FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, February 7th, 2016

NBC Sports Group Notable Quotes: Waste Management Phoenix Open (Final Round)

NBC Sports Group Notable Quotes
Waste Management Phoenix Open (Final Round)
Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016
TPC Scottsdale (Stadium Course), Scottsdale, Ariz. 

**Hideki Matsuyama made par on the fourth playoff hole to outlast Rickie Fowler for his second PGA TOUR victory**

On Matsuyama
Johnny Miller – “He is really moving into his own at 23 years old. He’s showing that he’s really got the right stuff when he makes these putts.”

On Matsuyama converting his birdie putt on the 72nd hole to force a playoff
Miller – “Right in the middle of the hole. He couldn’t have read it any better.”

On Fowler forcing a fourth playoff hole
Miller – “Those are the kind of nerves that we saw out of Tiger Woods… or Jordan Spieth. They can make it with the putter when they need it.”

On the good fortune of Fowler’s drive at the 72nd hole bouncing out of the bunker into the fairway
Miller – “It hops out of there like the bunker had a little bit of ready mix cement in there.”
Dan Hicks – “Prayer answered from the church pews.”

On Fowler hitting his tee shot over the green in the water on the short par-4 17th hole
David Feherty – “I don’t even think he’d have even considered that it’d be a risk to hit it over the green in the water. I think he thought if he didn’t hit it left, he was going to be fine with the flag over on the left.”
Roger Maltbie – “It was a risk that I don’t feel was needed.”
Miller – “He hit a beautiful shot, but why hit a club that could [go in the water] instead of just laying it up for a nice wedge shot into the green for a par or birdie.”

On Fowler
Maltbie – “Every now and then he just bombs a drive. I’m not so sure it’s an extra gear that he just has at his disposal.”
Hicks – “With that flair for the moment, he comes up big when the pressure is at its highest.”
Peter Jacobsen – “He is built for positions like this. He is never uncomfortable whether it’s the first tee or the last green. Whether it’s the Ryder Cup or the Open Championship.”
Miller – “After the bogey at 17, to lose two shots [to Matsuyama] there, you’ve got to hand it to him.”

On Fowler introducing a left-to-right fade shot into his game
Gary Koch – “It’s a shot we haven’t seen Rickie play a lot of until just recently, moving the ball from left to right.”
Miller – “What a valuable shot it is. It could help him win major championships too.”

On Danny Lee (11-under, 4th) surrendering his three-shot 54-hole lead early on the front-9
Miller – “It takes a while to adjust to [an overnight] lead [following] Saturday… Everyone has been through it and it’s not easy until you do it a few times.”

22-time Olympic medal-winner Michael Phelps joining Dan Hicks and Johnny Miller in the 18th tower and discussing golf’s return to the Olympic Games this summer for the first time since 1904

Michael Phelps – “There are a lot of people who can say that they’ve been a part of a Ryder Cup team or won this tournament or that tournament… Hopefully it should bring some more excitement to these guys and the sport. Watching the sport continue to grow with all the young and new faces we’re seeing is just incredible to watch.”

-NBC Sports Group-