Q. Just a couple quick ones for you. How would you describe the team atmosphere in one word?
RYAN FOX: Amazing. Brilliant. You can use any of those like that. They all fit.
Q. Who's your favorite swing on the team?
RYAN FOX: (Indicating Adam Scott). It's not really a hard one, is it? He's one of the favorite swings in golf for pretty much every golfer.
Q. Obviously it's your debut this week. What has it overall been like, the process of getting to the team, meeting the team, and just the week so far?
RYAN FOX: The whole thing's been great. I think it was my biggest goal of the year to get in here, or probably the goal I felt like was the most achievable. Obviously winning a major is up there, but I really wanted to be a part of this team.
Getting involved with the team has been great. I've got a lot of guys I know really, really well on the team. It's been really easy to fit in both with the captains and the players. We've had a lot of dinners and a lot of team meetings and stuff like that. It feels really organic this week that we've got this collective goal we all want to achieve and everyone's buying into it. It feels like you're playing with your mates, and it's a lot of fun.
Q. I'm curious as you've experienced this week a little bit after a couple of days, going through the process of getting on the team, would you like to see an international women's team compete in a team event?
RYAN FOX: Yeah, I think that would be pretty strong. Look, I think it obviously would fit in with the Solheim Cup getting bigger and bigger all the time. I think having something else on the women's side would be brilliant.
I imagine it would be a very, very competitive match right from the outset. The international women are very, very strong, including a couple down from our end of the world. Yeah, it would be great to see them have an opportunity to be able to do the same thing as us?
Q. Have you seen that roster at all by chance, what that would look like?
RYAN FOX: I haven't seen what it would look like, but there's a decent chunk of the top 10 in the world.
(Looking at roster). Yeah, well, No. 16 being the worst. That would be the strongest team on paper of any of the teams -- U.S. Team, U.S. men's team, whatever. Maybe that's why they won't do it.
Q. Winning The Open as kind of an underdog and making clutch putts, is that kind of some characteristics you think you can carry over to a competition like this?
RYAN FOX: Yeah, definitely. Obviously it's about as much pressure as you can have on a golf course. I felt like I handled myself really, really well in that situation. I made a lot of putts down the stretch. It's something I can definitely lean into this week.
I know I can do it in that scenario. I feel like this scenario is going to feel pretty similar. Yeah, having done it, hopefully I can use that experience and try to do the same thing this week. I guess the great thing this week is we've got some teammates to lean on as well. I'm looking forward to that part of it.
I haven't played a lot of team golf. I grew up playing team sports, so I'm very much looking forward to that part of it as well.
Q. You've been praised a lot and rightfully so for your pace of play. Does that go into the pairing decisions and finding a player who plays kind of at your pace?
RYAN FOX: I don't think so. I don't think there's too many guys who play at my pace on Tour, and that's fine. I know Geoff and all the assistants spent a lot of time getting the pairings sorted, and I don't think pace of play came into it at all. It was kind of how the games fit and how the personalities fit.
I would imagine on the U.S. side they might try to slow play me a little bit, but that's probably no different than what it's like every day on Tour. Hopefully I can find a way to deal with that pretty easily.
Q. How would you describe being a rookie out here in the Presidents Cup? What has it been like so far for you?
RYAN FOX: It's been amazing. I'm pretty old for a rookie, and I feel like I've done a fair bit in golf as well to get to this point. I'll probably feel a little bit less intimidated by the whole experience than I would have a few years ago if I'd have made the team.
Like I've got a lot of good friends on the team. So it's been really easy to fit in. The guys have been great. Like I grew up playing team sports. I love it. We don't get to do it very often in golf. To be able to do it this week has been incredible.
I feel like we've got a really good camaraderie between the guys and buying into this collective goal we've got to try to do something incredible this week. It's going to be a lot of fun, and I've really enjoyed it so far.
Q. You said before that maybe the U.S. is kind of the favorite team, has a leg up. How do you guys plan to come out and essentially beat them? What are you most looking at? What aspects are you trying to aim for in the game?
RYAN FOX: For us, we've always been the underdogs in this, but I feel like on paper the European Ryder Cup team is always the underdogs a little bit, and that hasn't seemed to affect their results at all over the last few years. I think we're trying to channel a little bit of that and come together.
