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THE PRESIDENTS CUPOctober 6, 2013Fred CouplesNick PriceDUBLIN, OHIO MARK WILLIAMS:  Let's start with Captain Price, quick thoughts about this morning's matches completed and we'll take a look at some of the pairings. NICK PRICE: It was a phenomenal match between Graham and Jason, and with Phil and Keegan. You know, very, very exciting. Ernie Els and Brendon played phenomenally well, as well. We're six points behind. We've got nine and a half points to win. They have got 2 1/2. That's a pretty hard call for my guys. They have worked so hard this week, I can't tell you. They have still got a lot of fight left in them. But this is a pretty tall order, and I just hope the golfing gods are on our side this afternoon. MARK WILLIAMS: Fred, if you can give us some thoughts, that match with Brandt Snedeker and Webb Simpson versus Charl and Louis, that turned around pretty quickly. FRED COUPLES: That was an amazing match. I didn't see much of it. I saw the 14th hole, which we won and they stood behind that green a little bit. Easy to sit here and say now, but they came up and said, we're playing decent golf, we're going to come back and win that match. Again, if they didn't win it, I wouldn't be sitting here telling you they said that, but you've got a belief in these guys. And exactly‑‑ we're six points up? So that's our total, 14? So there are no ties, so we have to win four matches. So I mean, I know anything can happen out there, and we feel like we matched them up. The guys are exhausted. Ernie is first, just finished and he's going to go and Nick and I will get out of here. But the matches were phenomenal. I don't know if anyone saw it, Graham DeLaet ‑‑ Ernie, he turned it around the tree, and Graham chipping it was great stuff. We fought hard from yesterday morning and we played great in the morning and in the afternoon, it looked the internationals way and we turned it around and that was just by obviously making more putts. MARK WILLIAMS: It's been a whirlwind for you guys, but just the last hour or so, doing some selections, give us some thoughts on your pairings. FRED COUPLES: Again, it's when people want to go. People just ask me why you put Tiger up against Richard. Personally, Tiger has talked a little about Richard, his game this week. They have not played each other. But it just came where Tiger goes anywhere from seven to nine, and we just didn't want to wait any longer, so we put him there. The rest of the matches, we saved Phil till the end. He could have gone against Louis and Cabrera. But really, we feel like we gathered them where they would like to go versus who they were playing. We put Steve out first because little older and you figured as soon as he finished, he could go right to the first tee. MARK WILLIAMS: Your thoughts before we take questions. NICK PRICE: It was a little difficult this morning because we still had guys out there. I really wanted Ernie to go out first because he's been hitting the ball so well and he played so solid. I was going to put the guys who were really in form at the top. You know, we are going to have some great matches this afternoon, there's no doubt. It's a tall order for us, though. But it's not insurmountable. Q. Last night, the way the matches turned before you guys got done, granted, it's overnight‑‑ was there any carryover? Were the guys disillusioned from yesterday going out this morning? NICK PRICE: They were trying their hardest; that was evident by the quality of golf we saw. Louis and Charl were a little bit at 6s and 7s today. They didn't really play very well this morning. You know, they feel pretty bad right now, but you know, this afternoon is a whole new ballgame, so I had to try and sort of just let them simmer down and I'll get to them on the first tee before they go out. But, you know, these guys are professionals. They are going to bounce back. They have just played so well this week, honestly. We've had a wonderful team. The guys have gelled. We've come up with some wonderful pairings I think. So we'll see how it goes this afternoon. Q. Obviously your heart is telling you one thing and your head has to be telling you another thing. For two years now, you've planned on getting to this situation; it doesn't seem like any of it has gone to script for you in regards to where we are. Can you just talk about getting here and then seeing how it has unfolded and if you're disappointed, not necessarily in your players, but disappointed in how the results have turned out? NICK PRICE: You know, this has been a really, really strong team I think from the get‑go. As I look back, they have played their tails off this week. They have played really, really hard. It's disappointing to go in today with a 6‑point deficit, this afternoon. You know, but we've got to try our best, to be honest. I can't‑‑ I'm trying to stay up for my players, because they are the ones that have done all the playing, not me. I've been out there on the sideline trying to cheer them on. But you know, it's going to be a tough day today. Q. You talked about Graham's chip‑in on 18. He might not be the most well‑known name to the average fan, but what have you learned about him and what future do you think he has? FRED COUPLES: I'll answer that. Nick has spent a week with him, and met him several times throughout the year. I had never met him. I'm fairly keen on looking at golfers and can tell they are good. That's pretty obvious the last couple years, and then for him to make the team, he should be very proud of that accomplishment. But you can just tell that Jason Day and DeLaet team is a really strong team, and he's fun to watch. He hits it a long way, he putts well. You know, he's just a very good player. NICK PRICE: Graham has been so enthusiastic this whole week. In fact, since we had our first meeting here at Jack's tournament in May this year, Adam Scott and K.J. Choi both spoke during the meeting, and when we walked out of the meeting, Graham came to me and says, I'm going to make this team, I really want to make this team really badly. He's been a wonderful team player this whole week. Every time he walks into the villa, he's bouncing. He's got a great disposition and he smiles a lot. He's a hell of a player. I think Canada has a lot to look forward to the next ten or 12 years or so watching him play, because he's definitely major championship material. Q. As you know, Nick and Ernie went to see Tim last November and said maybe we should move it from 34 to 28 points for the sake of interest and competitive balance and so forth. Just wonder your thoughts on that going forward with The Presidents Cup. FRED COUPLES: Well, you know, you could tell that question was coming. I think Nick and I had a meeting, I don't know, a year ago, and we talked about it. But I'm the captain; I'm not running The Presidents Cup, and so my job is to get ten guys and pick two guys and as of right now, we made a little change with best‑ball first, and we're ahead. But that's up to the PGA TOUR. I know‑‑ you can tell, this is not over. Obviously I'd rather be on the American Team right now because we are way ahead, but it's hard. It been a rough week. Nick's tired; I'm tired; our guys are tired, and they are going to go out and play hard again. But that's just a question that's‑‑ that I have no‑‑ I can't really even answer it. I'm not on the board. I'm not Mr.Presidents Cup‑knowledgeable. I just run these 12 guys the best I can. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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