LIV GOLF TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP MIAMI

October 18, 2023

Brooks Koepka

Sergio Garcia

Cameron Smith

Phil Mickelson

Henrik Stenson

Kevin Na

Louis Oosthuzen

Martin Kaymer

Trump National Doral

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome to our LIV Golf Team Championship Miami selection and press conference. Thank you so much to everybody who is joining us here this morning. Welcome, welcome.

We have an amazing weekend ahead of us as we'll be crowning our 2023 LIV Golf League Team Champion on Sunday. It's going to be a treat all week.

Now, this tournament works a little bit different from the last 13 events. This is a straight-up team tournament consisting of all 12 teams competing.

So bear with me, this is how it works, okay.

The 12 teams who are ranked based on how they perform, the previous 13 tournaments, the top four teams have a bye. Those teams are: 4Aces GC, Crushers GC, Torque GC as well as RangeGoats GC, which is why they are not here with us this morning.

That leaves us with eight teams left to play Friday with four teams advancing to the next stage. Each matchup on Friday consists of three matches, two I think singles match and one foursomes match. Each match consists of one point. If you win two points, you advance. Pretty simple.

Captains must play each other in a single match. So that will always be one in the singles matches. Pretty straightforward.

One of the caveats, the captains joining me at this table will get to choose which team they want to play. The highest seed gets to pick first, and then the next highest seed will then pick the following.

So with Stinger being the fifth seed, they will get to pick their opponent first.

Now, before we turn it over to Louis, let's introduce all our captains.

Starting with Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen, followed by Fireballs GC, Captain Sergio Garcia. Ripper GC Captain Cameron Smith. Smash GC Captain Brooks Koepka. HyFlyers GC Captain Phil Mickelson. Cleeks GC Captain Martin Kaymer. Representing Majesticks GC this week, Henrik Stenson. Last but not least, Iron Heads GC, Kevin Na.

Okay. Let's begin and find out which teams will face off each other on Friday afternoon. Let's have some fun. For the first pick we have got Stinger GC Captain Louis Oosthuizen. Louis, who you got?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: We are picking the Iron Heads.

THE MODERATOR: So we have stinger versus Iron Heads GC. All right, Louis, talks through the decision. Why did you pick the Iron Heads? You don't have to be kind. You can have a little fun.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: I think we were happy with that selection and didn't really want to play any of the other teams (laughter). Sorry, Kevin.

THE MODERATOR: You obviously knew you were going to be paired up with Kevin. Anything you want to say or add to that? Do you want to say anything to Kevin?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Kevin, is your mic working?

THE MODERATOR: I think it is.

KEVIN NA: I don't know. Is it working? Okay.

HENRIK STENSON: You have to talk in it.

KEVIN NA: I don't have much to say.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: We'll have some fun but it's match play. We all know anything can happen,

but I think our team is ready to take them on

Q. How do you feel, your team being the first to get picked out of the gate?

KEVIN NA: I'm glad they picked us. The South Africans have been playing pretty well this year. I know they just missed being -- advance to getting a bye this Sunday and I think they are luck is going the other way.

I have the better southern African on my team, Scott Vincent. But I think he's going to be the key. Forget the Koreans, but yeah, the Southern African.

THE MODERATOR: All right. Let's move on. The second pick, we have Fireballs GC. You get the second pick. Who do you have, Sergio?

SERGIO GARCIA: We are going to pick the Majesticks.

THE MODERATOR: Fireballs versus the Majesticks. Talk us through that decision process.

SERGIO GARCIA: I think every team is strong. No one of them is going to be easy. I just felt like our matchups could work nicely again Majesticks.

Obviously we know what they are capable of but they also know what we can do, and we are in a good moment of the season for us, so we are happy about it.

THE MODERATOR: Henrik has a stare on that side of the table.

Henrik, Sergio, he's obviously got one of the best records in match play. How do you feel going up against him?

HENRIK STENSON: We all had our interesting moments down here at Doral, so I think I'm feeling pretty good on the 13th. And yeah, I guess they just want to have a Saturday off. (Laughter) it.

