THE MODERATOR: Welcome to the 2026 Presidents Cup with the International Team captain Geoff Ogilvy. Geoff, if you could just give us an opening comment about the vibe of the team. It's the first full day at the golf course for the team, but what it's been like the last couple of days?
GEOFF OGILVY: It's been great. It's been a fantastic start to the week for us. We had a great team dinner last night. Getting everybody together is really good. Everyone is getting out to the golf course today, like you said, for the first time together. We had a few guys come play yesterday, but it's a little cooler than we all expected, and the course played pretty long out there, it sounds like, the reports from the boys.
They're all in good spirits and excited to be here.
Q. I was just wondering, your match play record speaks for itself. You're an incredible match play player and always have been. In captaining this team, everyone on these teams with the best players in the world, they know how to grind something out and win in clutch moments. Is there anything in particular that you think makes great match play or any kind of, in your illustrious match play record, is there any kind of opponents that you've come up against that have either got in your head, because it's kind of a game within a game with match play.
GEOFF OGILVY: It's an interesting game. It was always one of my favorite versions of the sport. It's more sort of -- it's more of a mental battle, I think, sometimes than physical. 72 holes, you've just got to have the lowest score in 72 holes, and you play the percentages a lot more. The strategy, the way you play, you're not really -- unless you get down to the last two or three holes of a tournament, you're not really caring about what your opponents do. You're just playing the golf course.
But you're playing the man in match play. So it's a bit of a different skill. There was plenty of players along the way that were challenging in match play. But that was kind of the fun I found. Match play was more fun when they were harder to beat. I thought it was a good challenge.
I never played Ernie, but I would have loved to play Ernie Els. He was fantastic. Obviously Tiger was an incredible match player.
I just enjoy the format. There's -- I wouldn't say mind games, but there's certainly different mental strategies when you play match play. You're playing against the guy as a whole. You're not playing against the golf course anymore. What your opponent does can sometimes dictate what you do. I just found it an interesting format. I just loved it.
Q. Is it because you think it's more aggressive -- it definitely is more aggressive golf in the way that you can make a 7 and someone can make a 4 but you're only losing one hole. Would you find it's more an aggressive way to play golf?
GEOFF OGILVY: It can be, but if you're tied on the last hole and you lose the last hole, you lose the match. It's situational how your match is going. I don't think you can have a set strategy in match play. I think you've got to accept what your opponent is doing and sort of play accordingly on each hole.
You normally have a 72-hole project. This is 18 one-hole projects in a way. It's a different mentality, but it's still golf, and you've still got to hit great shots. It definitely asks you to be aggressive sometimes, but sometimes it asks you to be conservative. So I think you've got to react as the match is unfolding.
Q. Not my question, but it made me want to ask, if match play is more fun when it's the harder player to beat, who's the hardest player you played to beat?
GEOFF OGILVY: Bubba beat me like 5&4 in Tucson. I found him really hard to play. He plays such a different version of golf. Some of the guys I didn't beat I found really hard.
Look, back through the years, it was the same names at that time who always seemed to get it to the last eight players. I remember when I played Rory. Rory was hard to beat when he was 20 or 21, something like that. He was pretty impressive. I don't know. The ones who beat you are the hard ones.
Q. General question is what is it that gives you the most belief that this is the year that you guys can finally win?
GEOFF OGILVY: I don't know. I think the spirit of this group is really strong. I think we're more together than we've ever been. We've had a lot of sort of together moments this year more than normal. The chat group is as active as it's ever been.
They just seem to be in really good spirits. They've been very excited to get here for quite a long time. I don't know, it's just a good-feeling group. I think the time is right.
They know the scores probably didn't look -- when you look at the final result the last couple of times, it probably didn't look that close, but if you go back and see how they were unfolding, they were pretty level contests really. I mean, we lost 18 a few times in Montreal, but we ended up winning more holes, individual holes, than the U.S. did. That's a sign that you're playing good enough golf.
No, the boys know we're close. As I said, they're super excited about this tournament. They want to win this for the International Team. I think that's the most important ingredient to these things.