As I said, we do have a chance to do something incredible when we've got a couple of guys on the team who have played a lot of these that we really want to get a win for. I think that's our motivation. I mean, Adam especially over there.
I think we're kind of trying to hopefully be able to flip the pressure on the U.S. I feel like they're expected to win, and if we can get on top early and create some pressure, there will be more pressure come on them from other places and hopefully we can take advantage of that.
Q. I was talking to Tom. Like what's the advice maybe been like with you two have both won majors? Tom has done the Presidents Cup before, but he's so much younger. What does that kind of relationship look like? How has the advice come in? Has anyone bounced any ideas off of each other?
RYAN FOX: We had a great team meeting last night. We're throwing ideas around of how we deal with certain situations. It's been really good. We can lean on -- we've got a lot of experience on the team. We've got a few major winners on the team as well, which obviously there's some experience there of playing under pressure.
Obviously like Tom's had an incredible career at this event so far. It's scary to think he's only, what, 24 or something some yeah, we've been able to do a really good job of picking people's brains and allowing ourselves to be vulnerable and ask for advice or say if we're struggling with something.
That's the great thing about being on a team. You've got 11 other guys and 4 assistant captains and a captain and a bunch of other staff to lean on for advice. We don't get to do that very often. It's been great to be able to do that this week.
Q. Do you guys have like a team group chat?
RYAN FOX: Oh, yeah.
Q. Is it interactive? Do you have a role in the team group chat? What's that look like?
RYAN FOX: Most of it's just talking stick, to be honest. There seems to be a lot of AI videos being posted in our chat at the moment of various team members that have been portrayed on social media a lot. Yeah, we have a lot of laughs about that.
There's a few South Africans on the team, so there's been some rugby chat that's gone against me the last couple weeks as well.
We've kept it pretty lighthearted in there. It's been a lot of fun as well.
Q. What would you say you're most looking forward to in your game that gives you a leg up on this course?
RYAN FOX: I think it's going to be a long golf course, and it looks like we're going to get some wind this week. I enjoy playing in hard conditions, so I'm kind of looking forward to that, like having to hit a lot of tough shots.
Generally length, I'm not as long as I used to be, but generally length is not an issue for me. Hopefully that puts me in good stead round here. Yeah, I putted great last week at Wentworth as well. Hopefully I can take that into this week.
Obviously holing putts is fairly important in match play. It was nice to feel -- nice to see a few go in last week.
Q. For sure. You definitely made some clutch putts over the course of the season, especially at The Open Championship. How did that experience sort of give you confidence for the rest of the season to contend with the world's best?
RYAN FOX: Obviously what I did at The Open, I hit a lot of really good shots under intense pressure and hit a lot of really good putts when it mattered too. I feel like the whole week is going to be like this, like that this week. I can lean on that having done it this year.
Even the last couple of years, I hit a couple of really good shots in playoffs to get the job done last year. They're always nice to have in the memory bank to be able to go, well, I've done it under extreme pressure before, and this week is going to have a lot of that. Hopefully I can do the same thing.
It's great playing for something extra as well this week. You're not just playing for yourself. You're playing for your mates. Playing for your country, playing for the International Team. I feel like that's -- that should be a leg up for all of us this week. I certainly am feeling it so far, and hopefully that translates into some good stuff in the golf game too.
Q. You're obviously one of the fastest players in the world. Match play is historically a very slow game. Is it how you basically preparing for that switch-up this week as well?
RYAN FOX: I mean, it's going to be slow, but it's slow on Tour most weeks as well. I've always been pretty good at switching off and switching back on when I need to. The great thing this week is I've got a partner to play with for a majority of the week and a couple of caddies to talk to in between shots and a couple of assistant captains and captains driving around as well if I need to.
There will be plenty of distractions if I need it. With everything going on, it won't be too hard to get back into the shot when it's time to do that.
Q. This is obviously a competition that the United States has historically won a lot of, but the last time international competition was played on this golf course, the Europeans sort of came back with a surge with the miracle at Medinah and sort of shocked the United States. Are you guys drawing any inspiration from that to sort of defy the odds again this week?