SERGIO GARCIA: Someone will.

THE MODERATOR: Next up, Cam Smith, left with not many choices. Who are you selecting?

CAMERON SMITH: The Cleeks.

THE MODERATOR: So we have Cam versus Martin Kaymer.

Cam, they have just had a fantastic week in Jeddah, collectively as a team, got their very first podium. Talk us through your decision process, how do you feel about the match?

CAMERON SMITH: To be honest, I thought Sergio was going to pick the Cleeks, just given the ranking, the whole season. But understandably --

SERGIO GARCIA: Full of surprises.

CAMERON SMITH: -- the guys had a good week last week. So maybe that went into the decision a little bit, and yeah, we're looking forward to playing them on Friday.

THE MODERATOR: Martin, you're going up against Cam. He's obviously had a fantastic season. How are you feeling? What are your thoughts of your match and your team's matches?

MARTIN KAYMER: Obviously playing against Cam is going to be tricky but it's always going to feel nice if you have a chance to win against The Open Champion. So I'm going to take on that challenge.

We had a very good tournament last week. So we are coming in strong. Sergio was scared, obviously.

SERGIO GARCIA: Obviously.

MARTIN KAYMER: Didn't pick us. No, but I'm very confident. Match play, anything is possible and hopefully Cam's putter is not as hot as it usually is.

THE MODERATOR: That will be a challenge.

MARTIN KAYMER: That will be a challenge but I'm up for it.

THE MODERATOR: That leaves us with just two teams and a very intriguing matchup: Smash GC versus HyFlyers GC, which means, Brooks and Phil. You guys will get to play together against each other.

Brooks, we'll start with you. You both are not strangers to any match plays. How do you feel going up against Phil?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I didn't really get much option in this (laughter).

Yeah, so we're playing, or I'm stuck with Phil, and the rest of the guys are playing with the other guys. It will be a good matchup. It will be fun. We'll see. We'll see how it goes.

THE MODERATOR: Your thoughts, Phil?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I think that Brooks has played some of the best golf of anybody in the world this year. He won the PGA. He played phenomenal in the majors. Played phenomenal out here. Just won last week. Like it's not -- there's a lot of other guys I would rather be playing against.

So I've got my work cut out for me, but I have the utmost respect for him and any time I have a chance to play with him or against him, I enjoy it.

He is always professional to play with, play against, and I expect that we are going to have a fun match. But there's also a mutual respect between us that I believe we share. And I think it's going to be, you know, very professional and I'm hoping that I can play some of my best golf because I know I need to to just make it competitive.

THE MODERATOR: So, there you have it, four matches for Friday. Just to recap, it is Stinger versus Iron Heads, followed by Fireballs versus the Majesticks, then we do have Ripper versus Cleeks, and last but not least Smash versus HyFlyers.

Now that we know the team matchups, we need to reveal the players that will be competing against each other. Now, this is the first time we are going to be hearing of all of this. I don't know who is playing against who, either. Captains don't even know who the other captains have selected to play individual matches or the foursomes so this is going to be fun. Lots of great storylines.

As a reminder, the captains will play each other in the individual match play. So it is now time to reveal the individual matches.

First up Stinger versus Iron Heads. Obviously we have Louis versus Kevin. The other singles match will be Branden Grace versus Scott Vincent, and that leaves us for the foursome with Deane Burmester, Charl Schwartzel, Sihwan Kim and Danny Lee.

Louis, we'll start with you. How do you feel about the matchups? What was your decision to not put Branden in the foursomes?

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: Basically kept it the same as last year. Me and Branden was on singles last year, and he's pretty good with doing his own thing. He gets in that little bubble that he normally gets in.

And yeah, we put Charl and Dean together, the two of them is going to try and keep each other calm, which would be interesting to see but the two of them will be a great matchup as foursomes.

THE MODERATOR: Kevin, what about you? Scott Vincent got the other nod for singles. Is that this because of how he played in Jeddah?

