Notable Quotes – Golf Central Live From the Masters (Tuesday, primetime)
Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, Ga.
Tuesday, April 3, 2018
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On Tuesday at the MastersDavid Duval – “The hype as a player to me always kind of ended Tuesday night, and then you got to the business of trying to enjoy the process of winning the Masters.”
On Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson’s practice round together on Tuesday
Brandel Chamblee – “I don’t know that this is as casual as we think it is. I almost think we’re going to see this at the Ryder Cup. I think that this will be a rekindling. I think that’s a score that they want to even out. And I think this was almost a practice round as much as anything for the Ryder Cup… I think they realized that they have a whole lot in common.”
Frank Nobilo – “It was so hard to figure out… Maybe they get to play golf into the sunset a little bit like Nicklaus and Palmer.”
Duval – “You could see this coming… In some ways I understand the shock that people have had to this. But I’m more shocked at the shock people are having… I expected this to happen a couple years ago… I think the Ryder Cup brought them together. The lack of success on the American side. The mutual goal of trying to turn that tide around… They recognize the place in the game and where they are in their careers.”
On Jordan Spieth
Duval – “Do I believe he’s been a little bit off in his mix of science and art, especially with the putter? I do. But I think he’s figured out that ratio. He recognized he had a little too much science in it. I think Augusta National Golf Club brings out the art in him, and I think that’s where he shines as much as anything.”
Chamblee – “There is something that’s hard to figure out about Jordan Spieth. It’s not like he has Tiger’s fire power. But I would say more than any other player in the last 25 years, he seems to have Tiger’s brain power… His ability to hold on to leads is proof to me of that.”
Chamblee – “This golf course requires an incongruous coupling of fearless and experience… This golf course requires a childlike fearlessness and an adult genius. That absolutely sums up Jordan Spieth. He is just a genius in every single way. It’s not as palpable as it is with Tiger Woods, but man, it’s there.”
On Tiger Woods
Duval – “The [other players] are getting a taste of the overall effect of Tiger Woods on the game of golf, in that the majority of questions they’re being asked are not about themselves and their game. It’s about Tiger Woods and his game… And that’s what we had to deal with so many years… You got asked about Tiger a lot and that was the story. And anywhere he goes, especially if he continues this resurgence, that’s the story.”
Nobilo – “I think the one advantage with the young stars is they never had to weather the storm. Or should I say be put through the Tiger Woods fire. If he were to go on and win this week, what a story it would be… The young generation, they have immense respect, but they never had to weather the fire. That might actually serve them in good stead.”
On Rory McIlroy
Nobilo – “The fact that he’s a little under the radar… I know he won at Bay Hill which was firm and fast. But, if there is maybe a little bit of a predictor for what might come: there’s meant to be storms tomorrow. He wants to be aggressive out of the gate; maybe if the rain takes some sting out of the golf course, he just might be able to do that.”
Chamblee – “Rory has to solve the riddle of hitting the high fade into the greens. If I see him hitting more high fades into the greens this week, I just don’t know how anybody is going to beat him if he putts like he did at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.”
Duval – “I just wonder, is the time he spent with Brad Faxon and the new found freedom he gained with that putter and the putting stroke: is that the new norm? And if that’s the new norm, are we going to see a tear somewhat similar to what we saw him do before? That’s my big question.”
-NBC Sports Group-