RYAN FOX: Yeah, definitely. That's something we can -- we've been looking at. I feel like we've got a great group to be able to do something special like that this week. That's certainly one of the motivating factors, but we've got a few going on there.
Yeah, hopefully we can pull off something special this week.
Q. Overall, how has your team dynamic been so far this year?
RYAN FOX: It's been amazing. No, we -- we've had a lot of dinners over the last 18 months or so, and everyone's got to know each other really, really well. It's been a lot of fun. Our group chat's pretty lighthearted, where there's a bunch of stick being thrown around. We've had a lot of fun out on the golf course when we've played together, when we've played a bunch of practice rounds together at various other events.
Yeah, I think we've got a great group. We've bought into this big collective goal that we want to achieve this week. It's fun playing for your mates. I really feel that this week.
Q. What's something that you guys do outside of golf together that fans wouldn't know?
RYAN FOX: There's been a fair bit of cards played in the last couple of weeks in the team room, some table tennis and darts played as well. It's been pretty fun being able to do that.
Q. How have you guys liked Chicago?
RYAN FOX: I mean, we haven't experienced too much of Chicago yet. We obviously got in late Sunday night. We've got the team room. We had a pretty good experience here 10 days ago and had dinner in the city at this restaurant Adalina, which was amazing. Obviously a fantastic city. We'll see a fair bit more of it this afternoon and evening with the official stuff going on.
Yeah, it's great. Great to be here. From what I understand, Chicago are pretty good sports fans as well. So I'm looking forward to the atmosphere this week.
Q. I just wanted to talk about match play as a bigger thing because it's something that the International -- I don't know how much match play you played. You played in the Dell in 2023, and you had a 2&1 finish. How do you feel when you think about match play? I see it as a game inside a game. What do you think makes a great match player?
RYAN FOX: I haven't played a lot of match play as a pro, but I would say the majority of guys now probably say that. Scotty might be one that hasn't played -- has played a fair bit, playing the match play so many years.
What makes a great match player? It's someone that's just really competitive. I think it's a different format, right? You're not trying to beat the golf course like you are every week in a professional event, like it's -- you're just trying to beat your man. If 74 beats 75 or 64 beats 65, like it really doesn't matter.
Q. Do you think it elicits sometimes, especially like -- I've asked this of Geoff and of Scotty, in order to win, you've got options, and you can lay back to apply pressure. Sometimes pressure makes diamonds. You've really got to make a shot happen. Is there any memories, even though you haven't played in any of these, is there any memories you have from Presidents Cups or Ryder Cups or any match play venue you can think of where something sticks in your mind as an incredible match play moment?
RYAN FOX: Probably looking back on it, there's -- the overall, the last time the Ryder Cup was here, I mean, that's -- that was such drama. It's hard to pick one moment out of that whole Sunday, but I remember watching that vividly. I've seen the documentary on it and everything that happened.
It's pretty just -- it gives us a lot of motivation this week that you can do something incredible on a Sunday like that, especially at the same venue. Look, that's quintessential match play. It almost happened the other way last year in the Ryder Cup, right? The U.S.'s Sunday was pretty incredible, and they almost flipped it their way from an almost unwinnable position.
Match play is amazing like that. There's lots of different story lines that can happen. Momentum can go on your side and everything like that. Like it's such a cool format, and I wish we could -- sounds like we're probably going to be able to play a little bit more of it on Tour going forward. It's a great format to be able to play, and I'm really looking forward to it this week.
Q. Say the teammate that pops into your head when you hear these quick five questions. Most likely to be late to the bus?
RYAN FOX: Tom Kim.
Q. Most likely to bring the energy?
RYAN FOX: Probably Min Woo.
Q. Most competitive?
RYAN FOX: Maybe Tom Kim.
Q. Best dressed?
RYAN FOX: Adam Scott.
Q. Most likely to talk the most trash.
RYAN FOX: This is a caddie, Manny Villegas.
Q. Did you play a lot of match play growing up?
RYAN FOX: We had an Interprovincial in New Zealand which was match play, and you played like seven or eight matches a week, and hopefully you made the finals and played a couple more. That was kind of it.
