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THE PRESIDENTS CUPOctober 7, 2009Stewart CinkSAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA Q. (Question about Ryder Cup versus Presidents Cup.) STEWART CINK: Well, that's possible. I think time is one of the major things, and continuing to have a quality competition like we have had a lot of times on good tracks that look good on TV, and having the players really care about it. We care. No one wants to lose. And the other team looks pretty good on paper to me. So I think it's great. It's just a matter of time. This is only like the 8th Presidents Cup, and The Ryder Cup has had a lot more editions. So, we'll see. In the future, I think this is just going to continue to get better and better as it has so far. Q. You mentioned the venue, how is Harding Park as a venue? STEWART CINK: Well, I certainly don't mean anything against RTJ, but I think having it on the West Coast is a good thing, because it puts us sort of in a different time slot. In the U.S., it's -- I don't know, it is difficult to have the time barrier when you go to other places like Australia or South Africa, but that's good for The Presidents Cup, because so many of those players from those countries have been real kingpins on this team for so long. So it's fair to their fans there and it's fair to the players. How it contributes to The Presidents Cup continuing to gain popularity and notoriety is a question I don't really know how to answer. Q. (Question about the matches.) STEWART CINK: It matters, just like any other contest in sports. A close game always gets more eyeballs and it's more intriguing and compelling. And the same goes for us. We care a lot more about it when it's really close, or, you know, if we were to lose four or five of these things in a row, don't think for a second that we wouldn't want to come back out here and really try hard to win this thing. Everybody steps on the first tee not wanting to lose. Q. (Question about winning a major and being a future captain.) STEWART CINK: I haven't taken any notes, and certainly haven't really thought about like when it may happen. But after the British Open this year, I didn't think that that put me in position where maybe down the road I might be considered. I would love to do it. I think it would be awesome, but for now I want to be a player and I want to do what I can to contribute to win this thing by hitting golf shots and not by making pairings. Q. Just mentally -- STEWART CINK: I haven't put any thought into that at all. I would liken that to trying to write a victory speech before you come down the 18th hole. I was talking to Justin Leonard last night and a lot of people thought he did a really great job with his British Open victory speech and a lot of people said that same thing to me for some reason. But he and I both agreed that most of the speeches that we have sort of contemplated and thought about as we played that day never, ever had a chance to be spoken. So me thinking about what kind of captain I would ever want to be, that's just a waste of my time and I'll think about that later on. Q. When did you first think -- inaudible. STEWART CINK: Back in May after THE PLAYERS Championship. Q. Did you intend to be apologetic? STEWART CINK: I never intended to be apologetic in any way. Q. You seem humble. STEWART CINK: Well, yeah, I understood the sports world wanted him to win because of the great story that was developing, almost developed. But in a competitive environment in golf when you're between the ropes and you're competing, it doesn't matter who you are competing against. You just want to try to do what you can to win. It was a little unusual situation, but I wouldn't say I was apologetic. I just understood the situation as a sports fan. Q. (Inaudible.) STEWART CINK: Yeah, it is, and the first session is so important, because of that. You know, if you get down -- how many matches do we have? Six? If you get down 4-2, it's just hard to come back out of that hole, because the other team that's ahead, they are confident and they are playing very free golf and they feel like they can win because they have already done it. So it's just tough. You see a lot of The Ryder Cups, especially, and in the morning of the first day, whoever wins that session goes onto win so many times. Q. The Giants jerseys? STEWART CINK: That was a nice touch, and for charity again. There's so much that goes on for charity and that was another thing for charity. My caddie looked good. He played in the Minor Leagues as a catcher for the Detroit Tigers' organization. He played in the organization, I don't think that makes him a fan of the Tigers. He was more of an Atlanta Braves fan. He was more bummed out about them laying an egg the last six games. Q. Frank? STEWART CINK: I didn't even see his number -- oh, I don't know. Michael Jordan. Q. (Inaudible.) STEWART CINK: Not really. The tobacco usage did become a little bit of a story out there, because I saw Michael with a cigar in his mouth that was unlit. He's trying to set a good example for the rest of the people who see on TV what we are doing out here, just try to set a good example and try to chew his tobacco instead