Ryder Cup: Defeated USA players give their reaction
Tiger Woods disappointed at failing to win and Phil Mickelson praises leadership
Last Updated: 30/09/18 7:48pm
Tiger Woods disappointed at failing to win, Phil Mickelson praises leadership and Justin Thomas reflects on his first Ryder Cup experience - here is the reaction of the United States team after their defeat in Paris.
Tiger Woods: "We didn't execute like we had planned and wanted to. For me personally, I went 0-4. Obviously very disappointing. Those are four points that aren't going towards our side. It's going towards their side.
"To have a Ryder Cup end that way, for me personally, it doesn't feel very good because I didn't help my team-mates earn any points. At the end of the day, we came here as a team and we win or lose, and unfortunately we lost this one."
Phil Mickelson: "This is an awesome team and we had phenomenal leadership. We had great vice-captains. And we were put as players in a position to succeed, and these guys are such great players; that if you put these players in a position to succeed, they most often will.
"Unfortunately it didn't happen this week. But we had a very special week here. The European side played some exquisite golf. I mean, it was some phenomenal golf, and they flat-out beat us. But they beat us on the course."
Justin Thomas: "I would gladly go 0-5 every Ryder Cup my entire career if that means we win every single time that we play. It's not a fun feeling. You come here to win, and we didn't.
"But for me personally, it was nerves, experience, atmosphere, unlike anything I've ever come close to experiencing in my career, in my life, and two years definitely can't come quick enough, that's for sure."
Tony Finau: "It's been a cool experience for me, and I'm proud to be on this team, and I'm proud of our guys. We battled. We had an opportunity to do something special today. Unfortunately that didn't happen. I haven't felt nerves and this type of excitement in a golf tournament, ever."
Bryson DeChambeau: "This didn't end the way we wanted it to, for sure. I couldn't be more proud of these guys, the way they fought, the way they played. We never gave up, and that's what I tried to do, my best today, is to not give up; knowing on 14 that we had lost the Ryder Cup, it was tough to fight on."
The above five players were all speaking at the official press conference, while the remainder of the team spoke following the completion of their singles matches.
Patrick Reed: "The fans were a lot of fun. They were brutal when they needed to be, and they were respectful and nice when they were supposed to be. Coming back over here, I expected to be shushed the whole time, from the starting event to the end, because of what I did in '14. It was one of those things that the fans were electric and they pulled their team through."
Dustin Johnson: "It's been a lot of fun, but they are taking the cup, which, you know, it sucks. I want to win."
Rickie Fowler: "We gave ourselves a chance. We knew it was going to be tough today, but we were up for the challenge. So, yeah, a little bummed out I wasn't able to get my point; still, it's a great week."
Bubba Watson: "He (Stenson) just beat me. He made birdie putts. I missed birdie putts. He played fantastic golf. He never made a mistake, and when a guy never makes mistakes, I can't do anything."
Brooks Koepka: "There's about a scoreboard every hole, so you just keep looking, and I keep rooting for the guys. At the same time, you're trying your butt off, and hopefully it's enough."
Webb Simpson: "Justin is their best player and I look up to him as a golfer and he's been great for a while. What a great player he is. I knew it was going to be tough, and he's been leading those Europeans for a long time now."
Jordan Spieth: "I just had a couple of opportunities [against Olesen], I had some in-between numbers that I didn't really pick the right shot and I got in trouble, and really, chipping let me down. I had a couple opportunities to save par and just stay at even, dropped to two/three-down, and then he out-putted me."