going to describe too much of that, but what I can tell you is something special is going to happen next year because of it.

Q. With what happened at the Greenbrier, how much does that take a weight off your shoulders, give you extra confidence when you're at even par --

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, I knew this golf course was gettable. I knew that I could have the chance to go low, just with the way I'm driving it and hitting it, putting it, as well. It just felt like such a unique week because it wasn't like I putted super great or hit it really great, I just kept it in play and hit it in the right places, and I feel like I took advantage when I needed to.

I missed a one-footer. I pretty much missed a tap-in yesterday. So just all weird stuff happened this week, but kept focusing on it. G-Bo has been unbelievable in helping me stay focused out there on the right things at hand, not focusing too far ahead or too far behind but really getting engrained in the shot and keeping me at a level pace.

What's nice about him is he's from Washington, so he's got that little mellow fever sort of thing, and I just kind of flow off of that, which is really great. I don't know, 58, yes, but again, I played well on this golf course.

Q. In Greenbrier your mom was not there and she was there today to watch you win. Can you talk about how special it was to have her here today?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: It was amazing. First off, my mom was probably not even thinking he may play well and finish top 10 or something, but to actually go get it done and do it for her and for my family, my cousins that are here and everything, it's pretty special. They're from Quincy so just southwest of here, which is sweet.

Not many times that my mom has got to see me win because she's given so much up to me, to support me and everything. She had a job for a long time. She just retired, so she's been able to be out here for quite a while, and it's great for her to get to see the environment, see the family, friends, meet must people. Obviously with my dad passing last year, I wish he would have gotten to see me win, but I know he's up there in spirit and he's looking down smiling, so no problems there.

But it's definitely special that my mom is with me. I love her to death, and she's given everything up to have me do this, so it's pretty special.

Q. Given how well you're playing, how much more disappointed does it make you to not be on that Ryder Cup team? You're playing some of your best golf, right? Are you playing better than Winged Foot?

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: Yeah, definitely, I am playing better than Winged Foot. If you look at it, it would have been nice to at least just have a call. There's numerous people that I think Zach should have called out here, and we didn't get that.

I understand, I get it, but we're nothing different. We're still competing. We're still working super hard to be the best we possibly can be.

Brooks is obviously going to kill it for Team USA next week and excited for the team, but yeah, it definitely does sting a little bit, but say what you want, we're still golfers, and I personally think that given the way I played this week, I could have definitely racked up some points for Team USA.

But that's neither here nor there. As time has gone on, hopefully I'll be in line for it in a couple years.

Q. Do you attribute it to Zach? You won his tournament in 2017 in the Quad Cities.

BRYSON DeCHAMBEAU: I did. I don't know. I don't know if it was, if it was back-ended or whatnot. I'm not up to make that discussion available. I have no idea what it was or how it was like or who made that decision, but it would have been nice for them to consider us more because we're pretty damn good out here.