THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 28, 2024

Xander Schauffele

Patrick Cantlay

Sam Burns

Russell Henley

Royal Montreal Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Russell Henley, Sam Burns, Patrick Cantlay, and Xander Schauffele to the interview room.

Q. Pat and Xander, is it hard to kind of stay in the moment when you're playing opponents that are clearly having fun out there and engaging with the crowds, and you're going against a hostile crowd. Is it hard to kind of stay in your own game and not get caught up in the moment?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: No, I think it just motivates us more, if anything. I know I can speak for P.C. here, we wanted to win that match pretty bad. Man, did it feel good when P.C. made that putt there in the dark.

Q. Pat and Xander, did any of the antics of your competitors get under your skin at all today?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Not at all. I mean, they can do whatever they want to do. We've just got to get the ball in the hole faster.

Q. How does this one compare to the one last year at the Ryder Cup?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Very similar. Very similar one with the team around and the sun going down. But the work's not done for this week. That's going to be the message for tonight. The work's not done. We've got to come out tomorrow firing. I know they will. There's still 12 points up for grabs. There's another day left.

Q. For Russell, curious how well you knew Scottie before this week in terms of had you guys hung out? Do you socialize, things like that? Then what did you learn this week playing with him all those times?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I've gotten to know him a little more every year, the last few years, and we have mutual friends. I feel very comfortable playing with him. Sorry, what was the other question?

Q. Just what you learned this week from the time you spent with him, about him?

RUSSELL HENLEY: He's a tough, tough competitor. No matter the situation, he just kind of keeps doing his same thing over and over. He never gets too fast, too slow. What he can do with the golf ball is extremely impressive. So it's been really fun to watch and have him on my team.

Q. Has the thought entered your mind in terms of future Ryder Cups or Presidents Cups, it's a pretty good thing to be the guy who went out with Scottie Scheffler and won a couple matches?

RUSSELL HENLEY: Yeah, I'm really just trying to focus on this week. I haven't gotten too far ahead. I'm just really happy to have won a couple points for the team and looking forward to tomorrow.

Q. Patrick, what does it take mentally and physically to go through a long day like this and finish with a putt like that?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I woke up at 3:00 a.m. this morning, a little before my alarm. You just have to keep telling yourself to refocus and refocus. You know it's going to be a long day going into this morning. I knew it would be. So having Xander by my side in the afternoon to pick me up when I needed it, that's all I can ask for.

With the team all around, coming up the last hole, it's easy to focus then.

Q. Russell, were you or Scottie distracted at all by what happened to the right of 16 fairway after the tee shot?

RUSSELL HENLEY: No, not really. Once it happened, we just kind of refocused and got back in it.

Q. Russell, was there an issue with the drop on 15?

RUSSELL HENLEY: I don't know. I wasn't over there. I think Scottie was kind of handling it, but it looked like they came to an agreement. So I'm not sure.

Q. Xander and Patrick, there seems to be a lot of animation out there, a lot of spirit, to say the least. Do you feel like at times that it crosses the line from being good fun to being in bad taste or bad sportsmanship?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think you know you're showing up to a tournament on foreign soil, and whatever people say, they say. The only thing that's satisfying for us is to win a point, and that's what we did.

Q. Sam, you're the only player here who hasn't lost a match yet. Is there some satisfaction in that?

SAM BURNS: I've had really good partners. I got to play with Patrick a couple matches. I mean, you saw there on 18, the guy's an absolute just assassin.

This team is awesome. There's so many good pairings, and there's so many guys that are extremely talented and really good, and they go out and fight really hard for the team.

I've had a blast this week. It was really fun today, this afternoon with Collin and this morning with Pat. So, yeah, it's been a blast.

Q. It seems like you kind of like to give and take with the crowd a little bit. Is that fair to say?

SAM BURNS: Yeah, I think, you know, if they're going to come at me, why shouldn't I go at them? That seems fair to me. If people are going to shout out behind ropes or whatever and say whatever they want, just because I'm inside of them doesn't mean I can't yell back at them.

