“I just want to say one thing about the crowd,” he said. “I’ve played in many Presidents Cups. I’ve played in the U.S. many times. If you look back at New York and how these players were treated in New York, this crowd is pretty quiet.
“I mean, we just get treated the same. Wherever you go, as an away game, there’s some heckling going on and we all know that, and you prepare for that, and that’s just the way it goes.
“We shut up and we get on with things. That’s what we did in New York. So it’s part of the game. And I’m with Tiger; I absolutely, I’m against heckling. I’m against crowds being disrespectful to the players, but it happens. We as professionals, we move on.”
That’s some admirable maneuvering. Els is making a clear rebuttal to Woods’ suggestion that fans had gone too far. He’s not endorsing any player abuse, of course, but the remarks were a clear message to his supporters: Keep it up. We won’t back down to these Americans. All under the guise of “I’m with Tiger,” To keep things smooth, he went out of his way to compliment Woods again. The Big Easy at work.
“I think Tiger is one of the ultimate professionals that’s ever played the game. I’ve played with him where he’s been heckled in U.S. Opens and a lot of other places. He’s taken it on the chin and he’s moved forward. He’s been an example.
“Same has happened to me. It’s happened to a lot of players. But I must say, this Aussie crowd, okay, they got a little bit boisterous this afternoon with a couple of beers, but which crowd doesn’t? You take it and you move on.”
It all added up to a brilliant chess game; the captains sending messages to their fans and to their players through a typically snoozy press conference. Woods is first off for the American side on Sunday morning, but one thing was clear on Saturday night: The matches have already begun.
You can watch some of the exchange below.
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