TEAM CUP

January 11, 2025

Tom McKibbin

Aaron Rai

Abu Dhabi Golf Resort

Great Britain & Ireland

Quick Quotes

Q. Congratulations on a terrific match, a relatively early victory. You won the first three holes, obviously that was the crucial part of the match, to get that big lead early. The captains sent you out in practise to play six-hole matches to try to get a fast start. How valuable was that?

TOM McKIBBIN: Yeah, very valuable. Going out there with that mindset of trying to get up early, and we did that. We had had a couple of solid holes and the course can be very tricky, so I think we kept the ball in play the first couple of holes ask sort of let them make a few mistakes.

Q. Unlike most of the guys, you didn't really play team golf as an amateur. You turned pro pretty early. So this is your first experience of all of this. How valuable for you to be around the likes of Luke Donald, Paul McGinley, Justin Rose, guys that can really educate you in match play and how it works, because it's a different still, can't it?

AARON RAI: It really is. I think team golf definitely has a different dynamic. The week looks slightly different, as well, with practise, spending time together in the evenings, as well, rather than doing your own thing. So the environment is great to just sample.

Amazing to have guys like Luke, Paul McGinley, Thomas Björn, Edoardo Molinari around. Great to pick their brains. Great to share stories, as well, in the evenings. It's been a really fun week so far.