THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 24, 2024

Patrick Cantlay

Royal Montreal Golf Club

Quick Quotes

Q. Talk about the week so far. You got in early.

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, Saturday night. It's been great. Played a couple practice rounds. Golf course seems like it's in good shape. Hopefully we can dodge some of this weather. It's been a good start to the week.

Q. What have you learned that you can take into these weeks?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think just getting used to the atmosphere. Obviously this is my second away event in this Presidents Cup. Getting used to that atmosphere I think takes a little time. The first time I experienced it in Melbourne, it was unlike anything I'd seen in golf. It's fun to do it. It's fun to be in front of an energetic fan base, and I'm sure we'll get that this week.

Q. Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, do you differentiate the two?

PATRICK CANTLAY: They definitely have their own feel, but I would say from the U.S. side, it feels similar. A lot of times it's the same captains or assistant captains and a lot of the same players. I think it's great that we get all the best U.S. guys together for a team match every year.

Q. I realize you try to win all the time, but do you have anything to prove from your last team competition?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think everyone is unique. Some of the players are the same, but we have a different captain and some different assistant captains this year and a couple different players this year. Every team event has a little different feel just because of the collection of guys. But I'm really excited to have a week with these guys. I think we have a great team.

Q. What I've seen over many years is it's a very loose group here and a very tight group at the Ryder Cup. Is there a difference in mindset?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I haven't noticed that so much. The guys crack plenty of jokes and have a bunch of fun in both the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup Monday through Wednesday, and then I think Ryder Cup maybe is a little different just because there's so much buildup and then it's 36, 36. So this week is a little different formatting, and four days of competition versus three.

Q. Which do you prefer?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I don't know if I prefer either one.

Q. "I don't know" isn't the answer I was hoping for. One is relentless and the other one takes a couple days and then you're off to the races?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I like them both. I like in the Presidents Cup format that we have 10 guys playing each session. So I think that makes it even more of a team event, so you can't really hide guys.

Q. Everyone has got a role to fill in these events; what are you hoping (indiscernible)?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I'm hoping it's on course. Try and win as points as I can, that's the name of the game, and really that's where all my attention goes to in a week like this is preparing as best I can so I can represent our guys and our country to the best of my ability.

Q. (On motivational speaking.)

PATRICK CANTLAY: We leave most of the motivational speaking to the captain. Jim is very competitive and he's got us fired up this week to put as many points on the board as we can. He's done a good job setting the tone. I think the rest of us will fall in line.

Q. (On playing away in a team event.)

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I don't mind the environment. I like when the fans get into it, and I think it brings out the best part of these events. We don't see that in golf all the time where there's such passion rooting against you or for you, and so those are some of the best moments of the week.

Q. (On the rookies asking for advice.)

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, put red on the board as soon as possible, and that usually deflates a lot of the noise out there.

Q. (On the PGA TOUR negotiations with the PIF).

PATRICK CANTLAY: Well, the transaction committee is taking really front and center with negotiations, and I'm not on that committee. So we get updates. Haven't had one in a little bit, but hope they're making good progress, and if it's the best possible future for the TOUR, then I'm supportive.

Q. (Indiscernible).

PATRICK CANTLAY: I wasn't, but I just think when the tension is that high and people are so rooting either for you or against you, it brings out the best in competitors. So it's easier to focus. It's easier to get lost in your routine because there's so much pressure and there's so much anticipation about what's going to happen.

Q. Have you found yourself playing as well when there's nobody there?

PATRICK CANTLAY: No, I think it's better and easier to play well when there's lots of crowds and when the emotion is high.

Q. Have you heard any nasty things (indiscernible).

PATRICK CANTLAY: Just fueled up. If I hear anything negative in a week like this will. I think a lot of the guys get it and expect it, and that's part of the nature of this event is that the home fans are rooting for their home team, and that's what makes it so special.

Q. Have you heard anything nasty?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I'm sure everyone has heard their fair share in these team events, yeah.

Q. On the mental side, how do you as a team approach the first day? Is there an extra will to silence the crowd?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I hope so, yeah. It'll be important to put red up on the board early, especially in these team events, get some momentum rolling. I think that gives guys confidence behind. So if you're in one of those first couple groups that's going out, especially on a Thursday or Friday when there's only one session, I think it's really key for momentum.

Q. When you're playing not only for yourself but also for the USA and your teammates, is it a little bit more stressful?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, there's a little bit more pressure representing your country and representing your other teammates and captains. I think that's part of the fun of this week. Everyone is feeling it. You have to embrace it and do your best.

Q. How does the golf course set up for you?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think it sets up great. It's very much a northeast old-school golf course, but with the poa annua greens and most of them being back to front, it reminds me of some of the golf courses I grew up playing in southern California. I love the golf course. I think it's going to be a good test.

Q. What skills does it take to play this course well?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think it'll be important to leave your golf ball in the right spots, especially coming into the greens. There's a lot of slope on these greens, mostly back to front, but there's little sections in each and every green for the most part. Getting it in the right direction, and then if the green speeds pick up, being below the hole I think will be key to holing putts.

