FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, December 3rd, 2016

NOTABLE QUOTES: HERO WORLD CHALLENGE, SATURDAY’S 3RD ROUND (INCLUDES TIGER WOODS’ NBC INTERVIEW WITH DAN HICKS AND DAVID FEHERTY)

NBC Notable Quotes
Hero World Challenge
Round 3, Saturday, Dec. 3, 2016
Albany Resort, Albany, Bahamas

**Live tournament coverage of Sunday’s final round of the Hero World Challenge will begin at 11 a.m. ET on Golf Channel and will continue on NBC at 1 p.m. ET.**

On Hideki Matsuyama, leader at 19-under par (7-under 65 on Saturday)
Steve Sands – “He just continues to play well no matter what corner of the globe he is in.”
Dan Hicks – “At just 24 years old, Matsuyama is giving this elite field a little idea of what they can expect in the
future.”
Hicks – “A lot of people in America beginning to realize how good this guy is.”
Tiger Woods – “I played with him at the British Open at Muirfield for the first time and was very impressed. This kid can really move the golf ball and thinks his way around the golf course.”
Hicks – “We have realized you do not watch his reaction, because it looks like the worst shot of his life and he pipes it down the middle of the fairway.”
Hicks – “He won his last two events by 7 shots. He is going to have a huge lead at the end of the day today. That is a zone of confidence that is hard to comprehend.”
David Feherty – “It is surreal almost. Golf must seem particularly easy to him at the moment, but we all know that is it not. He is on a different plane at the moment.”

On Tiger Woods, currently in 10th place at 8-under par (2-under 70 on Saturday)
Feherty – “It has been phenomenal to watch him this week. There almost is a sense of, ‘It’s too good to be true.’ The whole world has been holding its breath.”
Notah Begay – “Tournament rounds takes so much out of you physically and mentally. There is no other way to prepare for it than to play. Which is hopefully why I hope he plays a little more earlier in the season heading into the Masters, just to get more of these rounds under his belt and build up some endurance on the physical and mental side.”

Tiger Woods speaking with NBC’s David Feherty and Dan Hicks in the broadcast booth
Tiger Woods – “The biggest surprise for me, as a player who has taken time off before in the past, is finding the flow of the round and finding some positive-ness early on in my rounds. For three straight days I have been off to great starts. Two of the three days I did not continue it, but overall I’m so happy to be back out here competing again and fighting against these guys. It has been a tough road to come back here and to get back to this point. I missed it.”

Woods – “One thing I’ve been good at over the years is eliminating the noise. Trying to keep that at bay as best as I possibly can. I’ve done a pretty good job at that over my career. Coming back for this one in particular, there is a lot. I had to stay focused on what I needed to do. And that is to get these guys happy and hosting this event, take care of Hero and all of the sponsors here. I had a lot of work to do but also my mind was able to switch over, which has been nice. Switch over into a competitor mode again and that felt great. I missed it.”

Woods (on the Ryder Cup) – “One, as a player, you take for granted how easy it is, because all you have to do is just play. I did not know how hard it is. I have infinitely more respect for all of the captains I have played under and the assistant captains, because it is a lot of work. This year our team came together. We had a plan and we had a great general. Davis did a great job of orchestrating the whole thing and each one of us had our own responsibilities. We just took care of our own responsibilities and we were there for one another. We had this philosophy going in, and we took ownership of it. All of the players bought into it and we were there for one another.”

Woods (on the support from his fellow PGA TOUR players while out) – “It blew me away because a lot of these guys have my numbers, but the amount of not just advice but the support of offering, ‘Is there anything I can do to help, help you come back. Can we play or go out to dinner, talk or whatever you need to get back out here and play, I’m here to help.’ That blew me away. The amount of players that I’ve gone head to head against just offering those kind words.”

Woods (on returning to a full 2017 schedule) – “That is the plan. The plan is to get back and play a full schedule again. I feel that each and every day this week I’ve gotten better. I’ve felt better and that’s exciting because I didn’t know what that was going to feel like each and every day this week.”

Woods (on looking ahead in preparing for 2017) – “Doing things slightly differently. My first 5-6 years on the TOUR, I ran 30 miles a week. That was the norm. There is no way I’m doing that now. When I came out on TOUR I was the second longest hitter at 296. And now you look on the TOUR, there are more than 50 guys who were averaging over 300 yards. It is just a different game…The game of golf is about eliminating mistakes. How bad is your bad. Everyone’s good out here is really good. It is how bad is your bad. Missing the bad shots in the correct spots, giving yourself the right angles, thinking your way around the golf course. It is a physical chess match. Over the course of my career, I’ve been able to do that well. I’m just going to have to do that slightly different now. The physical chess match of a bunker that is 300 yards that I could carry, that is not the way it is now. I’m going to have to go around it. It is just a different type of mentality while playing.”

On Dustin Johnson, T2 at 12-under par (even-par 72 on Saturday)
Feherty – “Look at the way Dustin walks. It is Clint Eastwood walking into the saloon, hanging up his Colt Peacemaker and taking off his Stetson Hat.”
Hicks – “You can almost hear the spurs jangling.”
Gary Koch – “You have to admire the talent this man has. No practice to speak of coming in here, he has been wild off the tee and is still in second place.”
Jerry Foltz – “It is amazing how many tools Dustin Johnson has in his arsenal. He has not be on, so to speak, and started the day tied for the lead. Today I think his ball-striking has shown more rust than the first two days.”
Tiger Woods – “This guy is so talented. He has put in some work. He has dedicated himself with his trainer and working on his short game and you can see it has paid off.”

-NBC Sports Group-