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THE PRESIDENTS CUP

November 18, 2011

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

JOEL SCHUCHMANN: We would like to welcome four members of the United States Presidents Cup Team here, Webb Simpson, Phil Mickelson, Bill Haas and Matt Kuchar. If we can start with some opening comments about your day today and the week overall.
MATT KUCHAR: Can we talk about Webb's opening shot in the whole tournament first? Very first shot in team competition, he nearly holes a wedge, lips out a wedge. I thought that was one of the best opening shots anybody's ever had in team competition.
You having a good time, Webb?
WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, thank you, Mat.
MATT KUCHAR: Good.
WEBB SIMPSON: Yeah, the opening shot was pretty good for me. I got on the first tee and I've never seen so many people and my partner put me perfect in the middle of the fairway and it was a great way to start out. I wish it had gone in. But it's been a great week for me. I think Bubba and I have gelled well. We played great golf yesterday.
Today we struggled a little bit. But he hit some big shots there at the end: 14, 15, 16, he played really well, and we were able to close Ernie and Ryo out.
So I'm pleased thus far, but I'm sure we are going to have to play some good golf tomorrow.
PHIL MICKELSON: We have had a great time. I remember what a fun city Melbourne was in '98, we had a great time then, even though we took a pretty good shellacking. We have had a lot of fun here. This is really an amazing golf course, an amazing city and the people have been wonderful.
We know tomorrow is a big day for us and we know tomorrow the International side is going to come out gunning for us, try to get some momentum and gain ground heading into the singles. It's a big day for us to play well.
BILL HAAS: You know, bittersweet, me and Nick Watney, good bud dies. We have grinded hard, gone to the last hole twice now, and unfortunately we have only gotten a half point out of it.
So I guess I've got a little bitter taste in my mouth about the way today finished but I think we both played well and we are both doing enough good things to where we are both excited about tomorrow. Like Phil said, tomorrow is a big day, and you know, if we can win both of those sessions, we look really good going into the singles.
MATT KUCHAR: These are such fun competitions. I got my first taste of it last year at The Ryder Cup and I think once you get your first taste, you don't want to miss out on another opportunity to play in these team events. I've been having a great time. I think this whole week has been fun.
But getting things started yesterday, I paired up with Dustin Johnson, and just having that introduction on the first tee, "Playing for the United States" and your name, Matt Kuchar, is just an exciting thing. And then to have the crowds, they are so supportive. We played the Australians yesterday, we played Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day, and the crowds were just real supportive. It was a lot of fun. It was a fun match. We had a great come back there at the end and today I got paired up with Steve Stricker, and who doesn't like playing with Steve Stricker. I tell you, a fantastic pairing for anyone. We had a great time out there today. It's been a fun week so far.

Q. Your thoughts on the golf course today, it was very, very difficult today, Bubba on the 4th looked like he had a putt for birdie that went not only off the green but scurrying down the fairway. As a player, how difficult was it and how mentally challenging was the day?
WEBB SIMPSON: Well,4 was funny because I was reading putts with him, and I told him where I thought he should hit it and he just looked at me and told me I was wrong. After he went off the green, I asked him who was right. (Laughter).
But you know, it's tough. I think all of us here, Internationals and our team, we're having so much fun because we don't play this kind of golf that often. You've got a 100-yard wedge shot that we normally fly at the pin and it stops. I had one on 13 where I landed a yard short of the green, and these balls are having spin on them and they are still releasing that far.
It is a little something to get used to for me, because I had not played this kind of golf that much. But it's a lot of fun, and you know, you've got to use your head on all of these holes, and every shot, you've got to really think about it.

Q. A question on the conditions, you've played in a lot of tough conditions over the years, but how would you rate what you had to encounter out there today?
PHIL MICKELSON: This was awesome. It was awesome. We'll never see something like this in an every day golf course. We'll never see that. We rarely see it in a major.
To have green speeds over 14 with wind blowing 15, 25 miles an hour, that was incredible; to have to read the wind of a putt more so than the break? That's pretty cool. Provided that your score really doesn't count, which it doesn't here, because it's match play. That's why it's so fun.
If you have that situation in a U.S. Open or a British Open, we would probably curse. But it was so much fun today because you've got a partner that you can rely on in best-ball format and I thought we had a good time.

Q. I don't want this to sound like it's not in the positive sense, but you and Jim are not coming off your strongest seasons, you had okay seasons, and posted wins, and coming off the FedExCup last year -- I think maybe people overlooked your pairing. What has made that pairing so successful so far? How has that worked out?
PHIL MICKELSON: You know, Jim and I have a good energy, and we help each other. I had what has happened throughout the year happen midway through the round where I missed some short putts, four-, five-, six-foot putts that were important.
And first of all, he ended up making some; and second, he came up and just reversed my outlook. He said, look, we are going to have some more of these coming down the stretch, let's not worry about these. Let's move on.
I had a big putt on 15 for birdie, about six feet and needed to make it, that had some break. That changed the way I looked at it. I thought of it from the positive and he kind of turned my energy around, if you will, and I ended up rolling that one in, and he made that 15-footer there on 17 to win the match.
That's how we are working well together. We have wanted to play together for some time, and it just has not worked out, and we are having a lot of fun together doing it now.

Q. At the beginning of the week, Fred said he had never seen you hit a golf ball and now he's sent you right out of the gate the last three matches. Talk about the confidence that that's instilled in you.
WEBB SIMPSON: It's been good. I'm a young guy on the team, and this is my first team event, and guys like Phil and Jim have helped me, looking at the format that we'll go through with alternate-shot and best-ball, and they have kind of taken me under their wing.
I've had some good guys to look up to, and Bubba has kind of helped me out there. I started out there yesterday, I was pretty nervous and he could see it. He kind of took me aside there on 4 and calmed me down, and you know, I like getting out early, getting off to a good start. Our goal is try to put a point up for the U.S. as quick as we could, and fortunately we've been able to do that two days.
JOEL SCHUCHMANN: Gentlemen, thank you very much.

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