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Ryder Cup: Friday Foursomes

The pairings for the first day of the 43rd Ryder Cup have been set. The most anticipated golf event is finally here. Contenders and fans alike are especially anxious after waiting due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its delays. Friday is formatted as alternate-shot foursomes and the pairings are quite surprising, specifically on the American side. The U.S. team will begin the session with its pairings of Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth on Friday morning. They will play against the European matchings of Jon Rahm and Sergio Garcia.

The first match is important, but the first day as a whole is what matters. The U.S. is sending out strong leaders against Europe’s all time Ryder Cup point earner, Jon Rahm. Not to mention, he is also ranked number one on the World Golf Ranking. It is intriguing to see how these pairings will set off the 43rd Ryder Cup weekend.

The pairings for Friday’s Foursome

Match   Team Europe Teetime Team USA  
#1   Sergio Garcia 14:05 Jordan Spieth  
  Jon Rahm Justin Thomas  
#2   Paul Casey 14:21 Dustin Johnson  
  Viktor Hovland Collin Morikawa  
#3   Lee Westwood 14:37 Daniel Berger  
  Matt Fitzpatrick Brooks Koepka  
#4   Rory McIlroy 14:53 Patrick Cantlay  
  Ian Poulter Xander Schauffele  

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Steve Stricker: Confident in his team and his pairings.

JOHN DEVER: Welcome back to the 43rd Ryder Cup here at Whistling Straits where we are joined by U.S. Ryder Cup Captain Steve Stricker.

Captain, we have pairings and we have matchups, too. Let’s speak just in generalities for your four pairings. How do you feel about it? You must feel pretty good, and we’re on the cusp of getting this thing going.

STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, to your last part there, how excited we are and everybody is to get this thing going finally. It’s been three years and you come in here on Sunday evening, and you know, the practice rounds are great but yet you have Friday in the back of your mind and you are just looking forward to getting out there and getting it going.

Yeah, I feel great about our pairings. You know, some teams that have played together over the years, whether in Ryder Cups or some Presidents Cups, so we wouldn’t put them out there if we didn’t feel good about them, let me just put it that way. So we are extremely excited about how these guys are playing, and the order of which they are going out.

Q. A few of us did some predictions for fun and almost everybody got the four pairs that the U.S. was putting out. They have been playing together and they have played together in the past, and Europe seems unpredictable and very surprising. You probably were not giving a lot of thought to them beforehand but looking at it now, what do you think about their pairings and did you anticipate any of this?

STEVE STRICKER: You know, I didn’t, and I didn’t even try to anticipate. You know, they are all great players. We were trying to take care of ourselves. You know, I’m paying attention to my team.

We talked occasionally about maybe who they are going to put out, but it doesn’t matter, really. They are all such great players. They are all highly ranked players and we know that we are going to have to play our best to beat them.

So we have an idea that Rory and Rahm would probably go 1 and 4, and that’s pretty much all we knew, or really thought about. We didn’t know who their guys were going to be that they were going to be paired with, but we kind of had that figured out for the most part.

So we tried to act accordingly, as well. But yeah, other than that, we didn’t take the time to try to figure it out.

Q. You put Daniel and Brooks together when you were captain at Liberty, right?

STEVE STRICKER: Yeah.

Q. What did you see in them and what do they bring out in each other?

STEVE STRICKER: They play golf at home together and they enjoy being with one another. Daniel is a wonderful foursomes player. He controls his ball really nicely. Good short game. Great putter. He’s a natural fit for the foursomes.

They like playing together, bottom line, and they do well together. They are excited to go out tomorrow and try to get a point.

Everyone needs a rest time too

Q. When you were naming your six captain’s picks, you mentioned how length was important, and yet the longest guy on your team is sitting in the morning. Can you explain why?

STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, we are trying to make sure that everybody gets a little bit of rest, too. That’s in the back of our mind, and yeah, we can’t play everybody every session, right. Four people have to sit, but he’s going to get his turn at some point.

The real good thing is that all these guys have bought in. They know the plan for the most part. We have communicated that to them and we are up front with them, and they understand it and are willing to do anything for the betterment of the team.

Q. In your particular case, will all of your guys play today and tomorrow?

STEVE STRICKER: You’ll have to wait and see, Alex.

Q. One last thing. Did anything happen this week —

STEVE STRICKER: Is that a Cubs hat on?

Q. Yes, it is.

STEVE STRICKER: I didn’t know if it was a Chicago Bears hat.

Q. You almost got fileted.

STEVE STRICKER: That didn’t turn out so good. I tried to explain myself as we kept going there. I still root for the Packers. Let me get that straight.

Q. Did anything happen this week influence what you have on paper today?

STEVE STRICKER: Anything that happened this week influence what these matchups are?

Q. Yeah.

STEVE STRICKER: No.

Q. I assume you have a plan for the afternoon. Is there anything that could change it, or aside from an illness or injury, but the way somebody plays or anything, do you have set pairings for the afternoon? I know you won’t tell us, but will you stick with it?

STEVE STRICKER: No, we are going to stick with the afternoon plan. Its was put in front of them on Monday and we stuck with it and we are going to stick with it.

No disappointment going in

Q. Was there any disappointment from anybody about not playing early or because you set it so early they got on board?

STEVE STRICKER: Not at all. Again, these guys have been incredible. I can’t stress it enough, really. Again, it’s about the communication we have had, the captains and myself, and being up front with them and just letting them know what we’re thinking so there’s no curveballs.

We have heard it multiple times from all the players, if you want to play me once or all five, that’s up to you, meaning the captains, just so we can try to win this Cup.

Q. I see Phil out there during the practice rounds, he’s talking and talking and talking to you, can you give us some sense of what he’s actually talking about?

STEVE STRICKER: To me? Oh, we’ve talked a lot about a lot of different things. We’ve talked about players, picks, or pairings, I should say. We’ve talked about golf swings. I enjoy talking with Phil, and we’re lucky to have him to be a part of this team.

You know, it was unknown for a while whether he was going to be a part of this team as a player or (vice) captain, and I had reached out to him quite a long time ago about being a part of this team, actually last year, and then we keep touching base and then he wins the PGA Championship. So we talk again. It’s been an ongoing process with Phil but I knew I wanted him here. He’s great for the team and he’s great in the room.

Yeah, so he talks all the time. He talks, you know, about — and we have talked about a lot of different things. So it’s wonderful to have him around.

Q. Is Bryson sort of his — does he mind Bryson in a way?

STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, they get along great. Phil finds Bryson very interesting and he’s trying to learn things from Bryson I think, too. I think Bryson feels like he’s trying to help Phil in some ways, too. So they have this rapport with one another, and they enjoy being with one another.

Yeah, so I see those two guys being in each other’s pocket for the rest of the week.

Q. At the outset you mentioned it’s a three-year run-up to plan for the week. Now that you’re ready to hit balls on Friday, has that worked the way you had hoped, when you see the guys get together and the way they are loose, the things they have said, up to now, do you feel like the goal has been accomplished in your mind?

STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, very much so. Obviously the most important part is coming up, right. The playing, them trying to win a point, just trying to put them in a position to play great golf. So far, I think we’ve done that.

The guys are playing great. Like I said, they are all on board.

Q. How important was continuity when making those pairings, in either improving pairings from previous Ryder Cups or Presidents Cups, or partnerships with similar or same golf balls they use?

STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, all that is taken into effect. Xander and Patrick have had success in foursomes in The Presidents Cup, so we thought it was a natural fit for them to do foursomes here tomorrow morning.

Yeah, we look at the golf balls. Sometimes it’s just very difficult. We had some guys trying other guys’ balls and it’s a challenge at times. That determines sometimes the pairings and what you can do going forward.

So it is, it’s a big puzzle trying to get all the pieces put together and you rely on feedback from the players. You rely on feedback from the captains, and.

Yeah, it’s a challenge but one that we’re excited to be a part of.

Is Stricker worried about the weather?

Q. How do you think now — look, we had some rain earlier obviously, but how do you think the course will play? Are the greens as firm as you would like them?

STEVE STRICKER: I don’t know, the rules are that we get it into the condition all the way up to the Sunday before, and then that condition is kind of maintained throughout. So that’s the goal is that that condition will be kind of maintained, and it has been.

You know, we can’t — we don’t have any say on what Mother Nature does and provides as far as rain goes or wind, and today they were getting a little bit, not really that firm, but just faster with all that wind and borderline almost too fast for that kind of wind.

But the good news is, the wind looks like it’s going to lay down a little bit. Still breezy but not as much as the last couple days, but the course is in great shape. The guys think it’s a good setup, and everyone I’ve heard from both sides have enjoyed it so far.

Q. You’ve been here before in Presidents Cups, and you’re at the point where you’ve had total control and now you have to relinquish it and basically sit back and watch. What does that feel like and how does it change your own nerves?

STEVE STRICKER: I’m going to enjoy it. To this point, it’s been a lot of work, and there’s still more work to be done for sure. We still have to watch some golf. We still have to gain some more information, the way I’ve been talking to the assistant captains. You know, you want to look forward to Saturday and you want to try to get a plan, and we do have somewhat of a plan, but it’s more about watching these guys play now, getting some feedback from them and the caddies and the assistants and then making the plan for Saturday.

But yeah, it’s in their hands now. They are playing great and they are excited to get going. I mean, I can’t tell you how excited they are to get going and get that first tee ball in the air tomorrow.

Q. It was the captain’s call, right, to start with either format, and I’m curious why you chose foursomes? Was it the fast start at Hazeltine?

STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, stats have shown over the years that that’s a better format for us. Yeah, so we wanted to kind of stay with that plan and that’s what we’re doing.

JOHN DEVER: Four rookies going out for you tomorrow, Ryder Cup rookies, what’s that night’s sleep going out into Friday morning? You were in those shoes in 2008.

STEVE STRICKER: Yeah, it’s a week where you don’t get a lot of sleep. You try to make sure you do that. I’ve tried to give that to the guys and I’ll do that same thing tonight. We’ll have a quick dinner and tell them to get to bed. It’s a big day tomorrow, but it is, it occupies your mind and it’s tough to get some sleep.

