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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

October 9, 2009

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA

MARK WILLIAMS: We would like to welcome to the interview room from the International Team Mike Weir, Tim Clark, Ryo Ishikawa, three victories today. Mike, if you could just start by talking about your win.
MIKE WEIR: Our win was a great match. It was one of the better ones I've been involved with. It was back and forth, and you know, we were 1-up early and then we were 1-down and, you know, we made some birdies on the last few holes. 16, 17, we had an eagle putt on the last that was conceded.
But it was just, Jim Furyk played great golf today and their team is tough, and for us to get a point, it wasn't looking good early, and the whole group of us battled hard and actually ended up being a pretty good day.
MARK WILLIAMS: Tim, I know your match was a great finish.
TIM CLARK: We got down early, too, and we were down for the first five, six holes. Managed to get a 1-up lead through 12 or 13 and again they came back with a couple of birdies to go 1-up with two to play. And myself and Vijay still felt that if we could go 3-3, we at least would salvage a halve out of the game. And Vijay drove it right up there on 17 and made birdie and obviously I was able to make eagle on 18.
MARK WILLIAMS: Ryo, your first Presidents Cup victory with Y.E. Yang, just talk about your match today.
RYO ISHIKAWA: I'm happy with my first victory. I definitely need to thank Y.E. Yang. I think his leadership was huge, and without his leadership, I don't think we could have won today.

Q. Given that the International Team has only won this tournament once, this is only the second time this tournament has been played in a U.S. city, how fitting would it be to win this in a world-class international city like San Francisco?
MIKE WEIR: We have a long way to go before that. But it is a great city and as you said, a great international city.
Yeah, it would be a thrill to win any time, anywhere. That's what we are here for. You know, we put ourselves in a good position after these two days to give ourselves a chance on the weekend here. Tomorrow is obviously a big day with a lot of matches and a lot of points being available. So we are fighting hard.

Q. If you can just talk about 18 and especially that second shot you hit, being over there by the fence and the whole situation, just run through that and how you guys basically won the match there.
MIKE WEIR: Ernie made a big putt on 17 to put us 1-up, and then 18, I said to Ernie walking to the tee, "Let's make them half to make eagle to tie us". And we both didn't hit the greatest tee shots, mine in particular. And I was over by the fence and being left-handed I had a decent lie. I had 245 yards or something like that, maybe a little longer than that. You know, I had just a good enough lie that I could get the back of the club on the ball with the 3-wood; and hit a great shot with a little fade and bounced it up there 15, 18 feet from the hole.
I was a little fired up about that one. That was one of the better ones I've hit in a long time.

Q. I guess you were a little nervous yesterday playing against Tiger, very big day. Were you a little more relaxed today playing with Y.E. playing against Kenny Perry, and did that help you play better?
RYO ISHIKAWA: I definitely wasn't as nervous as I was yesterday. In a good way, I was relaxed today.
But I think Y.E. Yang gave me a lot of good advice today to relax, play your game, play your rhythm, you know, you can play slower. So I think his advice made it so I was a little more relaxed today.

Q. They just posted Tim and Mike, you guys get Stricker and Woods tomorrow. You see how they have been playing, and you know how you played yesterday; what do you think about that match?
TIM CLARK: Yeah, I think obviously Tiger and Steve have been playing some great golf. I think we have all seen that.
You know, I think myself and Mike wanted that match tomorrow. We know whoever is going up against them is going to have it tough, and we just feel like with our solid games tomorrow, we can go out and at least try and wear them down if we can. But that's going to be tough.
You know, we were happy with how we played the first day, even though we lost the match. It's just one of those things, you know, whoever is going to go up against Tiger and Steve the way they are playing right now, and we just put our hands up and said, we'll take that match.
MIKE WEIR: Obviously you're going to have your hands full with those two guys, No. 1 and 3 in the world those two guys. They are playing great golf, and Timmy and I, with our games, similar games, hopefully we can put it together tomorrow and give them a good go.

Q. For Ryo, wondered if you can talk about all of the attention that you receive, obviously it appears to be pretty intense with the media following you every tournament, and I understand back home, perhaps even just going out at home, not even at the golf course, you get quite a bit of attention. Could you talk about how difficult that is to deal with, and how maybe you're getting better at it?
RYO ISHIKAWA: I've never thought that that's very difficult for me. Obviously because of the media, golf gets covered, and the popularity of golf will increase because of the media. I feel like because we play golf at a professional level, obviously the media is there covering it.
But also, I think because the media is there, golf gets noticed and I think that's an important part. And also, I would like to continue this good relationship that the media and I have, and hopefully it will be a long relationship.

