THE RYDER CUP

September 29, 2023

Justin Rose

Robert MacIntyre

Marco Simone

Team Europe

Press Conference

TOM CARLISLE: Carry on with Justin Rose and Bob MacIntyre. You've holed some incredible putts in your career. Where does that rank?

JUSTIN ROSE: Top, top, top. A lot of putts have meant a lot to me. We don't know the significance of the putt yet but the last putt of the day, all of your team are behind you, the stage was set, you know. I've been out on the golf course and experienced moments like that in the past, whether it be with Poults and Rory and guys like that, but I've never had that moment alongside Bob here where we fought really hard to have that moment, and everybody is following your four-ball, your last match on the course.

And just to enjoy the amphitheatre was incredible, and to knock on in, I kind of let it rip. It was fun.

TOM CARLISLE: Your first taste of the Ryder Cup, how was it?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: It was incredible. I've never walked off a driving range before almost in tears. I knew what was coming. Thankfully hit a decent one off the first. But yeah, to have the crowd behind you the way it was and to have Justin there to hang on, I managed to get a half point, it was everything I ever dreamed of.

Q. With that putt, you guys did not lose a match the whole day. After what happened two years ago, could you have imagined this much of a reversal two years later?

JUSTIN ROSE: No, I probably couldn't have imagined that. I felt definitely Europe were up against it for the period of time. Obviously Team USA is strong and will be strong and will come out strong tomorrow. There's no complacency here. Today was an unbelievable day.

I said to my caddie, "Come on, I don't want to be the only piece of red on that board." And then obviously there were two other bits of red as well, and the 18th hole was incredibly kind to us, and the boys holed some unbelievable putts. Those three ties mean a lot, just for moral victory as much as obviously keeping the score as spread as possible.

Q. You've been a part of a lot of these teams, and when you look at the way the crowd is reacting, and some of the faces of the American players, and the fact that never before has the U.S. not won a point on the first day, how do you guys as a team with such a big lead try to keep that perspective, like hey, if they could just as easily go out and do the same thing we did tomorrow?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, there are small margins between the teams. You look at the way it was -- obviously American Team is a great team, top 20 in the world, they are a hell of a team. Home-course advantage is important, which I think made this very much, almost from a betting line point of view, pretty even. That's the way the chat was, anyway.

And it's going to still to be that way for the next few days. We're going to be fighting for small margins out there. I think Team Europe did an incredible job today the last few holes fighting for those small margins, and that's the difference on a day like today.

Momentum is a lot. Momentum can be everything as well. It goes in waves, and we'll definitely have to bed in at times over the next couple days. But as long as we stay focused and on plan, then hopefully the team can keep performing.

Q. Can you talk us through what that experience was like amongst fans and family on the first tee, the whole thing, and then after that start when Justin came up, how you felt through the whole day?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Yeah, again, walking to that first tee, I had been thinking about that for three weeks, that one tee shot, and I made sure to hit one last driver on the range and hit the shot I envisioned myself hitting for the last three weeks. I stepped up and absolutely roasted one down the middle.

Shame I couldn't putt like that today, but no, it was everything I dreamed of. It's the reason that I play golf. People are asking me at the start of the week if this is a reason you play golf, and I mean, now I've realised that this is the reason that I play golf. That was incredible out there, even watching Justin holing that putt and hearing the crowd behind you, and obviously we are on home soil just now, but I don't get that feeling anywhere else. I mean, I play shinty and stuff, but that was on steroids (laughter).

Q. I'm not a lip reader. What were you saying on 18 and what were you trying to express?

JUSTIN ROSE: I think it was you and you and you and you; that's what I was saying. For all the boys. You know, just because everyone is in it together. Made the putt because I had ten people willing it in behind me. Yeah, it's for them, as well.

Q. Certainly in the early part of the round, you were getting Bob to come in and help you read the lines. Can you talk me through the thinking there?

ROBERT MacINTYRE: Because I've got a cracking pair of feet (laughter).