It’s an exciting time. We’re all excited. I’m sure you guys are all excited as well. We are definitely looking forward to it.

Q. Pat Hurst at the Solheim Cup said she wouldn’t play anybody five; she thought it was too much. Do you feel the same way?

STEVE STRICKER: We kind of do at times, and that could morph into something different when we start watching these guys, and if you need to lean on some players more than others.

Yeah, we are trying, that’s our focus is to make sure that guys get rest. It’s a big golf course and when you have conditions like we’ve had the last couple days, it can kind of really beat you up.

Yeah, we are conscious of that, and trying to look at that going forward, as well. It’s definitely on our plate to try to make sure that guys are getting their rest.

JOHN DEVER: Captain, you’ve made it to Ryder Cup Friday almost. Enjoy your evening.

Interview transcript from Asap Sports

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Ian Poulter: “You know it’s coming. It’s been building all week”

THE MODERATOR: Good morning, and welcome back to the 43rd Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits. Ian, welcome to what is now your seventh career Ryder Cup. Let’s assume for a moment that it’s wonderful to win a Ryder Cup no matter where you are, but perhaps you could — Rory alluded to this yesterday. What’s the difference between winning a road Ryder Cup as opposed to winning one for you back in Europe?

IAN POULTER: I guess it’s a lot more difficult, and it doesn’t happen that often, even though we’ve had the upper hand of that. I guess it’s just more enjoyable.

Course setup is obviously this week heavily weighed in the U.S. as opposed to how we set things up back in Europe, so I guess everything is stacked against us. When you have that, when you can go in as underdogs, when you can turn the tide and actually come out victorious, it means a little bit more.

Q. When you’re captain in 2025 will you be having press conferences at 7:30?

IAN POULTER: Nope. (Laughter.)

Q. Would you describe winning on the road akin to Arsenal to winning away at Chelsea, Man United?

IAN POULTER: Anywhere at the minute.

Q. Well, you won two in a row.

IAN POULTER: Yeah, 100 percent.

Q. Is it enjoyable, that kind of feeling if you win on the road?

IAN POULTER: It’s a great buzz. You only have to look around and all the grandstands are red. Everything that you look at, the fans, 98 percent are obviously going to be U.S. fans this week. It’s difficult from start to finish. It’s hard. It’s not easy to play away from home.

As much as we feel comfortable as a team, to know we’re underdogs, to know that, we have to play extra special this week to get the job done. It feels pretty rewarding at the end of the week if we can get it done.

Q. Have you seen any European fans dotted around the course so far this week?

IAN POULTER: I can’t say — there’s only been a few, but the U.S. fans have been brilliant to far. They really have. They’re wishing me well. Not too well, but they’re wishing me well, which is quite nice. That hasn’t always been the case, but so far so good.

Q. Everyone talks about that first tee, the most nerve-racking place, but I’m curious, in the path to the first tee, where do the nerves set in? Once you’re on the tee? When you’re walking to the tee? When you’re warming up? When do the nerves actually hit?

IAN POULTER: When the alarm goes in the morning. You know it’s coming. It’s been building all week. It’s exciting. You know, it’s a big tee box. I don’t know how many thousand fans we got round there this week. It’s probably a little less than it was in Paris, but nevertheless it’s a loud environment. It’s a nervy atmosphere to be in.

Seriously, it’s great fun. It really is, from the moment you kind of walk out your tunnel to getting that tee peg and attempting to put the ball on the tee, it’s a pretty fun ride.

Remembering Medinah

Q. You mentioned the difficulty. Rory was saying if you win again this week, it would probably top Medinah. Could you ever imagine anything topping Medinah, and how often do you still draw from those memories?

IAN POULTER: Yeah, I mean, we’ll see how the week pans out to see if or how kind of you want to place the event. I think for us to know it’s going to be — it’s going to be difficult. We don’t have the full home support that we would normally have.

I’m hoping we have some form of sing songs out there for us lot to entertain everyone, but yeah, it’s always hard to turn around and say one is going to trump another one and however the makeup of that is going to be. I just think if we can come out on top Sunday night, it will be a pretty special one.

Q. Do you still draw on those memories? Do you think back to it very often?

IAN POULTER: Always. I’m always looking on the highlight reel. It’s pretty hard when you’re pretty social media busy and there’s often highlights of all the good things you’ve kind of done through the years, and obviously Medinah is one of those.

It’s good to get those positive vibes, a bit of confidence, and enjoy watching the celebrations that we had and the kind of golf that we played on Saturday and Sunday.

Q. Following on from that, Rory also said that last time it was in America, he sort of lost control a bit of his emotions and sort of had to warm the last day. Is that something you’re conscious of or is it the opposite with you, you want to let your emotions get out there in terms of the crowd and stuff?

IAN POULTER: I think you just have to let it happen naturally. I don’t think it’s something you can plan for how you react on the golf course. I think you’ve seen through the years players that you see no emotion, all of a sudden start to show emotion.

I don’t think that’s something that you’ll sit at home and go, Right, if I hole the putt on the first I’m going to fist pump this. I think it happens naturally. I think we all have a lot of pressure, a lot of buildup, a lot of intensity during the start of this week, and I mean, it just naturally flows out.

Naturally we don’t fist pump on the first green of a regular week, right, but you have the opportunity to kind of let some of that energy out this week, and that’s why I think we see so much of it done, and it makes for great TV.

Q. I’m just curious how important you think driving distance is going to be this week. It’s something that the Americans have talked a lot about being a big advantage in their favor. I’m curious your thoughts.

IAN POULTER: We’ll see. I don’t really know. I’m not a guy that sits down and tries to work out if Bryson is going to be 120 yards in front and how that looks on paper, right.

Yeah, I mean, generally through the team they’re going to hit it further than we are. The wind is going to change on us on Friday, so certain holes that we’ve already played are going to play a little bit different.

There’s a blend between long irons and short irons dependent on that wind direction. We’ve got some short par-4s that if the given wind allows, then some of those are going to be reachable.

What we have got around these greens is rough and bunkers that are pretty deep. The rough, the lies you get around the greens, you can’t predict it. You can miss a green by three feet and have an unplayable lie. You can miss the green by five yards and you have a kind of nice lie.

I think that is kind of the unknown at the minute, and if you’re going to start to leak a few here and there, it’s going to be difficult.

Strategy is going to be really interesting this week of how that plays out.

Q. Do you get any sense at all whether your passion and success in these matches annoy the people you’re beating?

IAN POULTER: I’m sure I’ve annoyed plenty. I mean, my percentage has been really nice, for me, and not for the guys I’ve played against, so I’m sure that’s been pretty frustrating to be on the receiving end of that.

Q. Feel good?

IAN POULTER: It feels nice. I enjoy holing putts and winning matches. It’s been a great ride. I’m never going to apologize for it. It’s how match play should be played.

Q. There’s been a lot of anecdotes over the years about how sometimes the sting of losing can hurt more than the joy of winning. Do you agree with that, and do you have any strong memories of ’08, which I think is your only losing team you’ve been on?

IAN POULTER: Yeah, that was miserable. Even though I think I picked up four points that week, it meant nothing. To have a personal kind of individual week, which this is not individual at all, it means nothing. You’d rather — to go 4-0 and lose is pretty depressing. You’d rather go 0-4 and win.

If that played itself out this week, I’d still be pretty happy on Sunday night if I was to play it out that way.

Q. ’08 was the only one you lost, but in 2012 you had the experience of falling behind before the Sunday. What feels different from a team perspective when you’re out there and you just keep falling behind and the Americans are winning? How is it a different vibe, and is it kind of a helpless feeling in any way?

IAN POULTER: I wouldn’t say it’s a helpless feeling because you always have to believe that you have the ability to turn the match around. Momentum has been key in every Ryder Cup I’ve ever played. It’s all about holding that level of momentum for the longest period you possibly can, and that’s hard to play against sometimes when you can see somebody has got that kind of run of form and the color stays the way it does for a long period of time. You have to kind of break that.

There’s only been a few instances where it’s been that way and you’ve wanted to break it, so you always have to tell yourself that it can happen, it’s going to happen, and you’ve got to make it happen sometimes.

Why does Poulter give all he has for the Ryder Cup?

Q. Kind of a core question for you: You put on some of your best shows, play some of your best golf at the Ryder Cup. Why?

IAN POULTER: I hate losing. You see the guy, you know — when you play match play, you know what you have to do when you tee up on the first hole. You can control a match. You can dictate a match. You can play certain shots to try and put your opponent under pressure.

You can’t do that in stroke play really unless it comes down to the back nine and the group you’re in you’re actually clear of the rest of the field.

It’s just a fun game of chess, to be honest, to enjoy what that means, that you’re under pressure right from the get-go. It just doesn’t happen in stroke play. It’s kind of like you plod your way into the tournament, but it’s back nine Sunday mentality every single time you tee it up.

Q. Sort of a similar question. Sergio yesterday was talking about sort of having the ability to flip a switch regardless of what form you’re in coming into the week. You clearly have that same ability. The ability to sort of convert that energy or whatever the good feeling is you have around this event into actually executing shots; how does that process happen for you?

IAN POULTER: I’ve never really sat down to try and evaluate how that happens and why that happens. It’s just a very simple form of golf. You never play what-if game. You don’t ever look at options around the green to say, here’s the right place to miss, here’s the wrong place to miss. It’s single-minded focus on your target. It’s really simplified.

The more simple it is, the easier it is for my brain to understand and aggressively go at those targets.

Again, stroke play you’re plodding into position. This isn’t the case here. You can’t expect a par to win a hole. You have to expect to try and birdie every single hole to have a chance of winning or even halving the hole.

It’s a nice way to play golf to be aggressive to targets.

THE MODERATOR: Ian, thank you so much for finding us and your time. Have a great day.

Interview transcript from Asap Sports

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The Ryder Cup in a parallel reality.