Q. Two questions, one for Ryo. You have Y.E. Yang in foursomes tomorrow, so a question to you about playing with him, switching from Geoff and playing with Y.E. And to Weirsy and Tim, you've played on a few of these, and I'm not saying you haven't wanted to win the in the past, but have you noticed -- today you were down 5-1 at one point, even though the matches were relatively close, you battled back and you battled back yesterday. Is there a bit more fight or spirit this time around, do you feel, and does Greg have anything to do with that?
RYO ISHIKAWA: I think with the foursome, the alternating shots, I think the important thing is which ball you are going to use, and we have decided that we are going to use Y.E. Yang's ball, which is the TaylorMade ball, and that's what we are planning on doing tomorrow.
What I experienced the first day was that alternating hitting is really difficult, but everybody is in the same situation. And just like how we played today with good leadership from Y.E., hope to do the same tomorrow. You know, even if we are losing or winning tomorrow, as long as with Y.E.'s leadership, I think we'll be okay, and I'm hoping that Geoff will play well tomorrow, my first partner, and I think he will play well.
MARK WILLIAMS: The pairings are correct, sitting out is Geoff Ogilvy and Angel Cabrera, not Camilo Villegas.
TIM CLARK: In terms of intensity and wanting to win, I think each year we get to play in this, it's the same. I don't see this year being any different. Any time we step out on the golf course, be it in South Africa or when the tournament was in Washington, it seems like it's been the same.
Purely as individuals, we want to go out there and win our match. Even if it's on the table tennis table in the back room, we want to win. I think it's safe to say that the desire has always been there from the International Team, and, you know, it's like you read in the media how -- I've certainly read it, that players have it too easy and they go out and they don't want to win tournaments, and they just want to make Top-10s and win a bunch of money. I always kind of shake my head at that. There's only one reason we are out there playing, and that's to get into position to win and win a tournament, and the same goes for this event.
MIKE WEIR: Yeah, I agree with Timmy. The five years I've played, the intensity seems to be the same. All of the guys are on the same page. We want to win. We just haven't been able to get it done.
It's no different this year. We want to win and we are fighting hard. Your point, saying that there was five American flags up there and only one of ours at some point, but the matches were all close and everybody realized that, that they were all within a hole or two and there was a lot of golf to be played. It's kind of like yesterday; there was all Internationals on the board early and the U.S., I felt like they kind of came back yesterday.
That's just the way it is, but it's no lack of desire on the International Team, or no extra this year. But Greg is doing a phenomenal job with the pairings and putting the best teams he thinks out there, and hopefully we can get it done for him.

Q. Could you run through your second shot on 18, where does that rank with some of your great shots, given the situation; and also discuss the putt that you poured right in the middle at the end.
TIM CLARK: I wouldn't describe it as poured. But it was obviously a tough finishing hole for me. I got on the tee not knowing whether I could actually reach in two. Certainly in the practice round, I didn't get there. But I hit a great tee shot, and just had a yardage which was a perfect 3-wood for me. I mean, I had to get all of it to get it there. I just felt great in that situation. I felt calm over the ball, and hit it as good as I could hit it.
Obviously Greg had told me what Mike had done on the hole just a few groups before, I knew I had to go for it right there, and like I say, it's one of those shots where you've got nothing to lose, so you just free up and make a swing, and it worked out.
And obviously the putt (shuddering), I would have liked to have hit it firmer, been a bit more aggressive with it, but they were still left with pretty tough birdie putts. So I was not going to hit it, leave myself three or four feet. I wanted to try to get the right speed, match up the line. And Vijay gave me a good read there. I played it a couple of cups outside, and it went in.
I thought it needed a little, but it caught the bottom lip and fell in.

Q. Mike referred to the five U.S. flags up there at one time, and you guys got a 3-3 tie. Can you describe the mood in the team room, and how much momentum you guys feel you may have as a result?
TIM CLARK: Yeah, obviously we feel like today we've come out a little ahead, certainly after that start. It certainly didn't look good there for a while, and you know, when you come out of a day like that tied and obviously only one point back now, we are feeling good. We have got to think that they have got to be, not down, but they may feel like they let a few points slip. It seems like most of the close matches that have come down to the last couple of holes, we have been able to salvage a halve or even win a point, which is huge.
So obviously tomorrow, we certainly know we are going to be up against it. They obviously are going to have a little fire in their belly now and we are going to have to come out tomorrow and play some good golf.
MARK WILLIAMS: Guys, we appreciate you coming in. Thank you for your time and good luck tomorrow.

End of FastScripts

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