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THE PRESIDENTS CUP


September 25, 2007


Stewart Cink

Jim Furyk

Charles Howell III

Zach Johnson

David Toms

Tiger Woods


MONTREAL, QUEBEC

DOUG MILNE: We'd like to welcome half of the faction of the American side of the 2007 Presidents Cup team at this time and we'll just open it up for some questions.

Q. I'll ask Tiger first. Everyone's talking about the team aspect and how enjoyable and how nice of a break that is, but on the other hand, especially a player like you that puts a lot of pressure on himself, does it even put more pressure on the advent of perhaps letting down a partner with shot choice and things like that?
TIGER WOODS: I think that when you play poorly in this event, it is different than what we do every week because, if anything, you just letdown yourself and you're immediate family and that's about it.
Here, it's your teammates, your captain, assistant captain, everyone supporting you from all of the wives, girlfriends and everyone here, we are one big team. And it certainly does put that much more of a sting when you play poorly and you lose a match. But also, then again, it feels that much better when you do win a match to help your team get closer to the goal of winning the Cup.

Q. The Internationals were in here before and they were talking about how much they really want to win this thing and how much it means to them. Does the fact that you guys play every year, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, Ryder Cup, Presidents Cup, is it harder for you to get up for something like that? And also, you've been more successful in this team event than the Ryder Cup, does it hold the same cache for you guys?
TIGER WOODS: I think we all know that the International Team is probably the strongest team that we face. They are stronger on paper generally than our team and generally than the European Team. To be on their squad, you have to be in the top 20 in the world; that's pretty impressive.
For some reason, we've been able to get in the last couple of Cups, we were playing well, but it didn't happen in '98.
You know, playing each and every year, I think some of the core guys that have been on a lot of those teams, Jim has been on there since '97 like I have, and Phil, you get a lot of experience, and that helps when you are able to be on teams with guys that haven't been on a team before, you can help them that much more because of your experience.

Q. Do you feel that passionate about it?
TIGER WOODS: Of course, yeah.

Q. It's been ten years, I believe, since you've played here. What are your general thoughts and feelings on coming back to Montréal?
TIGER WOODS: I played here in '01, too. It's been six years.
But the golf course has changed quite a bit. They have changed it from the first time I played here in '97. They changed it again since 2001. The greens are totally different, and just try and get used to some of the pin locations and some of the slopes.

Q. Captains Nicklaus and Player both seem like they are leaning towards putting you and Weir together for singles on Sunday. Can you speak to the competitiveness you see from Mike from having played in groupings with him before and what you expect out of that potential match up?
TIGER WOODS: Our captain has not really talked about that. Whatever happens there, happens there.
But as far as Mike playing, I've played with Mike quite a bit over the years. I know he's gone through a pretty significant swing change and he's starting to putt it together and starting to putt a little better now. It's great to have him on the International squad, especially here in Canada. I think that definitely adds to the event, and Mike has been a world-class player for years.

Q. I was just wondering if you can speak about the difference between playing against the Ryder Cup Team and against the International Team and if that comes to mind in your preparation for a tournament like this.
TIGER WOODS: Go ahead, guys. (Laughter).
JIM FURYK: You're going to have to call on someone.

Q. Sorry?
JIM FURYK: You're going to have to call on someone. Wake the rest of us up.

Q. Jim. (Laughter).
JIM FURYK: I don't think it matters who the guys are on the other side. You have to prepare like any other tournament. You have to get your game ready to play the best you can.
Obviously we are trying to figure out who our partners are going to be for different formats and golf balls and all that stuff and you can't really worry about what the other guys are doing. So you just go out there and prepare the best you can and try to get your game in shape and try to play the best you can. You know, go tee it up and see how it matches against the other guys.
Whether you're playing home or away or Internationals or the European squad, it really shouldn't make a difference in your preparation I don't think.

Q. I know you guys have discussed, Jack was saying, you've discussed possible partners for Thursday. I was just wondering, I realize you can't say the names right now, but is there any one mitigating factor that goes into picking a partner in your mind? Is it charisma? Is it golf ball? Is it individual games?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I've been --
JIM FURYK: Obviously it isn't charisma. (Laughter).
TIGER WOODS: There you go. This is our team chemistry over here.
No, we've tried all different things throughout the years from personalities to like distances off the tees to same golf balls, tried all different things. You know basically what it boils down to is two guys playing well. That's ultimately what it boils down to. You can have, you know, personalities that are exactly alike, golf balls that are exactly the same; go out and play poorly, you get whacked and you get to go home.
The whole idea is to go out there no matter who you're playing with. And out there and get it done and you have to get it done whenever your name is called.

