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THE RYDER CUPOctober 2, 2010Stewart CinkZach JohnsonPhil MickelsonJeff OvertonCorey PavinSteve StrickerBubba WatsonTiger WoodsNEWPORT, WALES Q. How did you feel about the close? ZACH JOHNSON: Closing it is all that's important. That's most important thing. We got off to a good start, there's no question about that. But I think the nice thing is Hunter and I didn't get too caught up in the highs, and didn't get too caught up in the lows when they started to come back, either. It boiled down to staying patient, and you know, the way it's formatted with our alternate-shot, we are able to really play the golf course properly. I hit some really, really good putts. A couple missed reads and a couple off-line I couldn't get to the hole and a couple I hit too hard. He gave me that opportunity on 17. Q. As you probably know, in history, Europe has done well on 18 and also on day one, but this is a chance for the U.S. to make it close and that speaks well. ZACH JOHNSON: It does. But at the same time, we know there's a lot of golf left and we don't want to get too caught up. But able to close is huge. That half a point is big. That putt Rickie made on 18 is massive, and that's why he's on the team. We have got 12 really good stalwart here, and we are all one and leaning on each other. It's not like we are doing this individually. That's the beauty of The Ryder Cup and team golf. Q. The yardage on the last, the wedge shot? ZACH JOHNSON: 113 to the pin actual. We were playing into the wind and we tried to play it 115. I hit it perfect. You know, came up a little short and I guess it probably spun back. But that's the 18th hole, and fortunately we put it in a position to make the putt. TIGER WOODS: We played well. Stricks really putted well and I was hitting my irons, giving him a lot of looks at it. Put a lot of pressure on them. Q. When you face a team like that, do you feel that you have to get something early rather than close late? TIGER WOODS: Just make sure you keep having looks at it, try to put the ball in the fairway which I didn't do a very good job of that, but Stricks was doing it. I was hitting a lot of good irons and he made a few putts. He made a few bombs. But that sort of helped things. Q. Getting a feel for this golf course? TIGER WOODS: Absolutely. We are trying to understand the lines and they really haven't done too much with the tee markers, so we are playing it kind of the same way each and every day, each and every session. We thought they would move it up on a few holes but they haven't done that. Q. Everybody at this point feels that when you can get a closing like Rickie did, it affects the team in a good positive way and he came back, and as his partner, obviously, Jim, but how much of that affects the team from what you've seen. STEVE STRICKER: You mean making the birdie and halving the match? That's huge. Every point or half a point is huge when you're trying to only get to 14, or 14 1/2 I should say. So every little half a point or point helps. You can gain momentum from that, and it affects the whole team in a positive way. Q. Are you feeling better about the way you're playing this golf course? STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, and every time we go around there, you gain a little bit more knowledge and feel a little bit more comfortable where your lines are and where you need to hit it and where you need to miss it; and so it's getting better as we keep going. PHIL MICKELSON: Dustin and I had been wanting to play together, but we just didn't put it together. Our team has been playing well and we are in very good position. We have to put our game together and go win some points. The team has really played well. We have had a lot of guys really play some good golf, starting with Jeff Overton. He's played some terrific golf. And they are pulling us along. Now it's our turn to go out and get our point. Q. You guys played very solid and they really died at the end. BUBBA WATSON: We were 2-down early, we came back, we both made a couple of mistakes. We had some easy up-and-downs and we didn't get up-and-down and we lost. We felt like we played really good. We played solid for two rounds, but we got beat. It's hard to get beat when you're playing good, but we did. Q. It a fine line, isn't it? BUBBA WATSON: But everybody on both teams are really good players. These are the top players in the world. So, yeah, it's definitely a fine line between winning and losing. Q. Was it mid-round that something was amiss? BUBBA WATSON: No, we played great all day, but an up-and-down here and there changes momentum. We gave up momentum on one up-and-down, and we 3-putted a hole, too, so that easily hurts your momentum. Q. Your feelings about that afternoon match compared to the momentum you had earlier. JEFF OVERTON: They played really well. Hats off to Luke. He stuck it in there like that