FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, June 11th, 2016

KPMG Women’s PGA Championship, Saturday’s Third Round – Ko Leads by 1 over Piller and Lincicome

NBC Sports Group Notable Quotes
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship
Third Round
Saturday, June 11, 2016
Sahalee Country Club
Sammamish, Wash.

**Sunday’s live coverage will air on NBC beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET and will continue on Golf Channel at 6 p.m. ET through the tournament’s conclusion**

**World No. 1 Lydia Ko leads at 2-under par by one shot over Gerina Piller and Brittany Lincicome (1-under).
**Ko will attempt on Sunday to win her third consecutive major championship (2015 Evian Championship winner and 2016 ANA Inspiration winner).

On Lydia Ko, leader at 2-under par (1-under on Saturday)
Tom Abbott – “She is going to be tough to beat.”
Dan Hicks – “Number one player in the world taking charge.”
Annika Sorenstam – “She has such a mature head. She is so solid for a 19-year old.”
Kay Cockerill – “One of the best short games I have ever seen.”
Curt Byrum – “Steady as a rock.”
Byrum – “When you it putt it like she does, you don’t have many off days.”
Brandel Chamblee – “Trying to put into perspective what she is doing, I think we need a lot more than an hour show. When you talk about what she is doing so well, it is everything.”
Chamblee – “With the finish line in site, I simply cannot find anybody that is likely to beat her. Given what she has done in the past, it is a very tall order for everybody chasing her.”
Paige Mackenzie – “Not very many missteps at all over the last several days.”

Lydia Ko speaking with Golf Channel’s Steve Sands following her round
Lydia Ko – “Just trying to keep it in the fairways is the toughest part. Yesterday and the day before, the greens were really firm so it was hard to even keep the balls on the greens. With the rain overnight, it made the greens a little softer but it was still tough with the pin positions tucked. With the fairways and the rough being lush, those are the key things that are making this course really tough out there.”
Ko – “Going into Evian and ANA I had calm, positive thoughts into the last round. I just said ‘Hey, just go out and enjoy it.’ Just don’t worry about what everybody else does. Focus on that shot that you need to hit. That’s all I can do. I have to try my best and have fun. I can’t control what somebody else does. The most important thing is to be focused on my game and not think about what the other player is doing.”

On Gerina Piller, T2 at 2-under par (1-under 70 on Saturday)
Mark Rolfing – “She really has been quite calm and very patient in her decision-making this week.”
Hicks – “She is doing a great job of staying in the moment.”
Rolfing – “She remained calm today. I’m sure she has been churning on the inside.”
Chamblee – “She has wielded a red-hot putter through three rounds.”
Chamblee – “What she needed to do today was go out and establish some rhythm. Find some fairways. There was hardly anyone out there besides Lydia Ko that drove the ball better off the tee in terms of finding fairways today.”

Gerina Piller speaks with Golf Channel’s Lisa Cornwell after her round
Gerina Piller – “I feel like I got it together on the driving range after the round yesterday. My caddie has been a huge help for me. I definitely wouldn’t be here without his help. He has definitely been a great attribute to my team. My game feels really good right now.”
Piller – “Just need to keep on giving myself chances. There are some pretty tough holes out there. As cliché as it sounds, I need to stay patient and keep hitting fairways and hitting greens.”
Piller – “I feel like I was a little shaky at the beginning. A little nerves. But I plunked along and the more I do it, the more I feel like I belong in this position.”

On Brittany Lincicome, T2 at 1-under par (even-par 71 on Saturday)
Chamblee – “When she is playing her best, she makes the game look so easy.”
Mackenzie – “I don’t know a lot of people who follow this tour on a regular basis who would expect to see Brittany in this position, on this golf course. Brittany Lincicome has managed this golf course very well over the last couple of days.”

Lincicome talking w Golf Channel’s Lisa Cornwell following her round
Brittany Lincicome – “It was nice to go out and shoot a good number today. The course is so difficult. Even par in my mentality is really easy to do. When 29-under par wins a tournament, it is a little more challenging. But when the scores are even or 1 or 2-under, that fits my game better.”

On Saturday’s third round and the conditions at Sahalee Country Club
Cockerill – “It is a bit of a love/hate relationship for the players. They love playing here but hate how hard it is.”
Byrum – “Even with these soft conditions, we are looking at three players under par for the championship. It is a beast of a golf course. To go around here bogey-free, it seems almost nearly impossible.”
Sorenstam – “It is one of those courses. You stand on the tee and it is so narrow. Eventually, it gets to your mind.”

-NBC Sports Group-