FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 30th, 2017

NOTABLE QUOTES: HERO WORLD CHALLENGE, THURSDAY’S OPENING ROUND – TIGER WOODS T8 AT 3-UNDER PAR

Golf Channel Notable Quotes
Hero World Challenge
First Round
Thursday, Nov. 30, 2017
Albany Resort, Albany, Bahamas

On Tommy Fleetwood, leader at 6-under par
Curt Byrum – “He has been walking his putts in today.”

Tommy Fleetwood speaking with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis following his round
Tommy Fleetwood – “I hit it really nice. Drove it well. Was solid on the greens. Just a good day. Felt comfortable with my swing from the get go. Hit a lot of good shots. Generally the holes that you would consider the most birdie able I took advantage of. Bogey free. That is always good. You are always moving forward if you are bogey free.”
Fleetwood – “It is getting close isn’t it [Fleetwood’s wedding]. We’re on a countdown. It is a great place to end the year, a great tournament to end the year and obviously a great occasion to end the year.”

On Tiger Woods, T8 at 3-under par
Curt Byrum – “That ball is coming out of the middle of the clubface today. He is absolutely ripping it.”
Notah Begay – “Chipping is the part of the game that has challenged him over the last few years. Certainly one of the question marks a lot of people had coming into this round. This is something he will take note of and definitely work in between rounds.”
Byrum – “Except for a couple of poor pitch shots, he has striped it around here today.”
Begay – “I think today has come down to his par-5 performance, it has not been up to the standard that he expects. If he played the par 5s at least 1 or 2 under, he would either be in the lead or right there.”
Begay – “All in all, with exception of the par 5s he is going to be pretty pleased to the start of this next comeback.”
Byrum – “When you have had that much time off and you have had struggled with his health like he has, really good day.”
Peter Jacobsen – “He put on a show.”
Brandel Chamblee – “If you have been asleep for the last eight years, woke up and the last time you saw Tiger play was in 2009, you think what is the big deal, this is exactly the same guy. This was far better than I expected. I give him an A. The only reason I didn’t give him an A+ is because he didn’t chip the ball particularly well. But this is the best I have seen him swing since before all of the injuries.”
Frank Nobilo – “The talk was his back. He is back. At least his back looks fine. If you are unhealthy, you cannot swing, you cannot play, you cannot compete. If he really is and looks like he did today, then he can certainly compete.”
Trevor Immelman – “He looked healthy, energetic and his putting was unbelievable. Often those are the things that are the last to come back after a long layoff.”

Tiger Woods speaking with Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis following his round
Tiger Woods – “For me I thought I did great. I haven’t played in a while. After some of the difficulties I’ve been through, to come out here and just score like I did, that was nice. It was fun to get out there and be part of a scorecard again.”
Woods – “I didn’t know what I could do. I’ve been playing golf, I’ve been playing a lot of holes at home, but it is a little different when you have to tee it up at a tournament. I had a lot of adrenaline going there. I was hitting the ball a little bit longer than I normally do and I had to dial it back a little bit. Those are the internal struggles that I haven’t been through as a player in a while.”

On Dustin Johnson, T4 at 4-under par
Jim “Bones” Mackay – “Dustin is really competing hard today. He has made some great par putts to keep his round going.”
Mackay – “He has been putting very well today. Pace has been great and he has been walking after a lot of them.”

On Jordan Spieth, T4 at 4-under par
Steve Sands – “He is building an amazing resume out here on the PGA TOUR.”

-NBC Sports Group-