NBC Sports Group Notable Quotes
Ryder Cup – Final Day (Singles Matches)
Le Golf National (Albatross Course), Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
Sunday, Sept. 30
Sunday Singles Matches (*Europe wins the Ryder Cup 17 ½ - 10 ½*)
Match #1 Justin Thomas (U.S.) def. Rory McIlroy (EUR) 1up
Match #2 Brooks Koepka (U.S.) Paul Casey (EUR) Halved
Match #3 Webb Simpson (U.S.) def. Justin Rose (EUR) 3&2
Match #4 Jon Rahm (EUR) def. Tiger Woods (U.S.) 2&1
Match #5 Tony Finau (U.S.) def. Tommy Fleetwood (EUR) 6&4
Match #6 Ian Poulter (EUR) def. Dustin Johnson (U.S.) 2up
Match #7 Thorbjorn Olesen (EUR) def. Jordan Spieth (U.S.) 5&4
Match #8 Sergio Garcia (EUR) def. Rickie Fowler (U.S.) 2&1
Match #9 Francesco Molinari (EUR) def. Phil Mickelson (U.S.) 4&2
Match #10 Patrick Reed (U.S.) def. Tyrrell Hatton (EUR) 3&2
Match #11 Henrik Stenson (EUR) def. Bubba Watson (U.S.) 5&4
Match #12 Alex Noren (EUR) def. Byrson DeChambeau (U.S.) 1up
On Europe winning the Ryder Cup
Johnny Miller – “This European golfing family, the love they have for one another really shows.”
Miller – “The U.S. really was strong there like it could be a miracle in the making, but the guys did not finish it off right.”
Miller – “The captains picks were almost the reason why the U.S. lost… Phil and Tiger going 0-6 obviously didn’t help… Dustin Johnson with four losses, Rickie Fowler with three losses and Woods with four losses. You just can’t overcome that.”
European captain Thomas Bjorn speaking with NBC Sports’ Steve Sands following the win
Thomas Bjorn – “It’s just been an amazing week. They’ve been pretty easy to captain to be honest. I’m just so proud of all 12 of them… The four wild cards, when I saw the attitude they came in with and the way they played in the practice I thought we’ve got a chance here because they were in the right frame of mind. That is the one thing that stands out for me. We can talk about Francesco, we can talk about Tommy Fleetwood, we can talk about Sergio’s records and all this, but the way the four of them came in… The attitude they had was unbelievable. And that made life very easy for me to be honest.”
Francesco Molinari speaking with Sands following his 4&2 win over Mickelson
Franceso Molinari – “I’m just so proud of everyone in the team. An amazing group of guys. I think any one of us would have deserved to clinch the winning point. I was almost hoping Sergio was going to do it because I knew he was going to become the European with the highest points ever which is an incredible achievement. This team has been incredible from the start. We were determined to do the job. Nothing was going to stop us, and you saw it on the course.”
Sergio Garcia speaking with Sands following his 2up win over Fowler
Sergio Garcia – “To be a part of a European Ryder Cup team, there’s not enough money to buy it. More than anything I think the feeling we have with each other, how well we connect with each other, how much fun we have in the team room… It just makes it a little bit easier for everyone to figure it out and it just comes down to us playing as well as we can… There’s nothing like it. There’s no other week where you open up your chest to guys that you’re playing against week-in, week-out, and that’s what we’re doing this week. And because of that, we’ve been able to be very successful.”
Tommy Fleetwood speaking with NBC Sports’ Jimmy Roberts on Europe’s win
Tommy Fleetwood – “You look at the fans, the group of guys that I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with this week… Winning a Ryder Cup, I mean come on. When you look at the scenes the followed [the win] there, I’m not sure this can be beaten.”
Ian Poulter speaking with Roberts following his 2up win over Johnson
Ian Poulter – “It’s been absolutely unbelievable from two years ago to today. That little gold trophy burns pretty hot inside. That for me kept me going. You know I wanted to be here in Paris. I knew it’d be extra special if I could make it… To come out today and to turn that match around down the stretch right there to deliver a point to help this team is something I’m never going to forget.”
