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NBC SPORTS GOLF CENTRAL LIVE FROM THE MASTERS MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL – TUESDAY, MARCH 28, AT 2 P.M. ET

March 23, 2023 By admin Leave a Comment

Commentators Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Notah Begay III

Dial 786-697-3501; Passcode: NBC Sports

STAMFORD, Conn. – March 23, 2023 – NBC Sports golf commentators Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee, and Notah Begay III will preview the upcoming 2023 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., on a media conference call on Tuesday, March 28, at 2 p.m. ET.

NBC Sports will surround the 2023 Masters with Golf Central Live From The Masters on GOLF Channel, beginning Monday, April 3, at 2 p.m. ET through Sunday, April 9. In total, NBC Sports will provide more than 55 hours of live studio coverage Monday-Sunday on GOLF Channel and Peacock, with nearly 20 hosts, analysts, and reporters contributing to the week-long coverage.

Media interested in participating should call 786-697-3501; Passcode: NBC Sports.

    • WHAT: NBC Sports Live From The Masters Media Conference Call
    • WHO: Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee, Notah Begay III
    • WHEN: Tuesday, March 28, at 2 p.m. ET
    • NUMBER: 786-697-3501
    • PASSCODE: NBC Sports

Chamblee will also serve as a studio analyst for NBC Sports’ coverage of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. For the first time, NBC Sports will present live first and second-round coverage from Champions Retreat on Wednesday, March 29 and Thursday, March 30, on GOLF Channel and Peacock before final round coverage on Saturday, April 1 at noon ET on NBC and Peacock.

—NBC SPORTS—

Filed Under: Golf, masters, NBC, Uncategorized

“GOLF CENTRAL LIVE FROM THE MASTERS” DELIVERS VIEWERSHIP RECORDS AND MILESTONES ON GOLF CHANNEL

April 12, 2022 By admin

Saturday’s Six-Hour Telecast Averages More Than 1 Million Viewers, Peaks With Nearly 1.5 Million Viewers

Live From The Masters Averages 419,000 Viewers Across More Than 50 Hours of Studio Coverage, Up 25% vs. 2021

Daytime and Primetime Coverage Deliver Best Viewership Since 2018

GOLF Channel’s Most-Watched Week Since Last Year’s Open Championship

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 12, 2022 – GOLF Central Live From The Masters delivered viewership records and milestones last week on GOLF Channel, averaging 419,000 viewers across more than 50 live hours of comprehensive studio coverage surrounding the 2022 Masters.

Last week’s viewership – which was up 25% vs. 2021 – was punctuated by Saturday’s six-hour daytime window, which averaged more than 1 million viewers (1.012 million; 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. ET) during the six-hour span to rank as the third most-watched Live From The Masters on record.

Saturday’s viewership peaked with nearly 1.5 million viewers during the 1 p.m. ET hour, while Sunday’s viewership peaked at more than 1 million viewers during the 1 p.m. ET hour.

Daytime coverage (42 hours) averaged 479,000 viewers from Monday-Sunday, up 24% vs. last year, and delivered the most-watched Wednesday (240,000 viewers) and Thursday (586,000 viewers) daytime windows on record.

Primetime coverage (15 hours) averaged 252,000 viewers from Monday-Sunday, up 36% vs. last year; included the most-watched Monday (215,000 viewers) and Wednesday (299,000 viewers) primetime windows on record; and the most-watched Tuesday (246,000 viewers) and Sunday (310,000 viewers) primetime windows since 2018.

Overall, GOLF Channel averaged 209,000 viewers in Total Day (6 a.m. – 6 a.m.) last week, making it the network’s most-watched week since last year’s Open Championship in July (week of July 12, 2021; 217,000 viewers).