KEVIN NA: You know Branden Grace is obviously a strong player and I felt like with the stingers, they would pick Branden Grace as a single match. Like I said, I think I have the better Southern African, and I think it will be a good match between them.

And Sihwan begged me not to put him in the individual. That's why we have him with Danny, and as long as he doesn't hit the tee ball I think we are looking really good. Love you guys.

THE MODERATOR: Punches, punches. The gloves are off.

Next up Fireballs versus Majesticks, the captains singles will be Sergio versus Henrik. So the other singles match will be Smash Eugenio Chacarra versus Sam Horsfield, and the foursome will be left with Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortíz versus Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood.

Anything you've got to say over there, Ian? They are ready.

All right. Well, Sergio, you picked the Majesticks with many teams on the board. You know, Ian and Lee have such a great experience with match play, Ian being one of the best, possibly in the game. How do you feel about Carlos and Abe going up against those two?

SERGIO GARCIA: Well, first of all, I'm glad that he's ready to go now because he still has to wait a day and a half.

No, I think to be totally honest, obviously I talked to my team. We talked last week. I mean, I would put Abraham and Carlos against anybody. You know, we were joking about it yesterday, and I was like, I would put them against Brooks and Bryson and I will be very comfortable with it.

So I think that it's a very, very strong team. Obviously Eugenio is a wonderful player and he's got so much potential, and a guy that can shoot a really, really low round any given day.

So you know, I think like I said earlier, it's not going to be an easy match. None of them are going to be. But I have a lot of faith in my guys, and I like the matchup, and that's what I went with.

THE MODERATOR: You have a lot of experience in match play, obviously. Is there going to be some advice you're going to give to your boys?

SERGIO GARCIA: We'll talk a little bit. I mean, they know. They know what we have to do. But we always have little talks here and there to make sure that they are ready and if they have any doubts, you know, that I'm here to help in any way.

THE MODERATOR: Perfect.

Now, Henrik, what was your reason putting Sam in the singles instead of perhaps Poulter playing in the singles?

HENRIK STENSON: I think we saw that they were going to putt Abe and Carlos together, and unfortunately they couldn't play Bryson and Brooks, so they got a tough matchup against Ian and Lee.

Yeah, just feels like we are going to let Sam play his own game, and he's ready for that.

Yeah, looking forward to Friday.

THE MODERATOR: Okay. Next up. We've got River GC captain and Cleeks. Cam and Martin, you guys are going to play against each other. The other matchup will be Marc Leishman versus Richard Bland. That leaves Matt Jones and Jediah Morgan a Morgan versus Graeme McDowell and Bernd Wiesberger.

Cam, let's talk about your selections with your team and Matt and Jed playing together, and why would you put Marc as a singles. What was your thought process?

CAMERON SMITH: Well, I think Leish has been playing some of the best golf of anyone out here recently. I think it's been pretty set in stone now for a couple of months to be honest. Jed and Jonesy have known they are going to play together for a little bit now.

It's a really strong driving golf course, and Jed and Jonesy are two of the best drivers out here. So I think that will set each other up nicely. Yeah, I think they will be tough to beat.

THE MODERATOR: Martin, interesting selection. Last year you had Blandie played with Graeme in the pairings. You switched it up this year. Your decision, why did you decide to do that?

MARTIN KAYMER: Well, Richard obviously had a very strong season. He played really well, very consistent. He also could have played foursomes. You know, anybody would like to play with him because he doesn't make many mistakes.

But I think with G-Mac and Bernd, they have good Ryder Cup experience and they are very good in match play and also consistent player but Richard felt like he really wanted to play singles when I asked him, and the other two, they were happy playing foursomes.

I think it's a good matchup. It's going to be very tight and it's going to be very difficult to win but as I said, match play, I feel comfortable playing against any team.

THE MODERATOR: Last but certainly not the least we have Brooks playing between -- well, Brooks playing against, I should say, Phil. So the other singles match, Jason Kokrak and Cameron Tringale. That would leave with us Chase Koepka and Matthew Wolff versus James Piot and Brendan Steele.