Q. Sneds was mentioning the softness of the golf course. Just curious, might you be slightly disappointed seeing the golf course in that condition now that we're here?
GEOFF OGILVY: I mean, look, from an architecture standpoint, I would love to see it play firm. We built it to play firm, and golf courses play their best when the ball rolls a little bit when it lands. It's a bit more interesting.
Look, I think it's going to firm up. There's a fair bit of drainage out there. It took two and a half inches on the weekend, so it's going to take a while. It played very long, and with the cold temperatures, the cooler temperatures - it's not cold for Chicago, but cooler - it played very long and a little bit soft. I think it will firm up.
The greens are very quick, and I think where you miss it's going to still be very important. Some of the stuff we built out there is still going to have some interest, I think, when it's soft.
Q. When you guys were here a couple weeks ago, was it more what you envisioned? Was it firmer? What did you see or learn about how these guys were playing it? Your team, I guess would be the --
GEOFF OGILVY: They hit it firmer than I do. It was different but similar. It got a little bit softer, I guess, over the weekend than when we were here, but it wasn't crazy firm. It's been a very hot summer here in Chicago.
With the intent of having it as good as it can be this week, they weren't pushing the envelope a few weeks ago. No, I'm just amazed at how good these guys play. Their long game is just incredible.
It's interesting from the architecture standpoint. We always had guesses about how they were going to play the golf course. To see some things played out exactly as we thought, and then other things it's like, well, they can actually get it over that bunker, that's incredible. It's just been fun to watch them play it. They look like they're having a good time.
Obviously when you're preparing for a tournament where they're hitting off some of the variety of tees that might be used on a few holes, which I think is going to be interesting, so they're hitting lots of different shots and just getting a feel for it.
Q. Brandt was just in here talking about how he might use stats and how he has used stats, whether for your picks or pairings or whatever the case may be. How do you intend to use statistics?
GEOFF OGILVY: For similar reasons. We look at overall strokes gained, I guess, when we're picking teams. There's also some course fit stuff, like what strengths are going to be good here at Medinah, strategy around the golf course, best way to play around the holes.
It's a little different here. When we went to Quail Hollow, we had historical data, and you could take a deeper dive on that sort of stuff. But we're making some guesses. It's like, yeah, how to play the golf course, pairings, how we pick the team. Analytics are a big part of golf everywhere now. So if they're available, you've got to look into them.
Q. What do you think the Americans have done so well in this event and not so well recently in the Ryder Cup?
GEOFF OGILVY: I don't know. That's an interesting question. It's hard to say. I wouldn't want to throw any theories out. To be honest, we just focus on our team, try to win this tournament. We love watching the Ryder Cup. I think all of us just sort of get some insights. I don't have any theories on that one, to be honest.
Q. You've had a lot of experience playing in this area, back to Cog Hill in the Western Open. What has your experience been like in seeing the community support for the tournaments you played in, and what would it mean to have Chicago back in the regular rotation?
GEOFF OGILVY: This is a fantastic sports city. All the way back, yeah, we used to play the Western Open out at Cog Hill. Incredible tournament. U.S. Open, Olympia Fields. We played the PGA here in '06, which was one of the biggest crowds I've ever seen. I did play with Tiger and Phil in the first two days, so that was my most memorable pairing in history probably, in my whole career.
Yeah, it's an incredible town. Ever since we've been coming and leading up -- well, when we were working on the golf course, we always enjoyed our time. All the pre-trips I've made here for Presidents Cup, the later trips, the city seems very, very excited. Very golf savvy town. Well, sports savvy town really, but I think especially golf savvy town.
There's a big section of the Tour that would love to come back to Chicago every year. Chicago deserves a golf tournament. It's a great city. It's got great golf courses and great fans.
Q. Just building off that as well, the last time an international competition was played here, obviously the European team sort of defied the odds on the final day to beat the Americans. Are you guys drawing any inspiration from that to sort of defy the odds again this week?
GEOFF OGILVY: Not particularly. We are just focused on doing the best we can. I mean, these team tournaments are -- there's a lot of moving parts, and there's a lot of theories out there about how you do them well. Every time we play this tournament, we sit down and work out all the things we did really well and try to do them again and work out the things we could have done better and try to do them this time.