We had one -- if you made New Zealand Amateur -- the New Zealand Amateur or the Aussie Amateur, you'd play a little bit of match play, but that was kind of it.
Q. How much do you watch this event, maybe the Ryder Cup, the team events when you're not playing in them?
RYAN FOX: Religiously. I've watched the majority of the Ryder Cups over the last 15 years, the same with Presidents Cup. I went to Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne in 2011, I think, just before I turned pro. I absolutely loved it.
Yeah, it's pretty cool to be able to be playing in one of these things now.
Q. What time would that be on in New Zealand?
RYAN FOX: The one at Royal Melbourne was --
Q. How about like a Ryder Cup in the states at Bethpage Black?
RYAN FOX: Anything in the U.S. is pretty good in New Zealand, like it's the next morning. So if it's Sunday afternoon, we generally watch it Monday mornings. But like anything in Europe is pretty hard, like it's a 12-hour time difference, 11-hour time difference to anything in Europe.
You've got to be a little more committed to watch the -- a European Ryder Cup, but I was based in London for a bunch of years. It was definitely a lot easier to watch the Ryder Cup, that time zone.
Q. You would have naturally come up with some sort of expectation for what you're going to find by essentially studying through the television. To the extent that it can through a couple days, does this match it, what you were thinking it would be like, is it different than that?
RYAN FOX: Yeah, I think the team environment is what I hoped it would be. Like it's been a lot of fun, and it's something completely different as well that we don't do week in and week out, like hanging out.
You've got 12 guys to hang out -- more than that, like 20 guys to hang out with with all the assistant captains and the staff and stuff like that. Most of the wives are here this week. Like it's a big group of people, and it's a lot of fun to be a part of.
I guess it will be interesting to see what being on the golf course is like compared to what I think it's going to be. Obviously you see events in the U.S. can be a little hostile sometimes towards the visiting side. I'm kind of thinking it's going to be a little bit like that this week. I guess we'll see what happens.
I've talked to a few of the guys about that, and they've said it can be a bit daunting when you've got people actively pulling against you, but yeah, it will be kind of fun to experience that. Again, we've got guys we can lean on that have got a lot of experience and ways to deal with it. Hopefully I can learn a little bit off them.
Q. Last thing, you were very quick to respond with caddie Villegas about biggest trash talker. The biggest follow-up wasn't asked. Why is he the biggest trash talker? Is there a story there?
RYAN FOX: I feel like there's not too much that comes out from Manny that's not trash. When he's on the bus, all he wants to do is rip people. There's one from here, we were here 10 days ago or so and having a couple of matches and obviously putting a little bit of money on it just to make it competitive.
I think for nine holes Manny didn't talk to Si Woo once. He was more worried about gambling with Min on everything and trying to give Min stick and everything like that.
Si Woo just did his own thing for nine holes, and they were just giving each other absolute everything for two hours, and it was absolutely brilliant.
Q. Was that the six-ball?
RYAN FOX: Yeah.
Q. I heard you were on the losing side of that.
RYAN FOX: We were okay. We lost the day before. I kind of came out even in the six-ball. We had -- it was a whole lot going on for those two days. It was fun.
Q. How much more appreciation do you have for playing this event being a 39-year-old rookie?
RYAN FOX: Yeah, I've got a lot. Obviously I've watched it a ton over the years. As I said earlier, I've been to one in person at Royal Melbourne in 2011. So like always felt an affinity for this event. Yeah, I've been close a couple times to making the team, and there was a little bit of extra motivation to kind of get here.
Yeah, it's been great to be able to finally make it. I feel like I've -- I feel strange as a rookie because obviously there's -- I feel like I've achieved a decent amount in golf to get here, and this was kind of one of the things I was missing.
Yeah, it's been great to be a part of the team now and also earn my way on it properly, not rely on a pick or anything. Being one of those automatic picks was great, and I'm looking forward to the opportunity we've got this week.
Q. Outside of obviously winning this event, what would be the next box you're trying to check?
RYAN FOX: I'd say winning this event is probably the next box we're trying to tick. No, we've got a couple of guys and Scotty over there and Hideki that have played in a lot of these and would certainly would love to give both of those guys a win. I'd certainly like to be part of that as well.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports