FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, July 23rd, 2017

NOTABLE QUOTES: THE 146TH OPEN – SUNDAY’S FINAL ROUND – SPIETH WINS AT 12-UNDER PAR IN DRAMATIC FASHION

NBC Sports Group Notable Quotes
The 146TH Open
Final Round
Sunday, July 23, 2017
7 a.m.-2 p.m. ET – NBC Live tournament coverage
2-4 p.m. ET – Golf Central Live From The Open
Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport, England

Video: Spieth’s “30-minute bogey” on 13
Video: Spieth speaks with Golf Channel’s Steve Sands on ‘Live From The Open’
Video: Highlights of Spieth and Kuchar’s Closing Nine and Spieth’s Comeback Win

Final Round Replays:
**Watch the full replay of today’s final round, along with the first three rounds of The Open on Golf Channel Digital at www.GolfChannel.com/replay.

**Golf Channel will re-air the final round of The 146TH Open tonight at 7 p.m. ET (Champion Golfer of the Year) and the full final round on Monday at 11 a.m. ET.**

On Jordan Spieth, 2017 Champion Golfer of the Year at 12-under par (1-under par 69 on Sunday)
Dan Hicks – “We have seen every kind of emotion from Jordan Spieth you could possibly ask for on this final round.”
Hicks – “After going 4-over through the first 13, he just flipped the switch”
Johnny Miller – “The greatest walk in golf right there, no doubt.”
Miller – “It was a little ragged for a while, but what a finish. The greatest finish I have seen in championship golf.”
Hicks – “Speaking of revving it up, Spieth went from 0-100 in a couple of holes.”
Miller – “I thought Mickelson and Stenson last year was as good as it was going to get. This was even better because you had a lot of this and that.”
Miller – “Spieth just has the magic championship ability that not many guys have. It is a very rare thing.”
Miller – “Great to watch what he was able to do with that magic putter of his.”
Mike Tirico – “If you take anything away from today, it is poise and determination. Jordan Spieth had all of that and then some to come back and win The Open.”
Rich Lerner – “Bruises and all, Jordan Spieth is in the end what we all thought he would be. He is the Champion Golfer of the Year. A young legend.”
Frank Nobilo – “The clubhouse here was designed after a ship. That ship was sinking today. I’ve always thought that a Jordan Spieth win is a roller coaster ride but today it was a ship that was sinking. Just a marvelous effort by Jordan and Michael Greller to re-right the ship.”
Brandel Chamblee – “He didn’t do one thing today that surprised me. Not one thing. I long ago realized that Jordan was going to miss fairways and make everything else. I was entertained from the very first tee shot to the last putt, but this is what Jordan does.”
Chamblee – The last event I covered was Travelers, and this is exactly what he did there. He hit a lot of shots where you were scratching your head and thinking, ‘What is going on here?’ And then he’d pull an iron out and go to work and it is magic. And then he’ll get himself in a spot where he gives somebody hope and takes a dagger out.”
Nobilo – “I was amazed how many poor swings he made. He was fighting himself and what was going on. Kuchar was playing well. To be honest I’ve never seen someone dig out of hole that deep that he put himself in.”
Nobilo – “He and Greller took the boat into the middle of the storm, and 20 minutes later, they came out calm. And what happened after that was simply amazing I’ve never seen a player turn it around in that situation that quick.”

Jordan Spieth speaking with Golf Channel’s Steve Sands on Golf Central Live From The Open
Jordan Spieth – “More difficult than it probably even looked, and it probably looked pretty difficult. In past majors when I’ve been in contention I started so strong and it has been about holding on to that kind of start. This was a completely flipped switch were I start just horribly and then all of a sudden you are playing a new tournament and you’ve let a lot of the field back in what could have been just a match. That is what it turned into. We both played 14 and 15 well to separate ourselves to make this a match play match with three holes to go. Boy, I really don’t know how we got the job done. I credit Michael a lot. I showed a lot of resilience myself to be able to get some of those putts to go in when I just didn’t feel like it was working today.”
Spieth – “On that shot (13) you are trying to miss the fairway to the right because if I hit the fairway it is most likely going to go in the bunker. It is just an unusual circumstance. It hit a guy in the head and went on the other side of the mound that I didn’t even know was there. Spieth – “After I hit that tee ball I’m sitting there thinking I was making six. I took my time to figure out where the best location was when I very easily could have gone back and re-teed. I felt really bad about the amount of time that took, especially in this situation for Matt. I went up and apologize and said, ‘Hey look, I was just trying to get to the location I thought was best for me to make the best score I could.’ I sincerely apologized for the amount of time this just took because he was just sitting on the bag. There is nothing I could have done, and he told me that, but it is still tough in that situation. That five was massive. I was able to go on the driving range, be able to get it up near the green and make a five, when I was staring six or seven in the throat and out of the tournament.”

On Matt Kuchar, 2017 Open runner-up at 9-under par (1-under par 69 on Sunday)
Miller – “He plays golf with a lot of joy. For all of you young people out there watching this, if you copy Kuchar and his easy-smile manner, that is a good way to play and it gives you more longevity, I really believe that. If you grit your teeth all of the time you end up with no teeth and angry.”
David Feherty – “He has got to be wondering, what the heck have I got to do to win this tournament? He could have waited until Jordan was asleep and hit him with a 2×4 and he might not win.”
Chamblee– The surprise really this week was Matt Kuchar. This is the first time I’ve seen Matt Kuchar play this way at a major championship. He gave as good as he got, but he found out like so many already have that Jordan Spieth has something has nobody else can find.”
Chamblee – “Like Tiger, he has the ability to focus in the biggest moments and then rob anybody of any hope.”

On Sunday’s final round showdown between Jordan Spieth and Matt Kuchar
Hicks – “Last year we had one of the all-time duals. The quality of golf was off the charts. Well, this is just as entertaining in a different kind of way.”
Hicks – “It is just something we are not used to. Four bogeys on the first nine holes.”
Mark O’Meara – “You wouldn’t expect Jordan to miss those type of putts. He always has been so good at those distances. We noticed earlier in the day it kind of looked like he was moving his head a little bit. That can change the putter face just enough to miss those short putts.” 

On Spieth’s errant drive on 13 and subsequent “30-minute bogey”
Roger Maltbie – “This is right. Way right. 100 yards right to the center of the fairway.”
Peter Jacobsen – “The last thing you want to do here leading The Open is to be out there directing traffic.”
Miller – “That was one amazingly poor drive.”
Jacobsen – “We think about Arnold Palmer on 16 when he hit it to the right and hit a miraculous shot to the green and when on to win the 1961 Open. If Spieth were to somehow get this out and win this tournament, they might have to put a plaque over there.”
Hicks – “I don’t think many people would see it.”
Miller – “That’s an understatement.”
Hicks – “Jordan needs a walkie-talkie to communicate with Greller.”
Jacobsen – “I’ve never seen this. I haven’t seen this kind of arm waving since I landed in Manchester airport on Monday.”
Lerner – “Spieth was as lost here as he was at No. 12 at the Masters last year. I promise you, you couldn’t find Spieth with a GPS. What happened next? He picked himself up and turned in one of the gustiest turnarounds in the history of the sport.”
Hicks – “This is the craziest thing I have ever seen. In between golf manufacturer trucks out there on the practice tee. 100 yards offline.”
Hicks – “One of the longest bogeys in golf history, and I’m not talking about the length of the putt.”
Jacobsen – “Just a bogey at 13, felt like a 12 or 13 but he walks off with a 5.”

On Spieth’s near hole-in-one and birdie on 14
Maltbie – “Its right at it.”
Gary Koch – “What a response from Jordan Spieth.”
Hicks – “The last two holes for Jordan Spieth are just hard to believe what has happened.”

On Spieth’s Eagle on 15
Miller – “How about that after what happened two holes ago.”
Miller – “He went from the worst drive I think I’ve seen a pro hit to two holes in a row of perfect golf.”
Jacobsen – “This guy just has a bag full of savvy and guts. I’m speechless.”

On Spieth’s birdie at 16
Hicks – “It’s hard to come up to anything that properly describes what we’ve seen in the past 45 minutes. It’s hard to believe.”
Jacobsen – “Talk about knuckling down.”
Miller – “That’s how you take charge at a major championship.”
Jacobsen – “It’s like he flipped the switch. After he got behind for the first time, just a totally different demeanor. More aggressive, more positive with every shot.

On Spieth and Kuchar’s birdie on 17 (and Spieth backing off his approach shot)
Miller – “This is quite a run of holes here under par.”
Feherty – “That is an extraordinary piece of concentration. I have seen only one other player to do that.”
Koch – “And that was Tiger Woods, right?”
Feherty – “That is exactly who it was.”
Hicks – “Champions here at Birkdale have a tendency to finish with a flourish.”
Miller – “What weapon that putter is.”

Jim “Bones” Mackay on Spieth and his caddy Michael Greller at No. 1
Mackay – “That is Greller in a big spot doing some amazing caddying if you ask me. ‘We’ve got work to do. Move on. Don’t dwell on this too long.’”

Mackay recalling the Mickelson and Stenson’s pace of play warning at The 2016 Open
Mackay – “I was walking off the 13th tee last year on Sunday and the R&A official asked me to ask the players to speed up and catch up with the group in front of them. I told the official there was no way I was going to do that given the show they were putting on.”
Mackay – “There is a time and a place for everything”

-NBC Sports Group-