The sport competitions tend to bring people together and to make the audience feel as if they were at the field or the stadium, although they are not. The same way, magic happens and The Ryder Cup brings two sides of the world together joined by the same passion for golf. It is a matter of story-telling together with the emotions of the videos and pictures that allow you to feel through the screen.

Funny but real, this short video shows that words can be just words, and there is nothing like connecting them to images and giving life to them. The power behind every comment grows through images as they become real and meaningful. The Ryder Cup goes beyond the game of golf, it is about seeing the tear rolling down the number one golfer in the world because he just made his last putt to give a win to his team, captain, country, or even continent. To be able to see the tear of joy in the face of thousands of fans, and to hear the voice of the broadcaster breaking while speaking by the contagion of the emotion of the game, that is what the Ryder Cup is about.

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Bernd Wiesberger: “I’m forever going to be 164, and it’s going to be amazing.”

THE RYDER CUP

September 22, 2021

Bernd Wiesberger

Whistling Straits
Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Welcome to the 43rd Ryder Cup here at Whistling Straits. We are joined by Bernd Wiesberger. Welcome to your first career — the first Ryder Cup of your career. Curious when it became apparent, and I guess I’m not familiar with the European notification system, but when you were assured of being on the team, who was the person that you reached out to that you were most excited to share that news with? Who was that person you wanted to connect with emotionally about making this team?

BERND WIESBERGER: Yeah, in my case it was — probably given that the three captains picks came after me, I was probably the last to qualify for the European team, so deep into Sunday afternoon at the PGA Championship at Wentworth.

So it was quite nerve-racking, but very glad I’m here right now. Given that I’m playing my first Ryder Cup, it’s been obviously a big goal of mine to be part of a European team, and as you can imagine, we’ve got all — a lot of people who have worked with us or supported us through different stages of our career.

But obviously it’s very personal and very emotional when you get to qualify for those teams, so family was the immediate call-up once I got the thumbs up after the Sunday round at Wentworth to be part of the team.

Q. On the picks that Padraig did, Poulter went out of his way to mention you as one of his best friends. I’m curious how that relationship came to you and what you think of him.

BERND WIESBERGER: With Ian? Yeah, I mean, I think the whole European team knows each other very well. We’ve played a lot of golf with — all the guys have played a lot of golf with Ian. I’ve played for Europe together with Ian on the EurAsia Cup a couple of years back. I think everyone in this team room has a longstanding connection with each other, and everybody gets along really well with each other in the team room. It’s a very relaxed atmosphere.

I feel like Ian and myself are very similar in character and we have good banter and good fun on and off the golf course. Yeah, you can imagine it’s always quite entertaining when you’re standing on the golf course with Ian, regardless if it’s the Ryder Cup or whenever.

Q. Do your eyes ever really like bug out when you make a putt?

BERND WIESBERGER: I sure hope you see a lot of eyes popping this week from all the European members. But his intensity is unique, especially during this week. I hope we’re going to see lots of it, as well, this week, and I’m sure I’ll try my best, as well, to channel my inner Ian Poulter and get some of that going this week, as well.

Q. I think you’ve been an emotional like two and a half, three years. You were in, then out, then in, then out. Do you think that put pressure on your game or was it better for your game?

BERND WIESBERGER: You know, last Ryder Cup in Paris I was part of German speaking TV and tried to give my sense as to what’s going to be the outcome, so I was on this side of the press conference and trying to make sense of what’s going to happen this week.

Along this week something kind of fueled inside me and took it as motivation to be — once my injury was healed that I had in 2018 — to be part of one of these teams. I never really vocalized it or spoke about it too much, but it was definitely massive motivation for me to be the first to experience a Ryder Cup firsthand, first one I’ve been to, even more so giving myself a chance to be part of a European team.

Those days in Paris definitely started that. Everything that was along on that journey were steps in the ladder, and I’ve had some really good success since, and I’m very proud to have played my way on to the European team that way.

Q. I know this is a team and you represent Europe, but representing your country, are you getting that response already from your countrymen? What kind of messages or feedback are you getting?

BERND WIESBERGER: No, everybody is super excited in Austria. We have some great talent in Austrian golf. I think it was a little overdue for having an Austrian representing Europe in the Ryder Cup. I’m very proud that it’s me.

I’m absolutely certain that I won’t be the last Austrian to represent Europe at the Ryder Cup.

As you can imagine, everybody is really excited and looking forward to the week, as am I, to get going on Friday and put the Austrian flag on the European Ryder Cup team banner just as much as Viktor is for Norway and maybe even write a little piece of golfing history for Austria.

Everybody is really excited. I’ve got a lot of messages, and hopefully — well, I’m sure there will be tremendous support from home, as well, during the whole week.

Q. I guess you received No. 164 of the 164. When you saw that, what resonated with you, and what does that mean exactly?

BERND WIESBERGER: I think it’s a brilliant idea what the guys have done. I’m very, very proud to have that number for life. Everybody is buzzing. The individual aspect of the game that we have, but this week we all come together as 12, yet everybody has their number and nobody can ever take it from them.

I was very, very surprised that it’s been this few, actually. I could have not told you if you would have asked me how many players would have represented the European team in the history of the Ryder Cup.

I’m forever going to be 164, and it’s going to be amazing. The guys really loved it, and it brings a great theme, I think, to the whole week for us.

Q. With all the emotions going on and media and everything else, how much does this affect your personal routine you usually do before a tournament?

BERND WIESBERGER: You know, I think we all came here knowing that it’s a different type of week. As individuals I think we all normally have our own kind of schedule and preparation time that we have for the events, but this week is totally different.

We’re all — we all have a little bit of an agenda, everyone, in the schedule. In my case because I’m a rookie I have not experienced it before. I got a lot of input from former captains and the senior players who have been here many times and kind of manage expectations and manage my schedule and manage our schedule so everybody is rested up and well prepared for when push comes to shove on Friday.

Q. What do you think — you were an outsider, now you’re an insider — brings all these guys kind of from different countries together to be such an effective team at the Ryder Cup over the years?

BERND WIESBERGER: I mean, it’s tough to put it down on one thing. I kind of always stood where you were and thought, What is it that makes this European team in a way always getting from the underdog position to a victorious team, especially over the last couple of years at the Ryder Cups.

Being part of the team room, being part of the bigger picture of what is Team Europe this week as opposed to the last couple of years, it really bonds us really well together.

Obviously all the guys are unbelievable golfers, but the way everybody comes together, everybody loosens up for the week, has fun, enjoys their time, goes out there, does their work and get prepared as good as we can, but then just detach and have the best time possible is really great to be a part of and experience that.

I’m sure that also just feeds into the performance or the victorious side of things for a European team.

Q. What was the best tip you got from one of the past captains or veteran players?

BERND WIESBERGER: That was very, very unique was to absolutely enjoy the week, to — there’s going to be a lot of distractions. As I said, stuff that’s going on around it. But just go out there, enjoy, have fun. That’s what I’m trying to do here, as well, this week, and soak it all in. Just let it all out there on the golf course.

Q. You’ve played tournaments over here in the U.S.; I think of the 12 you’re probably the one who’s played the least and hasn’t had a PGA TOUR card per se. Is that something you plan to pursue at some point?

BERND WIESBERGER: You know, what happens happens. I’ve played enough golf over here in the States, major tournaments, WGCs and regular PGA TOUR events where I’m probably the only guy who would call himself purely European based from a playing standpoint.

But again, I think I’ve always enjoyed the challenge of playing globally and getting the chance to play over here in the States.

Yeah, so whatever happens happens in the future. We’ll see. But as for now, I’m really enjoying my time on the European Tour and competing on the European Tour. I’ve also cherished the events that are happening for me over here in the States.

Q. Particularly in Paris, the way it’s developed with the stands down the first, it’s almost like a football stadium atmosphere, football stadium singing, chanting. Is that something that you think you’ll relish? Is that something you have an idea of how other sportsmen feel in team events?

BERND WIESBERGER: Yeah, we never get stuff like this happening, obviously. There’s just people who love this player, this player, but never do you have like — you’re either blue or red.

I think that’s what makes the Ryder Cup the Ryder Cup. First one that I experienced was Paris, and I did it non-playing-wise, but still, if you’re a golfer and you get on that tee, regardless if you’re playing that day, the experience there for the guys must have been unbelievable, and it will be the same this week.

Especially Paris, like it really became a big, big amphitheater. We have it this week again. Really bring the maximum out of the crowds for both teams. Really looking forward to stepping on a packed first tee there.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks for finding us today. Have a great day and enjoy your stay here in Wisconsin.

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Viktor Hovland: “If they boo against us, that means that we are doing something good. I’m prepared for some yells here and there.”

THE RYDER CUP

September 21, 2021

Viktor Hovland

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Welcome back to the 43rd Ryder Cup here at Whistling Straits. We are very pleased to be joined by Viktor Hovland. Welcome to your first Ryder Cup. As a first-time Ryder Cupper, how comfortable is it to be in a team room with so much vast experience, not only in golf but especially in this competition?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, obviously it’s a very big stage and you know kind of what it means to people. That’s why I think it’s extra comforting when you get into a team room and you have not only veteran players, but also vice captains and captains.

I feel like just the whole support team and the players and everyone around it just have so much experience that they’re having fun, but at the same time they’re very at ease. I think that kind of rubs on not only me but also the rookies, and just makes everyone feel a lot better.

Q. How do you see your role in the team room specifically this week? Is it watch and listen, or are you actively trying to contribute something in particular there?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: That’s a good question. I haven’t really thought much about that. This is my first Ryder Cup, and I’m only 24 years old, and kind of — what I’m trying to do this week is just play as well as I can and try to be myself. I’m not trying to be anyone else. Just try to get to know the people on the team well.

I think we’re already off to a good start. We’ve only been here for 24 hours and our chemistry is good, so I just try to learn as much as I can from the guys that have been here five, six, seven times. They have so much experience, and I’m just trying to be around it.

Q. Do you have any childhood memories of watching this event on TV and thinking, Yeah, I want to be a part of that, that’s cool, that kind of —

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, the first Ryder Cup that I actually sat down and watched to the end essentially was at Medinah. I wasn’t too young, but I remember a lot of those final putts coming down the stretch very vividly, and I was sitting there watching with my dad, and I remember just going nuts.

There’s a lot of really good memories from then, and every single Ryder Cup after that I’ve been paying close attention. As well as just playing college golf in the United States, being a part of a team and playing for something bigger than yourself, I don’t think it gets any better than that.

Q. Was it an eye-opening moment for you when you first linked up with the team, something that took you completely by surprise?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Not really. I’d say kind of when we just created the group text that we have together, that was just one of the first things that made everything kind of sink in. Wow, we’re playing the Ryder Cup next week. I just remember just really looking forward to meeting up with the guys here and just spending a lot of time together. It’s not what we do but just being together and just talking about nothing and anything, I think that’s really, really cool.

I’m being around players that I’ve watched compete in the Ryder Cup since I was very, very young, and it’s an honor to be a part and on the team.

Q. You said that it is a bit of an eye-opener for you at 24. Can you imagine what it was like for Sergio at 19? And then at the other end of the scale you’ve got Lee Westwood at twice your age.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it’s crazy. They bring so much history into this event. You know, those guys are — a couple of the guys are the reason why this tournament is what it is, because they’ve brought so much passion and blood, sweat, and tears into this event that it makes it so much more special to be on the team and even the same team as them.

Yeah, when you put it into perspective like that, it’s really cool.

Q. You’ll be listed as a rookie this year but you have some nice success in match play. What do you like about the format? And secondly, if you were to pair with Rory this week, do you feel you’d mesh pretty well with him?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: I’d think so. I think we’ve got a lot of the same strengths and kind of personality-wise we think a lot alike. I’ve grown up in Europe. We play tons of match play and we play tons of foursomes in miscellaneous events. I have some experience doing that, and I very much like it. I like to compete with someone and be on a team.

For me when you get a person that you mesh well with, it’s a lot of fun. Obviously playing in the NCAAs in college and U.S. Amateur, I’ve got some experience playing match play, and I’d say some of my best golf has been played in that format.

It’s all about getting comfortable. You get a couple putts going and you get momentum, nothing is much more fun than doing that in match play.

Q. I know you can’t name names, but I’m curious, do you feel like right now you know who you’re going to play with and maybe when you’re going to play on Friday, or is that still something that you feel like is to be determined?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: It’s still to be determined. As we all do, we say who we want to play with, and then we just kind of use these days to figure out, Okay, is this a good fit or not, do we work together, and then we kind of go from there.

Other than that, I don’t really know.

Q. I just wonder if you could expand on your level of respect for the veteran guys, the particular guys, Lee, Sergio and Poults, in terms of what these guys have done over the years in this competition, and you being in your first, thinking about Lee in his 11th.

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, it’s crazy. I probably don’t have enough respect as I should have. You know, you look at their records, how many events they’ve won, not just in Europe, not just in the United States, worldwide they’ve won so many events.

Obviously time and time again when they show up to this week they deliver every single time. I sat a couple weeks ago and just watched highlights of Poults and Sergio and Westy on YouTube in the Ryder Cup, and it was just so cool to see all the clutch moments they’ve had and just kind of how they handled everything, because it’s a big pressure. Just to see how they go about their business and handle all that.

I think that’s also why it’s cool to be behind the scenes with them when there’s no cameras and they’re not playing golf to see why they’ve been able to do all those things.

Q. Seems like the European Ryder Cup competitors, whether they’re rookies or veterans, they seem to have this in their blood from an early age. What’s your earliest recollection of the Ryder Cup? When did it become something that you paid attention to and that was important to you?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Yeah, the 2012 Ryder Cup was kind of the first one that I watched the whole thing essentially. I mean, just watching that as a European, that gets your heart going. I think that was kind of the big part of making the Ryder Cup one of my dreams to play in.

You know, it was just — it’s just all in all, they’re obviously great players that play on these teams, but they’re also great people. I think as soon as you’re just in that environment you just want to be part of it. It’s easier to play for something bigger than yourself when you all like who you’re with.

I think that’s a big part of it, and obviously just the tradition of it.

Q. You’ve been playing in the U.S. for a while, in college and then PGA TOUR. You kind of have a fan base, people that root for you. You are not the only one on your team that will be in that situation this week, but you’re going to have a lot of people rooting against you. How do you prepare yourself for that? Do you have mental exercises that you do?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: No, I mean, I’d like to think I have some fans out there that maybe won’t necessarily boo against us, but if they do end up doing that, that’s what they’re going to do. We’re still going to play golf, and if they do end up doing that, that means we’re doing something good.

I’m not going to take anything too personally. I can take a punch to the face. I’ve definitely gotten my beating so far in the group text. I think I’m prepared for some yells here and there.

Q. I’m curious who other than Padraig is the most active voice on that group text, and what kind of things are you all talking about on there?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Probably shouldn’t disclose too much, but no, it could be anything. Could be logistical stuff. Could just be, Hey, you’re hitting balls and your TrackMan numbers. It could be anything. What are you cooking, what are you eating. Just to kind of get to know each other better.

I’d say we’re all pretty vocal in it. It’s not just one or two people just firing off and annoying the rest of the bunch. We’re all pretty active in it. So that’s good. Yeah.

Q. What kind of a beating have you taken?

VIKTOR HOVLAND: Well, there’s been some team members that have gotten a hold of some old pictures of me and had some fun with them. But it’s all good banter, and again, just bringing us closer together.

THE MODERATOR: Viktor, thank you for finding us. Have a terrific day and a great week in Wisconsin.

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Rory McIlroy: “I’m on the winning team this week.”

THE RYDER CUP

September 21, 2021

Rory McIlroy

Media Conference

THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Welcome back to the 43rd Ryder Cup here at Whistling Straits. We are joined by Rory McIlroy. Welcome to your sixth career Ryder Cup.

This is your sixth straight, so you’ve been on the scene for a decade, a decade of great prosperity for Europe. Maybe one thing in that decade that you’ve been around that’s changed or evolved and maybe one thing that hasn’t changed and you hope never does.

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I mean, I think as the Ryder Cup has evolved I think it’s become bigger, I guess, every year as it becomes more — I thought last time in France, the size of that grandstand on the first tee and the grandness of it all, it definitely felt like that was the biggest yet.

And then in terms of things that haven’t changed for us as Europe, there’s a lot of continuity in our team, and I think that’s been part of the reason for our success. That’s something that I hope never changes because it’s worked very well for us.

Yeah, I mean, I think that the Ryder Cup epitomizes everything that’s great in the game of golf. It’s competitive but there’s also a lot of sportsmanship shown. And obviously there’s partisan crowds and all of that, but that’s part of being in a team environment. You’re going to have a majority of the crowd rooting for one team or the other.

I guess that’s not something we get to experience every day.

Yeah, Ryder Cup is one of the best events that we have in golf, if not the best event we have in golf, and just excited to be a part of another one.

Q. With yourself and so many of your teammates spending a lot of your lives over here, does it make it any less of an away game, or will it be particularly away game style this year with so few fans from Europe?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I don’t think so. I think if anything that has evolved over the years with the Ryder Cup is the European team and the U.S. Team are probably closer than they ever have been individually. We all spend a lot of time over here. We play predominantly on the PGA TOUR. So there is a part of that.

But still, you know you’re — there’s a sea of red everywhere here. It feels like an American Ryder Cup.

But then again, I haven’t been here in a few years, and you first look at the golf course again and it seems somewhat familiar, and it seems — doesn’t look like a typical American golf course.

Whether that makes a difference or not, that’s to be seen.

I said this in a few of the interviews before this week. I don’t feel like playing away is getting any easier. If anything it’s probably getting a little tougher.

Q. A little bit of the same topic. The Americans obviously play for America. If you’re Team Europe there’s a lot of countries there. What’s kind of the rallying point that brings you all together?

RORY McILROY: We play for each other. I think that’s the best thing that you can do. You play for the guys that are beside you. You play for everyone that’s helping our team try to win this week. You’re obviously playing for your country and your continent and I guess your Tour in some way, as well.

But most of all, we play for each other.

Q. The Ryder Cup could have maybe been played last year but that would have likely meant no fans. I know this is an away game for you this week, but what does it mean to have the fans here and what role do they play in this event?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I just think it makes it a greater spectacle. There were talks of having the Ryder Cup last year with limited fans or no fans, and my argument was it wouldn’t be a Ryder Cup at all. That’s not — I don’t think either team — it probably would have been to the European team’s benefit to not have that, but it’s not a Ryder Cup then.

So it’s great to have fans back. It’s funny, when the Ryder Cup was canceled last year, I still didn’t imagine that we’d be doing this and everyone would still be in masks. Things went on for far too long. But happy we’re here and happy to be playing.

Q. Typically you’re one of the top-ranked Europeans on this thing. Have you ever felt a leadership burden when you come to the Ryder Cup or do you defer to some of the guys like Poulter and Sergio and Westwood who have been here even more often than you, and is it something that you will maybe have to take on as an elder statesman as the Ryder Cup goes on?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think I’ve already tried to evolve into that role. This being my sixth Ryder Cup, 2014 I felt like was the year that I embraced the role of being a leader, and then going on from then.

But yeah, I think that’s one of the great things about the European team. It’s not as if we’re just looking to one guy. There’s a collection of very experienced players there that some of the younger guys and the rookies can look at.

And then you look at our vice captains, as well, and you look at all the pivotal roles they’ve played in Ryder Cups over the years. We have no shortage of leaders on our team.

Q. Just curious what your impression of what Poults and Sergio and Lee have done, the longevity, the success, and what’s your level of respect for what they’ve meant to this team over the years?

RORY McILROY: It’s amazing. You look at someone like Lee Westwood, for example, partnered Nick Faldo in ’97 when it was Faldo’s Ryder Cup. It was his 11th.

Fast forward however many years it is and now Lee is playing his 11th Ryder Cup.

I think that’s one of the cool things about it is it does come full circle. We have this thing this week where we’ve all been given a player number, so there’s been 164 players that have played for the European Ryder Cup team, or GB&I way back in the day.

So that’s a pretty small group of players. I’m No. 144; I think Lee is No. 118. But then you just look at all the players before you, and you look at Bernd Wiesberger who’s making his debut this year who’s No. 164.

It’s a small collection of people that have played for Europe in the Ryder Cup. I think that’s what brings us very close together, and that’s been one of our sort of big focus points this week is just being here is very special and being part of a European team. Very few people can call themselves a European Ryder Cup player.

Q. Was that Paddy’s idea, the numbering?

RORY McILROY: Yeah. He played a video for us last night to put it into context. 570 people have been into space. I think over 5,000 people have climbed Everest. 225 have won a men’s major. When you sort of break it down like that it’s a pretty small group and it’s pretty cool.

Q. You had your debut in the Ryder Cup when you were only 20 years old. Viktor Hovland is now 24. What’s your advice to such a young player like Viktor before this big competition?

RORY McILROY: I mean, I think the thing that I’d say to any rookie is the reason you’re on this team is because of the golf that got you here. I mean, for Viktor I’d just tell him to be himself. He’s one of the best players in the world. He’s already been a wonderful teammate, and the energy and enthusiasm that he brings into our team.

For Viktor, I’d just get out on the golf course, be himself, play his game, and that’s more than good enough to win points for the European team.

Q. In your opinion is the PGA TOUR Player of the Year on Team Europe or Team USA?

RORY McILROY: I don’t care. I just care I’m on the winning team this week.

Q. You made the point that Europe plays for each other; do you think the American team struggles with that?

RORY McILROY: No. I mean, I was just sort of from my perspective being part of a team for now six of these things, I’m just speaking from a personal perspective and what I’ve seen from the European team.

Q. I may be wrong but I think you’ve developed a bit of an interest in boxing, and I think you’ve met Anthony. I just wondered if you’ve had any communication with him because obviously a very big night for him Saturday and whether you’ve had any exchanges with him in the buildup to your big weekend and his big weekend.

RORY McILROY: No, because the last time I saw him he was doing his camp in Miami and then he went up to New York and didn’t have a great night.

But no, it’s a big night for him. Pretty big test. Usyk looks like a really good fighter. Hopefully, unless I’m rested on Saturday afternoon I’ll hopefully be on the golf course so I won’t be able to watch it, but wishing him the best and all the luck.

I think how he conducts himself and how he represents himself in the sport of boxing is — talking about leadership and talking about doing the right thing, he’s the epitome of that.

Q. The last time we saw you playing Ryder Cup in America was probably as animated as we’ve ever seen you on the golf course. Do you think you need to tap into that same level of energy? And the fact that it’s almost exclusively an American crowd, will that help with that cause?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I certainly will try to not be as animated and I’ll try to conserve some energy. It’s a long week. Whether I play all five again, we’ll see, but it’s a lot of golf. It’s a lot of energy just playing, then trying to beat who you’re playing against. If you try to beat the crowd, as well, it seems like a bit of an impossible task.

I will try my best for this team and I’ll try to play the best golf I possibly can, but I sort of learned quite a few things from 2016 about conserving energy.

I felt like I sort of hit a wall on the back nine against Patrick that day, and I want to make sure that that doesn’t happen again.

Q. Was that the most animated you’ve been do you think, the most pumped up?

RORY McILROY: Yeah, I think the most animated I’ve been in my career has been at Ryder Cups. It just brings something out of you that you don’t get playing individually. There’s something more there when you’re playing as part of a team, and everything you do doesn’t just affect yourself but affects the other 11 players, the captain, the vice captains, all the support team.

There’s a lot of emotion that comes out, but you still have to try to control that, as well.

Q. Just in the context of what you were saying about the Ryder Cup getting bigger and getting harder to win away, if Europe were to get over the line, what would that mean in the context of your career? How big of an achievement would that be?

RORY McILROY: It would be massive. I think winning any Ryder Cup is huge and it’s a monumental achievement for all that are involved, but I think over the years winning a Ryder Cup on the road has just become more meaningful for some reason. We experienced it in 2012, which from a European perspective is probably one of the best days in the Ryder Cup that we’ve ever had in history. I’d certainly love to have that feeling again.

Yeah, I think it would be a huge achievement, especially you look at obviously this tournament isn’t played on paper, it’s played on grass, but on paper you would — you look at the World Rankings and everything, we’re coming in here as underdogs with a lot of things stacked against us, so I think that would make it even more of an achievement.

Q. Just being here at the end of the PGA TOUR season, I was just wondering your confidence level with your own game right now and just if there’s anything specifically that you’re focused on.

RORY McILROY: I feel good. Played well the last few weeks. Led the season in birdies made on the PGA TOUR, birdie percentage, so usually that works out pretty well in match play. Yeah, I’m feeling good.

Q. Should we expect to see you wearing hats this week?

RORY McILROY: They made some for me, so that’s a start. So I’ve got some that fit. Maybe. I don’t know. It’s sort of become my thing in the Ryder Cup to not wear a hat, but I don’t know. We’ll see.

THE MODERATOR: Rory, thank you for finding us and have a terrific day.

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Padraig Harrington: “We have a fair idea of what we want and what role we want each player to play”

THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon. Welcome back to the 43rd Ryder Cup. We’re here at Whistling Straits and we’re joined by European captain Padraig Harrington.

Captain, I’m going to take a leap of faith and assume you’ve been out on the golf course the last few hours. What are your initial impressions of what you’re seeing out there and what your troops are experiencing and saying about the layout?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, I came up here about eight weeks ago now, had a look at the golf course. We knew what to expect. It’s in great condition. It’s set up, as I said, reasonably generous off the tee. Not that it’s set up this way, but the type of golf course it is it’s very difficult around the greens.

So nothing — it’s exactly as expected. It’s exactly as we were aware. Obviously it’s interesting playing a practice round at the moment know that the wind is going to change to a different direction at the weekend.

These guys are professional players. They know what to do. They’ve been doing it all their life, so they can figure it out.

Q. Was there anything different that you’ve seen here from what you remembered when you played in PGA Championships here?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: As I said, I’ve been back a couple of times since then. Not really, no. I think there’s a certain flow and style to the golf course, and it doesn’t matter whether you shorten the 11th or shorten the 1st or anything like that. The golf course has its own feel, and that’s still there. Yeah, very similar to 2015.

Q. Where did you come up with the idea for the numbers video that is getting some buzz?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: This has been done before in Europe. I think certainly the Lions were famous for starting it out, and it was obviously, when you’re looking for these teams, this is a theme that the European Tour came up with, and I was very comfortable and happy to buy into it and believe in it, and it’s really worked out very nicely.

As you would have seen in the video, but just looking at — like we have a wall with the role of fame of who have played, and being able to look at those names and go through it, 164 is just startlingly small amount of players.

Obviously you can blame Lee Westwood for that for playing 11 times, and Sergio, as well, but it’s a small group of people.

When you think 580 people have gone to space and 5,870 people have climbed Mount Everest, it’s incredible that there’s so few who have played in the Ryder Cup. It makes it very special for the players to know that they have a place in history that can never be taken away from them. They will always have a name on that wall.

For me, myself, I’m up there 131, so it’s nice for me to look back and remember — kind of remember the person I was as a Ryder Cup player, and for these current players, obviously they’re experiencing it.

The three rookies, it was extra special for them to be added in, and they had their moment to stand up and kind of receive the applause of everybody that they’re new to this.

It was a lovely way to start the week. We have more.

According to Harrington, there’s not a real plan in place for any COVID scare.

Q. Do you and Steve have any agreement or contingencies in place in case any player shows up with a COVID issue?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yes, there is — there’s lots of protocols. I assume the captains’ agreement is public, is it? So just like an injury name in the envelope, there’s a COVID name in the envelope.

While we’ve asked, it’s still not completely clear what happens when we have — if, God forbid, we had a COVID outbreak of a number of players, but for one player it’s pretty straightforward.

Obviously the first two days it’s four players sit out. I’m sure — so there’s no issues on those two days, but obviously on Sunday you start losing a few players to COVID, it does affect the match in some way.

But one is in a COVID envelope for sure.

Q. You mentioned the wind; would you like to see it blow quite strongly once the match starts?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: You know, we’re all golfers, and somebody like myself who’s been brought up traditionally in a windy, linksy sort, we like a bit of wind, but we’re not asking for it to be — everybody blown off the golf course.

A little bit to test us. What was there today was very nice, but we’re not — I’ve got a group of great ball strikers. I don’t want them blown off the golf course. I’m very comfortable what we saw today, but not looking for any more.

I think my guys are good enough anyway if there was no wind. They’re familiar with playing golf around the world, and their quality of their ball-striking is right there.

No, we’re not depending on a windy week at all.

Q. Just to follow up, if on Sunday if you had more than one player go down with either injury or COVID, you’re still not sure how that would be handled?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No, there’s an injury envelope, there’s a COVID envelope. We haven’t quite clarified exactly what the position is, how many is too many with COVID, no.

Q. So there would be more than one player’s name in —

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: There’s an injury envelope and there’s a COVID envelope, so that’s two separate envelopes at this stage. Maybe the same name is in both envelopes. That’s as far as I’m aware at this moment.

While the other issue is actually quite a detailed and complicated issue and is possibly above the pay grade of the two captains, how many would be — and this is why we have the COVID protocols. It’s not like it’s an individual event, whereas if you lost a player in an individual event, while it’s not great, certainly you don’t want to be catching COVID, but in a team environment you don’t want the number of people catching COVID because it affects the actual match.

This is certainly something that I’m sure that is causing a lot of thought and a lot of time thinking about what would be too many and what would be sustainable.

But again, it’s not really for the captains. It’s more for the running of the event.

Q. I was going to ask about how the practice round went, but on the COVID issue, how do you decide who goes in that, and is the person required to be in the envelope on-site? Are they assistant captain?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, well, it’s the exact same as an injury envelope. The person that goes in the envelope, the captain decides, and nobody ever knows. We hope that stays that way. But we’ve had a few injury pull-outs over the year, so it would be just very similar to that. No real difference in how it works.

As I said, it is possible that you could have two different names. I don’t see why that would be the case, but you could have somebody pull out with an injury. You could have somebody with COVID. Yeah, you have to be prepared for these things, and as I said, it’s been there all along, so it’s nothing really new. It’s obviously highlighted because of COVID, but there’s always been a name in the envelope for an injury, just like coming into this we were asked to be aware that having somebody as a reserve, somebody as a backup who you would bring along, and what happens if somebody pulls out because of COVID.

Because, you know, it’s something that could happen in these times.

Q. You talked yesterday about Seve; Sergio talked about Seve this morning. Do you think Sergio with Jon Rahm could have the same energy with Seve and Chema and have the same kind of success?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Wouldn’t I love that. Yeah. It’s hard to believe that you could have the same energy as Seve and Jos� over the years. I think the biggest picture in the champions locker room is of Seve and Jos�.

Yeah, they’re iconic when it comes to the Ryder Cup and Europe. I wouldn’t ask anybody to live up to that. But if they came close, it would be nice.

Certainly, yeah, that would be an interesting partnership that maybe I should think about. Thanks for the advice.

Harrington doesn’t think pairings should be based on countries

Q. Do you think it’s an extra incentive for the European team to have guys playing together from their country, not just for the team?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: No, I don’t go in for that sort of stuff. You know, that was something that was done 30, 40 years ago, two guys from the same country, they should play together. No. If they’re the right partnership in terms of if their games suit, if they are at the right time in their careers — when I started out, I played with Paul McGinley in the World Cup and we won the World Cup very early on, 1997.

By 2001 we could handily — we couldn’t play together. We were so bad as a partnership because the dynamic — in ’97 he was clearly the captain of that ship, and I did everything I was told. By 2000 and 2001 I had matured as a golfer, and there was a little bit of friction about, oh, I think we should do it this way.

But then again, we came good again in the Ryder Cup because things moved on.

It’s just not automatic just because you’ve got the same background, same — it can come down to the age profiles and the timing of their career, whether they’re a great partnership or not.

Q. You’ve known Steve Stricker a long time. Can you cite something memorable you’ve seen him do and something memorable you’ve heard him say?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Yeah, clearly I’ve known Steve a long, long time. I think what’s most memorable when you think of Steve is he’s a nice guy, but he’s tough on the golf course. You’ve got to remember what’s behind that. He’s a perfect gentleman, he’s exactly how you would want a golfer. He’s somebody who goes out there, plays his golf, but strong, real tough out there, but is very straight about it.

I think the fact that he came back from the driver yips in the late ’90s, that says everything about a person. Golf is a pretty tough game, but when you get a setback like that, that really knocks you — to come back and be a world-class player after that is a very impressive person and golfer.

Q. Brooks Koepka recently in an interview made it sound like playing in the Ryder Cup is a bit of an inconvenience, whereas Rory came in here and said that we get along, we play for each other. Do you have a theory on why it comes more naturally for the European side?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I think in Europe we definitely have a very common goal. I alluded to this yesterday. It’s very much the — the Ryder Cup is our way of asserting Europe’s position in world golf, the European Tour’s position. I think that was Seve’s goal back in the ’80s, and we carried that on, and I think that brings us together. I think we obviously worked very hard at things like the Make It Count video and the numbers to create that atmosphere.

You know, so it’s just something that we want to do, we’re keen to do.

I think it also helps that some way when we travel a lot from outside of Europe maybe just to the States or to other places, there’s somewhat of a — we’re outsiders, and we’re, again, trying to prove ourselves. I think there is an element of all of that put in together that we’re here to give credibility, I suppose, to the European Tour and the European players.

We definitely have the — as I said, we definitely have the ground roots of Europe behind us. Everybody in Europe starting out at the start of the year, the European Tour, believes they have a chance of making the team. That really is — when you have that sort of support it’s easier for the team to work together, play together.

To be honest, as I said, my team at the moment, the atmosphere is exactly where you would want it. Literally I don’t want to mess it up from here. That’s why I’m sort of at this position.

Yeah, it’s not just me, though, it’s all our Ryder Cups, all the past, starting — we tend to look back at Seve. Obviously it started before Seve, but Seve is the one we will use. All those teams that come before us has led to this situation, and the players know how important it is to play in the Ryder Cup, to play and win the Ryder Cup and how important it is to be — they just love being a team, too.

A lot of — this might be an interesting one, too. A lot of the guys on my team, a lot of the Europeans, they seem to want to be team players. Shane Lowry thought he was going to be a Gaelic football player; Sergio thought he was going to be a soccer player. So a lot of them have that team background that they nearly crave more so than the golf, so this is their opportunity for — you look at somebody like Sergio, continually going around to the players and having a quiet word and saying things — like nobody relishes being in this team more than Sergio, and what he does behind the scenes just is really very special.

Q. You’ve leaned very heavily on the shoulders of some very experienced players that are the bulk of your team. Do you see young guys on this team that are being groomed to take over that role and naturally step into that when these other guys who have been doing it for so long are gone?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I do believe there is a nice natural succession in Europe. The players I see in the middle of their careers now — probably just slightly less than the middle of their careers to the middle of their careers, they’ve got great role models in the experienced players and they see what they do. Yeah, I think Europe is in a very strong place going forward in terms of that.

There is a nice — clearly we have the top-end experience, but there’s a nice succession coming along, players who are prepared who want to take responsibility and want to have that leadership role, whether it’s just in their foursomes or four-ball match or in a bigger situation in the whole team.

Q. Without divulging any state secrets or —

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I’m not going to.

Q. — specifics, how many of your pairings decisions are locked by now and how many are based on what you see in the practice rounds this week?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Some people play well in practice; some people don’t play well in practice. You can’t pick guys after three years and expect the practice rounds to determine what goes on on the Friday.

No, I’m not a great believer in judging people off a couple of relaxed days’ practice.

So no, my picks are definitely based on the right partnerships, what we would have had in mind but narrowed down now. As we’ve got here, narrowed down even further.

I wouldn’t think a lot is changing in my head and my vice captains’ head between now and Friday, no.

Q. Can you think of an example as a player or in your experience as a player or vice captain where a pairing has come out of completely left field late in the week?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: Oh, plenty. My first Ryder Cup in ’99 I got told late Thursday that I was playing foursomes with Miguel Angel Jim�nez, and that really was — it was an afterthought because Jos� felt he wasn’t playing well enough. They were going to play the two Spanish together, and Jos� didn’t feel like he was playing well enough for foursomes, so I was thrown in there late.

That really was late. It was late Thursday, or Thursday afternoon, not far off when the team was going in.

So there’s been plenty of instances like that over the years.

I don’t think it happens as much now, but clearly circumstances, lots of things can happen in terms of circumstances. That’s why the team sheet goes in Thursday evening, just to allow for those changes.

I think mine and the vice captains, we’re pretty set at this stage and we have a fair idea of what we want and what role we want each player to play.

Q. I can go back and look at the result, but did you win?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: We were pretty good, yeah. I think we got a half point the first morning. Disappointing — we were a very tight match the second day and lost, but we were actually a good partnership, yes.

No, we didn’t actually. He hit the first tee shot, which is always a very nice thing for — I think we were both rookies, too, so that was a very interesting one.

Why is it getting harder to win the Ryder Cup?

Q. Rory was in here earlier saying that he thought it has become progressively harder to win a road Ryder Cup. The stats may seem to bear him out. I think 2004 was the last time a visiting team had a lead going into Sunday. Obviously Medinah kind of flipped things around. Do you agree with what Rory said, and if so, what’s the reason? Why is it getting harder?

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I think obviously you’ve got the fans. I think more to do with the home setup is a big part of it. Clearly the home captain gets a choice in how the golf course is set up, and he’s going to do everything he can in that setup to get it to favor his players. I think that has a big effect on it, to be honest, just really the setup of the golf course.

You can set a golf course up to be tough or you can set a golf course up to be loads of birdies, as in any week on Tour. But the home captain gets to make that decision, and I think it has a big influence.

I think if you were coming — traditionally certainly it would be tough to beat the U.S. on their home style of golf course, and as we’ve done in Europe, we’ve shown it’s pretty darned hard to beat us if we’re picking one of our courses that’s naturally suited to our games.

It really is about picking the right venue and also then styling that golf course to suit your players.

Q. Are the players that different now? The game is so global —

PADRAIG HARRINGTON: I would suggest not anymore. They are merging much more into — much more so I think the best players in Europe are the same as the best players in the world is the same as the best players in the States. It’s not as different.

’99 I had to be introduced — Payne Stewart introduced himself to me. I had never met him. And there was others in the team like that. That’s not the case now. Players are very familiar nowadays and familiar games and have played all the conditions that can be presented.

But there’s still a difference in terms of you can play as much links golf as you like, but you never compete quite as well as somebody who was brought up playing that way. There is that natural element that’s been learnt over a long time that is going to play into the hands of the home team per se.

THE MODERATOR: Captain, thanks so much for your time today. We’ll look forward to speaking with you tomorrow.

Interview Transcript from Asap Sports

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Justin Thomas: “It’s a huge advantage to play in front of your home crowd”

THE MODERATOR: Good morning. Welcome to the 43rd Ryder Cup here at Whistling Straits. We are joined by Justin Thomas. Welcome to your second Ryder Cup, first here in the United States.

Let’s go back three years to Paris. You had a terrific record. What did you learn or experience there that you weren’t counting on — at that point you were a rookie. What might have happened there that surprised you about being part of a Ryder Cup team?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Probably — I mean, I knew it was going to be a special week and we were all going to be together as a team, but just the brotherhood, the camaraderie. I mean, the moments in time spent in that team room, it’s hard to explain.

Even though it’s like last night, just getting together, you’d think that all of us are best friends the entire year. We hang out, we all live in the same place, and it’s just a lot of fun.

It’s great for all the girlfriends and wives to catch up, and it’s great for all the players, especially with TOUR Championship being a couple weeks ago, being able to catch up from what they’ve been doing the last couple weeks, what they’ve been up to.

I don’t know, I mean, France was obviously — the outcome was not anything like we wanted, but I’m sure everybody — even the guys that had been there, I mean, it’s just like we play a stroke play tournament. You hope to learn from any experience you have, and I feel like I tried to learn from how to handle my emotions and adrenaline and everything like that that’ll hopefully be helpful this week.

Q. You’re an obvious candidate to be one of the playing leaders on Team USA because of your experience and your success. I’m curious if you agree with that, if you feel like that’s a responsibility you have? And if yes, what does that mean to you? What kind of things do you do as a leader?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I mean, my experience isn’t really there. I’ve only played one Ryder Cup. I’ve been fortunate to play in a lot of events and have some success in the individual events I’ve played, but in terms of a Ryder Cup, I mean, this is my first one in the States.

I’m looking to the captains. I’m looking to Jordan, Brooks, DJ, the guys that have played in the Ryder Cup in the States if I have any questions or anything like that.

My role, I’m looking at it on this team is whatever it needs to be. I will help the rookies or help the first-timers if they need it, if they want it. I’m still going to be myself. I’m still going to be sarcastic. I’m still going to have fun and needle people. That’s just who I am.

At the end of the day my role on this team is just to try to be relaxed and go out and get a point whenever Strick wants me to go play.

Whatever they need from me, whatever they don’t need from me, if I play five, if I play one, I’m just going to try to get as many points as I can and try to make the week as enjoyable as I can for everybody on the team.

Q. You’ve accomplished a lot of things on a lot of different stages; what did playing so well in Paris do for you confidence-wise?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I mean, it did a lot. I would have preferred to go 0-5 and us win the Cup, but it did a lot for me just to know that Captain Furyk had the confidence in me to play me that much, and to put me out first in singles was probably one of the best honors that I’ve ever received. Without him — if he doesn’t know that or if he does, it just was really cool.

I don’t know, I mean, I took a lot from it, but like I said, it’s a team event, and what I did in France is irrelevant because we didn’t get it done as a team.

Like I said, I’d gladly go 0-5 this week if that meant we brought the Cup back on our soil.

His secrets to success

Q. Just kind of curious from your experience in France what you feel like some of the secrets to success are as a rookie in this competition? Obviously you’ve got six here; can that be an advantage because everybody is kind of wide-eyed and stoked, or can it be a disadvantage because you haven’t experienced that first tee and everything?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Well, I think when you look at your rookies are a two-time major champion in Collin Morikawa or a FedExCup Champion in Patrick Cantlay, and a gold medalist in Xander Schauffele. When you’re looking at guys like that that are your rookies, that says a lot about your team.

I think at the end of the day you can dive as deep as you want into the pairings, into who’s sitting, who’s playing, but at the end of the day whatever team plays the best is going to win. We have 12 unbelievable players, they have 12 unbelievable players, and it’s really just who’s going to go out there and get it and who’s going to go out and execute the best.

I’ve watched many Ryder Cups on TV, and it’s who makes the putts, who flips those matches, who grinds out the halves and who gets it done. I’d go to war with these 11 other guys and our captains like I’m going to do this week, and I have all the faith in the world in all the rookies. I think their experience proves that they are beyond rookies.

It’s going to be a fun week. It was a fun week for me in France just in terms of the atmosphere and experience and all, and I’m sure the fact that it’s on U.S. soil will help those nerves a little bit.

Q. When you said that last night you would have thought you guys were all best friends, I guess the question is are you all best friends, and why is it important that you at least feel that way?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I mean, I don’t know. It just feels — not that we aren’t friends off the course. It’s just different. You’re never — not that we’re forced to be in the same room, but we’re obviously all eating in the team room together. We’re watching the game together. We’re playing ping-pong. We’re signing the million flags together that we have to sign.

We’re doing all these things that — we just don’t have those opportunities in individual events. Everyone has their own schedule, they’re practicing and playing at different times, arriving at different times.

When we get together in normal events we have that same relationship, it’s just we’re not all of us are together at one time. The opportunity just doesn’t present itself.

Yeah, we are. Obviously it’s not like all 12 of us are just sitting cross-legged around a circle on the floor just talking about life, but we’re all in our — just kind of bopping around the room and catching up here and there, and it’s been fun.

Q. You’re obviously having to wear the Ralph Lauren U.S. Team uniform this week. How was that handled in the background? Were there any problems, any discussions, and was it any distraction for you this week?

JUSTIN THOMAS: My priorities are a lot more than the clothes I’m wearing this week. It’s about trying to get a point for Team USA and earn as many as I can. It was never even a discussion until just now.

Q. Knowing you’re close with Tiger, Stricker has made it clear that even though he’s not here, he’s still a part of the team. Just curious if you’ve spoken to him and what his message has been for you guys this week.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, I mean, I got together with him a couple times last week. More so just going over to see how he’s doing as a friend, more than as a vice captain or if he’s even still considered that. I don’t know.

Yeah, he’s so into it. He obviously wants the best for our team. He wants the best for all of us. It means a lot to him.

I think people would be surprised — obviously you all saw in Australia how much it meant to him, but just the amount of work and the amount of hours he’s willing to spend to make sure that he feels like the team is prepared and as ready to go as possible is pretty cool.

At the end of the day he also understands that we’re 12 of the best players in the world, and we know how to play golf. Sometimes less is more, so I think he’s great at balancing that out.

It was more, I’m here if you need me kind of thing.

What does Thomas think makes a great Ryder Cup teammate?

Q. I’m just curious, what do you think of the qualities that make for a good Ryder Cup teammate or playing partner?

JUSTIN THOMAS: That’s a good question. I think — I mean, the format is very dependent. Four-ball is obviously a lot easier. You’re playing your own ball. Realistically you don’t even have to talk to your partner. You kind of do your own thing and it’s easier to get in a rhythm.

But foursomes I think it’s pretty important to put two personalities together, two friends together, two guys that get along, maybe their games complement each other.

For me at least what I’ve noticed is I’ve been fortunate to play — my record is obviously good in team events, but you look at my partners in Jordan, Rickie and Tiger, I’ve been very fortunate to have some really good partners, and that’s like the number one rule that caddies will tell you of having a good caddie career is have a good player.

It’s just one of those things.

We have such a deep, good team that it’s not like anybody is a weak link on our team, and it’s just about getting the energy similar I would say, and two guys that want to play together, two guys that want to go to battle out there for each other, that would take a bullet for each other, and I think we have a team room that’s full of that.

I think that’s what makes it exciting for these pairings because there’s so many options.

Q. The Ryder Cup could have likely been played last year, but that would have meant without fans. What does it mean to have the fans here this week, and what role do they play in this event?

JUSTIN THOMAS: They play a huge role. Like I said, I haven’t experienced one on U.S. soil, but I’m very excited to. I think all of us partook in a little bit of a — I guess a poll last year on how we would want — if the Ryder Cup was to happen, how we would want it. Would we rather play it with no fans, would we rather play it with half fans, or just cancel it. My number one answer was play it with full fans or nothing else.

It’s a huge advantage to play in front of your home crowd, and it’s also what makes the event so special. It would have been a shame to play this without fans or even with very, very limited fans. This is one of the biggest sporting events in the world, and it’s a huge deal for the PGA. It’s a big deal for us.

I think they did the right thing in pushing it back a year to make sure that not only us players, but everybody could experience this for what it’s worth.

Potential Pairings

Q. How stoked are you to potentially again reunite with Jordan in a pairing, and if something were to prompt Captain Stricker to have to break that up, would you be receptive to that idea?

JUSTIN THOMAS: I’m receptive for whatever is best for the team. If it means that Jordan and I play every match together, if it means that we split up, everybody is on board with what is best for the team, and I think that’s what is most important.

You’re going to — that’s the thing; yeah, on paper it’s pretty easy to just put matches out, we’ve got these teams, we’ve got these four teams, we’ve got these four teams, but things change. Guys, maybe something happens, maybe they tweak something or they’re just not playing good or they’re tired or one guy wants to go, whatever it might be.

Things change. I think that’s something that Strick has the ability to do, and he’s such a great captain that he’s able to adapt on the run.

I’m very excited to have the opportunity to play with Jordan because he’s obviously a great buddy of mine and we get along so well, but I think we understand each other’s games well to know when we’re needed, when we’re not needed, and pretty much just stay out of each other’s way, because we’re both pretty good players and hopefully can go get some points for us this week.

Q. You mentioned how nerve-racking that first tee can be. Curious when the nerves hit you. Does it hit you when you reach the tee, when you’re walking to the tee, when you’re warming up? When does it actually arrive?

JUSTIN THOMAS: For me it was walking to the tee. France had just an absolutely absurd setup there on the first tee, and there was a pretty big bridge I think that kind of went from the chipping green that would go over, that would come kind of right down to the left of the first tee and walk on.

Jordan was great with me because it being my first match and him playing a couple, he’d been in my shoes before and he probably knew the things I was feeling.

I remember it like it was yesterday. We were walking across the bridge and it was four-ball the first match, and we talked about — four-ball is pretty kind of lenient on who goes first, who doesn’t, but he was just like, Do you want to go first or me, and I was like, I’m going, and he’s like, You got it.

He understood that. He’s like, You need to do what you’re comfortable with in this moment, and he knew it was going to take a couple holes for me to settle in and I rode my horse until I finally got comfortable.

But it is, it’s a bizarre feeling that’s hard to explain, but I’m pretty excited to experience it again in a couple days.

THE MODERATOR: Justin, thanks for spending some time with us. Enjoy your day here.

Interview Transcript from Asap Sports

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Jordan Spieth: 4th times a charm

THE MODERATOR: Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back to the 43rd Ryder Cup here at Whistling Straits. We’re with Jordan Spieth. Thank you for coming and spending some time with us. Welcome to your fourth career Ryder Cup.

It’s been since 2015, 17-under par runner up. What are your recollections of that week, and did that give you comfort as you prepared to come here and represent the United States again?

JORDAN SPIETH: You know, I was riding a nice momentum wave at that point in time, and everything was going right.

I remember this 18th green is pretty special to me. I remember holing a bunker shot maybe my ninth hole Friday, foot kind of outside the bunker like a tough little shot, and then on the 72nd hole that was — I didn’t accomplish what I set out to that day.

It was difficult starting behind and the way Jason played. But I became World No. 1 on that green, so that was a lifelong dream of mine, so a very special place that I’ll always remember that moment.

I wasn’t fully aware of it at the time. I’m pretty sure that it was going to happen, and then I was told I think it was here, it was right over there, wherever the interview station was, that that was the case.

Yeah, I love the golf course, the setup of it. It’s beautiful. It’s on the lake, but you’ve got to control the ball in the wind. You’ve got to hit kind of different shots off tees, and then if you position the ball well, you have these green complexes that are kind of — there’s not a ton of slope, but they’re subtle so you can actually feed the ball into hole locations.

Should be a really exciting match play course because you can get into trouble but you can also birdie just about every single hole with the right shot.

It’s tough and fair, and then if we see it in some colder, windier conditions, it could be a unique test, as well.

Excited to be back here. I’ve said it before, if it were held last year I’m not sure if I would have been on that team, so I felt like I lucked out a little bit in that situation.

But pretty aware that I was going to be here for the last month or so. Felt pretty good after the Open Championship with my chances, and that was a huge goal of mine for the season, and a lofty one starting the year out. Just excited to get back out and experience the Ryder Cup again.

Q. You and Patrick have been the most frequent partnership in a Ryder Cup. I don’t know if you’re aware of that or not. Does that surprise you, and is that possibly one of the maybe problems that has affected the U.S., that over all the years there hasn’t been more frequent partnerships finding a recipe and sticking with it?

JORDAN SPIETH: I would have thought maybe Bubba and Webb, but yeah, it’s interesting. I don’t necessarily think so. I think especially with this team with the amount of first-time Ryder Cup players, it’s hard to call guys rookies here given the experience they have on the world’s biggest stage in golf, so I don’t really like using that term for these guys.

It’s a wave where I was talking with Justin about it. We’ve known everyone on this team since grade school except for Dustin and Tony. I mean, it’s pretty special. So you have a camaraderie. It’s kind of more like a really light setting. Guys have known each other for a long time.

So I think that statistic to answer your question will probably start to not be the case going forward. I think you’ll start to see some pairings that guys find a lot of success in and continue for a number of years given the average age and the caliber of players that are on this team.

Q. With regard to Lee Westwood and Sergio, two of their veterans, what’s your level of respect for what these guys have done over this amount of time in this competition? You’re playing your fourth and these guys have played so many. I’m curious what your level of respect is for what they’ve done.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I don’t know their stats. Obviously they’ve won nine of the last 12 Ryder Cups, but I don’t know individually. Clearly they’ve had a lot of success.

First off, to be able to play on the amount of teams they have year in and year out shows the consistency of high level play that they’re able to have. I played Sergio in 2016 in a match with Patrick versus Sergio and Rafa, and it was a good alternate-shot match. Went back and forth and we had a lead that squandered, and then Patrick made a nice five-footer to tie the match on the 18th, so it was a good match.

They’re just really good players, and they very much are very proud of where they come from, and it shows in this event via what I’ve seen on TV prior to playing and then playing against them on teams.

The fact that they both have been playing the caliber of golf they’ve been playing this year to make this team with the experience they have makes them very dangerous. I mean, you step on the first tee and you know you’re going to play two of the best players in the world, play against two of the best players in the world regardless, and on Sunday a match against one of the best players in the world. They have extra incentive; we have extra incentive.

It’s probably very helpful for them to have them playing really well and the experience, but I’m pretty excited about the idea that we’ve got youth and fire kind of with the guys in our locker room.

What advice does Spieth have for the newcomers?

Q. I know you don’t like to use the term or refer to them as rookies on the team, but if any of them came up to you this week and asked you to explain the atmosphere on the first tee or how to handle that pressure, what would you tell them?

JORDAN SPIETH: Well, I already kind of have to a couple of the guys. I’ve asked some of the assistants and even some of the other players just so that I was kind of on the same page, but I asked them kind of what it feels like in the middle of a match to them, what do you compare it to. Most everybody has said it feels like you’re in contention in a big tournament or a major championship each match.

What I would say is, one, it’s more of the adrenaline rush than the nerves. Like it’s more of an exciting version of that than it is a nervy version of that, and embrace that because you don’t really get that opportunity but once every couple years.

And then two, given that, you get to learn a lot from this event. You learn what you do well, but then like this tournament has propelled me into really good seasons the next seasons after I’ve played, given you get that kind of experience all — maybe it takes two or three years if you’re playing really well to have four or five times you’re in contention in a major, but you get to do it three, four, five times this week.

So embrace that. Again, it’s more of an adrenaline rush than it is a nervy feeling, but that’s what it’s compared to in my opinion.

Q. Granted we’re playing next to a lake and not an ocean and the rough won’t be super long, but visually there are some similarities between this and some courses overseas. You mentioned having to flight it in the wind and using some slopes. Where do you put this course on the continuum of Hazeltine or Valhalla, like an Open Championship layout? Where does it rank?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it’s an American links, isn’t it? It’s played from the air, though. You’re not bouncing balls up to these greens. It’s played from the air, but you also have to hit shots versus driving range shots.

You have uneven lies that you have to work maybe against them or with them, hold winds, ride winds. I think it’s an American links. I don’t think that — I mean, we had Americans finish one-two at the Open Championship this year. I don’t really think that it makes that much of a difference on the style of course.

I think our team, our captains, Strick and the vice captains, are trying to figure out ways that maybe fit the players specifically on our team as far as rough cuts and fairway cuts, where they are, and green speeds and firmness and that kind of stuff.

It’s an aerial links, so you still have to play very similar golf to what we experience on the PGA TOUR for the most part.

Ping Pong?

Q. What benefit if any do you think the whole team coming here ahead of time, what was the benefit of that? And secondly, who’s the best ping-pong player on this team?

JORDAN SPIETH: I was curious ahead of time, to be honest, about how it would be, and I thought it was extremely beneficial. I thought the commitment of guys to get up here was cool. It was very light. We were messing around. We were hitting shots. We weren’t really like chipping and putting to all the pins. It was more let’s have some fun and play a match with each other and just kind of see — get our feet on the ground, see the grandstands, see the setting ahead of time so that when we arrive today, you’re not kind of taken aback. You’ve already been here. Feels just that little bit more comfortable.

We haven’t — we’ve only been here one night. I think everybody was kind of getting settled. I think Bryson and Berger were the only two that played, and I think Berger bested Bryson. I don’t know how it ended up for the night, but I think he got him at least the first two matches.

Q. The last few times Stricker has spoken to the media, he’s hit the point that his goal is to out-prepare. Preparation, preparation. That seems to be the keyword. He is your fourth captain. Have you been impressed with that element of his captaincy, and do you feel that what he’s saying is what he’s doing in terms of this hard-core preparation?

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, it sure seems that way at this point, yeah. Again, for having one practice session and being here half a day, I did a couple hours — some of us came out for a little bit yesterday. For every meeting that we’ve had and everything we’ve talked about, it seems, wow, these guys, we didn’t even need to have a practice round and they’ve got a lot of it figured out.

I think Strick would tell you it’s a team effort with his vice captains, and there’s a lot of experience on that board for us. We go out there and try and hit the shots, and wherever they put us and how often they put us there, we’re trusting in them that it’s in our best interest, but they’re also very open to this team to voicing their opinion to them.

There’s no ego with Strick. He’s very much — he’ll listen to anybody about anything, if you’re comfortable in a setting, if you’re not. I think he’s made the rest of the team feel that way ahead of time.

Certainly I think things can adjust, but as far as how prepared you can be on Tuesday for a Friday start, I would say it’s probably the most that I’ve seen in the four Cups.

Q. Being one of the guys who have done this a few times, what are your general feelings on having a set plan, you’re playing this time with this person, kind of mapping it out versus deviating from that or adjusting on the fly. How do you kind of feel about this?

JORDAN SPIETH: I’ve not been in a setting where there’s been an adjust on the fly, so I’m not maybe the right person to ask that question to. I’ve started in the same pairing I’ve finished in each of the Cups.

Certainly there’s adjustments to be made. I think that’s hard for me to speak to. That’s really what the captains and the vice captains’ job is, is where do we react and where do we keep our game plan.

So again, for me, I’ve just assumed I’m going to go out, try and win that first point, and roll from there. It’s worked the last few, and I don’t see why that should change from my point of view, and I think it’s really just — that’s more of how they can speak to it.

But I’ve not — Presidents Cups I’ve mixed and matched throughout a tournament, but not in a Ryder Cup.

Q. Would you be comfortable if in between matches or whatever, we’re going to switch things up on the original plan and do this?

JORDAN SPIETH: Sure. I’d figure they’ve — while we were playing they have a reason for it, and whether there’s statistics to back it up or it’s feel off of watching what’s been going down, because you only know what’s been going down in your group.

Yeah, you’ve got to be prepared to play them all, but expect to be watching as well and trusting they want people rested for Sunday. We know the Euros typically have a different strategy. They’re going to play probably four or five guys five matches regardless and some of the other guys will probably play two or three, and you expect to see the same guys out that we’ve seen for a number of years now five times.

That’s probably — we’ve got a lot of depth — well, both teams have a lot of depth, but I think we’re going to rely on the youth and our depth to potentially strategize a bit.

THE MODERATOR: Jordan, thanks for your time. Enjoy your day. Thank you.