Golf Talk

A selection of quotes from last week’s Wyndham Championship and Women’s Canadian Open.

Brandt Snedeker talking about his sick 32 foot putt,

Q. The putt on 17, did you think that that might have been the deciding one?

BRANDT SNEDEKER: I was hoping so. I knew Tim — I saw Tim made birdie on 16 right behind me. I knew I was tied for the lead, I knew I was going to have to at least birdie one of the last two to gives myself a chance because of the way the score was going, everybody was making birdies everywhere.
I hit a great shot on 17. Hit a 3-iron. Hit it where I wanted to. Gave myself a long putt. I just asked for some help from everybody at home that I knew was rooting me on. Kind of hopped right in the middle. And then walking to 18 was more of a blur after that, you know, just trying to keep it in play, give myself a chance and hit a great putt on 18, too, and didn’t go in. Really thought that Petro would probably give himself a good chance on 18 to make a birdie and he didn’t. He played a great round of golf. I feel very fortunate not to have to go to a playoff.
Seeing my nack when I’ve been a professional is to find a way to get to the playoff and I kind of didn’t want to go through this. The nerves were going so bad, wouldn’t like my chances.

Q. Brandt, you mentioned — well, I won’t put words in your mouth, but you were the one guy that could upset everybody that wasn’t here. Nobody else could have won this tournament and jumped into a spot. I mean all the people who didn’t come basically were banking on you not winning.

BRANDT SNEDEKER: I guess yeah, that’s probably pretty safe bet, too. It’s pretty long shot for me to win. I’m glad I messed up their plans, I guess the best way to put it. I was more — I looked at this week as a great week to come and play golf and compete, you know. More than anything, I was excited about being here. It’s amazing when you get excited about being somewhere and playing golf you start playing well, stay in a positive frame of mind. I was never going to take this week off. It worked out great, my schedule and very glad I didn’t take it off now. It’s worked out great.

Tim Petrovic on the hot conditions,

Q. Not really related to the tournament but can a tournament like this survive in this kind of a date with this kind of weather and draw a field in the future now that you guys have seen it like this?

TIM PETROVIC: Well, yeah. It was hot. It was unusually hot last week, I think over 100. I’m not sure. I think this is probably still a little bit hot for this time of year. With the new system, I mean I think everybody has got to be somewhere and I think Wyndham has a good shot here. It’s the spot like your last chance to — before the playoffs starting to get points. I think as time goes on you’re going to see — you’re going to see guys — I mean the Top-10 guys obviously, you still could have a few guys up there that need to play this tournament to get the points. So I think it will continually draw a strong field. I know Davis was really sad he couldn’t be here being the defending champ and being from North Carolina and being the designer of the golf course, but I don’t see that being — I don’t see that being a problem. You got a great sponsor. Wyndham is going to be a great sponsor and the I think the tournament is going to go fine.

Lorena Ochoa after winning yet another tournament,

Q. Do you get the sense that the fans were cheering for you out there, and if so, do you think there’s going to be a point where they’re cheering for somebody else to win?

LORENA OCHOA: Today I thought they were cheering for Paula. She made a couple birdies and they seemed very excited. I think either way they wanted to see good golf. But at the same time I also felt they were for me. I think people were just trying to say, good job, you can do it, you are fine, keep your mind in it. A lot of positive words and a lot of Mexican flags out there, some Mexicans came, and my friends that I have here. So I think it was just an amazing day either way. The crowds were amazing. Me and Paula talked about it, and we were like, this is for sure a major tournament. It’s just amazing.
The first hole was surrounded by people, and you don’t see that very often. It was a very special week.

Q. What kind of a statement does winning the last two tournaments back-to-back make for you? And as a second question, you made some reference to the challenge of the golf course. There were a lot of people under par and some really high scores. Did not the golf course lose?

LORENA OCHOA: Well, when you win a golf tournament, the next week it’s really tough because a lot of things happen, a lot of interviews, you are tired physically and mentally, and those are one of the things — this is my fifth season, that I’ve been learning through the years. And I think at this point I’m ready to instead of struggle the week after, just be able to carry that good momentum and keep it going. I always play to win, and I knew that this would be a great week. We’ve always said that this is a huge week. It’s a big event for us. So we just tried really hard, we concentrated a lot, and we wanted to win the tournament. I was very surprised, this course was very long. You know, I said in the press conference that every day a couple under would be enough, and it didn’t happen. I really don’t know. I don’t know what happened (laughing). Sometimes you just have a lot of players that play really, really good. Other weeks you play just okay and you win because a lot of players are stalled. But it’s very different week to week, but for sure it was a great level of golf amongst all the players, and I think that’s great for the tournament and for all of you.

Wyndham Championship, Brandt Snedeker, Tim Petrovic, Women’s Canadian Open, Lorena Ochoa

Quotes from ASAP Sports