FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 12th, 2021
NOTES AND QUOTES – THE PLAYERS CHAMPIONSHIP ON GOLF CHANNEL (SECOND ROUND)
“The swing has held up marvelously over the years…He’s much improved (in his putting).” – Brandel Chamblee on Lee Westwood (1st)
“He’s missing it in the right spots. We talk about golf being a game of misses, I don’t think anybody understands that more than Bryson DeChambeau” – Justin Leonard on DeChambeau (T-5th)
First Round Coverage of THE PLAYERS on GOLF Channel Up 34% from Last Year; Live From THE PLAYERS Viewership Up Nearly 40%
STAMFORD, Conn. – March 12, 2021 – NBC Sports continued its comprehensive coverage of the 2021 edition of THE PLAYERS Championship today on GOLF Channel from The Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.
Yesterday’s first round coverage of THE PLAYERS Championship on GOLF Channel averaged 869,000 viewers, up 34% from last year and ranks as the third-most watched first round in network history. Viewership for pre- and post-round coverage on Live From THE PLAYERS Championship was up nearly 40%.
Saturday’s third round coverage begins with Live From THE PLAYERS at 9 a.m. ET on GOLF Channel and moves to NBC at 1 p.m. ET.
THE PLAYERS Championship – Second Round Leaderboard (Play Suspended Due to Darkness)
| Player | Total |
| Lee Westwood | -9 |
| Matthew Fitzpatrick | -8 |
| Chris Kirk | -7 |
| Sergio Garcia | -7 |
On Lee Westwood (9-under, leader)
Brandel Chamblee on Westwood: “The swing has held up marvelously over the years…and as we’ve seen the last two years that he’s been playing over here on the PGA TOUR, he’s much improved (in his putting).”
Leonard on Ryder Cup as motivating factor for Westwood’s play: “That carrot is dangled out there. He’s been in a lot of team rooms with his cleats on. He’s also been in a couple wearing an IFB and a walkie-talkie in his pocket. I think he wants to have the cleats on again and because of that, wanting to be a part of that, is really keeping him going and keeping him motivated.”
Nick Faldo on how Westwood’s attitude has helped his game: “It’s not just happened last week, his attitude, it’s been going for about a good three or four years. As he said, ‘I give one hundred percent in preparation and picking the club, and then let it go.’ How nice to just not be carrying the baggage.”
On Bryson DeChambeau (6-under, T-5th)
Leonard on DeChambeau’s driver: “He’s missing it in the right spots. We talk about golf being a game of misses, I don’t think anybody understands that more than Bryson DeChambeau. So, he does have some control over it because he’s not missing it in the bad places, but I’m sure he’d like to get a few more in the fairway.”
Chamblee on DeChambeau: “This is creation in process. This literally is Shakespeare sitting down trying to come up with a plot and characters and it’s beautiful to watch…this is messy, he’s making it up, he’s dragging in data and trying to connect the dots…all credit to the people on his team, but it’s the doer that connects the dots.”
Chamblee on DeChambeau’s iron play: “We know that he’s got the seventh or eighth gears off of the tees like a Ferrari, but he’s also got great touch coming into these greens.”
On Sergio Garcia (7-under, T-3rd)
Leonard on Garcia’s perspective: “I think he’s found a place in life where he’s got balance…I think Sergio is really enjoying being a husband, being a father. It’s easy being at the top of your profession and put that profession kind of at the top of everything you do. It doesn’t make it easier to perform in that profession. I think a lot of times when you get a perspective…when golf kind of moves down the list a little bit, I think it makes it a little easier to play the game.”
Chamblee on Garcia and his putting: “If there’s one golf course that suits him better than any other, because it mitigates his weakness (his putting), it’s this one and we saw it today.”
–NBC SPORTS–
