FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, March 3rd, 2018

NOTABLE QUOTES: WGC-MEXICO CHAMPIONSHIP, NBC’S SATURDAY 3RD ROUND – SHARMA LEADS MICKELSON AND GARCIA BY 2 AT 13-UNDER PAR

NBC Sports Notable Quotes
WGC-Mexico Championship
Third Round
Club de Golf Chapultepec
Mexico City, Mexico
Saturday, March, 3, 2018

**Final round coverage of the WGC-Mexico Championship airs live Sunday on Golf Channel from Noon-2 pm ET (Golf Central Pre Game airs 11 a.m.-Noon ET) with continuing coverage on NBC from 2-6 p.m. ET.

On Shubhankar Sharma, leader at 13-under par (2-under 69 on Saturday)
Dan Hicks – “Shubhankar Sharma, in his first PGA TOUR event, with a chance to win the World Golf Championship, will be in the final group with Phil Mickelson. A 47-year old playing with a 21-year old. Going to be some good theater tomorrow here in Mexico.”
Peter Jacobsen – “He is trying to win his first PGA TOUR event in his first start, and trying to hold off Mickelson, Johnson, Garcia and Justin Thomas, who shot a course-record 62 today. Buckle your seat belt.”
Roger Maltbie – “He has thought his way around the golf course I think beautifully. He’s not a power player so he hasn’t pulled out a driver and tried to force the ball in anywhere. But that time [approach on 18 that went through a tree into the greenside bunker] was taking a risk he didn’t need.”
David Feherty – “He has been impressive these last three days. He really has.”
Jacobsen – “He has shown me a lot today. His goal is to get to the PGA TOUR and he is well on his way right now.”
Jacobsen – “How about this story. The youngest and the oldest players in the field are the top-two names on the leaderboard.”

On Sharma’s par putt on 18 after hitting into the greenside bunker
Hicks – “That will settle things down. He will go into a Saturday night which will be unlike any other in his young 21 years on this planet, because there is going to be a lot to think about what could happen tomorrow. And that is going to give him just that last little bit of confidence going in.”
Jacobsen – “You saw that exhale. He was thinking, ‘Whoa, thank you. I know I messed up but I got away with a par.’”

On Phil Mickelson, T2 at 11-under par (6-under par 65 on Saturday)
Jacobsen – “You never count this guy out with a wedge in his hand.”
Jacobsen – “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen a guy with short game skills Mickelson in the history of the game.”

On Rafa Cabrera Bello, T2 at 11-under par (2-under 69 on Saturday)
Hicks – “Talk about a putter waking up this week.”

On Xander Schauffele, T6 at 10-under par (1-under par 70 on Saturday)
Hicks – “When it looked like he might exit stage right earlier today, he got it back together.”
Maltbie – “Hadn’t made a bogey all week and then 4-putts the 5th hole for a double. He has done a great job of rebounding.”

On Pat Perez, T6 at 10-under par (3-under par 68 on Saturday)
Hicks – “He is one of the more underrated stories in golf the past couple of years, especially with all of the injuries he has had and playing the best golf of his life at the age of 42.”

On Justin Thomas, shooting a course-record 9-under par 62 (10th place at 9-under par after 3 rounds)
Hicks – “He was 38th to start this day. It’s just the game of golf isn’t it. All of a sudden, something clicks.”
Hicks – “Didn’t have it in the first round. Had everything going today.”

 

Justin Thomas speaking with NBC’s Steve Sands following his round
Justin Thomas – “I finally hit some good shots. That’s a good start. Really being the second group out, I had some pretty nice greens out there versus some of the other groups. I made some putts. I haven’t read the greens very well the first couple of days and I definitely wasn’t hitting it well enough. But today, if there is such a thing as a low-stress or easy 9-under, it definitely was.”

Thomas – “I just was trying to find something. With how I hit it Thursday and Friday it was hard to say, ‘Let’s go out and post a low one,’ because I didn’t have very much control of my game. So I was telling myself and telling Jimmy [Johnson] that I’d like to get it to 10-under somehow by the end of the tournament. Got a pretty good jump start on that. I may have to reset that goal a little bit. But obviously it was a great day and who knows what’s going to happen but I definitely moved in the right direction.”

-NBC Sports Group-