THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome the victorious United States team here at the 2022 Presidents Cup. Congratulations, guys.
Before we open it up to questions and answers, we will hear from Captain Love. Captain, can we get some opening comments?
DAVIS LOVE III: Yeah. I'm extremely proud of this team from one end of the table to the other. And thank my assistant captains for an incredible job. A lot of us have been at it for a long time, and this has been one of the most fun, one of the most together, supportive teams.
They did everything we asked them to do and more. They were unbelievably prepared coming in here. You know, it's a little bit of a break after the TOUR Championship, and they came in fired up and ready. Kevin Kisner even put down his bow and picked up his clubs after thinking he might have a little bit of a break.
Everybody came in here ready and fired up and really, really prepared. We don't have to do much except tell them what time to tee off. So extremely proud of them.
Trevor's team did an incredible job of -- we talked the other night about their shield. They're doing an incredible job of trying to rally and build a team and get an identity, and they certainly came together and started making some putts.
And our stats guys came up with some incredible stuff this morning about how their team played especially against a couple of our teams. We kept running the same guys out there against their best team.
Even though some guys' records don't show it, everybody on this team played incredibly well. It was a great team effort.
Q. Jordan, there's been some examples recently, Scottie being one of them, of players who have done really well in this event and taken that into the next year and had a lot of success. Do you believe in a relationship there? And is your success this week something that you can see parlaying into a really good season next year?
JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I think so. I think I just used my example in here of the 2014 Ryder Cup and the 2015 season. I thought Scottie's last year into this year, I don't want to put words into his mouth, but I thought he could probably draw on the experiences of last year's Ryder Cup into his season this season, especially coming off the finish line against Patrick Cantlay in the playoff.
To be honest, it's not that hard to beat Patrick Cantlay in a playoff. I did it this year too. But I will say, like, when he did it, I thought it was difficult. So parlaying that into the rest of his season, I thought that was obviously really impressive. But that may be more of a question for Scottie.
For me, yeah, I'm really excited about the week that was this week. I thought that I played some of my best golf of the year this week, which was really cool to do it with and for -- you know, as a team with these guys. Me and Justin had just an unbelievable time in the team setting, and I was glad to finally get in the winner's circle in a singles match for my first time ever.
(Applause.)
Thank you for that. Thanks, guys.
Yeah, there's a lot I can draw on for next year for sure.
Q. J.T., first of all, congratulations on a great week. Second of all, I'm curious of what you thought of Si Woo shushing the crowd. What do you think of it now?
JUSTIN THOMAS: Honestly, at the time, I was pretty pissed off. Thanks, Billy. No, it's one of those things, I think when you're in the moment, when you're on the other side of it, it's something that gets you motivated, gets you pumped up a little bit.
I mean, he hit the shots and made the putts better than I did the last three holes or, really, the last IX holes when he needed to. So I can say whatever I want about it, but he beat me. So he has the upper hand on me.
But we won the Cup so that's all that matters.
Q. For Captain Love, sir, congratulations. I don't want to say that the international put the fear of God in your team, but they certainly, as you said, and as others said, they were a little bit mad when they left last night. Wonder if there's a lesson in that for the American team going forward, especially maybe in Rome. Don't take anything for granted. Not that they did, but it was a little bit of a wake-up, wasn't it?
DAVIS LOVE III: I'll let them answer that. But, you know, there were some guys that were mad, and that's why I asked our stats guys last night to give us some info.
It was hard to know whether you tell the guys this morning or before they played. But, like, Billy in a couple of sessions played better -- like if he'd have played anybody else, he'd have won. Scottie and Sam had just incredible numbers. It was almost like mathematically or karma impossible that they ended up playing the best team that day over and over and over again.
But, yeah, we knew these guys were going to do something like that. We knew there was going to be a Tom Kim or Christiaan or just right on down the list. Guys just stepped up and played incredibly well. It happens in Ryder Cup. It happens in Presidents Cup.
So that end of the table, we were serious about our pairings and serious about our planning and preparation, and I think some of the things that we did trying to rest guys or get guys with their comfortable partners may have actually messed them up a little bit.
But we all had fun. We all got to play, and we all got what we wanted in the end. You know, we said two weeks ago, we could just throw up balls with this team. But then guys wouldn't have gotten to play with their buddies.
I had several guys who didn't have the best record say they had one of the best weeks of their lives. We'll realize it tonight and next week and next season how much fun this week was.
I've been a part of, unfortunately, a lot of losing teams, and it's great to be around a group of 20 guys like this, and we just had a goal to win and defend the Cup. Obviously, here in Charlotte, it was the biggest one ever.
