NBC Sports Group Notable Quotes
THE PLAYERS (Third Round)
Saturday, May 13, 2017
TPC Sawgrass (Stadium Course)Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
On J.B. Holmes (9-under, T-1st)Johnny Miller– “You’ve got to hand it to him. It’s been a gutsy round when you hit five fairways and shoot 2-under. You’ve got to feel like Seve [Ballesteros] or Tom Watson or something… He’s quite the recovery artist .”Mark Rolfing– “If you look back on this round, it feels like a 75. But he seems so oblivious to things. He got some great breaks, I will say that.”Gary Koch– “He’s been a scrambling machine this week.”Rolfing– “People tend to look at J.B. as a power player, but he has tremendous touch. A really good, soft pair of hands. It kind of reminds me of Ernie Els in some ways where there’s just a little bit of misperception about the way he plays.”
On Kyle Stanley (9-under, T-1st)Roger Maltbie– “He got off to kind of a rocky start, but by and large he’s been pretty steady if not spectacular… Just not giving himself enough good opportunities… I think it had to be a bit of a frustrating day for him.”Miller– “The putting was the weakness I guess you’d have to say… But he’s right there in this Championship with a great chance to win tomorrow.”
On Si Woo Kim (7-under, 4th)Miller– “He is No. 1 in strokes gained tee-to-green for the week, so he’s hitting it better than everyone else. He’s got game, and he could be a superstar in the future.”
Ian Poulter (6-under, T-5th) speaking with Tirico following his roundIan Poulter– “Key to me playing well today was just to be patient, don’t go pin hunting. It was a day that was going to catch a lot of people out… Don’t take on silly pins. I had a lot of opportunities. Over those closing holes I didn’t take those opportunities, but I’m in a great position.”
Sergio Garcia (5-under, T-7th) speaking with Tirico following his roundSergio Garcia– “Today in those conditions I hit some really good shots… I’m going to need a good round tomorrow, but at least I’m putting myself back in there. We’ll see what we’re able to do.”
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Golf Central Live From THE PLAYERS
On J.B. Holmes and Kyle Stanley tied atop the leaderboardBrandel Chamblee– “I don’t know how we have two guys tied for the lead… One of them could pick the bark off either side of the tree with his driver, and the other guy came closer to the Atlantic Ocean than the fairway with his driver – I’ve never seen driving like that from a fella who is tied for the lead on a very demanding golf course.”David Duval– “I’m dumbfounded at the moment with what’s going on... It just goes to show that you can do it a lot of different ways. I don’t think it will continue. I think going into tomorrow the guys who are hitting it wild, not hitting greens, it won’t hold up… There’s too much stress involved when you keep playing from so far astray. And that does catch up to you.”
On HolmesDuval– “He played a different golf course today, he hit it all over. I think he even hit a couple on the Valley course today. But he’s in front, and the only stat that matters is who has the lowest score at the end of the week. The way he’s rolling the golf ball, don’t discount him for anything.”Chamblee– “Camels have not spent as much time in the sand as J.B. Holmes did today… You’d think sooner or later this would catch up to him, but he continued to make pars cruising right along.”Frank Nobilo– “If J.B. continues to do this, and takes 29 putts or less [on Sunday] and goes on to win, then J.B. will record the fewest putts ever of a player that goes on to win THE PLAYERS Championship.”Chamblee– “He’s the type of guy that could carry a rusty washing machine up a flight of stairs for you.”Duval– “He’s seen the biggest stages, he’s performed when he’s been on them, he just hasn’t broken through.”Nobilo– “J.B. Holmes putted the lights out of it. You go back to Thursday, he only hit three fairways with that 68, so maybe we should have seen this coming.”
On StanleyNobilo– “The fact that he continually put the ball in play on a tough golf course, in the end it starts to free you up. You saw a guy who was almost comfortable with the way he was playing. It will be interesting to see how he goes tomorrow. Because he has a legitimately good chance tomorrow. The game is good enough.”Chamblee– “It was just a thing of beauty, only missing one fairway today. Everything that you need to do to hit the ball a long way, he’s certainly doing it. But he’s also hitting it straight.”
-NBC Sports Group-