Brooks, how are you feeling about your matchups, your singles, foursomes match, playing against Phil, all that? Feeling strong?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I feel good about my match against Phil, and as Phil should, as well. Dave has playing pretty solid this year. So I felt like he was the obvious choice to put him out in singles. And Jason Wolff, going to foursome, I think he probably knew that that was coming.

It will be interesting to see what happens.

THE MODERATOR: Well, Phil, you obviously didn't have much of a choice playing against Smash but talk us through your decisions with Cameron playing the singles and James and Brendan playing in foursomes.

PHIL MICKELSON: I think the other singles match with Jason and Cameron Tringale is going to be a really exciting match. Last year, Smash played some great golf, got into the finals and Jason Kokrak played exceptionally well if the finals, hit some great shots. I remember the shot he hit into No. 9. The pin was front right, and he just hit the shot in there to three or four feet. It's one of the harder shots out here. He plays this golf course well, and I think it's going to be a really good match.

Now, Camo has been one of our best players. He's been our best player throughout the year. He's been more consistent than just about anybody that I've seen.

Camo has a lot of ammo in his game, and I expect him to come out shooting on Friday and I think that that's going to make for a very good match. I think that's going to be one of the most exciting matches that we have.

And Steeley and I guess Man-of, Young Master Riot, they have a really good rapport with each other, and I feel like they just have a lot of laughs. They uplift each other. And when they play together in our friendly matches with our partners, they just have a certain energy that brings out some good golf and I think that's going to make for a really fun match.

I like these matchups because I think it's going to be some exciting golf.

THE MODERATOR: I will now turn it over to our lovely Jane to open up questions for the media.

Okay, we are going to open it up to the press.

Q. So Phil, a year ago, you and Brooks had a bit of a spicy back-and-forth. I don't think Brooks is wearing a green shirt today. Are you disappointed in that?

PHIL MICKELSON: Yeah, I mean, I don't have anything to say but compliments about Brooks and his play and what he's done this year and what he's done for his own game but also for LIV Golf. I'm excited for the opportunity to play against him, but like I said, there's a lot of other guys I'd rather play against.

He just won last week and he's played some exceptional golf, and I'm going to have to bring out some of my best golf just to make me competitive.

BROOKS KOEPKA: I wouldn't call that "spicy." I've known Phil for a long time now and I'm pretty sure that if there's anybody up here who can take the trash talk, it's Phil. I wouldn't call that spicy.

Q. You wouldn't call it spicy?

BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I'm sure he would say the same thing.

PHIL MICKELSON: No. That was very subtle last year for what we both are capable of, I would say.

Q. You were not able to play here last year. How excited are you to get the opportunity to compete in the team championship?

MARTIN KAYMER: Last year was very difficult, coming here, being the captain, not competing, but the team did well last year. They won their first match.

This year, obviously I'm on the team. I know the golf course well from the past, from the World Golf Championships events we played here. My game is getting better. I'm still obviously recovering from my injury.

But last week I played the way I usually play. So I'm back in form, I would say, and that made me -- that gave me a little bit more confidence going into this week.

Obviously playing against Cam, as Phil said, I would also rather play against someone else but that's how it is, and I look really forward to the challenge. That is one of the biggest challenges out here, and it's going to be a cool matchup between him and me.

Q. And Cam, obviously you played well here last year, shot 65 in the final round I think. How much are you looking forward to getting back on this course, especially after probably a little bit of disappointment last week?

CAMERON SMITH: Yeah, I enjoyed the golf course last year. I thought it was really fun. It's obviously a pretty tough golf course. I think from the team perspective, you know, we played well in Bedminster, and these courses have a lot in common. Obviously different grasses and stuff. But they are tough, long golf courses with a lot of hazards on it.

Yeah, we've done well there, and there's no reason why we can't do the same again this week with this setup.

Q. Did you seriously not know you would win an extra 4 million on Sunday, and have you got some crap or that since?

BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I did not know. I was more interested in trying to win the golf tournament. And while you're out there, the leaderboard didn't show what the individual standings was. So I had no idea where -- where I was at. I was more focused on actually trying to win an event.