Q. David, I don't recall, maybe 2001 or 2002, you guys had played a lot of golf leading up to a Cup; how do you think this will pan out, not only this year, but next? Do you follow me? Even before Ryder Cup --
DAVID TOMS: Normally we have a lot of season left after either event. So guys are going to be pacing themselves and will probably do a stretch where a lot of guys will play a lot of golf. Obviously you would think that you are pretty prepared to be here, maybe more so than years past, because of playing so much golf recently.
I think that's something they need to take a look at in the future for both, this is how much golf is being played at this particular time. For us this year, I know we have a lot of guys who are coming in and playing well, and should be an advantage for us.

Q. So it's a good thing or a bad thing?
DAVID TOMS: (Chuckling) What are you trying to get me to say here?

Q. Something I can write.
DAVID TOMS: If you look at our team up here, I don't think any of us played last week, so we had a week off there. I don't think you'll have that luxury next year if everything stays the same.
For this particular event, a lot of guys played a lot of golf and if you were in good shape, you had a nice week off of rest and it will be good for this event for sure.

Q. What about next year and years following?
DAVID TOMS: Next year I just hope I'm part of that team and playing as many weeks as you have to play to be part of that team. We'll have to cross that bridge when we get to it.

Q. Question for Jim Furyk. Mike Weir is Canada's favorite son, but you seem to be the favorite stepson with two wins in the Canadian Open. What is it like being back in Canada? Is it almost like a home game for you even though you are on international soil?
JIM FURYK: I've been treated real well obviously the last two victories and playing well in Canada. Different area, different province, but I still feel a lot of people are very positive today and mentioned me winning both events. I support those two tournaments and appreciate it very much and I'll try to continue and come back and play in Canada quite a bit and show my thanks. Obviously they will be rooting for the other team this week, and I know that, but I still feel a lot of support and appreciate it.

Q. Zach or David, maybe you could talk about putting being such a tee in these team events and so forth; the International Team talked about that earlier. My question to them was: Does the severity of the greens put more of a premium on iron play because maybe you won't make as many longer putts on some of these greens? Just wanted to get your thoughts.
ZACH JOHNSON: Well, I think in any team event, golf, period; putting is probably the most crucial element of the game. Anybody that wins a golf tournament out here, typically they put pretty well that week and if you're going to win a match, you're going to have to putt well.
As far as being, you know, the greens, there are tiers here and rolling offs here to different sections of the greens. You know, getting the ball in the right sort of area of the green, certainly will make it easier to make putts rather than having to go up and down hills. If you're putting well and you're seeing the line, you have the speed down. All of these guys can make putts. I don't think one team has the advantage either way, that's for sure. It's just a matter of who executes and who in the end makes more putts.
This is only my second team event, but I know based on what I saw last year, they seem to make more putts. But they have a lot of opportunities to make putts, too. So it goes both ways.

Q. Tiger, a few weeks ago Solheim Cup, the women's team obviously played great and a lot of that was because of the camaraderie and team chemistry --
TIGER WOODS: Say that again?

Q. The Solheim Cup, the American side won and a lot of it was because of that team chemistry. Do you feel any added pressure to find that chemistry before you start here so you have that added advantage? It always seems like International and European teams have that camaraderie. Do you feel any pressure at all to find that in?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I think this year we are going to put face paint and ribbons in our hair. (Laughter) A little hard for some of us who are balding.
No, we've got a great team. We've got a mix of some young guys who are fresh and never played before and some older guys, even one of our rookies is the oldest guy on the team.
So you know, I just think that we've got a great mix this week and we're really excited to be here and excited to play and looking forward to it.

