FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, July 21st, 2018

NOTABLE QUOTES: 147TH OPEN (THIRD ROUND)

Carnoustie Golf Links, Carnoustie, Scotland

Saturday, July 21

 

*Live Final Round coverage of The Open begins Sunday at 4:30 a.m. ET on Golf Channel, and continues at 7 a.m. ET on NBC. Media also can access notable quotes via @GolfChannelPR on Twitter or by visiting www.nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com*

 

REPLAY – THE OPEN (THIRD ROUND)

 

The 147TH Open Leaderboard

T-1      Jordan Spieth              -9

T-1      Xander Schauffele      -9

T-1      Kevin Kisner              -9

4          Kevin Chappell           -7

5          Francesco Molinari    -6

 

Jordan Spieth (9-under, T-1st) speaking with NBC Sports’ Steve Sands following his round

Jordan Spieth – “I found a little space in my putting. I made an adjustment and I feel more comfortable at setup… Today was just a really, really solid day. I felt like everything was moving the right direction over the past few weeks, and [it] certainly came through.”
Spieth – “I feel like I’ve been improving each day… I know as well as anybody that anything can happen in an Open Championship on Sunday. Try and make the round as boring as possible tomorrow. Play it to the right spots… You’ll see different scoring tomorrow. So we have to adjust probably a bit of the game plan to play to fat spots and centers of greens and hopefully the speed control stays the same.”

On Spieth
Johnny Miller – “You almost thought he was off form. But you can’t count him out in majors. Seems like it makes him come alive.”
Jim “Bones” Mackay – “He’s playing with a lot of mojo right now. As much confidence as I’ve seen in a long time.”

Xander Schauffele (9-under, T-1st) speaking with Sands following his round
Xander Schauffele – “I try not to remind myself that there are really hard holes coming in and try to have a little bit of fun… It’s really cool. This is the latest I’ve ever teed off, and I think tomorrow will top that.”    

On Schauffele
Tom Lehman – “He has a great swing I think for playing in the wind. If the wind blows tomorrow, I think he’s going to have a great chance.”
David Feherty – “He has a great deal of maturity.”

Kevin Kisner (9-under, T-1st) speaking with Sands following his round
Kevin Kisner – “It’s going to be fun coming down the stretch tomorrow. I understand the wind is gonna blow. It’s gonna be a dog fight.” 

On Kisner
Gary Koch – “Putting is really the heart of his game. It’s what he does best.”
Miller – “His putting has been fantastic.”

On Rory McIlroy (5-under, T-6th)
Feherty – “He’s had a frustrating day. He really bullied the golf course off the tee and put it in fantastic positions. He just hasn’t been able to convert them.”

Tiger Woods (5-under) speaking with Sands following his third round
Tiger Woods – “Today it was dry. I was watching some of the telecast early [with] some of the guys blowing it way off line and just hitting wedges on the green. And seeing what the guys were shooting out there today, I figured I’d probably have to go get it. Somebody was probably going to get to about 10-under today, and hopefully I could post 5 or 6, and was able to get 5.”
Woods – “I played so well that I just didn’t want to end on a bogey there. I didn’t want to be too far back if the guys got to 10 today. I know the forecast is for wind tomorrow, but these guys can run away and go high in this tournament. And I had to post a number and try and keep myself within reach… I have a shot. If somebody gets to 10, then so be it if I’m five back. With the forecast… Hopefully it pans out. Because if it doesn’t pan out, then again the guys are going to go out there and shoot from five to seven under par tomorrow. And we’re going to have to be going after some birdies tomorrow. We’ll see what happens.” 

On Woods
Miller – “There’s sort of a glass ceiling on him right now. He’s done so many fabulous things in his career, but he needs to break through the ice is what it amounts to. He is ready to break out and has a good chance to win, if not win.”

-NBC Sports Group-