From Matt Kuchar denying a report about how much he paid his caddie to Jordan Spieth’s issues with the new rules, enjoy this edition of Quotes of the Week.
“That’s not a story. It’s wasn’t 10 percent. It wasn’t $3,000. It’s not a story.” – Matt Kuchar, on the reports suggesting he paid his local caddie just $3,000 after winning the Mayakoba Golf Classic in November. Kuchar won $1.296 million for his victory in Mexico. Normally, caddies receive 10 percent of a player’s winnings.
When I watch him putt, he visibly has the yips. You watch his hands on short putts and there is a tremor in there. I don’t care if the putt goes in or doesn’t. He was center cut on his first putt at the Ryder Cup. But his hands were shaking. He had to miss more short putts than anybody on Tour.” – Hank Haney, on Jordan Spieth’s well-documented putting woes.
“I’m fine with [swinging] with it. It’s just my putting. When I’m cross-handed, [it] kind of jams into my grip. Unfortunately that means I’ll probably lose some rings. As of now, I don’t think I’m going to start playing with it on.” – Newlywed Jordan Spieth, on why he won’t be playing with his wedding ring on.
“Honestly it’s like a frustrating asterisk that I have to pick it up and re-drop from your knee … I started to go from the shoulder and [caddie Michael Greller], [Tour official Slugger White], they stepped in, ‘No, no, no.’ I’m like, ‘Wouldn’t it just be a re-drop anyway? What’s the big deal? It’s unusual.” – Jordan Spieth, taking issue with the new drop rule that requires players to drop from knee height.
“My wife was out for a walk and I was in the hotel room (in Waikiki) and as soon as I got the alert I grabbed my phone and went out to the balcony and pressed record. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I was like, ‘I’m going to film my death.’ Then I called my wife. I probably had the wrong order there.” – Russell Knox, remembering last false missile scare at the Sony Open in Hawaii one year ago.
“I’m tired of learning experiences.” – Jordan Spieth, after missing the Sony Open cut in his first start of 2019.
“I know that putt is one that’s gone down in history, but it’s a pivotal moment in the Ryder Cup because it proved to the Europeans that we have driven the U.S. team to care deeply about the Ryder Cup. They celebrated there, it meant something to them. Coming into that Ryder Cup, there was a little bit of discontent. But they proved how much they wanted the Ryder Cup, there and then.” – Padraig Harrington, on how the 1999 European loss in the Ryder Cup changed the event forever.
“We were in the back of the hotel having breakfast and I just told the kids let’s just go to the beach and watch it,” Howell recalled. “There’s not much you can do at that point so you might as well get a front-row seat to this thing. We can’t get far enough away from one those big old things (missiles).” – Charles Howell III, remembering last false missile scare at the Sony Open in Hawaii one year ago.
“While it has been reported that sponsorship was the primary factor, this is untrue. The bottom line is the short timeframe for creating an event in early fall of 2019 created the biggest obstacle.” – The PGA Tour, in a statement, after scrapping plans for a Stephen Curry-hosted Tour event later this year because negotiations with a potential sponsor unexpectedly fell apart.
“It’s something that I would be truly honored and excited to do right there in my home state of Wisconsin and right down the road, couple hours down the road. But no one knows yet for sure. Got to hold off and put it in the [PGA of America’s] hands, and the committee that’s making the decision and go from there.” – Steve Stricker, on the possibility of captaining the 2020 U.S. Ryder Cup team in his home state of Wisconsin.
“We said, ‘If you make a long putt and you happen to hit the flagstick, is there really a need for a penalty?’ The ball might go in. It might not. We didn’t look at the data. It was not a data-driven decision. At the end of the day, we thought it might help players, but it also might hurt players.” – USGA’s senior managing director Thomas Pagel, on the decision that went into the new rules.
“They found it in a parking lot with the windows smashed out. It’s amazing how many people have talked about it and said they’ve seen it … Now with social media with how many people have talked about it, I saw (the truck) here, I saw it there. That’s why you do it.” – Davis Love III, explaining that his son Dru’s stolen truck had been found after he posted it on Instagram with a reward of cash, golf balls and barbeque gift cards.
“The first hole today, I tapped in with the flagstick [in the hole], and I didn’t feel right doing that. I tapped down one spike mark today on [No. 4] for par. It was really nice. It was sticking up right in the line on about a 4-footer. All in all, I got a test of most of the new rules today.” – Jordan Spieth, on his first time playing under the new Rules of Golf.
“It really came down to whether I wanted to be in the hat and put what is a successful career, put it on the line. Because you are putting it on the line when you become a Ryder Cup captain. It is a different element to your career. We know a successful captain is great, and a losing captain, you know, it’s his fault. So I am putting something on the line going out there.” – Padraig Harrington, on the decision to accept the role of European captain for the 2020 Ryder Cup.
“I just kind of took the simple approach and thought I’ll just play the ones I like and that make sense to play out of the way,” he said. “Any inconvenience, whether it’s a big tournament or not, but at the moment I have not scheduled a World Golf Championship because they don’t fall in the right weeks for me.” – Adam Scott, on the possibility of skipping the remaining WGCs on the schedule this year.
“They were on Shark Tank. [Mark] Cuban invested in them, so it can’t be a bad thing. They had a little money they wanted to throw my way, and worked out good for them today with a good round.” – Jason Dufner, on his new sponsor Dude Wipes, proudly marketed as “butt hair’s worst enemy.”