Q. Question for David and Stewart. From a player's point of view, it seems the Presidents Cup is more relaxed and enjoyable than the Ryder Cup. Is that true, and does that translate into a less intense strategy before the matches?
STEWART CINK: First of all, it may seem more relaxed, but nobody up here or on our team or their team wants to lose this thing; we want to win bad. That translates into a lot of intensity and preparation.
We were sitting in the locker room with our captain and I was with Lucas and Zach, and we were discussing alternate-shot and how different game styles fit into this course and why you would want to put two players that are maybe alike in a pairing or why you would want to put two players who are opposite.
So just because you don't sense a lot of the strategizing or whatever you want to call it, a lot of it happens behind closed doors; most of it does. We talk about it a lot, and we're pretty intense about we want to win this thing. No one wants to lose, and so I think it's comparable to the Ryder Cup these days because it's so competitive.
DAVID TOMS: I think a lot of the difference comes from what you guys write about, how you guys perceive the event. As far as the players, obviously we want to win. But you can sense it, probably both events in the crowd and everything else, that maybe one being bigger than the other just because of how much attention is there from a media standpoint, the articles that are written. To me there's a lot more negative stuff, negative articles in the Ryder Cup. The Presidents Cup has always seemed to have positive media attention and more feel-good stories than anything else. I think that's really the biggest difference from a player. You want to go out and do your best and perform for your country.

Q. One of the million dollar questions is why the International Team is so deep compared to the Europeans, why you've had more success against them than in the Ryder Cup. Do you guys think about that as well and do you have an answer?
JIM FURYK: (Looking down the table) No one's going to answer unless you pick someone.

Q. The veterans.
JIM FURYK: Can I say, no, I haven't and no I don't. (Laughter).
I don't think there's any magic potion. After we get done with the Ryder Cup, all of us here for three months, everyone definitely wants to tell us their opinion and their reason why and they are usually quite humorous.
You know, I don't think there's any magic reason other than one team playing better than the other, and I think that the whole, "On paper" is kind of a farce. If you take the best 12 players from Europe around the world, put them together on a team; if we have a tour that's deep enough where 100 guys can go out on any week and win a tournament, then 12 of the best players from any side can go out and win that week. Just a lot of it is momentum. Obviously you don't want to get behind early. It adds pressure to the week. It's much easier to be a front-runner in this event.
But I think as Tiger mentioned earlier, one team goes out and plays better; they win the tournament. I think it's pretty simple, really.
It's just a lot of analyzing -- or what was it, strategizing?
STEWART CINK: Yes.
JIM FURYK: Okay, Georgia Tech. Strategizing; play better.

Q. Can you talk about what it's like to play for Mr. Nicklaus and how much he plays in the team camaraderie?
JIM FURYK: Definitely doesn't hold back the poking fun, I know that.
I think every one of us would say it was an honor, right on down the line. We all grew up watching him win the Masters in '86 with his son on the bag. And everyone contended to beat Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer along the way. It's kind of -- it's an honor to get to know him, to play -- a bunch of us who played for him before, it's pretty special.

Q. Can we get Charles to say something?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Hello.
JIM FURYK: We haven't all day. (Laughter).
CHARLES HOWELL III: I'm a big Mike Gundy fan. Be careful what you ask.

Q. What was it like playing for Jack in 2003 and what's it like this time?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, you know, '03 was great for me because I got to play for Jack Nicklaus, which, probably the best player of all time, and I was paired all four matches with your other argument for the best player of all time.
Yeah, it's unbelievable, and you just get to know him away from the golf course. We all know Jack Nicklaus the golfer and what he's done. But to have dinner with him, to have dinner with his wife, the team room and other activities away from here, you know, are the best times that we have at these events.

Q. Does anyone have a good answer -- what's the worst they have ever been needled by Nicklaus?
ZACH JOHNSON: Charles?
DAVID TOMS: Tell him what he said to you.
CHARLES HOWELL III: All right. We're up in a player meeting in Boston, and I was at a table with David Toms --
TIGER WOODS: (Putting head down, stifling laugh).
CHARLES HOWELL III: -- with Zach Johnson, Hunter Mahan, I think that was all of them.
So he went around, and "Zach, great job on winning the Masters, green jacket, that's fantastic, that's awesome."
"David, another solid season, you are another steady, steady player."
"Hunter, you've really come along here lately, this is fantastic, young guy."
"Charles, you need a lesson." (Laughter).
DAVID TOMS: You had a great comeback, though. You said, "I'll be on the tee at seven in the morning."
CHARLES HOWELL III: I said, "My Pro-Am time is 7:00 a.m. tomorrow." He didn't show up.
No, stuff like that, I would never have a chance to get needled by Jack Nicklaus, but that's a true story.
JIM FURYK: He was as hard on himself as he was on anyone else, so you take it all in stride. He's good at poking fun at people. It's nice to and if any of us had never played for him or ever been around him, we would never know that or be able to share those thoughts. It's kind of cool.
DAVID TOMS: All the time, he reminds us to have fun. He says it multiple times: "Have fun; but it's a lot more fun when you win."