We really just focus on what we're doing. We're excited to go out there and play well. As I said, the boys are excited. Look, I mean, we all have memories, pretty vivid memories of watching that Sunday at least at that Ryder Cup, just as an interested observer.
No, we take our own inspirations from our own sort of stuff.
Q. Medinah is obviously really only one of a couple major tournament venues in the Chicago area. Having been involved with the renovation, do you think by the end of this week you might get some idea of whether it can host a major again, a U.S. Open? I know the U.S. Opens are done through the year 3000 probably, but perhaps a PGA. Do you think maybe by the end of this week, people will be able to get an idea of, yeah, the renovation could stand up and enable Medinah to host a major again?
GEOFF OGILVY: I hope so. Look, this is an incredible venue. After this week, this is going to be the only course in the world that's had a PGA, a U.S. Open, a Ryder Cup, and a Presidents Cup, which is, I think, testament to how good a venue this is.
Like I talked about Chicago, it's a great town. This is a big-time venue, and it's certainly long enough for the best players in the world.
There's plenty of room for all the bits and pieces you have to bring in for a major championship.
Look, selfishly or personally, I think it's more suited to a major now than it was pre-renovation, but time will tell. It's difficult with match play, I think, to get a true assessment of the golf course, if you're thinking about sort of winning scores and stuff. But as far as venues with this scale and history to host major championships, this should be really, really high up on the list, I think. This ticks pretty much every box, Medinah.
Q. You mentioned the group chat. Could you tell us a little bit about the vibe of the group chat. Does the group chat have a name, and has Hideki entered the group chat?
GEOFF OGILVY: Everyone's in the group chat. I don't know if it's got a name or not. It's just the International Team chat.
It's quite loose and friendly, I would say. A few pictures and GIFs and stories. You've got to be careful, some of these young guys who are very good with their TikTok camera catching you. You've got to be careful if you're doing something embarrassing on the bus because it's going to be on there pretty quick.
No, it's good vibes. You pretty much know what's going on at all times because they're all sharing all that stuff. It's good fun.
Q. I realize that you're trying to win for the shield and for each other, but is there any type of feeling amongst the team of how much they'd like to win for the old guy?
GEOFF OGILVY: Who's the old guy?
Q. Adam.
GEOFF OGILVY: Oh, yeah.
Q. I thought that was clear, sorry.
GEOFF OGILVY: Did you call him the old guy to his face?
Q. Not yet. (Laughter.)
GEOFF OGILVY: Absolutely. Look, he's obviously a big inspiration. We mentioned it last night, but he played his first Presidents Cup in 2003. Some of these kids -- a lot of these kids weren't even playing golf in 2003. Yeah, he's a big inspiration.
It's a cool journey he's taken. When he first got into that room, he was playing with Ernie Els and Vijay Singh and Nick Price. He was the young one in the room, and now he's the guy they all look at.
Certainly, you would have thought if you were going to play all 12 in a row from 2003, that he would have won one by now. So it would be fantastic for the team, and I know everybody feels that way, that he's a big part of the inspiration they want to win for.
Hideki as well. Hideki is here for number seven, I think. Number seven. Yeah, we've got two players with that much experience. It would be a really nice time to show them -- or to help get them a victory in this tournament.
Q. I'm curious if you'd like to see an international women's team event, and if you've talked to anyone about that or anyone's approached you about that?
GEOFF OGILVY: I've never talked to anyone about it. Obviously you hear it thrown around a lot. I think it would be a fascinating event. Clearly international women's golf is really strong. Perhaps the LPGA could create that similar deal to the Presidents Cup, an off-season event, in a creative way.
I know they play that -- Australia won one last year, right? It's a four-man team, right? Four-girl team, sorry. But yeah, an organized -- because we love -- this is so special for us. The connection we've got -- I mean, on the outside looking in, it doesn't seem like we've got a connection, but every single one of us had to travel a long way to play out our dream, if you like, and that's one of the connections that our team has. The women would have the same feeling. So that would be a cool thing.
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