Q. What was your reaction when you found out?

BROOKS KOEPKA: It's always a nice little bonus. I'll take that.

Q. Obviously you've had problems on your team this year. How would you set about trying to integrate Matt back into the team this week?

BROOKS KOEPKA: What was the last part?

Q. How would you set about trying to integrate Matt back into the team this week, because it's the team championship.

BROOKS KOEPKA: I mean, it's the same thing it is every week. He's only in control of what he can do. You know, if I go win my match, Jas goes and wins his, you've only got to win two out of three.

Chase is his partner, so we'll see how that goes. Golf, anything can happen.

Q. Do you have much interaction with him now?

BROOKS KOEPKA: No, I don't. We don't have much interaction, no.

Q. Is that a shame, as a captain? Don't you think you should?

BROOKS KOEPKA: I've tried. I've spent majority of the beginning of the year trying to help and trying to figure that out. But I think it's past its point. I've tried. I've been very open on it -- with it, and sometimes you can't help people that don't want help.

Q. Could you talk about how your team's mindset might have changed based on that very strong finish in Jeddah, the three counting scores, 18-under, which is the best of all 12 teams?

MARTIN KAYMER: Yeah, obviously we go into this week with a little more confidence than if we would not have performed the way we did in Jeddah, Richard, it wasn't a big surprise he played well because he played well all year, very consistent. It's just a matter of time where you have one of those days where you make a few more putts that you shoot those 7-, 8-unders.

Graeme and Bernd, they really didn't find their game this year the way. It sounded when I talked to them, it was all there, but they couldn't really score, and when we played practice rounds, Bernd was playing good enough but he couldn't get it done in the golf tournament. And G-Mac was pretty much the same. I think on Sunday, they let loose and showed what they are capable of. It was nice to see.

You know, I didn't mind to be the worst scorer on Sunday. That's a very good sign when we shoot 18-under par, and that's what you need in match play.

You need a lot of birdies. I think it's important knowing that you can do that. You haven't done it in a while but threesomes, you have. I think that is big going into a match-play tournament, and that definitely did change a little of the mindset going into this week, I would say.

Q. Louis, we don't know the matchups yet for Saturday, obviously. On the basis that you guys are playing, we have a very unusual Saturday with England playing South Africa in two different World Cups. India, better time difference. France, not so much. Are you guys planning to keep track of what's going on with the rugby or what is your plan?

KEVIN NA: They will be watching it from the couch. I don't know what you're talking about. You make it seem -- come on. My boys are ready.

LOUIS OOSTHUIZEN: If the plans don't go well on Friday, we probably are watching it from the couch but hopefully we are not watching it from the couch.

Yeah, look, it is a bit weird. We had a very good match the other day against France and going through to the semifinals. It's going to be brutal miss it if we are on the golf course but I'm sure we'll be watching it after the round many way.

Q. My question is for Phil. We saw your reaction last week to the OWGR ruling, and I just wanted to follow on that to you. They did open the door or leave open the possibility that LIV could resubmit its bid or its application. How do you feel about that? Do you feel that LIV should reapply? Do you think that they should make the changes that they are sort of hinting at to try to comply, whenever that might be?

PHIL MICKELSON: I guess I don't -- I'm just bringing like facts to life as to like why that's happening. But really, we as a group, as a league that's trying to grow the game and bring it globally and promote the game throughout the world, as well as bring something different than the old, stodgy format that we've had for decades, we just need to focus on what we are doing and make our product as good as possible, as interesting as possible. We need to make tweaks into our program. The OWGR need to obviously make tweaks but we need to tweak our format to continue to evolve and be more interesting and easier to understand.

We have enough on our plate to make our product more and more exciting and appealing that we shouldn't worry ourselves with what they are doing.

But I do want to bring to light as to why exactly they are doing what they are doing. It's not what they are putting out there on the front page. There's a lot more going on behind the scenes as to the importance of us to the getting points to the PGA TOUR.