Q. Jim, you said before about getting behind the 8-ball and you never want to get to a Sunday and want to have to come really hard, but the reality is that you guys have actually been in that position and you've done very well on Sunday. You beat Adam last time and Freddie beating Vijay. You had some good singles wins. What do you think is behind that and how does that happen? You guys seem to get on that roll on Sunday.
JIM FURYK: We've had our -- are you talking about all international team competitions or the Presidents Cup?

Q. Leave the Ryder Cup out for the moment.
JIM FURYK: Well, then we've never come-from-behind in this event. How's that?
The thing about this tournament, it's been really close. We went to Australia and got blown out. The next time we went back to RTJ in the U.S. and blew their team out. But since then, it's been extremely, extremely tight. I think that's added to this tournament becoming more special and maybe being elevated and getting a lot more attention because of all of the finishes; and South Africa being unbelievable as far as a spectating event.
But, you know, I think there's years where we've played really well in individual on Sunday and other years where we definitely didn't get the better of them. It's definitely a fun time. There's a lot of pressure on each guy to go out and get a point and you just do the best you can.

Q. Just as a follow to that South Africa one, and Tiger, you might be able to answer this too because you were there; if you had to do it again, do you think this event is now just a little bit higher up on status, so you wouldn't have this handshake at the end and come back and say, let's battle it out and let's see who wins and come back the next day or whatever it might be, instead of just calling it a draw?
JIM FURYK: It's on you.
TIGER WOODS: Okay. Thanks.
JIM FURYK: It was. (Shrugging shoulders)
TIGER WOODS: That was a pretty interesting day because we all knew those matches were tight in singles. We wanted to have it live in the U.S. and we went off really late. We could have gone off earlier and actually finished some matches. But they wanted to have TV live back in the States.
But probably one of the more nerve-wracking times that I've ever been involved in. Because, you know, if you lose a tournament, you lose something down the stretch, it's just yourself. I mean, I'll never forget on that first green, I had the first green to make about a 4- or 5-footer there, and seeing an entire team up there on the hill, and they were in my line of vision as I was reading the putt. (Laughter).
I'm like, "Just focus on the hole, will ya," which is different. Because you don't normally care about these things. Just focus on yourself and getting it done. But here, we played an entire week, and if I miss this one putt, not only do I let myself down but I let all of my teammates and my captain and everyone involved to make this thing down a special week, I let everyone down in one putt. That was hard.
But it was actually pretty cool. I think Ernie and I, we pulled off some pretty cool shots in that playoff. I think this event went up in status with that one particular playoff series, and all I know is that Ernie and I, when we were done, we put our arms around each other and said let's never do that again; let's go have a beer. (Laughter).
It was a very interesting ending. I think from a player perspective, it was tough on us individuals playing out there. But for TV, it made for great TV and great theatre.

Q. Do you think it's got to the level now where you wouldn't -- obviously if that was a Ryder Cup, there's no shaking hands and come back in two years time, it would have been played out to the death. But do you think this event has got to that stage now?
TIGER WOODS: Well, I don't know if it's -- when we were playing in South Africa, I think it was a much bigger deal than what people probably realized. People were saying, Nelson Mandela was talking to me and saying this was the biggest sporting event ever to happen in South Africa. President (Thabo) Mbeki and everyone who was involved, you look at some of the greatest players that were down there; President Mandela; the nature of the match was friendship. And I think there was no animosity there at all, and especially with him there. I think that it made much more sense to do what we did than to have one side win; to come back the next day and do it, I don't think it would have worked.

Q. Since we're so close to the U.S. border and some U.S. fans might make the trip, do you have a feeling of being at home in Montréal for a U.S. Team?
TIGER WOODS: No, I wouldn't think so. (Laughter).
I think that most of the galleries will be Canadian and I think it will be loud and raucous and it will be great. That's what it should be. It will be bipartisan, I don't think we'll have as many people out there supporting us, as it should be. I think it will be a great atmosphere for all of us.

Q. The ball issue has come up a couple of times today, specifically for Jim and Tiger, how big of an adjustment is it? Is it a few minutes on the driving range?
TIGER WOODS: Jim and I are probably the two worst people to ask because we can't get a ball straight -- you want to tell them?
JIM FURYK: He usually hits his off the tee and I iron it in, and I hit it off the tee and he irons mine in; we mess it all up. We did that in a match once.

