FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, July 21st, 2016

NOTABLE QUOTES: THE SENIOR OPEN – ROUND 1

Golf Channel Notable Quotes
The Senior Open – Round 1
Thursday, July 21
Carnoustie Golf Links (Championship Course), Carnoustie, Scotland

** Live Round 2 coverage of The Senior Open resumes Friday on Golf Channel from 7-9 a.m. / 10 a.m.-Noon ET, and will continue on Golf Live Extra (Noon-2 p.m. ET).**

Tom Byrum (3-under, T-1st) speaking with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis following his round
Tom Byrum – “I missed one makeable putt for par and that was really it…  The way I really feel like I’m swinging, it’s not very good. I’m scraping it around and it’s the kind of course where you don’t have to hit high, solid shots. My putter was so good today and it saved me every time really.”

On Esteban Toledo (3-under, T-1st)
Lanny Wadkins – “He’s rolling the ball exceptionally well. It will be interesting to see how he ends up. He’s had a couple of tournaments recently where he started fast and then really lost it completely. A lot of golf left for Toledo.”

On Joe Durant (3-under, T-1st)
Wadkins – “The one thing I like is he is a very straight driver of the golf ball. He’s got sufficient length, so it fits very nice for him here. And no reason he shouldn’t have a lot of confidence, he’s made a lot of birdies today.”

On Miguel Angel Jimenez (2-under, T-6th)
Wadkins – “About a year ago I thought his stroke was starting to get a little shaky, but he has really righted the ship with his putting in the last six months…He looks very confident in everything he’s doing. [He’s] taking driver on a lot of holes, the irons are crisp and now the putter is working.”
Billy Ray Brown – “It takes a lot of pressure off a player’s game when you know you’re going to hole those 10-12 footers for par and you can be aggressive with those approaches… When you have the confidence and that aspect of your game going it just opens up every part of your game.”

On Bernhard Langer (1-under, T-18th)
Wadkins – “He just doesn’t make a lot of mistakes and if he does, he fights back as hard as anyone. He’s going to make some birdies, you can count on that. He just doesn’t take himself out of position very often.”

Jean Van de Velde (+11, 141st) speaking with Golf Channel’s Rich Lerner on his return visit to Carnoustie this week for the first time in competition since his collapse in the 1999 Open
Jean Van de Velde – “I’m not haunted by Carnoustie… You can always debate on the choice, the strategy. You end up playing, you end up losing, you end up winning, you wake up the next morning and life goes on.”

On Carnoustie Golf Links
Wadkins – “We had some nice scores, but nobody really lit it up. And this was probably the day to do it. The weather has been generous and the conditions are just a bit softer after yesterday’s rain.”
Jay Townsend – “If you can keep the ball in the fairway here, I don’t think you’ve got to putt that great. The scoring after four days I don’t think is going to be that low.”

-NBC Sports Group-