Q. If I can just follow, does that mean then that even if you made the changes that they seem to be suggesting, more pathways to the League, sounds to be the big thing, that it wouldn't matter?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think that the majors need to protect their product, and there's probably other ways that they can do that by creating slots. If they want to make sure they have the best fields in golf, they could create vehicles for players on LIV to play in majors where they don't have to use the OWGR, which would undermine the TV contract and revenue of the PGA TOUR if they gave points to LIV.

Q. Are following up on what you said earlier you said LIV needs to continue to evolve. How would you like to see LIV evolve now that you've seen it for one full season now?

PHIL MICKELSON: Well, we have a lot of ideas internally and I think we should keep that there because we still have to do not only -- we might have ideas but we have to see if they are good ideas, if they are going to work.

But when you're a start up, and we have only been around a year and a half, you look at the quality of players that we have already, and that's going to continue to improve next year and it's going to continue to improve the following year.

It's important that we continue to evolve our product, our presentation. This was kind of the idea at the beginning. Like we thought, okay, we'll have the team championship, we'll have the individual part. But all of that is flexible and should be evolved so that based on fans' needs and wants, as well as television and other entities, so it's easier to understand and becomes more appealing.

Q. You got Cam last year, and Brooks this year. Two of the best players out here. Not the easiest draws you've had for match play. Cam said last year you had a little gamesmanship in your match and said you designed of took forever out there. Are you planning on using that again this year against Brooks to try and slow him about a little bit?

CAMERON SMITH: Forever is an understatement. (Laughter). I think we were three holes behind through eight holes maybe or something.

SERGIO GARCIA: The guys in front were making a lot of birdies.

PHIL MICKELSON: I wasn't intentionally playing slow. I know that in the '21 PGA final round, Brooks felt the same way. But really, all I was trying to do was get a visualization of the shot and get in kind of like my own little bubble and world. Maybe I was playing slow; maybe I wasn't. It wasn't my intent. My intent was to get into a calm state and have good visualization and play my best golf. And unfortunately I lost on the last hole to Cam.

But look, I'm going to be trying to do the same thing tomorrow. I'm not trying to play slow. I'm always saying, look, go ahead. Go ahead and hit. Like I'm not trying to throw you out of your rhythm but I don't want to be taken out of mine, either.

Q. Any discussions you've had with Chase, what the difference was this year to last year? He seemed to have a better year last year, and where his game is and your confidence that he can play his way back into the league.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, obviously he's got that option where he can go play The Asian Tour and try to work his way back. That's up to him. I don't know. We haven't had that talk of just trying to figure out what exactly the next step for him is, right. He's got to be confident whatever decision he makes.

I can't knock him. He's tried. I mean, I've spent hours working with him. We've gone out and practiced a bunch. He hasn't given up. He's tried the whole way through, and I'll never knock anybody as long as you're going to give maximum effort.

Unfortunately, look, I've been through spells, everybody up here has been through spells where they just don't play good.

So I think I've got sympathy for him when it comes to that. He worked hard, and sometimes the results don't show right away. Hopefully they can show if he chooses to go The Asian Tour route and keep playing over there, and hopefully he'll make it back out here. I'd love to have him again.

Q. Similar to what Phil answered, what is your stance on the situation with the World Golf Ranking points and the future with LIV in those points?

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, I'll be honest, I haven't dove into it that much from -- coming back from, or I think we were on a flight when it was announced, maybe, going last week. I'm not really sure when it was but I haven't looked into it too much.

Yeah, it would be nice if we got World Ranking points because at the end of the day I think it's hard to argue that some of these guys here are not the best players in the world. These guys deserve to be in majors that have been in majors.

So hopefully there's a pathway for them to at least get into majors because I think there's quite a few guys out here that I think deserve to be in those.

Q. How nice is it to have sort of a home game for you to finish out the season, and will your son be attending any of the rounds this week and has he seen you on a course yet play?

BROOKS KOEPKA: No, he's not seen me on a course yet. Yeah, he'll be -- him and Jena are going to come down later in the week. I don't think he's going to come to the course. But it would be nice to finally I guess get done playing -- or get done practicing, whatever it might be, and get to go home and go spend time with him. New experience for me, so I'm looking forward to it.