Jon Rahm speaking with Sands following his 2&1 win over Woods
Jon Rahm – “The incredible pride I feel to play the way I did… To beat Tiger Woods, I mean I grew up watching that guy. Last week I was making a video from the top of the East Lake clubhouse watching him win his 80th event… To clinch it the way I did after the missed putt on 16, it’s a lot of emotions… The pride and humbleness I feel right now is beyond describable.”
Henrik Stenson speaking with Sands following his 5&4 win over Watson
Henrik Stenson – “I feel great obviously. You always feel a little bit extra pressure I think when you get picked. This was the first time I’ve been selected to play, not qualified on my own merit. To go out and deliver three points out of three possible was very good in that sense… I’m a realist. This might well be my last one on home ground. So to be able to be a part of this winning team has been a lot of fun. It’s been an honor to play with these guys this week. They’ve done great and I’m really taking it in and enjoying every moment of it. And I’m sure we’ll have a big celebration tonight.”
United States captain Jim Furyk speaking with Sands following the loss
Jim Furyk – “What’s the difference? I saw putts going in, I saw great golf shots. You know, my team fought hard. I’m really proud of them. At the end of the day I think you tip your cap, you say that Thomas did a better job than I did. Their team played great. There’s not much more you could say… It looked like we were in pretty good position those first five or six matches. Europe did a great job battling back. That’s kind of what this Ryder Cup proves almost every year. No matter what the lead is going into Sunday, there’s always a moment where it looks like there’s a spark. And when that was there for us, Europe played really well, hit a lot of great golf shots and closed out some matches.”
Justin Thomas speaking with Sands following his 1up win over McIlroy
Justin Thomas – “It was a heavyweight pillow fight if you will… It wasn’t a very fitting way for the match to end. I really feel badly about that... It’s probably one of the greatest compliments I’ve ever gotten – to be a rookie and to be thrown out first match. I know how important this first match was and I’m getting goose bumps just talking about it.”
Golf Central Live From the Ryder Cup
On Europe’s victory
Frank Nobilo – “They certainly played as a team. It was great theater. They played their living hearts out, and they had to. It was just an emphatic performance.”
Brandel Chamblee – “To underscore what a monumental upset this was… Many will say the 1981 Ryder Cup team was the greatest in history. On paper since the advent of the world rankings, this is by far the strongest team that ever has been sent to Europe. How unpredictable this outcome was, but it many ways it’s becoming predictable… We’ll spend the bulk of the next two years talking about what makes [Europe] so dominant in this format.”
Nobilo – “Captain Bjorn was going to be criticized for his [captain’s] picks. Garcia was supposedly out of form. Stenson is getting too old. Poulter was [a captain’s pick] for the fourth time in his six Ryder Cups. Instead, you have European Ryder Cup folklore.”
Chamblee – “This loss, this week was not about a lack of chemistry. It was about a lack of accuracy on the part of the United States. I don’t want to take anything away from Europe, because they certainly did play their hearts out. Class act, the bunch of them. But really this week was about what the United States was lacking: accuracy. What the golf course was demanding: accuracy. The reason they did not play well this week is because in foursomes they were not putting their partner into position to play well. In fourballs, they were not hitting two balls in the fairway… There was a lot of talk about the strength of the Unites States team. Yes, they’re strong. They can lift a lot of weight in the gym. Their world ranks carry a lot of weight. They’re strong, but they’re not straight. This golf course was about finding fairways first and foremost. Finding fairways was central to the defeat of the United States, central to Europe’s win.
Nick Faldo – “Phil was a strange selection on this golf course right from when it happened a couple weeks ago. America obviously does have some very accurate players who obviously didn’t get picked… Obviously Europe were on a roll, especially in the second and third session. That for me was amazing.”
-NBC Sports Group-