Q. Is it a big adjustment or a matter of seconds for guys who are the best in the world at what they do? How much of an issue is it?
JIM FURYK: It can be. It depends. If you have a guy that plays a ball that spins a lot and another guy that plays a ball that's much firmer and doesn't spin very much at all, it can be a huge difference over a driver or what you're used to seeing. But for the most part, give the guy a few days to practice, he can figure it out well enough. Usually we're just hitting it with a driver to put it in play, and the other guy hits his ball on the green and you don't have to worry about it.
Say one guy is saying a high launch, low-spin ball and another hits a high launch, high-spin ball, it can be a little different. It can be tougher. Tiger and I played for the first time and Freddie Couples was struggling with his ball and the differences, and it wasn't that difficult for me at all because ours were a lot closer. All of these 24 guys are good enough, you give them a few days, they will figure it out.

Q. What would you say is the difference between playing against Europe and playing against the International Team? How is it different?
STEWART CINK: I don't think it's different.

Q. Not at all?
STEWART CINK: I don't see that it's different at all. They are unified -- they know each other really well.
If you go back 20 years and take the players from Fiji, Australia, South Africa, Korea, put them on a team, they did not know each other. They had to introduce each other most of the week. Nowadays they all play on pretty much the PGA TOUR with a few exceptions otherwise. They know each other. They are unified and want to beat us and we want to beat them. It feels the same to me. You just want to do the best you can to win for the U.S.

Q. Do you get a sense at all at the Ryder Cup you're playing against a tour?
STEWART CINK: Not really anymore because so many are playing on the U.S. Tour. So it's split. That was probably back maybe a little before my time playing in the Ryder Cup. But I don't think that it feels very much different at all. Golf, even though it's match play, and they say you're playing against an opponent, you're really playing against the course. You're still trying to do the best you can on a hole, and hopefully that score stands up against the other side.
So to me it doesn't feel any different at all. It's intense and you want to win.

Q. Jack was asked earlier about the difficulty of sometimes getting a good partner for Tiger. You having played for him, he suggested that sometimes maybe the partner might have felt some intimidation just playing with Tiger and trying to do well for him more so than the opponent might feel. Curious what it was like for you and if you can see that; you know Tiger, but maybe other guys might have had issues playing with him as a partner.
CHARLES HOWELL III: Well, I can't speak for anyone else. But we do well together because we don't like each other. So we talk on the first hole and we talk on the 18th green and we see what happens in between. (Laughter).
Maybe in a sense I see Tiger in a little different light. I see him around home. I see him a little bit away from the golf course to where -- but no, I don't think anyone -- no offense here, but I think we're all friends.
I mean, as far as me playing with Tiger, he's a great partner to have because we are friends. I feel comfortable playing with him, and I mean, let's face it, it's not always easy playing a team event because you've got more than just your expectations riding on your shoulders. I feel comfortable playing with the guy but I'm sure everyone else on this team would, as well.

Q. When you play individual match play, would you prefer to shoot first or have the other person shoot and see what happens?
CHARLES HOWELL III: What are we shooting? (Laughter).

Q. Like when you're putting first, would you rather play first?
CHARLES HOWELL III: I guess I'll answer it.
JIM FURYK: Not if he hits it in the water first. (Laughter).
CHARLES HOWELL III: Yes and no. There are times where it makes a little bit of a difference because you can't see what they have done. But at the end of the day, if you focus on your own ball, and play your game the best you can, you're playing such good competitors, they are not going to make that many mistakes. So you almost assume every shot they are going to pull off, they are going to make it anyway.

Q. When you see an incredible shot, would you rather be the person making the incredible shot to put pressure on or vice versa?
CHARLES HOWELL III: Absolutely. Yeah, if you're going to say you're going to hit a great shot, for sure.
But once again, though, there's still this element in there of golf where you can't control everything. So you play your game, some holes you might want to hit driver off the tee and another guy is going to lay up just because that's the way he needs to play the hole. So a little bit of that gets blown out of proportion. If you're playing against Tiger, you're probably going to be hitting first, a lot. And that's just by definition of how far he hits it.
Yeah, some of that gets blown out of proportion.
ZACH JOHNSON: I always hit first.

