I’m late putting up the quotage from TNT. This was sent just a half hour after signoff at 8 p.m. ET tonight. Once again, great stuff.
Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the PGA Championship from Hazeltine National Golf Club – Round Two – Friday, August 14, 2009
TNT’s coverage of the PGA Championship will continue on Thursday and Friday from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. ET
Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Ian Baker-Finch, Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber joined by Jim Nantz, Bill Macatee, Peter Kostis, Verne Lundquist, David Feherty, Peter Oosterhuis and Gary McCord
Baker-Finch on the ninth and 18th holes: “They are not easy, that is a really treacherous hole position today. We’ll see a lot of putts missed. These two holes, the nine and 18, are very exposed to the wind right with tricky hole locations. The wind will play a big effect. We see it a lot at the Open Championship, but not so much here, not as often. The exposed greens like this, you have to factor it in. You have to be a good ‘feel putter’, you can’t be putting by numbers on a day like today. It’s all feel and touch.”
Kostis on needing to commit to a strategy while playing golf: “The hard thing is to get committed, 100 percent committed to what you’re going to do. With that cross wind, if you’re going to draw it back in the breeze it’s one club, if you’re going to let it go with the wind, it’s another club.”
Baker-Finch: “It’s the key to good golf, isn’t it? Being 100 percent committed and trusting yourself.”
TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, who finished -3 after the second round
Glover on the edge that his Masters victory gives him in the PGA Championship: “Just a little bit extra confidence, just to know I did it in the highest pressure and I performed under the gun. So we’re trying to use that as a springboard to get back in contention because I feel like I can handle it now, so it’s a little bit of motivation along with some confidence.”
Kostis on what rules to abide by while playing in windy conditions such as those during round two at Hazeltine: “Here are the rules, hit it solid, hit it solid, hit it solid…then chip and putt your butt off. That’s what you do in these conditions.”
Kostis on Rich Beem’s swing reminding him of the late Payne Stewart: “I’m struck by the similarities between Rich Beem’s swing and Payne Stewart’s swing, both upright and both long and both winners here (at Hazeltine).”
Feherty on par being a good score today ay Hazeltine: “The thing they’ve got to remember, even on the Par 5’s, the ones that are reachable, par is never a bad score on any hole at a major championship on a day like this.”
Feherty on the pairing of Tiger Woods and Padraig Harrington together: “There are very few players out there that aren’t affected by Tiger Woods when they play with him. Padraig Harrington has that tremendous focus, you can see it in his eyes. He is one of those players that it really doesn’t matter who he’s paying with, he plays his own game. Lee Westwood is another one of those players. Some of the American players suffer from seeing Tiger too much, I think. But they (Woods and Harrington) genuinely like each other, they enjoy each other’s company.”
Oosterhuis on Padraig Harrington sinking a birdie on the ninth hole: “(Harrington) is just going to hang onto Tiger by the ankle. Just a husky dog in a little guy’s house, gets on your ankle and you can’t shake him off.”
Kratzert: “You could see last week what’s going to happen, you knew those two were going to lock up again. They might get separated from this field, they might start playing each other and wander farther and farther away from this field and turn into another match play situation.”
Feherty on Tiger Woods’ body language in the second round: “Looking at Tiger Woods’ face with the sweat lashing off of him, with the kind of physical shape that he’s in, his body is working properly and his swing is working properly. His attitude works and he’s got that focused look that says, ‘no one else is going to win.’”
Baker-Finch on Ross Fisher: “(Ross Fisher is) driving it in play and
he’s putting well. He seems to have a fantastic attitude.”Feherty on Padraig Harrington staying in contention: “(Harrington) has hung in from last Sunday. When you think he’s done, bang! He has got some stomach.”
Feherty on the end of Padraig Harrington’s swing on the 15th hole: “On (Harrington’s) follow through it looks like someone tasored him. He had to absorb the shot someway and that’s how it manifested itself.”
TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Ross Fisher, who finished -3 after the second round
Fisher on why he plays well during major championships: “I don’t know, I guess I’m just really, really hungry to win a major. I’ve been in contention a couple of times; the U.S. Open was fantastic. Anytime you can walk away disappointed in finishing fifth you know you’re doing something right. Normally if you beat a certain Mr. Woods you‘re not going to be far off. That was great, and then the Open was another stepping-stone with everything that was going on at home. I feel comfortable and I felt I was ready to contend and give myself a chance.”
Baker-Finch on the putting of Padraig Harrington: “(Harrington) hasn’t looked comfortable putting all day. He’s holed a couple, but he hasn’t looked comfortable.”
TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Tiger Woods, who finished -7 and leads the field after the second round
Woods on his second round: “It was a tough day all around. It was tough out there; the wind was blustery, the greens were a little bit bumpy and it was just a tough day all around.”
Woods on the challenges he faced on the course during the second round: “It’s hard because you don’t want to run it past the hole. If you run it past the hole, you’re playing plinko on the way back. But if you don’t get it to the hole, then you’re doing the same thing. It was tough to be aggressive enough to hit the ball past the hole because you don’t want to leave yourself with a tough one.”
Woods on his outlook on the weekend: “You just plod along and see what happens. That’s what I did today. I got off to a poor start but hung in there. The wind is supposed to be up tomorrow and we’ll see what happens.”
Since TNT will finished around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, the quotage will be posted earlier this weekend.