Q. Outside of golf, when I say the word "Canada" to you, give me two or three things that spring to mind?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Canadians, cold, green or nature.

Q. Have you guys tried some poutine?

PATRICK CANTLAY: We have not yet. We went to a great restaurant last night. Jim Furyk set up us at Gibby's, and we had a very, very good meal. Everyone was happy on the bus ride home, good steak, good vegetables, potato. I loved it.

Q. Do you know what poutine is?

PATRICK CANTLAY: It's fries, gravy and some cheese. I don't think I've ever tried it.

Q. Who's your role model and why?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think I've had a few role models in my life. My dad and my grandfather for sure. Then when it comes to golf, I would say John Cook and Fred Couples have become mentors for me. This is my first team event without Fred Couples being around. He's been at every one, and I think he's walked every one of my team matches since I started in Melbourne. Definitely those individuals.

Q. Why your dad and grandfather?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I spent a lot of time playing golf with my dad and my grandfather growing up, and they definitely instilled in me certain values that they have, respect for the game and the integrity of the game and how that carries over and transitions into just life, having character, and being true to yourself.

Spending so much time with them, they just became role models over time.

Q. (Indiscernible).

PATRICK CANTLAY: It's a good question. I'm not sure when you start becoming a role model and stop looking up to others. I think you're always striving to pick out the best qualities in others, and then embody those. Hopefully if you do a good enough job of that along the way, people may want to emulate you.

Q. When you mentioned having a role model versus becoming one, was there a specific moment?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I'm not sure. I tend to still be looking up. I have a lot of friends that are older than me that I respect, and I think I've learned a lot from them and benefitted a great deal from spending time with them.

Q. (Indiscernible) as a public figure, athlete, what do you know about him?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think to be authentic. And I think to give back. I think the tournaments that I've helped put on with the SCPGA junior golf, trying to elevate junior golf in southern California on a tour that I played growing up has been really special to me, and seeing the kids and how happy they are to show up to the events, especially the season ender that we have at the club I view up at, Virginia Country Club, has been really rewarding. Doing the clinics that I've done the last couple years with those kids and answering questions and helping them along the way to be better individuals and better golfers has been really great.

Q. When you talk about being authentic, have you ever been tempted to not or to try and fit in or to try and be someone you weren't?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think when you're younger, you have more of an inclination to act unauthentically to fit in. But as I've gotten older, I think I'm pretty authentically myself.

You'd probably have to ask some of my friends, my closest friends.

Q. (On the difference in mindset between Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup).

PATRICK CANTLAY: The format is a little different, being an extra day here, and playing 10 in a session versus eight in a session. I think that strikes me as one of the biggest differences of this week versus Ryder Cup week.

But in general from our side, it's pretty similar. It's a lot of the same captains. It's a lot of the same players. I think overall it's an advantage that we get a team event every year for the U.S.

Q. Two years ago (indiscernible) sense that a lot of the same guys were coming back. Where do you think the disconnect is? Is that just golf?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think it's just a small sample size, isolated week. I'd like to see how it plays out over the next decade.

Q. What are the benefits of being the favorite?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think if you get momentum early as a favorite, it can be demoralizing, especially if you put a bunch of red up on the board in the first session or early in the first session. I think that's really an emphasis for this team is to get off to a fast start and put red on the board, especially when you're at an away event. I've seen that in Australia, and I think that'll be key this week.

Q. What are the benefits of being an underdog?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think I'd rather be the favorite. But lack of expectation is usually a benefit for an underdog or can be.

Q. Obviously there's chemistry (indiscernible) friends on the team, could you go to Captain Furyk and say there's something special happening here or do you defer to him to make the decisions on all the pairings?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think it's a little of both. Going back to Australia, Xander and I weren't really friends before that week, and so we clicked that week and became friends, fast friends, and then we played all four team sessions together that week. We've played subsequently in team events together and had success.

I think that's what's special about these weeks is that most every other week of the year we're competitors, but this week we're a team. So we learn more about each other in a different way, and these team events give us the opportunity to do that.

Q. (Indiscernible).

PATRICK CANTLAY: I don't think so. Fred Couples put that Xander and I pairing together pretty early in the week, and that was just going to be the pairing.

Q. (Indiscernible).

PATRICK CANTLAY: Not so much with team pairings. We also have the stats guys that are definitely in the captains' ears, and the captains, that's their biggest job this week I would say. The players -- I could say I think I would play well with this week or this guy plays a ball that's similar to mine, so it's good for the captains to know that, but I trust them to make good decisions for us.

Q. (On how your teammates think of you).

PATRICK CANTLAY: I'm not sure. First and foremost I think as a golfer and a competitor. So my favorite thing about these weeks is the competitive nature of it and what it brings out in me. I don't notice it until I'm out there doing it. The moments that match play creates and playing for a team and playing for the United States makes -- it just brings out the best in me, and I love these weeks.

