FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, December 2nd, 2016

NOTABLE QUOTES: HERO WORLD CHALLENGE, FRIDAY’S 2ND ROUND – TIGER WOODS T9 AT 6-UNDER PAR (7-UNDER 65 ON FRIDAY)

Golf Channel Notable Quotes
Hero World Challenge
Round 2, Friday, Dec. 2, 2016
Albany Resort, Albany, Bahamas

**Live coverage of the third round on Saturday of the Hero World Challenge will begin at Noon ET on Golf Channel and will continue on NBC at 2:30 p.m. ET.**

On Dustin Johnson, co-leader at 12-under par (6-under 66 on Friday)
Curt Byrum – “He [Johnson] and McIlroy, when they are both hitting well with the driver, they are hard to beat.”
Byrum – “Dustin Johnson makes it look so easy. If he is putting that driver in the fairway, with his length and with no wind, he reduces this course to about a 6,500-yard golf course.”
Byrum – “Said he only practiced just a handful of days before he got here. Four days is what he said, so he hasn’t done anything since he was at HSBC in China. Doesn’t look that way.”

Dustin Johnson speaking with Golf Channel’s Damon Hack following his round
Dustin Johnson – “The short game has been pretty good. Today I struggled a little bit with the driver a little bit on the back nine but I made some nice up-and-downs. I feel like I have been rolling the putter pretty well the first two days. So I need to keep doing what I’m doing and drive it a little better tomorrow.”

On Hideki Matsuyama, co-leader at 12-under par (5-under par 67 on Friday)
Sands – “Very familiar spot for Hideki lately. He has won three of his last four worldwide starts and he is at it again.”
Byrum – “All that work Wednesday evening, he was the last person on the practice putting green on Wednesday night. It is all paying off.”
Begay – “He has been a hot player around the world the last couple of months and is putting on a nice hitting display today.”

On Tiger Woods, T9 at 6-under par (7-under par 65 on Friday)
Byrum – “He has avoided the big mistakes with the driver.”
Gary Koch – “That is a little reminiscent of the old days.”
Koch – “Tiger said years ago he hates to make bogeys. Well he certainly didn’t make any today.”
Notah Begay – “What we’re seeing today is a little bit of comfort and a relaxed attitude, knowing that his body is going to respond the way he wants and the work that he has put in the last few months is paying off.”
Begay – “It’s so vital to build confidence and get this round in the house. He understands the momentum that has to be established.”
Byrum – “A good all-around solid day.”
Byrum – “I think he liked making that putt for par at 16 as much as any shot or any putt that he hit all day long. He takes a lot of pride in going bogey free.”

Tiger Woods speaking with Golf Channel’s Damon Hack following his round
Tiger Woods – “I think yesterday I was 4-under through eight [holes], and today I made a bad swing on 8, hit it into a bush again… This time I got it up-and-down, and I didn’t play both [holes] 9 and 11 over-par. I birdied both holes.”
Woods – “It feels good. As I said yesterday, I had it going through eight holes and I lost it and finished over par. Today was different. I turned those two par-5s into under-par and that’s four shots right there. Consequently I was able to play the middle part of the round better. [I] turned it around and kept the momentum going. And I moved myself up the board.”

On Bubba Watson, in fifth place at 9-under par (9-under 63 on Friday)
Sands – “Bubba Watson has put on some kind of display today.”
Byrum – “When you drive it where he did today, you are going to have some opportunities. Lot of short irons, wedges and he dominated the par-5’s.”

On Henrik Stenson T9 at 6-under par (1-under 71 on Friday, concluding with a triple bogey and two birdies on his final three holes)
Jerry Foltz – “That [triple bogey on 16] was all a product of a three-putt par at 15 from 20-25 feet. Missed a very short one and was visibly upset at himself and made a mess of 16.”
Byrum – “That is the sign of a champion. Triple bogey at 16, birdie-birdie at 17 and 18.”
Sands – “That is a professional way to finish.”

-NBC Sports Group-