So there was a lot of different reasons to have pressure. But being the big, big, big favorite carries a little bit of weight. I'm glad they ignored it and just played great.
Q. Xander, when did you realize that you would be the clinching point, potentially, and then what were the emotions when you did hole that putt? It just seemed like relief and maybe it was a hard-fought victory.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah. I mean, just luck of the draw, you know what I mean? I saw Collin apologized for his breathing abilities here. Collin was 3 up, 4 up. We just wanted to get it done. It's always hard to win. It's not about me, you know. Everyone else got their points up on the board. It was close. It was stressful.
Yeah, and what you saw there was a big sigh of relief.
Q. Davis, you've done this with a lot of different teams. What's the identity of this particular team?
DAVIS LOVE III: I'll defer to Kevin Kisner. I don't know. They're unbelievably prepared and unbelievably confident. I think that's what we saw last year at the Ryder Cup.
We would sit in the team room at 8:00 at night and go, where is everybody? Somebody was in the gym. Somebody was in therapy. We've learned that we traded ping-pong tables in for ice baths and recovery, and I went looking for guys last night, and we had two at a time in the ice baths. We had guys on tables. We had --
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: One after the other.
(Laughter.)
DAVIS LOVE III: Patrick had his feet in. Patrick had his feet in with somebody else.
But the commitment to, hey, I got to putt in the dark. I have to get back to see my trainer. I've got to get into the gym. I have to be here three hours before to get ready. There's no, like, hey, whatever. It's serious business, you know.
That's why these guys are the best players in the world. I mean, three of us just came from a Champions Tour event where we're just hanging out in the lobby of the hotel playing with Jay Haas flashcards making pairings and doing takeout. These guys are in the gym and doing therapy and all kinds of stuff.
Tony had more bottles of stuff, you know, supplements and making milkshakes. I mean, it's just incredible what they go through to be the best in the world, and I think that's really their identity is they're the best athletes in golf. There's a reason why they can hit incredible shots and play incredible day after day after day.
Q. Max, you've had an incredible year, first of all. Can you describe -- and you've had a couple of great moments here at Charlotte. Can you describe what Charlotte now means to you. Can you put into words what this year's been and what it's about to be in just a few weeks?
MAX HOMA: Charlotte has always been one of my favorite cities. And then '19 kind of obviously was an amazing moment for me. It's surreal to think of all the cool moments I had on the real 18th green all week.
You know, me and T made one of the cooler pars I've made in my life, albeit I only had to hit a couple of the shots.
And then today, getting to celebrate with the boys is amazing. Quail Hollow is an amazing place for me. And to do it with all these guys was special.
But, yeah, the year has been crazy. I mean, I've said it a million times, but last year, at Kiawah, doing the fitting for the Ryder Cup, knowing I didn't really have much of a chance anymore was tough. Looking at yourself in the mirror and all the USA gear, it was hard. But I've got a thing seared into my brain, and my main focus this season was to make this team, to play with these guys.
A lot went into that. And to be here was one thing, and then to come out and play some great golf was another. And this week has been beyond special, validating, meaningful, all of the above. It meant a lot.
I think I'll look back on this week as a week I kind of use as continued motivation going forward.
Q. Question for Jordan. Sorry to interrupt. 5-0 this week. Another win for the U.S. team. I'm wondering, what do you think the U.S. side proved this week in Quail Hollow?
JORDAN SPIETH: I think that the biggest challenge for us this week was staying within ourselves and not letting the outside noise get to us. We saw notes of that that Captain Love put up all over the place, that we were supposed to win and we're favorites and all that.
Everybody focused on their matches. Everybody wanted to be the one setting the pace or the ones, if you were in the back couple matches of the day, the ones that were showing off for the rest of the team on the last couple, and didn't focus on any of the outside noise of the entire tournament.
Instead, what was so cool, which has been very consistent in the previous few Cups that I've been involved in, which is everyone's really, really good at what they do. Stay to your routine, do what you normally do to prepare for the biggest tournaments, and they did that. Nobody took anything lightly. They went through their same routine that I've seen guys go through for the final round of the Masters when they're in the final group.
And to do that for your team and country was super cool to watch.
Q. Max, obviously, I'm sure the week exceeded your expectations, but what kind of expectations did you have and where did 4-0 possibly play into that, or being undefeated?
(Applause.)
MAX HOMA: Thank you, everyone. As Jordan said, he was 4-0 before the day started.
(Laughter.)
I'm not sure where my expectations were for the week. I was obviously optimistic and excited.
