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THE PRESIDENTS CUPOctober 4, 2013Brendon de JongeErnie ElsMarc LeishmanDUBLIN, OHIO ERNIE ELS: This guy, he played beautiful and we both played well today. He kept it in play for most of the time, and hit a lot of greens and had a lot of looks at birdie. I think we were something like 7‑under when we finished our match. It's going to be competitive in most matches, so that was nice. Q. Comment on your experience in this format, have you played it much? Obviously today was a lot of fun for you. BRENDON dE JONGE: It's been a ton of fun. Ernie is giving me way too much credit and it's been a very, very exciting two days for me. Q. If you can talk about your match with Angel, you were in 14 fairway when the Americans decided not to play; it was a little too dark, but you were making a comeback on 11 and 12. MARC LEISHMAN: We were down early, and we won 11 and 12. Angel holed a putt after a few distractions and that was a huge turning point I think. We did lose 13, but we're both on the fairway on 14 and hopefully we can come out in the morning and make some birdies and finish it off. Q. Is Deutsche Bank the closest you had been in proximity to his game? ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I've seen him around over the years and this year, he played a lot of tournaments, trying to get on the team. Found each other in the same three ball on the final day in Boston. He was trying to get in obviously the Top‑30 and I was trying to get in the Top‑70. So it was different stress levels on that particular day but he hit it as good there as he's hit it here the last two days and he's got the length. I kind of quietly said to Pricey, could be good together. Q. You guys I think were 3‑up on 9 when Hunter hit it within a foot or two and Brendon put it in the bunker and your chip out of the bunker that went in, did you feel like that was maybe a key point in that match for you personally? ERNIE ELS: Yeah, I did a couple. The hole before that, Brendon hit to about eight, 12 feet from the hole, and they were in the bunker and I had a putt to win the hole and missed that. Brendon came up just a foot short, I had a perfect lie in the bunker. I've holed that bunker shot before, so it's nice to have good memories. That was a big one to make. But I thought the real key to our match was the next hole, after the rain delay, there was a lot of distractions going on out there. It was crazy on that green. We had the fanatics on this side, and the U.S. side was on this side and they were going at each other and in between we are trying to play golf. Hunter made that 30‑footer down the hill, so you can imagine the crowd, and then /PWROPB done had about a 12‑footer for birdie and he made it on top of that. So that was a really big swing there. Q. You've now got seven victories in foursomes, do you like that better than the other‑‑ ERNIE ELS: That's an easy answer. I've played the most matches (laughter). Q. And can you talk about what happened at 12? MARC LEISHMAN: Well, I hit Angel on to the green, and had probably about a 30‑footer‑‑ Q. Not about what happened ‑‑ MARC LEISHMAN: No, I'm getting to that. (Laughter). He was over his ball for the first time and there was a few people yelling out, then the second time, he was over it, they yelled out a bit closer to when he was about to take it away. The third time, he was over it, someone's yelled out really loudly, probably a split second before he was going to take the putter away and obviously it was a pretty big distraction for him. Walked away, got his composure and rolled it in and then turned around and fist‑pumped great at them. It was pretty satisfying for him I'm sure. You know, it's something that I think that fires him up. So it was great that he could roll it in and do what he did. Q. Did you have any idea what they said? MARC LEISHMAN: I can't remember. I know the last time they just yelled out, "Paco" really loud, and even the American crowd was on our side. They were trying to get him to shut his mouth, and he did, and then got probably the biggest cheer of the week for us was when he rolled that putt in. Q. Being a captain's pick, did you feel any pressure, extra desire to sort of live up or perform here this week? BRENDON dE JONGE: No, not really. My point counts the same as everyone else's. No, I didn't feel any added pressure. Q. As Nick went around to you guys and Brendon's name came up as a likely captain's pick, what stood out to you as to what would make him a good fit and a good pick for Nick? ERNIE ELS: Nick was in a very difficult situation. When you have captain's picks, always somebody is going to be disappointed. And obviously in this case it was Tim Clark. But you know, the question went around, and you know, it's not my decision; it's not the player's decision, it's the captain's decision. Our views were asked and it was raised. I obviously supported Brendon, because of his play, the way he's playing, you know, the way he hits the golf ball and the way it suits this golf course. He hits a power cut and Jack Nicklaus was quite renowned for this, so he's got a perfect game for this golf course, so that's where I was going. Q. As it stands now, this session is evenly poised obviously with the incomplete matches. Yours is the closest on the course and therefore probably the most pivotal going forward tomorrow morning. How are you feeling about that, and are you excited to be in that situation? What are your thoughts? MARC LEISHMAN: Really excited. You're always‑‑ well, not always, but it's good to be in close matches. You know, I think you've got to want that 5‑footer to win a match. You don't want to be shying away from it. So yeah, we are in a good position. Like I said, we need to finish our game, our match off tomorrow morning as do the other boys and hopefully we can do some damage in the four‑ball tomorrow morning I guess. Q. Do you feel it's a pivotal point potentially for you guys? MARK LEISHMAN: Yeah, for sure. Angel and I, we don't want to lose our first two matches. We do need to finish this one off for ourselves and the team. I think it will be really good momentum for us if we can get across the line and there's no reason why not. Q. Incredible birdie‑fest out there, even before the rains came this week, it seemed like it was softer than most players thought. Is this the most vulnerable you've ever seen the course, and do you like it that way, that that many birdies? ERNIE ELS: Well, it is match play, so you're playing a little differently. Mind‑set‑wise, you're going for things. I thought the fairways were running quite nicely when we got here on Tuesday. The greens have been soft all week. And the flag positions, you know, especially yesterday, they really put it into the run‑offs so you could feed the golf ball. So they are not protecting the course like they might do on a Sunday of the Memorial. So they are setting up the course where you can make some birdies if you play properly. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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