FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, January 19th, 2020

NOTABLE QUOTES: DIAMOND RESORTS TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS – SUNDAY’S FINAL ROUND

NBC Sports Notable Quotes
Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions
Final Round
Four Seasons Golf and Sports Club
Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Sunday, Jan. 19

**Play was suspended due to darkness after five playoff holes between Nasa Hataoka and Gaby Lopez.
**Hataoka and Lopez both made par on 18 five times in their sudden-death playoff. Inbee Park was eliminated on the third playoff hole.
**GOLF Channel will air the conclusion of the Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions playoff Monday at 8 a.m. ET.

Diamond Resorts Tournament of Champions Final Round Leaderboard
Nasa Hataoka -13*
Gaby Lopez -13*
Inbee Park -13*
Mi Jung Hur -12
Brooke Henderson -12
Annie Park -11
Lexi Thompson -10
Sei Young Kim -10

Celebrity Division (Modified Stableford Scoring)
John Smoltz 150 points
Mardy Fish 141 points
Mark Mulder 138 points
Chad Pfeifer 136 points
Derek Lowe 130 points
Blair O’Neal 129 points

On Nasa Hataoka, T1 at 13-under par (3-under 68 on Sunday)
Jerry Foltz – “She is one tough customer.”
Grant Boone – “She has that habit of putting the ball on either side of the coin after initially marking it.”
Jerry Foltz – “She replaces it at the spot from which she lifted it every time. It might be a superstition or idiosyncrasy or sometimes just a reference point for lining up the ball on the other side of the hole.”

On Gaby Lopez, T1 at 13-under par (5-under 66 on Sunday)
Grant Boone – “Two of the five birdies of the week have been from Gaby Lopez.”
Jerry Foltz – “She has proved a lot to herself today.”

On Inbee Park T1 at 13-under par (even-par 71 on Sunday, eliminated on the third playoff hole)
Karen Stupples – “Your heart just sinks when you see the ball bounce like that and, splash.”
Stupples – “All day, it just hasn’t been Inbee’s day. She had opportunities, but she just wasn’t firing on all cylinders today.”

Inbee Park speaking with NBC’s Jerry Foltz following her playoff elimination
Inbee Park – “I think number 18 got me yesterday and today. I didn’t think it was that bad of a shot but it just tailed a little bit at the end. Today’s round itself was a little bit disappointing. I didn’t hit many shots close or made a lot of putts. If I shoot under par I should have won, but that’s golf.”
Inbee Park – “This is only my first event back for 2020, and I played good golf this week. Not great today but it was great the last three days. I have a lot of confidence after playing this week so I think it will be good.”

On John Smoltz, winner of the celebrity division with 150 points (back-to-back winner)
Jerry Foltz – “Last year en-route to victory, he closed like a starter. Today, he started like a closer.
Karen Stupples – “The more he plays in these tournaments, the more experience he gets and he learns what he can do on the golf course.”

John Smoltz speaking with NBC’s Jerry Foltz following his victory
John Smoltz – “I made some changes that really worked. Tried not to stare at too many pins. I got aggressive where I could. Last year helped me a lot. There was a little bit of an unknown last year being in the last group. I learned from last year on how to stay patient and not to be too carried away.
Smoltz – “This is really cool. I became a grandfather about a year and a half ago, so my grandson only knows…he said that I’ve got to win a second one so this is for him.”
Smoltz – “I’ve been working on some things, physically trying to see what I can do with my body. This was a good week for me to test what the rest of the year is going to be like. You don’t learn until you play in tournaments like this. Last year taught me a lot. I just want to see how good I can get my golf game.”
Smoltz – “I’m hoping to play in a couple of PGA TOUR Champions events, try to qualify again for the Senior Open and Tahoe right before the All-Star game. I’m excited about tournaments, it is just whether or not I can fit it in. Both FOX and the MLB Network have been great with me, and we’ll see what happens.”

-NBC Sports Group-