Atlanta Drive GC 4, New York Golf Club 3
THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Atlanta Drive GC here to the SoFi media center. I know it didn't come out how you guys wanted it to finish how you wanted it to, but coming into the finals as the 4 seed, what did you guys learn about each other and about the overall experience of the TGL Playoffs?
CAMERON YOUNG: I think the level of emotion and intensity in the match tonight and last night was really high. Not that it wasn't all year, but there's just a different level. Just like playoffs in any other sport.
So it's been a lot of fun playing alongside these guys and Matt, and just have a growing appreciation for how good they all are and just happy to have them as teammates.
RICKIE FOWLER: It's been a lot of fun, and obviously now and the in the moment with where we are, it sucks, but at the same time, have to look back and look at the 0-2 start. It's been fun to grow with these guys and all get better and put ourselves in this position.
Yeah, a little two sides to the story, but yeah, happy we've made it to this point and wish we could have had a few more putts go in. They were close matches that both came down to the last hole.
Q. What do you guys look forward to heading into what will be season 2 here next year?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: Yeah, I'm sure a lot of fans and the producers and ESPN, everyone is going to have a little bit of input. I think just like us players sit down in our off season with our team, they're going to sit down here and see how they can tweak everything, whether it's shortening the season or having it end shorter. I was talking to someone earlier about that; having it end sort of just before THE PLAYERS, that would be something that we'd be up for.
But overall I think we're sort of in our feels right now. We kind of experienced -- I was on the sidelines for some, played in some, and lost and won. It was definitely -- I wouldn't call the New York season a bland one. We got a little bit of everything, which was enjoyable.
Q. On Billy's putt, accepting the hammer was probably a no-brainer; you had to do that with a 17-foot putt. When you saw it go in, what did you think as you saw it going and when it dropped?
XANDER SCHAUFFELE: I was just watching him start taking off. After he did his run-around, I was just hoping we could get him to the third match. I figured Billy Ho has got a lot of energy, but anyone running around that much is going to run out of steam.
Billy is a dog. He made some really big putts when he needed to. You go back to yesterday, we rolled the dice on him, and he made it, and tonight I liked Rickie's spot making 3 all the time. Billy making that putt really hurt us, and he definitely earned it.
Q. Xander, you just mentioned maybe changes you would like to see next year, possible things that could change. The league seems to be pretty open to what you guys have wanted, either with the hammer or moving shots back on the second tee box. Just wondering after a full season of feeling it and experiencing it if there's any other changes or things you'd like to see implemented as we add to year two?
RICKIE FOWLER: I haven't thought about it too much. I know the hammer thing hurt us early on with how it started and then I think it made the matches and entertainment a lot better once the change was made there.
There's been subtle tweaks other than that one throughout the season, and it's been great. I think everyone has been open to that, to ultimately make the matches and the product better and us have as much fun as possible out there.
I'm sure there will be plenty of thoughts going into how do we make 2.0 even better than this was.
Q. Cam, you kind of mentioned the emotion of this final match. Were you at all surprised given how new this is just how much you cared about the final outcome or just how much you were fully bought in, one season in?
CAMERON YOUNG: I wasn't surprised at all, no. I think you get a group of the best golfers in the world doing anything, you're going to find us trying to beat each other. I don't think that aspect is lacking at all. I think we're all desperate to win out there just like we would be at anything.
RICKIE FOWLER: We didn't even know -- we knew there was some money involved, but it was never a thing of, hey, we need to play better to win more money. That's all guys playing for pride out there.
Obviously the money and stuff is a bonus. Most of us live around here; it works out being somewhat convenient. But yeah, it was just trying to beat up on your buddies.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports