THE PRESIDENTS CUP

September 24, 2022

Jordan Spieth

Justin Thomas

Quail Hollow Club

Quick Quotes

Q. With Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas. We've got to talk to Jordan. What are you thinking when you're standing over that golf ball just a moment ago?

JORDAN SPIETH: I was thinking Justin's got birdie, but I may as well try and not wait for him. It's straight up the hill. You can be in a lot of bad places.

That hole location where I was is about the easiest spot if you're going to miss the green. I just came out right on line and went in with a little speed, but with the pin out, it went right in the middle. And, you know, I thought we were going to need a birdie just to go to the next hole. You know, fortunate to get the win.

Q. It's just what you do. This happens all the time. Justin, how much do you relish being the leaders on this squad, going out there and setting the tone for the other ten players?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it's fun. And I think we have a team that we don't -- at least me personally, I think Jordan feels the same way, it's not like I feel like when I first started making teams, it was very clear as day who the leaders were, and you were kind of doing as they said and what they were doing.

I just feel like everybody's so experienced on our team where we're here if you want us, but everybody's really good at golf. We're just going to let them go, just like Davis has been doing all week. Man, it's been a lot of fun.

Q. Might be the understatement of the week that everybody is good at golf. Congratulations, fellas.

Q. Jordan, as you walked up to the green here at 15, knowing that Justin was five feet away for birdie, and if you won the hole, you'd take the match. Did you get a sense, did you get a feel about that chip shot from the light rough short and left?

JORDAN SPIETH: It was just dead straight up the hill. The one thought I had was get it there. Justin's in such a good spot. It's nice if I make sure I'm making par, but two real chances of making that birdie were big. I felt like I had a realistic chance of making the shot, just given it was dead straight into the green.

So I hit it probably a little harder than you'd call perfect speed, but all in all, it was going to be just a few feet by, and that probably would have freed him up if he even needed it. He was going to make birdie, so it was kind of a free roll.

Q. You got the right result out of that for sure. Justin, the last three days, playing alongside your great friend, Jordan Spieth, and the results you were able to produce, winning all of your matches, can you summarize what you've been through for the last three days?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Not at all. It's -- I mean, you know, we've talked about this since we were in junior golf and college golf and amateur golf. We've been very fortunate to where the captains have put us together. We've been even more fortunate that we play good golf together.

It's just bizarre, you know. I feel like when -- I mean, I rode my horse today for sure, and I feel like it's just one of those things where if one's off, the other one's on and vice versa. Man, it's a great quality, and I really hope we keep it up because it doesn't get any more fun than this out here.

Q. Jordan, what's your feeling about the last three days, playing with Justin?

JORDAN SPIETH: Like he said, we were never both out of the same hole. We didn't make a bogey together in best ball and only a couple in alternate shot.

I have so much confidence watching him stand over shots and putts. And it's so fun when the feeling I have is that it's going to go in every time when he's over it, and I'm just waiting to see how he's going to react. That happened a lot this week.

We got to go get the job done tomorrow and win two more points for our team. I'd love to get a singles win, and I know Justin would too. We're going to be close enough where our two be obviously extremely important.

Q. I got two questions. They are to both of you. How would you describe what seems like, from our point of view, the freedom you guys have when you're out there playing that if you do hit an errant shot, your partner is there to pick you up?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Yeah, it is. It's a lot of trust honestly. I think that's something that's so important in this format and in this tournament is just whether it's alternate shot or best ball, you've got to have trust in your partner. And you know there's no apologies. It's just, it's golf, you know. It's tough.

Especially this golf course, it's a difficult golf course, playing tough this week. We just know that we're both two very good players, and the odds of both of us being out of a hole are not likely.

We definitely proved that the last two days, that we pick each other up.

JORDAN SPIETH: Yeah, I mean, it was nice because we ended up making birdies on a lot of different holes. You know, like No. 9 today was one of the couple missed greens that I had the whole day, and Justin hits it up there and makes a birdie.

When that happens, you just feel like you stay in the same rhythm, the same momentum. It's really hard for the opposing team when you've got to putt to win the hole. You just start feeling like you're behind even when you're not.

We did a good job of rebounding from No. 1, when Hideki almost made it, and getting the lead really quickly after that and being 2 up through four. We felt like we were in control from there on.

Q. We've been talking about you guys as leaders on this team. The mission has to be completed tomorrow. What do you guys need to say to each other, if anything, tonight?

JUSTIN THOMAS: Not to he and I, but I think everybody understands, I mean, those that have either sat a match or two or, you know, have not won matches they thought they should win coming down the stretch are just going to be so ready to go out there firing. I think he and I need to almost eliminate what happened the last two days, last three days and look at it as, hey, our team needs one more point from each of us. That will be our attitude.

I don't think much has to be said. I'm pretty sure everybody realizes that. Our team rooms the last few years have been spectacular. Never gotten ahead of ourselves and we don't plan on it.

Q. You have beaten Conners twice, Pendrith once. Why do you hate Canada so much?

JUSTIN THOMAS: That's not a serious question, is it?

JORDAN SPIETH: We love Canada. Remember in two years, that's where we're going to be.

JUSTIN THOMAS: We love Canada.

JORDAN SPIETH: We try to challenge whoever we're going to play as best we could.

JUSTIN THOMAS: Exactly. We have full trust and belief that we can beat whoever we play. You know, whether it's a Presidents Cup or a Ryder Cup or a money game, you know. We enjoy the challenge and try to embrace it.

And I enjoyed playing with Taylor. I mean, I'd never played with him, obviously had seen him hit a lot of shots. That birdie he made on 18 yesterday was unbelievably clutch on a very difficult hole. I mean, I respected the hell outta that.

So it was good to spend some time with him. I know that Corey doesn't have his best stuff this week, but --

JORDAN SPIETH: It's a big stage and a lot of them feel it, that's for sure.