on the second to last hole. You know, got off to a good start, and we kind of rallied a little bit and kind of back and forth; and we really felt like we were playing well, and then all of a sudden they made a good birdie on the par 4 and then just I misjudged that bunker shot to stay all-square on 16, and then he stuck it. It's kind of a weird, interesting match and kind of what happens in that kind of game. But it was the first time that me and him had played alternate-shot. We were not even ready for it really. But, you know, looking back on it, we played well. It was just we got beat by a team that played a little better. Q. And Bubba said it's a fine line. He said you guys were playing well but they were just -- BUBBA WATSON: We hit a lot of good shots. Bubba hit some great shots. I contributed a little bit. You know, like I said, it was a good match. We just -- I left a couple out there and they played a great match. They only left one shot out there really. You know, that alternate-shot format, that's kind of -- the margin of error is so slight. Q. Your observations about the day? COREY PAVIN: There was a few matches that had some very key turnarounds. Obviously the last match was pretty exciting, and Stewart making that big putt on 17 was a big turnaround. And Zach and Hunter birdieing 17 and winning that match was big. Then the Furyk/Fowler match, birdieing the last hole to halve that match, those were big finishes for us. Those are the things you look at, and you look back at and say, those are important matches. But, still, there's a long way to go. We still have another session to go of team play, and then we have the singles. So there's still a lot of points out there. It's nice, it's all good, but there's still a lot of work to do. Q. That's the momentum you're looking for, though. COREY PAVIN: Well, it's always nice, obviously, but you know, it all starts again when you get to the first tee. So it's all great, obviously, and it's good when things like that happen, but you have to keep playing that way and keep your head in the game, and play one shot at a time and one match at a time. Q. Seems like those guys really like each other, the ones that came back and made these rally lies. COREY PAVIN: The guys are playing really well together. They are enjoying themselves. They are really relaxed, and a lot of them are pretty good friends; and like I said, they know each other fairly well, and they are enjoying themselves. It's always easier to enjoy yourself when you're making a few putts, too. But that's one thing I wanted the guys to do is relax and enjoy The Ryder Cup. Q. Your thoughts about Phil and Dustin. COREY PAVIN: They are pretty tough competitors and they are not happy about not getting a point, so I'm sure they are going to have a renewed vigor to go out there and win a point today. Q. Tell us about your emotions. STEWART CINK: Right now I'm pretty excited still, even though it's been 15 minutes since the whole thing finished. Ryder Cup brings a lot of excitement for us and everybody. Matches that really from the start, it was seesaw the whole way, and it was quite moving. So it's key now for me to go inside and sort of kickback and relax for a little while because I have to go back and tee it up again soon. But it was a really special match out there and really, playing against the two Macs, it was really a great day of match play today and yesterday. It was really awesome. Q. One of the more memorable days of golf you've ever had? STEWART CINK: I think so. Certainly the way this match finished will go down for me in my memory as one of my best Ryder Cup Matches. And to play with Kuch and to play along with him in his debut was special. Q. Take us through 17. STEWART CINK: It was about a 25-footer, downhill left-to-right putt, and I didn't want to give them an opening. It's easy to get really into the results of the putt, and I didn't want to do that. I wanted to go through the process and do the work; and it's just one of those moments where the process did work and the ball went right in the centre. Q. What brings the best out of Stewart Cink in The Ryder Cup? STEWART CINK: You know, I think it's a lot of things. I love representing the United States of America. I love my country. I love playing match-play golf. I love these guys. I love -- I just love everything about this, and it just means so much to me, that it just -- I don't know. It seems to bring a new level of focus. But it's the same for everybody. The level of play is just off the charts out here. Q. How is the spirit in your team room? STEWART CINK: It's been great. We have had a good time. There's a lot of jabbing going on between the guys, and we are getting a good kick out of Bubba and Jeff Overton, the way they are acting, it's fun to see some of the new guys come in and soak this whole thing in. End of FastScripts |
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