THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 28, 2024

Taylor Pendrith

Si Woo Kim

Tom Kim

Royal Montreal Golf Club

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good evening. I'd like to welcome Tom Kim, Si Woo Kim, and Taylor Pendrith to the interview room. We'll go ahead and get started.

Q. Taylor, how was it playing two rounds back-to-back? Have you recovered over basically 12 hours of golf today?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: Yeah, it was a quick turnaround, but we all knew that we were potentially going to play 36 today. It was a long day out there. I'm pretty tired, yeah. I was happy to put a point on the board this afternoon for the International Team, but it's been a long day.

Q. For Si Woo, what was running through your head when you chipped in there?

SI WOO KIM: Yeah, it was just exciting. That's what we needed. I didn't expect the ball was going to go in, but I was so excited.

Yeah, my favorite NBA player is Steph Curry, so that's what I did. It didn't finish well, but yeah, I was excited.

Q. Taylor, what do you think the message from Mike Weir is going to be tonight? Obviously a long day today, but from the captain's perspective, what do you think the message is going to be?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: I think just keep fighting. We're right there. Obviously we're going to need a really solid day, and everybody's going to have to play great to put points up on the board, but we're right there and really good day tomorrow can win this thing.

I think everybody's got to bring their best stuff. Obviously it's not the day we were looking for, but we're going to come ready tomorrow, and we're going to play great.

Q. Obviously not the ending you guys were hoping for there, but just wondering what you learned about your respective playing partner today?

TOM KIM: I feel like today, playing with Si Woo for back-to-back rounds just showed us that our chemistry does work; it's not just a one-time thing. We only got to play once in Charlotte, but I felt like we backed it up.

We took Keegan and Wyndham down pretty good in the morning, and we fought really hard at the end. It was really obvious I did not have my best in the afternoon. My partner saved me a lot today. It's frustrating because I really feel I could have done a lot more.

Hopefully we'll have opportunities to have better finishes from time to time.

Q. Si Woo, what did you learn about Tom today from playing with him?

SI WOO KIM: I used to not really positive on the golf course when something start bad, but he's always been positive, and he kept telling me like, even if we lost the hole, he kept telling me, it's all right. We can keep doing it. We've still got a lot of holes.

That's what I learned from him. His mentality helps me a lot.

Q. Taylor, I know Thursday was a little bit quieter out there. What's it been like playing in front of this crowd the last couple days?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: It's been unreal. I think yesterday compared to day 1 was totally different. They were really loud and really rooting the boys on. We had a great day then. Today even first tee shot this morning at 7:02 it was loud and it was packed.

The fans are all out. It's been really cool. It's a very cool atmosphere. I think that they're really pulling the International Team to get some points. They've been loud. You can hear the roars from a few fairways over, and you know what's happening. That's what we were hoping for, and they've showed up.

Q. For all three of you, it was obviously a long, emotional, exhausting day. Did you guys feel like you had plenty of gas left at the end, or was it hard to kind of push through?

TOM KIM: I think the start of the round was definitely a little harder, but as it got towards the end, it got a little feisty out there. I could hear some players cursing at us. That part wasn't really -- I don't think there was good sportsmanship there. But it's all part of the fun. I understand it.

So the U.S. Team definitely motivated us to go out there.

Q. Tom, just wondering, the response you had on Friday to what happened Thursday, does that give you confidence heading into tomorrow that four points isn't insurmountable?

TOM KIM: Absolutely. I feel like this week again, just as it's been the last many, many years, there's just so many little things that aren't going our way. There's so many lip-outs. I feel like the opposite team is getting some good kicks.

Obviously you could see a shot, like on 16, that ball normally goes in the water every time, and it stayed up, and they made par. Si Woo had to make an unbelievable chip to make birdie, but there's just certain things that -- even in Charlotte, there's so many little things that didn't go our way. Obviously on the greens, a lot of lip-outs, a lot of small putts.

But I do believe in this team. We've got the crowd. It is a different situation. I believe in my teammates. I'm very tired right now, but I am not going to lie, I am so motivated to go out tomorrow and post a number because I feel like, because we've lost so many times, there's going to be one day where it's just going to be our day. I believe it's tomorrow.

I feel all these guys are going to go out there, we're going to try our best. If we fall short, we'll try again. That's what we are. We'll keep trying. There's going to be one time when we're going to hold the Cup, and it's going to be sometime soon.

Q. Tom, I know the wound is still fresh, but just trying to read your body language. It almost seems like there's some anger, or is it frustration? If it is anger, does that have anything to do with some of the sportsmanship issues you were referring to?

TOM KIM: No, absolutely not. I do it too. You see me out there throwing fist pumps and jumping on the green. It's all part of it, I get it. I just don't think there's a need to look at someone and curse at them. I just don't think there's a need for it.

I understand it. I don't get hurt about it. My feelings don't hurt at all. I hope there's no negative comments. That's not what I'm trying to do here. I just feel like there's always little things, like what could I have done better? It's just certain things like that. I put my partner in some tough positions, and that to me is the most frustrating part of the day.

He and I talked about when we got down early let's just push it to 18. Obviously we did, and they had to play good to beat us, so claps to them.

Q. Tom, there were so many swings coming down the last stretch over the last couple of holes. What were your emotions like?

TOM KIM: I made a bad swing on 16. That almost took some life out of me. Just in that situation was a really good number, and to put him where he was, it was tough for me personally. He stepped up.

I don't think there's a situation where he had bigger nerves than he did. To make that chip to give us a chance on 18, it was so unbelievable. Like I said, it's just, man, I wish there was certain things that I could have done better to give us an opportunity. All I can take away from today is, man, we fought really, really hard today.

Q. Obviously you know the margin for error is razor thin. The margins in general are always thin. What have you learned about going up against those guys down the stretch the last few holes about what it's going to take to finish?

TAYLOR PENDRITH: I think we obviously need to hit some very quality shots. It's a very, very solid U.S. Team, and we've got a big task at hand.

But a lot of the matches have gone deep into the holes and have been decided on 18 a lot, so we're right there. I think tomorrow we're going to have to come out and have good energy and play well and get off to a good start.

We've got a tough task, but we're up for it. Yeah, we need to get some points early.