June 17, 2012 NBC Sports Group U.S. Open Notes and Quotes - Sunday Live From the U.S. Open on Golf Channel
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NBC Sports Group’s 2012 U.S. Open Notes & Quotes

June 17, 2012

Live From the U.S. Open, Noon-2:30 p.m. ET

Golf Channel

“I’m not sure that anything that could happen today would really surprise me. U.S. Open pressure does some crazy things to people. U.S. Open setups do some crazy things to those that are in contention. And I say I’m not sure that anything could happen today that could surprise me, short of Beau Hossler winning this golf tournament. Simply what he is doing is unimaginable.”

--Brandel Chamblee’s opening comments at the top of the show on what he expects for Sunday’s final round.

“One of the things I have been talking about all week is the USGA’s intention of trying re-establish par as a metric for success at the U.S. Open. I think they have done a phenomenal job of establishing par as a great score out here.”

--Notah Begay on the USGA setting up the course conditions at The Olympic Club this week.

“One of the things about this golf course that plays into the hands of shorter hitters is that the 16^th hole typically is not reachable by anybody and the 17^th hole is reachable by everybody. So it negates the advantage the longer hitters have on this golf course.”

--Brandel Chamblee on the 16^th and 17^th holes at Olympic Club.

“Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell’s position later in the day is going to be much easier for them psychologically than the guys chasing.”

--Brandel Chamblee on the final pairing of Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.

“Ironically, we have two players in that last group that will be playing Jim Furyk-like golf. We might have to ask, ‘Will the real Jim Furyk please stand up.’”

--Notah Begay on the final pairing of Jim Furyk and Graeme McDowell.

“Not many people saw a 75 on Tiger’s scorecard on Saturday. I was beside the 18^th green when Tiger bogeyed that hole. He walked off the green and actually hit his right wrist on a camera lens. I thought in his press conference he was going be frustrated and short. He was just the opposite. He was revealing. He was open. He was honest. You kind of got the sensation that Tiger understands that on this golf course, in this championship, you are going to have a bad day. And Saturday was his.”

--Todd Lewis on Tiger Woods’ third round 75 on Saturday.

“I was very encouraged by the interview last night. I expected him to walk off the course and in past years, he has been very short and very frustrated. I think that has much to do with the golf as it did with stuff off the golf course. Now that things have settled down in his life and he seems to have the majority of emphasis focused back on golf and his execution. I saw an interview from a player that is completely comfortable with where they are at with their game. He has said this in previous interviews. First you have to get it right on the range. Then in a regular PGA TOUR event, and then you have to get it right in a major championship. There is a progression there. If he can get three out of four good rounds around par, and that fourth round today is his best round of the week, he might have a backdoor chance at winning this thing.”

--Notah Begay on Tiger Woods’ post-round interview and expectations for Sunday’s final round.

“He wants to win another major championship so bad to shut everybody up. I honestly believe the pressure got to him and he choked. He was tangled up with some technical issues. I don’t think he is able to correct things like he used to be able to.”

--Brandel Chamblee on Tiger Woods’ third-round 75 on Saturday.

“The one thing he has not done in his entire career on the PGA TOUR and the European Tour is light it up in the final round of a major championship. He has never broken 70 in the final round of the U.S. Open. He is a prototypical U.S. Open-style player. He just needs to get off to a good start. A good start is very important to him and to make some putts down the stretch.”

--Brandel Chamblee on Lee Westwood’s chances on Sunday’s final round.

“If he can get through that first six-to-eight hole stretch at even par and maybe even 1-under, he can attack the last 10 holes of this golf course.”

--Notah Begay on Lee Westwood’s chances on Sunday’s final round.

“I think this is one of those holes that is going to force a player’s hand. Players that want to win this championship understand they have to play this hole aggressively.”

--Notah Begay on the par-5 17^th hole at The Olympic Club.


“He [Beau Hossler] doesn’t seem to be caught up in the moment. As Brandel pointed out, his facebook has blown up to the point where you can’t ‘friend’ him anymore.”

--Tim Rosaforte on Beau Hossler, low amateur at +3 heading into Sunday’s final round.

“The first three days were exactly how we want this U.S. Open. It was a firm, fast golf course. It rewarded good shots and penalized bad shots. You had to think your way around. It really allowed players of varying length to play this course. It was really a wonderful test. In terms of today, we anticipate, because of the great weather we’ve got so far, that it will play much like the first three days.”

--USGA Executive Director Mike Davis on the course conditions at The Olympic Club throughout the week.

“It’s going to be pretty exciting. We have moved the tee markers up pretty close to 100 yards. So it’s going to around the 570-572-range. We did this in the U.S. Amateur a few years ago. When we did it, it made the players on that tee make a choice. If you hit a straight shot you are going to run out of fairway as hard as that hole doglegs right to left. I think you will a nice spread of scoring on that.”

--USGA Executive Director Mike Davis on the setup of the par-5 16^th hole for Sunday’s final round.

“One of the things that has happened over the last four years is that Tiger Woods, to a certain extent, has come back to more realistic expectations as far as being compared to mortals in the game.”

--Notah Begay on the current state of Tiger Woods’ game.

“This is a leader’s golf course because the start of this course is so hard that it is going to ‘thin the herd,’ so to speak.”

--Brandel Chamblee on the course conditions for Sunday’s final round.

--NBC SPORTS GROUP--