THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 27, 2024

Mike Weir

Jim Furyk

Royal Montreal Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: At this time, I'd like to turn it over to chief referee Gary Young to facilitate pairings for round 3 four-ball matches.

GARY YOUNG: Good evening, everyone. Welcome to round 3 pairings for the Presidents Cup. Round 3 will be played four-ball format and consists of four matches. 8 out of the 12 players will be selected for play. Team totals following round 2 are the International Team 5 points and the United States team 5 points.

The United States team selected first in round 2, so the International Team will be selecting first in round 3.

Captain Weir, your selections for match 11, please.

MIKE WEIR: Adam Scott, Taylor Pendrith.

GARY YOUNG: The International Team selects Adam Scott and Taylor Pendrith.

Captain Furyk, your picks, please.

JIM FURYK: Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa.

GARY YOUNG: The United States team selects Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa.

The United States team will pick first in match 12.

JIM FURYK: Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele.

GARY YOUNG: The United States selects Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele.

Captain Weir?

MIKE WEIR: Corey Conners, Mackenzie Hughes.

GARY YOUNG: The International Team selects Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes.

Captain Weir, you'll pick first in match 13.

MIKE WEIR: Si Woo Kim, Tom Kim.

GARY YOUNG: International Team selects Si Woo Kim and Tom Kim.

Captain Furyk?

JIM FURYK: Keegan Bradley, Wyndham Clark.

GARY YOUNG: The United States selects Keegan Bradley and Wyndham Clark.

Captain Furyk, your picks for match 14, please.

JIM FURYK: Patrick Cantlay, Sam Burns.

GARY YOUNG: The United States selects Patrick Cantlay and Sam Burns.

Captain Weir, your picks for match 14.

MIKE WEIR: Hideki Matsuyama, Sungjae Im.

GARY YOUNG: The International Team selects Hideki Matsuyama and Sungjae Im.

The first match tomorrow morning will be played at 7:02 a.m. A reminder the United States team will have the honor on the 1st tee. The weather forecast calls for partly sunny guys, 70 degrees Fahrenheit, 21 degrees celsius.

Gentlemen, get some rest tonight. We've got a lot of golf ahead of us tomorrow.

Q. Mike, what were some of the big moments either yesterday or this morning, no matter who said them, that kind of kept your spirits up? I heard something that Mackenzie Hughes might have given a speech on the bus ride over today. I'm sure you guys said stuff. What comes to mind as the critical moments to avoid falling into despair?

MIKE WEIR: I don't think there's any like one moment or one or two moments. I think it's collective. We're all in this together. We all had a great belief. I was just so proud of the guys, how they fought, as I told you guys that yesterday. The guys fought. That message was loud and clear to the guys.

They knew we were right in the matches. Like it went our way today, it went their way yesterday. That's golf as we know.

I wouldn't say there's any one moment. They're just so bonded. The guys are saying things and us captains are as well. Yeah, just collective.

Q. Could you give me your thoughts on Jason Day's chip on 18, degree of difficulty, how much it meant, et cetera.

MIKE WEIR: What a beautiful chip. I was kind of near the front of the green. I couldn't tell exactly the lie or anything like that. I knew it was going to be a difficult chip. He's one of the best in the world at that, and it was a beautiful chip. Unbelievable.

Q. As well as you guys played yesterday and the matches all went against you and the belief in your team, fight and spirit and all that good stuff, you show up this morning with no room for error given the start. Did any of that make you nervous, and what kind of emotions did you have seeing the boards filled with yellow at some point during the day?

MIKE WEIR: Shoot, look, the game is a game of nerves and controlling nerves, but I was confident in our guys. I'm just so proud of the guys, so pumped for them. To play that well yesterday and not have any points on the board was disappointing. So to see their hard work and them sticking in there and us captains and myself asking them to stick in there and believe, couldn't be happier. Just so proud of them.

Q. Mike, what was your message to the team last night before they left the cabin?

MIKE WEIR: I get it, but I'm not going to give away what I'm saying all the time in there. They just -- I'm proud of the way they responded. They've just responded to everything we've asked them to do, and they've been open minded about things, and super proud of them.

Q. I'll try again. Have you changed your blueprint at all going into Thursday or today?

MIKE WEIR: Going into Thursday -- yeah, we didn't change anything today. We had a plan for the best ball and alternate shot. Yeah, we made a few adjustments for tomorrow morning.