Q. What do you notice when you get out there?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I just notice that I'm fired up way more than usual, and I think it's because playing on a team makes you care more about the outcome.

Q. (On being competitive).

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I'm very competitive, so many moons ago I played baseball and basketball until I got to high school, and I can remember being very little, five, six years old and desperately wanting to win any baseball or basketball game and being fired up about it.

Q. Jim Furyk said it was important to get the team in early. I'm wondering how you've seen how that extra day has benefitted you.

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, we got to play 18 holes on Sunday. I think whenever you come to a golf course like this, it's important to learn the golf course, and so it's second nature by the time tournament play rolls around, and that extra day I think is going to be great as far as course knowledge and getting comfortable with the golf course.

Q. Probably standard operating procedure, but it seems like it's been (indiscernible) on that extra day, is that something you'd be in favor of having that be standard operating procedure?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think it would be great. When we come to these golf courses a lot of times they're set up different. This one a lot of guys haven't seen, but some others guys have seen before, but when these team events come around they set them up and tweak them just a little bit, so an extra day learning the golf course I think is good.

Q. You talked about outcomes; it makes me wonder how you feel (indiscernible).

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think having that team pulling for you and knowing that the other guys are watching and they have an interesting in the match that you're playing just elevates the pressure when you're out there. And so knowing that Xander or Collin or Scottie are watching the match and they're all there and they're living and dying with every shot, every putt, that just adds to the excitement, and I love it.

Q. How do you feel personally after a loss or a win (indiscernible)?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Higher or lower than usual, depending on the outcome.

Q. Do you find it's slightly easier to accept (indiscernible)?

PATRICK CANTLAY: It doesn't feel as heavy. Don't get me wrong; winning and losing always feels great or feels horrible, but when you have a team and it could mean the difference between the team winning and the team losing, I think it's heightened a little bit.

Q. Do you feel like you let the team down?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I have felt like that whenever you lose a match.

I'm sure there's a component of that, and on the other side, when you win a match, you feel like you did a solid for your guys.

Q. Were you under the weather?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I had some flu-like stuff at the beginning of the week but felt better towards the end.

Q. Did some panic set in knowing you might not be at your best?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I wouldn't say panic, but just relaying that to the captains so they can make the best decision I think is important, and I did that. I think we're expecting for me to play 36 the first day and ended up playing 36 the second day. I think in weeks like this, it's important to be transparent so the captains can make their best decisions.

Q. Obviously guys like us spend days and weeks dissecting this, but as players do you guys do that, as well, talking about what worked, didn't work? How does that work?

PATRICK CANTLAY: We give feedback, and I can definitely see that everyone from the captains, staff and players are all trying to turn over every stone to compete and play our best in these team weeks. It's interesting because we only get a team event once a year, and they're always in different locations, and a lot of times it has different captains or different players.

There's not a lot of -- I shouldn't say consistency. There is, but it's not the same people each and every time in the same place. Feedback may apply one week, but it may not apply the next week, and they're a year apart.

I think the captains have done a really good job of listening to the guys, and the guys have done a good job of communicating with the captains so they can make the best decisions, and then I think everyone over-thinks it and overanalyzes it. We've got to go out and play good golf and make a lot of birdies.

Q. (Indiscernible). Is it incumbent upon the players that this is the direction we should go and here's why?

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think it's important for the players and captains to have an open relationship, and that's definitely been the case since I've been a part of these team events. Jim this week has done a great job communicating his expectations for when to be where and communicating the pairings to us so we're not surprised. So I think he's done a really great job this week of setting the tone and really putting an emphasis on us playing our best. So we couldn't ask anything more from it.

Q. What is your favorite thing about America?

PATRICK CANTLAY: My favorite thing about America? I don't know if this answers your question, but whenever I leave the country and I come back, I am so glad to be back in America. I love it.

Q. (On playing with someone new for the first time.)

PATRICK CANTLAY: Depends if you've played a lot with them before or not, but I would say learning how they are when the pressure is highest and learning when to talk or when not to talk or what to say, how they respond I think is a little bit of it. So the better you get to know that person throughout the week, the better equipped you should be to be able to play with them.

Q. Did you learn how to be a good partner or is that just something that comes naturally?

PATRICK CANTLAY: I think so, and I think some people are better or worse suited for other guys based on their personality. Xander has been a great partner for me. He knows what to say to get me going or calm me down. Doesn't need to do a lot of calm me down stuff usually. But we have a good time out there, and we're competitive but we keep it light. I think by now we know each other so well and know each other's games so well that it just feels like second nature.

Q. (On Tiger's history in the Presidents Cup).

PATRICK CANTLAY: I'm not sure. He's had good pairings with Strick. He has good records, winning records, I think, in both Ryder Cups and Presidents Cups. If you have winning records in this thing, then you're doing well. I didn't get the opportunity, but I would have loved to have played with Tiger. Anytime you have the best player of a generation on your team, I think it's a good pairing.