One reason we like golf is that the players, for the most part, are not shy about sharing their thoughts. Here are some of the best comments from Tuesday. Even PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan got into the action.
Commissioner Monahan: “While we anticipated a strong interest from fans in attending THE PLAYERS, little did we know that we’d sell out our four competition days in less than one hour on February 16th.”
Rory McIlroy, on being defending champ for two years: “I guess it’s nice, like I get another bite at the cherry…”
Jon Rahm, on hitting the tee shot to 17: “You’ve got to go out there and be brave. Simple as that. There’s no other way. On paper it’s an easy shot, yes, but you’ve got to go out there, step up and hit a good shot.”
Justin Thomas, on playing TPC Sawgrass: “It’s not like a lot of courses where you can -- even if you’re playing bad you can just kind of skank it around and hit it on one side……You really have to step up on each tee, on each par-3, par-4, par-5 and just hit the golf shot that it requires.”
Bryson DeChambeau, on going for the 12th green with his drive: “If it’s downwind, yeah, I’m sure I will. Even if I can hit it up next to the green and chip it on.”
Webb Simpson, on playing TPC Sawgrass: “I just learned that you have to respect the golf course. There’s trouble on every hole. You can try to pin the tail on the donkey, but eventually you’re going to get kicked in the teeth.”
Commissioner Monahan, on the number of fans this year: “This is a stadium golf course with 20 percent capacity. You can see every single shot as a fan here from various perspectives on the golf course. Now at 20 percent, your ability to do so and space out, this place lends itself really well to it.”
Jon Rahm, on why it is hard to maintain a high level of play in golf: “I do think golf should be one of the top three most intricate and difficult sports there is with some of the most amount of variables when it comes to the golf game.”
Webb Simpson, on the Olympics: “I think it would be an honor to represent the country….. I feel like it would really shoot me in the foot for the Playoffs, and right now in my career, Playoffs are more important to me than the Olympics.”
Justin Thomas on what it’s like with no fans: “You can make a 60-footer on 17 when you’re even par, and in an event with no fans, it’s just another putt. But when you get a big crowd like we could potentially have here this week or like normal, you feel that buzz and you feel that energy.”
Commissioner Monahan, on vaccinations for PGA Tour players: “We’re going to do everything we can to support vaccination for our players when it’s appropriate to do so.”
Bryson DeChambeau, on what he did after winning the Arnold Palmer Invitational: “I had a chocolate milk, and I had some Arnold Palmer gummies. It was like iced tea and lemonade gummies. That was kind of funny, it was kind of a tribute to him.”
Rory McIlroy, on this year’s tournament: “I think at least we know this year the tournament is not going to be canceled, unless something pretty crazy happens again.”