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Central, Golf Central Live, Golf Channel, masters, NBC, Uncategorized

NOTES AND QUOTES – GOLF CENTRAL LIVE FROM THE MASTERS ON GOLF CHANNEL (FINAL ROUND)

April 10, 2022 By admin

“There’s a sense that he’s kind of come out of nowhere…but I would say that extraordinary success is sequential, not simultaneous…I don’t know if this is a hot streak as much as it is the beginning of an era.” – Brandel Chamblee on Scottie Scheffler

“It’s rare you produce your A game in the heat of pressure, and you do have to rely on your B and C game at times. Tiger was fantastic at it, and I think we saw that today. A lot of credit to Scottie Scheffler.” – Paul McGinley on Scheffler’s final round performance

“Mistakes are a part of his fabric, and today he made too many of them. At this elite level, sometimes it’s going to go your way like it did at TPC, but you’re going to crash and burn as well, and he certainly crashed and burned today.” – McGinley on Cameron Smith

“I think maybe it’s just this event, just this round that will slap Rory out of his major malaise.” – Chamblee on Rory McIlroy

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 10, 2022 – GOLF Central Live From The Masters concluded its comprehensive coverage surrounding the 2022 Masters with post-round reaction and analysis on GOLF Channel immediately following the final round of play as Scottie Scheffler (-10) won his first career major.

The Masters – Final Leaderboard

Player Total
Scottie Scheffler -10
Rory McIlroy -7
Cameron Smith -5
Shane Lowry -5
Colin Morikawa -4

 

On Scottie Scheffler (10-under, champion)

Rich Lerner: “He came in as world No. 1, he leaves with no doubt that he is that. Best player this week, best player this year, best player on the planet.”

Chamblee: “He could have easily let things slip yesterday at the 18th hole, could’ve have easily let things slip today at the 1st hole, could have easily let things sip at the 3rd hole today, and typically when you see players fall out of the lead and lose their equilibrium, they do it early. He had every opportunity to do it, and he didn’t do it.”

McGinley: “Composure is the word we used yesterday, and again we saw that. Some really good, gritty, competitive stuff today as well. He didn’t have his best game today, and got the job done. His short game was sensational.”

McGinley on Scheffler’s final round performance: “He played like a veteran…We talk often about these players and how great they are, but we also talk about them having the ability to play with their B game and their C game and sometimes in the heat of pressure it’s hard to produce the A game. In fact, it’s rare you produce your A game in the heat of pressure, and you do have to rely on your B and C game at times. Tiger was fantastic at it and I think we saw that today. A lot of credit to Scottie Scheffler.”

Chamblee on Scheffler’s rise: “There’s a sense that he’s kind of come out of nowhere…but I would say that extraordinary success is sequential, not simultaneous…All the things that he did as a junior golfer, that was sequential success on the way to this road…When you look at him and you start to think about all the players that have had similar spurts to this – and there’s no shortage of them. (David) Duval did this, (Jordan) Spieth did this, Justin Thomas, Rory McIlroy, Bob Tway did this. They happen about every two, three, four years…There’s all kinds of hurdles on the way and the big question is, can he sidestep all those hurdles? I think he can…I don’t know if this is a hot streak as much as it is the beginning of an era.”

McGinley on Scheffler’s future: “Expectation comes on his shoulders now, and that’s a different mindset that he’s going to have to deal with. It’s too early to give a definitive answer that this guy has arrived and he’s going to keep on going forward. There are so many hurdles that will come his way and how he deals with those and can he keep his focus and keep riding through it? … How he deals with the challenges that are going to come his way are going to define who he ends up being.”

On Cameron Smith (5-under, tied third place)

Chamblee on Smith missing left off the tee: “He’s almost dead last on the PGA TOUR in his left miss…when you have a glaring weakness like that – not that this is a difficult golf course to drive the golf ball on, but the one lace you really can’t miss it at Augusta National is left…That’s not a small deficiency when you’re playing Augusta National. He makes up for it with marvelous other areas of his game, they’re off the charts, but that left miss was why he lost this tournament more than the shot at 12.”

McGinley: “The cavalier way that he plays the game, the swashbuckling way that he plays the game is going to leave himself prone and open to a lot of mistakes…Mistakes are a part of his fabric, and today he made too many of them. At this elite level, sometimes it’s going to go your way like it did at TPC, but you’re going to crash and burn as well, and he certainly crashed and burned today…He’s got to find a way of tightening that up if he’s going to be a really great player. He’s a fabulous player at the moment, he’s not a great player. There’s very few who reach that top echelon.”

On Rory McIlroy (7-under, second place)

Chamblee: “I look at the ripple of this, the effect of this, I think maybe it’s just this event, just this round that will slap Rory out of his major malaise, that will remind him of just who he is from a talent perspective. He’s marvelously talented, intelligent, but there’s no question he’s been a different player early on … (Major championships) all have a trend. He starts out on Thursday as one player, and then he goes into the phone booth and comes out Superman and he’s the best player in the world Friday, Saturday, Sunday. He was the best player on this golf course today…Maybe it’s the ripple of this that will change him into the best player in the world Thursday morning at the PGA Championship as opposed to Friday morning.”

McGinley: “It’s unquestioned now that he can play this golf course and there’s no reason why he can’t go on and complete the Grand Slam…This might kickstart him back into a little bit of belief into going on and getting major number five…I’m starting to see the influence that Bob Rotella is having on him…I’m looking at a more patient approach.”

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Channel, masters, NBC, Uncategorized

TIGER WOODS RARELY-BEFORE-SEEN EARLY-YEAR FOOTAGE – TONIGHT EXCLUSIVELY ON GOLF CENTRAL LIVE FROM THE MASTERS ON GOLF CHANNEL

April 4, 2022 By admin

Click Here to Watch a Preview

Footage of Tiger Woods Competing in Nine-Hole Match on His Sixth Birthday – December 30, 1981

Full Feature and Highlights of Nine-Hole Match to Be Posted on NBCSports.com and GOLFChannel.com This Evening

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 4, 2022 – Tonight’s 7 p.m. ET edition of Golf Central Live From The Masters on GOLF Channel will include an exclusive feature on Tiger Woods – featuring footage never-before-seen by the public – competing in a nine-hole exhibition match on his sixth birthday – December 30, 1981.

Click here to watch a preview of the feature.

The footage – which was recently discovered by GOLF Channel’s features team – documents the nine-hole match, which was held at Redlands Country Club in Redlands, Calif. The feature includes interviews with Woods’ childhood coach, Rudy Duran, and his opponent that day, a 12-year-old girl named Michele Lyford-Sine, who also went on to attend Stanford and compete on the golf team. Click here for more details on the match.

The full feature – as well as highlights of the entire nine-hole match – will be posted on GOLFChannel.com and NBCSports.com this evening.

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Central, Golf Central Live, masters, NBC, Uncategorized

TRANSCRIPT – “LIVE FROM THE MASTERS” MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL

March 31, 2022 By admin

Rich Lerner

Paul McGinley

Brandel Chamblee

RICH LERNER: This is the week we all pick out brand new pairs of socks because it’s the only week of the year on live, that we’re not hidden behind a desk. We’re full body. So I know Brandel and Paul have some nice-looking socks, I can assure you that.

We look forward to this week probably more than any other. We’re not that much different than I think the players. Always said it’s more than a tournament, it’s an occasion, the Masters. And obviously there’s one story right now that’s it’s about to dominate, and that’s Tiger. And always said that there are two three-word phrases to me that define his career — Tiger wins again and Tiger is back.

We’ve done this over the last 15 years I don’t know how many times now, from the personal issues in 2010 to the back fusion, the various knee injuries, the chip yips.

I think that it’s potentially happening on the 25th anniversary of the ’97 win is so fascinating because that was as big a moment or as big an achievement as we’ve ever had in the history of the sport, I think, on a lot of levels.

And yet, so many things that he’s done since then have been as big as that, which is hard to fathom. And this could be in that same realm, just as big, potentially as ’97 and as ’19 and as 2001 when he completed the Tiger Slam. That’s sort of the world he lives in.

