FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 7th, 2016
NOTABLE QUOTES: THURSDAY’S GOLF CENTRAL LIVE FROM THE MASTERS (PRIMETIME)
Golf Central Live From the Masters Notable Quotes
Thursday, April 7 (7:30-9:30 p.m. ET)
Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.
On Jordan Spieth, leader at 6-under par after Thursday’s opening round
David Duval – “Since the start of last year, he is the only leader this golf tournament has seen. That’s pretty impressive. We talk about experience and how much you need to have at Augusta National. He gained it and he gained it quickly.”
Frank Nobilo – “Tough conditions out there. You had to be tough as nails. No two ways about that. You had to be part tactician and had to be part sharp shooter. In the end, to come out with 66 and erase all the critique coming in about the broken driver and maybe he doesn’t have it any more. I think we once again realized he is still only 22 and he’s pretty good at this game.”
Brandel Chamblee – “At least after one round what you have at the top of the leaderboard are some blue blood competitors. Of course there is no greater blue blood at the top than Jordan Spieth.”
Duval – “For all of the talk and all of the naysayers coming in and what’s wrong with Jordan and why isn’t he playing well. We talked about it a little bit. He’s playing well. This place tends to rejuvenate a lot of players and get them fired up headed into the whole summer and the major season.”
Duval – “The bogey-free part is the thing that I think is, more than anything, the greatest accomplishment today. To get around this golf course in these conditions, six birdies, 12 pars. ‘Thank you very much, I’m here and I’m back.’”
Nobilo – “To pick up the nuances of this golf course so quickly. We often say this golf course makes people more uncomfortable than any other golf course because of the speed of the greens, fickle breezes, basically pick your poison.”
Duval – “The rest of the field is going to recognize that he seems to have this place figured out right now.”
Rich Lerner – “Right back where we left off last year with Jordan Spieth on top.”
Colin Montgomerie – “Fabulous round of golf. The biggest thing about the day was no bogeys. If he does win this again, the 16th hole was crucial today. That momentum putt reminded me of Tiger in his heyday.”
Chamblee – “It also is reminiscent of Phil Mickelson. It almost doesn’t matter what form Mickelson has coming in here, this golf course seems to bring out the best in Phil, and similarly at a very young age it does in Jordan Spieth.”
On Rory McIlroy, T9 at 2-under par 70 after Thursday’s opening round
Arron Oberholser – “Rory needs to be patient. There is a lot of golf to be played. If he can stay patient, Rory can reel Spieth in. But it is about picking your battles on this golf course and knowing when to attack and when not to attack. I think Rory got into trouble when he started attacking in places he shouldn’t have been attacking today.”
On Sergio Garcia, T4 at 3-under par 69 after Thursday’s opening round
Colin Montgomerie – “This tournament is 75 percent on the greens, and he [Garcia] is six putts more than Jordan Spieth already. He is not as good a putter as Jordan Spieth…75 percent of this tournament is on the greens and he already is three behind. Difficult.”
Chamblee – “It would be a very popular victory.”
Montgomerie – “It is a really good start from Sergio who started 2-over after 7 and finished 3-under.”
Nobilo – “Somehow, somewhere along the line it [his 1999 finish as low amateur at the Masters] has never translated to a love affair with Augusta National.”
On Thursday’s opening round at the Masters and the course conditions
Jim Gallagher, Jr. – “The swirling winds got a lot of the players today, especially in the wedge game.”
Oberholser – “I was shocked how many guys were so aggressive on the back nine knowing the winds were swirling. They paid the price.”
On Ernie Els, T81 with an 8-over par 80 on Thursday that included a nine on the opening hole
Chamblee – “He might have single-handedly renamed the yips the ‘heebie-jeebies.’”
Chamblee – “This could prove to be a very sad result to one of the greatest players of all time.”
Duval – “With him [Els] talking that way and acknowledging, ‘I don’t know what I’m going to do,’ and the ‘heebie-jeebies,’ all these things…in my opinion, go do something drastic, some drastic change…do something to really completely mix it up at this point, because you are proving to yourself and acknowledging even in talking, that the way you’re doing it is not working. So don’t try to keep doing it that way. Do something different.”
On Rickie Fowler, T81 after an 8-over par 80
Chamblee – “He [Fowler] summed it up pretty well. This is golf. If you are just a little bit off, the golf course can make you look pretty foolish.”
-NBC Sports Group-
