CHRIS COX: Christiaan, congrats again. By now I think everyone on this call is aware you have been named to your first-ever Presidents Cup team at Quail Hollow Club later this month with Captain Immelman against the United States team. We'll go ahead and get your thoughts on being named a captain's pick and then we'll open it up to questions from those on the call.
CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT: Yeah, first of all, I'd like to say it's a massive honor for me to have been selected to represent the International Team this year at the Presidents Cup. It's definitely been a goal of mine for quite a few years. Seeing the International Team a few years ago coming so close to victory in Melbourne was really exciting. It was definitely a goal of mine to make this team this year, and I'm really excited for the next couple of weeks' preparation and then to take on the U.S. Team in a couple weeks' time.
Q. I just want to know how much has the past 12 months or your PGA TOUR experience in general sort of helped you prepare for an event as big as the Presidents Cup?
CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT: Yeah, playing on the PGA TOUR for the last year full-time, playing against all the guys who I'm going to play against in the Presidents Cup is definitely, experience-wise, you know the style of golf that the guys play. In America it's a completely different style than Europeans and internationals are used to.
I think the experience of playing on the PGA TOUR and having played against all the guys that's going to be in the team a couple weeks from now in the U.S., you know their game. They're all really, really good players, but I just think to have been in certain situations over the last few years with those guys in big events, majors, things like that I think will definitely help.
Q. You mentioned the Americans playing a different style of golf; what do you feel in your own game is so well-suited to American courses? And in your discussions with Trevor, what has he said he expects from you? What does he want you to bring to the team?
CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT: So to your first question, the different style of golf that we play in America is -- most of the golf courses we play is a lot longer, longer than what we usually play. It's set up a lot tougher, a lot narrower of the tee with high rough. You have to have good scrambling around most of the courses.
I feel I'm a very good putter. That's probably one of my strongest points in my game. Off the tee, I'm also pretty straight. I hit a lot of fairways, and around the greens my scrambling is pretty good, and I'm one of the best putters on TOUR, as well.
We had a two-day training camp last week in Charlotte where the team got together to practice a bit on the golf course. It was my first time seeing the golf course. It's a really, really good vibe in the team, and all the players get along. It was a lovely couple of days. I'm sure we're going to spend a lot more time together early in the week of the week of the Presidents Cup to just narrow down a few things, what our captain wants from us and needs from us.
We're really looking forward to that.
Q. What does this mean for you in your career? South Africa has always had a player or two or a few players in previous Presidents Cups, from David Frost and Fulton Allem in 1994 and later names like Ernie and Trevor Immelman, Louis Oosthuizen. What does this mean to you? You're the only South African on the team.
CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT: Yeah, first of all, it's a really big honor to be in the team as a pick. It was definitely one of my goals over the last few years. I played hard to make the Presidents Cup three years ago, and I just missed out on that. It was definitely one of my goals this year to make that team.
Yeah, I mean, to look back on all the South Africans in the past to have played the Presidents Cup, my first Presidents Cup that I could remember was the 2003 Presidents Cup when I was nine years old, and Ernie and Tiger going down in a playoff.
Yeah, it was always an event that I watched on TV over the years and really followed it closely. It's a big honor to make my debut this year.
Q. I just wanted to ask you, obviously you've won multiple times on the DP World Tour, but finishing 51st in the FedExCup in your first full season on the PGA TOUR, how would you describe your season?
CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT: Yeah, I mean, overall it was a pretty decent season. I've had a very consistent season. I only missed two cuts the whole season.
Obviously here and there I had a few tournaments that I would have liked to have finished better or higher in the rankings and stuff to give myself a chance for the trip to East Lake, but yeah, for a rookie on the PGA TOUR to finish 51st, yeah, it was a great experience. I learned a lot from it. I learned a lot of golf courses that I haven't played before, so I can manage my schedule a little bit better going into the next season in a few weeks' time.
Yeah, it's just overall been a great experience in my first full season out there.
Q. I just wanted to know, Trevor in his press conference when he announced the names mentioned the fact that a lot of you players and some of the ones that didn't make it have got together quite frequently over the last couple of months and even couple of years. Has it been a good atmosphere? Do you feel like it's going to be a good team spirit within that squad? You're certainly going to go into this as underdogs.
CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT: Yes, we're definitely underdogs going into the next few weeks facing the U.S. Team. But we've had multiple team dinners over the last few months with a lot of the guys in the running for making the team joined in. It's a great vibe. It's a great bunch of guys in the team. All the guys that narrowly missed out, everyone has been so supportive over the last few months and weeks.
Yeah, taking it back to last week, our training camp in Charlotte, team spirit is high. Everyone is excited.
It's going to be a tough challenge, but you never know. We'll give it our all and see what happens.
Q. Unrelated to the Presidents Cup, do you have any idea what your calendar or schedule for the remainder of the year will look like after the Presidents Cup? Will you be heading straight back to the PGA TOUR, or could we potentially see you in South Africa at a few of the events towards the end of the year?
CHRISTIAAN BEZUIDENHOUT: I'm going to play a few weeks in the States after the Presidents Cup. I'm going to play four weeks in a row after the Presidents Cup, so I'm going to do that straight up until the CJ Cup, and then I'm going to head back home earlier this year than usual.
I'm going to play in a few South African events, as well. I haven't decided which events yet, but I'm definitely going to play in one or two events at the end of the year.
CHRIS COX: We'd like to thank everyone for joining us today to talk with Christiaan ahead of the Presidents Cup. Congratulations on your pick, and we look forward you Quail Hollow Club.
To the media on the line, we do have credentials left for the Presidents Cup, so if you'd like to see Christiaan play in person, please feel free to shoot me an email and I'll try to get you credentialed. Thanks, Christiaan, and best of luck.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports