Quotes of the week: Rickie on rules; Backstopping on LPGA?

(After violation the knee-height drop rule) “With the new rules that have been put in place, it’s not doing any favors for our sport. I get why they went to knee [height]. I don’t understand why there can’t be an area maybe, whether it’s waist to knee, or leave shoulder in there if you take away the extra area of relief that was always there.”

(On backstopping accusations) “One thing we know is, we were not cheating. We did not talk, we did not agree with that.”

(On backstopping accusations) “All about context. Ariya and I went before Michelle even though she was out. Ariya’s ball was not in my intended line, and to help move things along, I told her it was fine [not to mark]. I had never even heard of the backstopping issue, as I don’t really watch PGA Tour golf that much, and it hasn’t really been an issue on the LPGA.”

“After speaking with Amy Olson and Ariya Jutanugarn, the LPGA rules committee determined that there was no breach of Rule 15.3a. There was no agreement by either player to leave Jutanugarn’s ball in place to help Olson’s next stroke. An LPGA Rules Official was approaching the 18th green at the time and agreed that no breach had occurred.”

(After damaging a practice green) “I want to apologize to my fans, fellow players and the staff at Chapultepec for my actions following the round yesterday. I am an extremely passionate player and I am always working on ways to be better. I am certainly not perfect but I respect the grounds staff and the game of golf and am focused on working harder on this just like I do on my golf game.”

“Last week was hard. It was actually great coming here, having so much support from the local crowd. I had so many guys in the practice rounds come up and say, congratulations on the win at Mayakoba, I hope you win again here in Mexico City. It was nice to have fans still supporting me.”

(On his caddie accidentally using the Puerto Rico Open pin sheet) “We played the first 3 holes to positions (yardages) on the green so the flag position didn’t matter per se. The first time I asked for a total distance to the flag was the 4th hole of the day and it didn’t match with my calculations. So we didn’t technically make a mistake but it’s still bloody funny!!”

(On Patrick Reed) “As far as he’s concerned, and I am, too, it’s been handled. He’s apologized and spoke to the players. He spoke to me and I kind of asked him what to expect from him. He’s like, ‘You know what, I’ve got your guys’ back. I’m there for the team.’”

(On being named 2020 Ryder Cup captain) “Truly, a dream come true. I’m really humbled by this.”

(On being jetlagged during Round 1 in Mexico) “I actually felt alright for most of the round, and it sort of really hit me on sort of 13, 14, and I kind of felt drunk almost the last five or six holes, limbs flying everywhere. I hung on pretty well. Holed a couple of decent putts coming home, just to limit the damage a little bit.”

“You know you always look up and you see your ball. I looked up and saw (Patrick Cantlay’s) ball coming at me and I’m like, ‘Where did that come from?’ That was the first one I saw and I was like, ‘Crap, they [the golf balls] are going to hit.’ Mine went in the right edge of the hole and lipped in. His should have gone in. I thought that it was going to go in right on top of mine.”

“I don’t think I have reached my full potential yet. ... Hopefully, the best is yet to come.”

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Quotes of the week: Rickie on rules; Backstopping on LPGA?

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