NBC Sports Group Notable Quotes
Ryder Cup – Day 2 (Afternoon Foursomes)
Le Golf National (Albatross Course), Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France
Saturday, Sept. 29
*Live Final Day coverage of the Ryder Cup begins at 6 a.m. ET on NBC with the Sunday singles session (matches listed below).*
Saturday Afternoon Foursomes Matches (*Europe leads 10-6*)
Match #1 J. Rose/H. Stenson (EUR) def. D. Johnson/B. Koepka (U.S.) 2&1
Match #2 W. Simpson/B. Watson (U.S.) def. S. Garcia/A. Noren (EUR) 3&2
Match #3 T. Fleetwood/F. Molinari (EUR) def. B. DeChambeau/T. Woods (U.S.) 5&4
Match #4 J. Spieth/J. Thomas (U.S) def. R. McIlroy/I. Poulter (EUR) 4&3
Sunday Singles Matches (All Times Eastern)
Match #1 6:05 a.m. Justin Thomas (U.S.) vs. Rory McIlroy (EUR)
Match #2 6:17 a.m. Brooks Koepka (U.S.) vs. Paul Casey (EUR)
Match #3 6:29 a.m. Webb Simpson (U.S.) vs. Justin Rose (EUR)
Match #4 6:41 a.m. Tiger Woods (U.S.) vs. Jon Rahm (EUR)
Match #5 6:53 a.m. Tony Finau (U.S.) vs. Tommy Fleetwood (EUR)
Match #6 7:05 a.m. Dustin Johnson (U.S.) vs. Ian Poulter (EUR)
Match #7 7:17 a.m. Jordan Spieth (U.S.) vs. Thorbjorn Olesen (EUR)
Match #8 7:29 a.m. Rickie Fowler (U.S.) vs. Sergio Garcia (EUR)
Match #9 7:41 a.m. Phil Mickelson (U.S.) vs. Francesco Molinari (EUR)
Match #10 7:53 a.m. Patrick Reed (U.S.) vs. Tyrrell Hatton (EUR)
Match #11 8:05 a.m. Bubba Watson (U.S.) vs. Henrik Stenson (EUR)
Match #12 8:17 a.m. Byrson DeChambeau (U.S.) vs. Alex Noren (EUR)
On the Europeans’ 10-6 lead heading into Sunday at the Ryder Cup
Johnny Miller – “The only way [the Americans] are going to do it is you’ve got to get off to a blazing start. Put your colors on the leaderboard and get the other guys to believe they’ve got a chance. Every one of these players can beat somebody else if they’re really determined and get off to a good start.”
Miller – “When this course was set up by captain Bjorn, he probably looked at the stats of the Americans. Of the eight Americans playing [this afternoon], the best driving accuracy of those eight is 93rd for the season. About the average driving accuracy on TOUR [for the U.S. team] is 130th-something place. So he’s thinking what can I do to really penalize these bomb and gauge drivers. And he’s made rough that nobody could play out of if you miss the fairways.”
Jacobsen – “I just haven’t seen this many lopsided matches in recent Ryder Cup history. It’s been overwhelming.”
European captain Thomas Bjorn speaking with NBC Sports’ Jimmy Roberts after Day 2
Thomas Bjorn – “I’ve seen it all happen before and we know that we have to go out and play hard tomorrow and be focused. You line those 12 American players up and that’s a great team. We know there’s still a lot of work ahead of us but we’ll go in and we’ll enjoy the next half hour or hour in the team room and look at what happened today and then refocus everyone.”
Tommy Fleetwood/Francesco Molinari speaking with Roberts following their 5&4 win
Tommy Fleetwood – “There are no disadvantages when you’re playing with [Molinari]. But you don’t know what to expect so you can’t plan and prepare for it. There are good solid rookies on both teams, and [Francesco] has led me so well. It’s been such an honor to play alongside him to be honest.”
Francesco Molinari – “It’s been absolutely amazing. It won’t be easy tomorrow to be separated [from Fleetwood]. But all the records are for nothing if we don’t win the cup back tomorrow. There’s a job to be done still, and we’re going to do it.”
Jordan Spieth/Justin Thomas speaking with Sands following their 4&3 win
Jordan Spieth – “I feel like our team in singles is very solid. I think if we were able to play all 12 guys against their 12 guys [Friday-Saturday] this would be a different scenario. Obviously we’d like to be in the lead, but I really like this team. If we have any team that’s down four, this one can do it.”
Spieth – “Ian [Poulter] being a Ryder Cup guru, to have him twice today and win… And he pounded his chest earlier on us today. So I was waiting for the right moment and I think to win the match this afternoon felt like the right time. Clearly we’re down four points, so in the scheme of things, we shouldn’t necessarily be celebrating. But for us two to get that point and the way that we played today and the battle that we had with those guys both matches, it was emotional. It was awesome. It feels like you’re competing on a Sunday at a major every single hole during the Ryder Cup.”
Justin Thomas – “Most importantly right now we’re playing some pretty good golf. It doesn’t matter if you’re playing with one of your best friends or one of your worst enemies. If you don’t play well, you’re not going to win matches.”
On Thomas
Miller – “He’s made for this. That’s for sure.”
Golf Central Live From the Ryder Cup
On the Europeans’ 10-6 lead heading into Sunday at the Ryder Cup
Brandel Chamblee – “Those whose job it is to set the odds had the U.S. favored. Apparently they didn’t know the rough was longer than Tommy Fleetwood’s hair and didn’t know that the United States team is about as straight as Lombard Street in San Francisco. That pretty much sums it up.”
Chamblee – “This golf course in a lot of aspects reminds me of TPC Sawgrass, where the biggest stars have indifferent records. Why? Because you pay a price when you miss fairways there. Paramount importance to find fairways here. Again is why I was so surprised at Jim Furyk’s [captain’s] picks. He had the opportunity to fill out this team with guys who can find fairways. He didn’t do it. He is paying the price for it. He will lose for it.”
Chamblee – “10-6 has a familiar ring to it. The two most-memorable Ryder Cup Sundays
started with a 10-6 deficit. This is not going to end that way.”
Frank Nobilo – “The momentum shift that we sort of saw in the middle of Day 1 through Day 2 was quite dramatic.”
Nick Faldo – “You don’t need a motivational speech right now either way. You now go into the individual mode. You can’t assume anything. Europe cannot make any assumptions. Simple goal, I’ve got to go and win.”
Faldo – “Europe really understood the difficulty of this golf course.”
*Media also can access notable quotes via @GolfChannelPR on Twitter or by visiting www.nbcsportsgrouppressbox.com*
-NBC Sports Group-