USA Captain Jim Holtgrieve after Morning Foursomes
(on the windy conditions)
I’m not so sure it had an effect. The conditions are the same for everybody. Obviously, they are used to playing the wind. I was talking to Captain Edwards and he said: ‘Can you imagine playing 72 holes in this?’ Does it give them an advantage? Maybe a little bit. I watched them play and they were missing the fairways and missing the greens too. I think in regards to chipping that trying to make some of your shots happen with the wind, they outperformed us this morning. Their putting has been exceptional for a day and half. We have to see what we can do.
(Jordan Spieth’s halving putt on the 18th hole)
Jordan said to me on 16 tee: ‘We can win this.’ If we make the putt at 17 and it’s over and we get a point. Huge putt on 18 and what a huge putt for two 18-year-old guys who came here as freshmen in college. How awesome is that? That’s what this all out. To see his face and to see what he did, it made me laugh. I had a good time with it.
(experience of Walker Cup has been your key message. What tell players now?)
Is our back really against the door? It is. But am I going to say anything different? What do you say to 10 talented young men who know how to play the game. The feeling that I’ve been trying to instill in them all week is just never give up, always fight, and have a good time enjoying it. Do we want to win? Sure we do. But it’s not all about that. They want to win. I have not heard one negative comment so far. They just said we have to go out and win a bunch of singles matches. I’m going to try to give them encouragement and just never give up.
Jordan Spieth
We believed it the whole time. The reason we believed it the whole time was because the way the conditions made the course play. This whole back nine is into a 45 MPH wind so everyone’s going to spray it. All we wanted to do was stay patient and stay smooth. I still don’t know how we won that last hole. It was a team effort, we both encouraged each other and that’s how we came back.
(on the putt on 18)
Honestly, what I did, I played the wind. That’s what you had to do. On Patrick’s putt on 17, the wind blew it off. All that was going through my head was: ‘You better get this ball to the hole. You’ve got to give it a chance.’ At the same time, in the same situation you see people blow it by. I wanted to put the right speed on it. I stood over it. I felt nervous but the putter felt good in my hands and I was just trying to stroke it.
Patrick Rodgers
We never gave up, that’s for sure with four down with six to go and it wasn’t looking good. We never gave up. I knew with the conditions that these conditions were the toughest conditions I have ever played in and I knew we just needed to make pars. Jordan played great coming in.
Tom Lewis / Michael Stewart
Tom Lewis:
Unfortunately we haven’t come away with a win but we’ve won the session and that will be really important going into this afternoon.
Michael Stewart:
Tom and I have played well, we’ve not lost a game but we’re bitterly disappointed. I just wasn’t playing as well as I have been in the last four or five holes but these things happen in golf and we just have to get on with it.
Nigel Edwards
A tremendous job again by the lads. As I’ve said all week, I’ve got a lot of faith in them and they are enjoying it and that’s the way it should be.
I guess so but the Americans can play and we’ve got to keep on it. We’ve got to finish the job.