Q. Awesome day obviously. Corey and Mac, they won their match today of course, and you're trying them out again tomorrow. What did you see from them specifically? You're talking about how proud you are of all guys, but what did you see from them specifically that really stood out?

MIKE WEIR: Obviously those guys are great friends. There's just great flow and vibe with those guys out there, the camaraderie, and they played great.

What we thought was on paper showed up. There was great ball striking. There was great putting, great short games. I mean, what I thought was going to happen. The result, you never think that those scores, but we had a feeling they would play well and gel well, I would say.

Q. I'm always curious what goes into the decision-making with sometimes maybe you want to balance out your best players, sometimes maybe you do want to combine, say, Collin and Scottie tomorrow. I'm just curious when's the right time you want to get the best guys together and certain times where you think it's better to balance them out?

JIM FURYK: I think Mike would sit over there and say the same thing; when you start talking about your best guys, we're confident in all 12 guys. I think it's really the combos of four-balls and foursomes. I think it also changes from ten-man and eight-man, if that makes sense.

I think I would say the same thing as Mike. We had a pretty good plan or had a plan for Thursday and Friday coming in. You're going to make some adjustments for Saturday. But I think a lot has to do with your ten-man, eight-man lineups as well.

Russ has played his heart out and played great. I guess that's probably hard to not have him play in the morning tomorrow because he and Scottie have gelled so well. But we're also trying to manage some effort levels, and there's lots that goes into it emotion-wise as well.

I said the same thing yesterday; it's trying to maximize your ten men on the golf course or your eight men on the golf course.

Q. For both of you, I'll start with you, Mike, same question, how would you compare the atmosphere in the crowds today to yesterday?

MIKE WEIR: They were clearly more energetic today, bigger crowds. I said, I think, on the Golf Channel, I thought maybe half of Montreal took the day off of work. The crowds were that big out there and really energized from the get-go, from the 1st hole. It was fantastic.

I certainly hope it's just as loud this weekend. I believe it will be. We're really hoping they come out loud and strong like they did today.

Q. Did it feel like more of an away game today, Jim, than yesterday?

JIM FURYK: Yeah, absolutely. Yesterday the crowds weren't nearly as big yesterday as they were today. Yesterday we had the momentum, so the crowds that were here we were able to silence a little bit. Opposite thing today. More people here today, a lot louder on the 1st tee, and the Internationals gave them a lot to cheer for, a lot of big moments, a lot of great shots.

My hat's off to them. Those guys played really well. For alternate shot, there was a lot of birdies made and a lot of guys that were well under par.

Q. Two sweeps, Jim, but yesterday they were all pretty tight matches. Today I think you guys led for a total of one hole all day, and most of them were a pretty thorough beating. How do you kind of regain -- I don't know confidence, but kind of regain momentum going into the start of tomorrow?

JIM FURYK: I think the same way -- I said yesterday in some interviews, their back's against the wall. They're going to come out firing. Well, I'm sure my guys are a little pissed off right now back there in the team room. The idea is to come out firing tomorrow.

We're going to face a loud crowd again. It's the weekend. We can expect that same 1st tee experience that we saw today.

I sure liked it a lot better when I saw a lot of red on the board rather than a lot of gold, but we have to do the same thing. We have to just kind of -- I'm sure there's going to be some guys that stand up in our room today and have some stuff to say about what they saw on the golf course. I'm going to rely on my leaders tonight for some messaging as well.

Q. Mike, you said you made some adjustments for tomorrow's matchups based on today. Are we at the point in this competition where form matters more than numbers or any of that data or anything?

MIKE WEIR: It's definitely a factor. You have stuff down on paper that you have an idea about, and then once the competition starts, you do start to formulate some things in your mind and you talk through things with your captains and players and caddies and everybody communicates. Yeah, that's all helpful going forward to make the small adjustments.

Q. I'm just curious, with a 7:02 start, being in downtown, when's wake-up call tomorrow? Coffee runs, breakfast, all that stuff. When do you have to get up and leave? Before the strikers probably.

JIM FURYK: Don't tempt them. Probably -- I would imagine we're probably leaving at 4:15, somewhere in there tomorrow. That would be my guess. 4:15, 4:30 maybe from the hotel. I'll ask the guys what time they want to arrive.

We've got Scottie and Collin out in the first group, so they get to make the decision.

MIKE WEIR: Yeah, same as Jim. Talk to the guys that are going out first and decide what time they want to be there, but it's an early start. Long day tomorrow.