Q. My question is for Cam, Brooks, Phil and Kevin Na. All four of you have teammates that are in the relegation spot. There's going to be a promotion event that happens in a few weeks where they have one last chance to get in the top three to earn their spot back to LIV Golf next year. If one of your guys is in one of three spots, are you taking them back on your team, Cam, Phil, Kevin and Brooks, what do you think?

CAMERON SMITH: There's a lot to think about there. You know, personally, and I think all the other guys up here know, as well, what Jed is capable of. We all saw it at Bedminster, one of the hardest days out there and he blew us all away on Sunday. We know he can do that day-in, day-out. He just needs to do it. We are all there to help him. I think getting him back out here is important.

Also, if he wasn't to make it, I think a year where he could develop his game elsewhere and become a more consistent player and a better player might not be the worst thing. So there's a lot of stuff to think about. He's still a young professional.

BROOKS KOEPKA: Yeah, listen, I watched Chase work over the last year and a half. Spent more time around him. It's been fun for me to see him evolve, grow as a person, grow as a man. I'd take him back in a heartbeat.

You know, he's just got to go out and do -- play good. Simple as that.

PHIL MICKELSON: I think he's an incredible talent. Our team is very invested in his success and we want him to succeed. We've enjoyed our time together. So he's a great addition to the team, and we're going to miss him if he's not on the team because of the many intangibles he brings.

But the reality is, I've been fielding calls, as we all have, from players that are free agents to PGA TOUR players to DP World Tour players that want to come over. You know, the spot's probably going to be filled by the time the qualifying tournament is here.

So if I'm just being truthful, that's a very real possibility. And even if it is filled, there's always the possibility of a trade to get him back. There's ways this could work out. But I think there's a good chance based on the number of calls that we've had that the spot will be filled fairly soon.

KEVIN NA: Sihwan has had a tough year. I played with him last week on Sunday and I saw his game improve quite a bit. It's been difficult to watch.

But I'd say for a guy who has gone through a rough year like this, he's been the best sport I've ever seen. He's been working hard. Every time, even though he's played poorly, he's tried every shot. I give him props for that and his game is coming around. We saw him last year, how well he played in Thailand and what he's capable of, and winning The Asian Tour International Series money title.

We always tell him that, look, you're probably going to go win one of those Q-School and be back on the team. And if he doesn't, we are still going to be friends. We are already talking about seeing him in Korea when we go over there and having a good time.

I think the friendship is going to last forever. But we wish him the best and we hope to see him back on the team.

Q. Phil, sorry, you said earlier on that you expect LIV to improve next year and have better players or more top players, and then you said then that you've had loads of calls from DP World Tour players and PGA TOUR players. Do you think there's going to be another sort of exodus? Because it's been sort of -- the drain's sort of stopped. The move-over's has stopped, but do you think get another trench of it now?

PHIL MICKELSON: Do I think that? No. I know that's going to happen.

When players look at LIV, they are wanting to be a part of it. Everybody here is happy and enjoying what we are doing and enjoying the team aspect of it and enjoying each other and the camaraderie and enjoying playing golf globally and all the benefits that come with playing this tour.

So there's a lot of players that see that and want to be a part of it. The question is, you know, how many spots are available. There's a lot more players that want to come than there are spots.

Q. And you don't think the merger talks will affect that?

PHIL MICKELSON: I think the merger talks allow for it. I think it allows and kind of opens the door for that, yeah.

Q. Say the promotion event in December, start of December in Abu Dhabi, that's against The European Tour event, and they will have to ask for releases. Do you still think that they will go for it even though they will probably get fined?

PHIL MICKELSON: There's a lot of players that could be signed not even through the qualifying. You know, there's spots on teams that are open that players want to come over and be a part of.

HENRIK STENSON: I have a question. Sergio, on Saturday when you're watching England play South Africa, which team will you support?

SERGIO GARCIA: (Pausing thoughtfully).

I don't know, you tell me (laughing).

HENRIK STENSON: See you on Friday.