Q. David, you've been on a lot of teams. This morning Nicklaus said that the demands are getting deeper and deeper on the core group of guys who play Ryder Cup every year. And Jack said we haven't had anybody decline the opportunity to play yet. But as things go further on, the next time this might be in Australia or something, Jack isn't going to be the captain and the fun you speak of may be different. Do you ever see a time where guys say, I don't want to do it every year?
DAVID TOMS: In a team competition, I don't think so. I think it all depends on what the schedule looks like as a whole and where it fits. As long as it makes sense where it fits on the schedule and guys have plenty of time to prepare for their own individual tournaments and feel rested enough to play their best.
I don't think that will happen. Just because we see -- I've always said, if I'm not part of this team, either team, you know, to miss it, because it's one of the highlights of the year, I don't see that ever being a problem as long as the rest of the schedule on the TOUR works for everybody so that they feel like they can do this and not be something that takes away from what they do on a weekly basis.

Q. Jack said he was kicking around three possible dance partners for you in the team context, I'm guessing probably these two guys and maybe Stricker. I was wondering, would you rather play with a mix of guys or go with a hot hand if you win the first one or is friendship and camaraderie more important in this? Do you have a presence?
TIGER WOODS: I could care less, as long as we get a point. I've played with a bunch of different partners over the years, and the goal is still the same; to go out there and beat your opponent and put a point up on your side.

Q. The last time around, Chris DiMarco was pretty expressive, he was kind of the cheerleader or whatever you want to call it for you guys. Does Woody give you some of that this time around?
ZACH JOHNSON: (Giggling).
TIGER WOODS: I get to answer this one.
JIM FURYK: We're all listening.
TIGER WOODS: I think it's different. Woody definitely makes us laugh, and he's excitable and says things that all of us will certainly take back and think about this week.

Q. Do you have a good Woody story, Jim?
JIM FURYK: Do I have a good Woody story? I think everyone's got a good Woody story. You have a good Woody story, for goodness sakes.
You know, obviously he expects a lot of himself and sometimes probably too much of himself. But you can never fault him for not trying, for not giving 100%. He obviously pokes fun at himself, so it's easy for everyone else to kind of climb on board.
But we all really do like him and care for him and I'm glad to see him on the team, a guy that's worked so hard throughout his whole career. What was he telling us yesterday, he's 43 years old, making his first team, and he's still got a lot more years to keep doing it. I'm happy for him and proud of him.
DAVID TOMS: We just don't know how he's going to perform with a plain shirt on this week. (Laughter).

Q. Speaking of Woody; Zach, you're one of the rookies and the other three haven't had the team competition and you had the Ryder Cup last year. Do you still feel like a rookie at all or do you feel like you're experienced?
ZACH JOHNSON: I'm certainly going to draw on last year. There's a lot of instances and situations and elements that I think will be very helpful, not only in team competition but in big arenas such as this. At the same time, yeah, I still kind of feel like a rookie. Yeah, it's a little bit different setup. Obviously Ryder Cup starts on Friday, for example. Most players play every match with the exception of a couple of guys sitting out on Saturday.
JIM FURYK: He's just being nice. He won the Masters, come on.
DAVID TOMS: He called me Mr. Toms the first time, so he is a rookie.
JIM FURYK: He's picking up the donuts in the morning.
ZACH JOHNSON: Picking up donuts, whatever. I remember that, that's right. (Looking at David).
In more ways, I do feel like I've got a bit of experience now and I think the best part about it is that the captains, I mean, the captains obviously -- Captain Lehman last year did a phenomenal job, and we were able to pick his brain and his experiences and when we get the opportunity. We'll certainly call on Jack to do the same and Slu, he's been around for a while as well. And the guys on the team, everyone up here has played in a team match, a team competition, and you know, I love picking their brains, too. I feel a lot more comfortable in this than I did last year, for sure.

Q. Away from the course, what do you plan to do in Montréal and what are you looking forward to outside of the golf?
ZACH JOHNSON: Curling.
JIM FURYK: Yeah, curling. There's not enough time.
ZACH JOHNSON: There's no time.
JIM FURYK: It's a shame. It's a nice city. But none of us will see it. (Laughter).

Q. Do you guys feel like the favorite this week because you haven't lost this thing since '98, or because a year ago you got beaten so soundly in this time of format, same core team?
JIM FURYK: I would never compare what we did last year and I would never look to the past. I've always -- it's like a commercial over here.
You can't worry about the past. It's obviously 12 new guys on each side and you just go out and play your hardest, and whatever happened two years ago is not important right now. Both teams want to win and there's no history.
DOUG MILNE: Thank you, guys.

End of FastScripts
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