As I said a couple days ago, I'm not super, super close with a lot of the guys on the team, just considering, you know, where I live and where I've kind of just been. I'm in the middle of the age range.
SAM BURNS: Love you, Max.
MAX HOMA: Love you, Sam.
Sam's a perfect example of somebody I've always gotten along with great and somebody I was looking forward to getting to spend real time with.
So to get to bond with these guys, we've all played against each other forever, except Kis because he's been playing forever.
(Laughter.)
So it was cool to get to be around people I respect so much and look up to and want to play like. And, yeah, to come out and go 4-0 was beyond a dream.
But it's just a testament to my partners. We had some great vibes this whole week, and it was just cool to be able to come to a place I've played well at, and I kind of know. And as nervous as I was, it was comforting to get on that 1st tee and know that I've been on that 1st tee nervous before, and I guess that's just kind of -- it played out throughout the week.
Q. Jordan, at the Whistling Straits presser, you were very candid that there's still a lot of work to be done, that you want to win a roady in Italy next year. What's your level of confidence that Team USA can do that after this week?
JORDAN SPIETH: The same as it was the Sunday a year ago, if not more, right? It's a tall task to ask, going over there. I mean, I've played in a couple of away games now, and they're very different.
But I mean, I'd take this team over there against anybody in the world. This was -- huh? What's that, Kis?
No, I think that winning at home is special in its own way, and there's nothing that beats it. But going over there on the road and winning would be incredibly special next year, and I really hope I'm a part of the team.
And the kind of team rooms that I've mentioned that we've had the last few years, it's going to stay that way, and I'm very confident in our ability to go over there and win.
You could tell me the last time it happened over there, but nobody here has any scar tissue. Everybody on this panel would very much embrace what that looks like next year.
Q. Cameron, I'm just curious what your strongest memory of the week was, and why.
CAMERON YOUNG: It's hard to say. I think there were a lot of them throughout the week. Standing on that 1st tee on Thursday is something I won't forget. And probably making that putt on 17 with Collin is something I'll remember for a long time.
Kind of something Max said, it's a week you get to spend some time with guys that you only see in a professional setting for the most part, and I feel like they really embraced me. Even though it's obviously my first one, along with some other guys, I felt right at home.
And just getting to spend that time away from the golf course with such an amazing team and an amazing group of players was a lot of fun.
Q. Davis, there was a lot of talk at the beginning of the week about the future of this event, whether there should be a format change or because of some of the LIV defections. What do you think this week's competition did for the perception of this event?
DAVIS LOVE III: There wasn't any talk from either of our teams, Trevor's or ours, about changing the format. We're having a lot of fun, and we love it, and we look forward to -- obviously, our team looks forward to next year in Italy and then the next year in Canada.
Q. Congratulations for the win this week. I want to ask Davis, who gets to sleep with the Cup tonight?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Our captain. Davis will.
DAVIS LOVE III: Maybe Sammy. We'll put Sammy in the cup. He's not paying attention.
We got some babies that like sitting in cups maybe tonight. We'll have to keep an eye on the Cup with these guys, though.
FRED COUPLES: Dillon, do you have a question? Right here in the front. Seattle. Seattle guy.
Q. Thanks, Fred. Xander, yesterday you said you would save your high point of the day for today. I was wondering what your high point of today was.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Sitting up here with the boys as champs. That's my high point.
(Applause.)
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: That was a stock answer, by the way.
Q. Do you want to expand on that?
KEVIN KISNER: You're nothing but stock.
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Oh, my gosh. Sorry?
Q. Do you want to expand on that feeling?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: It's an amazing feeling. Winning is really hard. I put that on full display today. Needed some help along the way. It's an incredible feeling. I'm very happy to sit up here with all our captains and all the guys on this team. It's an incredible squad we have this year.
Q. I saved the best for last. This one's for Kis. Being one of the more experienced players on the team, you know, can bring its advantages on the course. But do you feel it brings an advantage or disadvantage for tonight's festivities with these younger guys?
KEVIN KISNER: It's hard to hear. Can you speak up, please?
Q. Yes.
KEVIN KISNER: I just need the last part.
Q. Okay. Do you think it brings, your experience, do you think it brings an advantage or disadvantage for tonight's festivities with these younger guys?
KEVIN KISNER: My experience can ultimately win in this scenario. There is nothing that any of these can do that can hang with me tonight, I promise you.
I have never seen a better display of golfers and a worse display of partiers, and I am the best partier on this board. Amen.
That's why they picked me. I got half a point, but I brought the fun.
THE MODERATOR: With that, we'll conclude our press conference. Congratulations to Captain Love and the entire United States team.
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