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, I like the way Bob -- these greens are really tricky in little spots, and there's a couple little sections where there will be a little left-to-right section and it might just change slope and go into a little right-to-left section, and I wanted Bob to reaffirm with his feet what I'm seeing with my eyes.

You know, felt like just needed that little bit of affirmation today. It's funny, I haven't done that for a while either. I haven't played with a partner for a while, and I think sometimes, because you can ask, you do ask. Whenever I was slightly unsure, I did pull him in.

Yeah, I mean, cracking pair of feet.

Q. Viktor was one of the guys who had the most pressure on him today and came out swinging like many would have expected. You as a senior member of the squad, how do you feel his position in the group has changed? Obviously you weren't there last time, but seeing how he's grown, what is his place in the group right now? How do you feel he affects you guys?

JUSTIN ROSE: Viktor turns from unassuming, sort of definitely one of the boys, has a lot of self-confidence but never stage, to being absolutely beast mode on the golf course. And that's what I love about him. I see a lot of stuff on social media: "Never change, Viktor."

And that's exactly how he is. He's not too big for his own mind in a way, like he just -- he's a great kid, still. But he's playing golf at the very highest level and enjoying it.

So yeah, he's unbelievable. When you get on the first tee, yeah, just some of the shots he hits are -- yeah, they are just proper golf shots. He's on it. He's on it like the best in the world for sure.

Q. Home-course advantage, can you explain any parts of that?

JUSTIN ROSE: Just looking at history, it's played a surprisingly big role, and I don't know exactly why that is. I think just because the crowd keep you in it. They keep your head up. They keep you marching forward, and they keep you grinding. Maybe elite level of sport is 1 per cent, maybe that is the difference, I don't know. But I'm surprised, too, exactly how much of a thing it is, and hoping it continues that way.

But there's some nice American support out there. Obviously, it's 80/20 or whatever it might be, I don't know what the stats are, but it's a nice vibe out there. There's definitely a bit of both, and you can tell when the Americans are doing well.

Yeah, I definitely feel like you can feed off the crowd one way or the other for sure.

Q. Tell me, how does that moment in this Ryder Cup compare with the other ones, and were there any other moments that were similar that you would put in the memory bank?

JUSTIN ROSE: Yeah, there was a fairly similar putt to the one I holed against Phil -- people remember the one on 17 I made and that got me tied in the match, and then I made a 10-footer on 18 with a little right-to-left on it. And I knew there was a few lads had followed my match, a couple of the guys had finished early, Rory, etc. And they were on the front left of the green. I made that putt and kind of turned around to do something similar and Phil was right there coming in because he had a putt on a similar line I think.

Anyway, I made the putt and obviously Phil was kind of there and I couldn't continue my celebration and go straight past him, so obviously I did the right thing, shook his hand, and then kind of had to go and celebrate with the team.

But obviously, Djokovic even said, you've got to use people as inspiration out there. In some ways, the ten caddies and the vice captains and everybody else out there, that was the inspiration for that particular put, which I think is why -- you can't plan that reaction, you know what I mean. It just kind of comes out in the moment. It was a lot of fun.

Q. Luke's pairings with the rookies worked out really well, one of which was you. When did you know you were going to play with Bob and what did he say to you?

JUSTIN ROSE: I feel like it's been on the cards for a couple of weeks. I feel like we spent a bit of time around one another. When we came here for the practise trip, we played. We played early in the week this week.

Yeah, it's been slowly like organically growing but I think the idea had been in play for a couple of weeks and I think Bob and I didn't get too into it or concerned or even give it too much thought, really, until about a couple of days ago I think because you kind of want to just get on with your prep and see what all the options are and you want to be able to be fluid for the captain as well. If someone is playing great, if someone is not playing great, foursomes versus four-ball, a lot of things can change depending on how the team is actually playing a couple of days out. But I think it's been in the works awhile.

TOM CARLISLE: Thanks, everyone. Justin, Bob, thank you very much for your time.