of smoke it. Q. (Inaudible.) STEWART CINK: I don't know. The event here, the golf course, the facilities rent it out for a private function, it's called The Presidents Cup. I don't know what the rules are for smoking in private events. Q. Did Freddie Couples ask you who you thought he should pick as his captain's picks, and if he did, did you suggest Lucas Glover? STEWART CINK: No one really needed to be asked who, or if Lucas Glover should be picked. It's kind of hard to pick the U.S. Open -- or to not pick the U.S. Open Champion, and a guy that finished fifth in another major; plus, he's a heck of a golfer. So he never asked me what I thought about Lucas, because the way I understood it, I think Lucas was on the team the whole time. It became sort of a race for the other spot, and Hunter singled himself out in a way because of not only the play of this year, but also past experiences. Q. How excited are you to play with Lucas in an opening match? STEWART CINK: I am. I'm very excited because we are good friends and our games are similar and we just have a good time on the golf course, real relaxed and easy going and it's going to be fun. Q. Fred talked about you guys, the teams, how many inputs do you have? You get a partner for round one, but during the week, how many different pairings do you hope to enjoy? STEWART CINK: Well, I think most players have actually communicated to the captains, at least three or four or up to maybe six guys they would like to play with. I know I did. I put down about half a dozen guys that I would really like to play with. Q. Your impressions on how he's helped you, you worked in 2009 -- STEWART CINK: Yeah, I started working with him this year. I started working with Mo this year in May, and he helped me right away. He sort of reintroduced me to the pre-shot routine which is something I got away from, really relying on my pre-shot routine, in pressure situations especially. He also really helped me devise a really good practice regimen, drills with just a schedule and so I got more organized with my practice. And the two of those things combined really, they showed up immediately with my results. My putting stats got way better. I won the British Open. It was like my fourth or fifth tournament after working with him. And so I've turned into a little bit of a different player since I started working with him. It's a lot of fun. Q. (Inaudible.) STEWART CINK: I was looking for a solution and he helped me find a solution and he helped me get the focus off of making or missing putts and get back on to the process of what I was doing before I hit the ball. It's worked well so far. I'm still a human being and there's no such thing as a perfect golfer, but I'm putting with a little bit more confidence. Q. Talk about your Twitter page, almost one million followers. STEWART CINK: It's been fun. The Twitter thing grew like really quickly. I didn't expect it. It should be over a million this week and should be some pretty good prizes given away. Q. What's the key, is it compatibility, playing with friends, is it similar games in the pairings? STEWART CINK: It's not necessarily similar games I don't think. It's hard to answer that question, so the best way to attack it is we'll cross out possibilities. Similar games don't really have anything to do with it. Somewhat of an equipment deal where if you've got guys that are really comfortable playing a certain kind of ball, like I played a Nike, Lucas played a Nike, we play the exact same ball, and compatibility has something to do with it. There are players you feel comfortable playing with and some players you don't. Lucas and I both feel comfortable playing with one another. Q. To be part of a team and playing a team sport -- STEWART CINK: I played soccer for a long time and played basketball, but golf, you know, it's an individual sport, but hitting golf shots really doesn't matter if you're on a team or not. You just go out there and try to hit the shots as best you can and try to prepare the best you can and just be there and be ready to go when the bell goes off. At the end of the day, if everyone on our team can do that, if we can do that better than the other team, we'll beat the other team. Q. (Inaudible.) STEWART CINK: Shoot, I don't know. I'm a hockey fan, and I was also a Michael Jordan fan, but to ask him one question would be -- I don't know. I haven't thought of it. I don't know what I would ask him. Q. (Inaudible.) STEWART CINK: They are okay, but some of these guys on the team are like at the elite level. I don't usually play a lot of ping-pong this week. Q. Did you watch the Tiger/Phil? STEWART CINK: When it was mentioned up here was the first that I heard they even played. I guess last night they must have played after dinner. I was in there when Zach was playing and Phil was -- I think O'Hair might have been playing, but it's in a separate room, so I was getting all my signatures out of there. I think there's a ping-pong table, that's it. I haven't spent a lot of time in the team room yet this week because we have been so busy doing other things that I haven't had time to go in there much. End of FastScripts |
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