FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, October 1st, 2016

NOTABLE QUOTES: RYDER CUP, SATURDAY’S DAY 2 MORNING FOURSOMES ON NBC – UNITED STATES LEADS EUROPE 6.5 TO 5.5

NBC Notable Quotes
Ryder Cup – Day 2 (Morning Foursomes)
Saturday, Oct. 1, 2016
Hazeltine National Golf Club, Chaska, Minn.

**Day 2 coverage of the 2016 Ryder Cup continues now on NBC, with live coverage of the afternoon four-ball matches.
**The United States leads Europe 6½ to 5½ after the Day 2 morning foursomes matches.**

Saturday Morning Foursomes Match Results
Match #1: Rory McIlroy / Justin Pieters (Europe) def. Phil Mickelson / Rickie Fowler (United States) 4&2
Match #2: Brandt Snedeker / Brooks Koepka (United States) def. Henrik Stenson / Andrew Fitzpatrick (Europe) 3&2
Match #3: Justin Rose / Chris Wood (Europe) def. Jimmy Walker / Zach Johnson 1up
Match #4: Patrick Reed / Jordan Spieth and Sergio Garcia / Rafa Cabrera Bello) Halved

Saturday Afternoon Four-Ball Matches
Match #1: Rory McIlroy / Thomas Pieters vs. Brooks Koepka / Dustin Johnson
Match #2: Danny Willett / Lee Westwood vs. J.B. Holmes / Ryan Moore
Match #3: Martin Kaymer / Sergio Garcia vs. Phil Mickelson / Matt Kuchar
Match #4: Justin Rose / Henrik Stenson vs. Patrick Reed / Jordan Spieth

Jack Nicklaus speaking to NBC’s Steve Sands on the Ryder Cup and the weekend crowds
Jack Nicklaus – “It is pretty wild.”
Nicklaus – “It has gotten a lot more nationalistic. The number of people that are out here seeing the Ryder Cup and watching. What a great show for the game of golf.”

On the passion from the players at the Ryder Cup
David Feherty – “All over a little a little 17-inch high, 9-carat gold trophy. That’s the only thing that that matters. No money. Nothing else. This is just about the Cup.”
Feherty – “Theoretically I did it for a while myself but I do not recall anything like this. This is unlike any event I was ever involved in. There is an electricity here that you don’t see anywhere else.”
Feherty – “It is a tremendous boost to the American players to see Jack Nicklaus out here along with Tiger Woods. Every little bit helps, and those two guys are not little.”

On Saturday at the Ryder Cup
Feherty – “The Midwest is always special when it comes to big golf events, when it comes to the US Open, PGA Championship or Ryder Cup. They are special golf fans. It is a short season here and they love it.”
Feherty – “They are as vocal as I’ve ever heard. They are unbelievable.”
Feherty – “There is a turbulent ocean of people.”
Feherty – “There is nothing like this and we are going to get to watch this all day.”
Feherty – “There is only one thing wrong with this event. They don’t play it often enough.”
Terry Gannon – “The level of play has been ridiculous today.”
Feherty – “These players are proving they are the best in the world this morning. It is staggering on the standard of golf today.”

On McIlroy/Pieters defeating Fowler/Mickelson 4&2
Feherty – “Someone is going to burst a blood vessel in this match here eventually.”
Gannon – “Never seen him [McIlroy] quite that demonstrative.”

McIlroy and Pieters speaking with NBC’s Steve Sands following their match
Thomas Pieters – “We hit good shots together. If I hit a bad one, he comes back and hits a brilliant one right after that. It has been like that the last few days and is working nicely.”
Rory McIlroy – “When I saw the draw last night, I thought, ‘Yes, I get to have a go at him [Mickelson] again,’ because my record against him in the Ryder Cup isn’t what I would like it to be. Personally I maybe wanted it a little bit more for that reason. Just to go out first and put a point on the board for team Europe, that’s what we wanted to do. We wanted to try to start the session off right. As Thomas said, we’ve got similar games and that helps in foursomes as well.” 

On Snedeker/Koepka defeating Stenson/Fitzpatrick 3&2
Feherty – “Most people hit a shank after hitting a shank. Not Koepka.”
Mike Tirico – “That’s his job. That’s what he [Snedeker] does. Makes putts. Snedeker and Koepka developing a strong partnership.”
Feherty – “What a baptism of fire this is. He [Fitzpatrick] is coming through fantastically well.”
Gannon – “A day of extremes for Koepka. From his worst shot to his best shot to another great shot.”
Curt Byrum – “First Ryder Cup for Koepka and what a day he is having.”
Jerry Foltz – “It has been crazy, I have seen some of the greatest recovery shots I have ever seen.”
Byrum – “That’s match play at its finest. Guys finding a way to hang in there and get the job done.”
Gannon – “I think the Americans have found a formidable team in Koepka and Snedeker.”

Brooks Koepka and Brandt Snedeker speaking with NBC’s Steve Sands following their match
Brooks Koepka – “It is easy when you’ve got somebody who putts as good as Brandt does. You just got to get them on the greens and Brandt will make the putts. Fairways were overrated today. I think we hit maybe three. We just grinded it out. We’ve got a lot of grit and Brandt has done a great job.”
Brandt Snedeker – “It is tough. The hardest thing we have to deal with this week is not getting too over-amped and not getting too excited. We did a great job of staying patient today. It was not pretty by any stretch of the imagination. But we found a way to win. That’s all you’ve got to do in this stuff. You never know how it is going to look…So proud of this guy. This guy needs to know how good he is and he is starting to figure it out right now.” 

On Rose/Wood defeating Walker/Z.Johnson 1up
Feherty – “They squeezed every last drop out of this victory.”
Feherty – “This group was ironclad today.”

On Reed/Spieth halving their match with Garcia/Cabrera Bello
Gannon – “This man [Patrick Reed] can do anything at the Ryder Cup it seems.”
Gannon – “He [Reed] takes it up to a different level in the Ryder Cup and just embraces the pressure.”
Rolfing – “This has been a very valuable comeback to keep this match going.”
Feherty – “This match has gotten much more interesting than it should be for the Americans.”
Gannon – “Can it get any better?”
Gannon – “Think about the comeback they [Garcia and Cabrera Bello] have made. Reed and Spieth were threatening to run away with the whole thing.”
Feherty – “This feels like a win for the Europeans, no question.”

Jordan Spieth  and Patrick Reed speaking with Steve Sands following the match
Patrick Reed – “It is one of those things that every time I have a pressure putt and that kind of situation, I just think of all of the times practicing that on the putting green. Just try to get as much positive thoughts as I can on putts like that. They are never the easiest, so you have to try to figure out some way to make them easy.”
Jordan Spieth – “We just hit a few sloppy shots. I made a bad decision on 15 trying to hit the hero shot instead of laying it back. We played a fantastic round. We are something like 6-under through 12 holes in alternate shot on this course, which is a ridiculous number. They played great. The way we played wins most matches. They stayed steady with it and hit the shots they needed to coming down the stretch. Big putt by Patrick to salvage a half of a point, although still disappointing for us.”

-NBC Sports Group-