I think there's appropriate times for it. I think you've got to let them know that you're not scared of what they say and you're not afraid of a couple laughs with their buddies. They think they tell a good joke. So, yeah, I like it.

Q. Xander, obviously it was a huge putt on 18, but can you just speak to the difference between it could have been you guys miss and they make. That was certainly on the table with that putt being farther away. How big of a swing that is.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It was huge. Looking up at that board, it was looking kind of not that great early on. It was extremely motivating for P.C. and I to see some of these matches start to pancake, or as Sahith says, Mongolian. It was extremely motivating.

These boys, when you've got a really good group of guys that we have, you just want to press and pull and do your part, and you can just celebrate after. It was a really nice way to finish the day. I'm glad Pat made that putt. It's probably the most fired up I've been maybe in my career.

We have a lot of work tomorrow, and we have to earn this thing.

Q. Can you speak to just maybe how tough it is to be on the other end of an opponent -- they chipped in on 16, they made a lot of really good putts.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Sure did.

Q. Forget the celebrating, just the idea of having to deal with that and how hard that is.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, they're competitors. Pat and I, we got a really good look at that at Quail Hollow. I was pretty excited when P.C. and I were able to go back out, especially after we got thromped yesterday -- I don't even know if that's a word, but you get the point. A point's a point. Very satisfying to win it that way.

Q. I guess for Xander and Patrick, Tom Kim was in here not long ago, and he said he heard some players cursing at him and that he didn't think there was good sportsmanship out there. I just thought it was fair to give you guys a chance to respond or comment.

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I mean, I can speak for myself. I felt like Pat and I, we treated the Kims with the utmost respect. We're trying to quiet the crowds down when they were hitting. We're trying to quiet the crowd -- go back on film, quiet the crowds down when we were hitting. It was fair take, give and go.

I have no clue if anyone was doing any of that. I don't believe any of our guys would do something like that. So I'm not sure what he was hearing.

Q. Xander, I think you were the one who actually found the ball at 16. How bad was that lie, and how improbable was that shot? Was that the ultimate Mongolian?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Nice usage (laughter). Hurt more than I thought it would.

P.C. and I were on the back of the green. Si Woo's unbelievable. He hit some unbelievable shots. He hit a couple loose tee shots, but then man, his recovery shots after Tom laid them up were insane.

Pat and I were sitting back there, we both have match play minds, and we both said Si Woo's going to get this up-and-down, and then he holed it. Pat looked at me and said, I guess 4 is not enough; we're going to make some birdies. That's exactly what P.C. did coming in.

Q. Sam used the word "assassin." What's your word for Pat?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I think it's pretty fitting, it being all dark and all. I could barely see him out there. Reading the putt with him was pretty entertaining, using some light from the board. He's just -- I can tell you one thing, I'm never going to play him in the dark or at night. I'll just wait for the morning.

Q. That was kind of my question. Just in general speaking, Pat, you've made an awful lot of big putts, especially this morning. Why do you think you're making them this week?

XANDER SCHAUFFELE: This week, Dougie? I think he leads the most strokes gained, earned for a putting week ever. So he kind of does it often.

Q. Are you going to let him talk? (Laughter.)

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I would have liked to have made some putts earlier in the match. I had some better looks earlier in the match. I think you just need them. I needed them coming down the stretch. We needed them, both Sam and I and Xander and I needed them coming down the stretch on the back nine.

We faced some incredible golf on the other side in both my matches today. The Internationals played great. They made a bunch of birdies. We weren't tying holes with pars. We were tying holes with birdies. When you need them, for some reason, it's just a little easier to find them.

Q. I know you expect him to be somewhat emotional - you saw it at Quail - but what did you think when Si Woo made the chip?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, all the guys were saying that. I didn't even know what the goodnight gesture was until about 10 minutes ago.

I don't care what they do. I know they're going to get amped up if they make birdies. They made a ton of birdies. They got amped up in front of the home crowd. Home crowd loved it. That's great. That's great for golf. We just made one more birdie.