The other sort of storylines: Scheffler is number one, how does he react; how does Rahm respond to losing, number one; and I think overall the sport could use the Tiger jolt, the juice he brings, because the current superstars have not won a tournament, Scheffler notwithstanding. He’s sort of growing into superstardom. But I’m talking about Rory and Rahm and Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, those bigger names have not won a tournament in ’22. And, though, it’s early, the sport needs stars.

Here we are again, and it’s going to be Tiger, 25 years later, still bringing that juice that only he can bring. And I think the sport needs it right now.

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: Looking forward to this week with great anticipation. I think that’s the thing about Augusta National more than any other major championship, is that it’s such an evocative event. Everything about it is evocative.

We seem to have very vivid memories of not just the players and the shots that they hit, but even the clothes they were wearing when they hit the shots. And then there’s the golf course itself. It seems to inspire players to spectacular feats and occasionally ensnare them in moments of folly.

And I think that’s why we all sort of lean in when we’re watching this golf tournament. That and its aesthetic perfections that are so obvious and unique in the world of sport.

And also because it just delivers year after year such stars. The average world rank, the winner over the last decade has been right at 11. So just a high quality of play, an amazing stage for that play. And it’s typical that as you come into these weeks that most of the best players are on a right trajectory.

But to Rich’s point, this year it’s been a little bit odd. If you look at the top 20 players in the world and you look down and you start writing checks by the favorites and Xs by those — and question marks, you see far more question marks than exclamation points. There’s really only a handful of players that I could point to in the top 20 in the world where I could say come on, what you would call nice form, that check all the boxes of what you need to win around Augusta National. There’s a sense that something unpredictable is going to happen here this week.

And of course the dominating story of Tiger Woods. This is, as I said, a bit of a homecoming for the world of golf but it’s a homecoming for Tiger Woods, because the Tiger Woods era, at least in my estimation, really did begin here April 10th, 1997 on the back nine on Thursday. He turned a 40 and shot 30 on the back nine and went on to win by 12. That really is, even though he had won in 1997, excuse me, in 1996 and early in 1997, the Tiger era really did begin right here.

Of course, the comeback that he had in 2019 was the perfect storybook bookend, walking off the green in 1997 to hug his father and walking off the green in 2019 to hug his children. His world and our world had come full circle right there. We watched him grow up and we watched him — again, to Rich’s point — overcome not just a broken leg and a broken image but a broken short game. Any one of those would be, maybe you could find a precedent in the game of golf for that. But all three of those is utterly incomprehensible.

So always with Tiger there’s a sense that you’re about to see something that you’ve never seen before, that you’ll be talking about 10, 20, 30, 40, for the rest of your life you’ll be talking about it. And you put all those together and not only is there this amazing anticipatory nostalgia that goes with the Masters but there’s an epic sense of expectation that pervades this event.

PAUL MCGINLEY: There’s not a lot much to say that hasn’t been covered by Rich and Brandel. All I can say, speaking here, sitting in my mom and dad’s house in Dublin, Ireland and coming out of the depths of winter here like we are over here — it’s still freezing cold, for me the Masters always signifies the start of the golfing season, certainly from an Ireland perspective or anyone in the north and northeast part of America.

It just feels like spring is in the air, anticipation, looking forward to the summer and the golf season, and the world’s best players gather in Augusta National and everything that it represents from the beautiful flowers, the azaleas, to the sound of the birds chirping and lovely blue skies and green grass. That for me always gives me a nice feeling inside.

It’s a looking forward. It’s an anticipation feeling. And looking forward to what the golfing season is going to bring for all of us. But opening up with the Masters, which is obviously — it’s something special in the realms of professional golf, a name synonymous around the world and a tournament synonymous around the world.

There’s very few people who have played golf anywhere around the world who don’t have the great storylines built around the Masters and some great memories we all have of the great champions winning here throughout the years.

To Rich and Brandel’s point again, the storyline for me is the lack of real great form of the superstars of the game, the guys we know who can be superstars over these last number of years. And to see the emergence of guys like Cameron Smith and Scottie Scheffler in particular as well as Burns coming through the last four, five weeks, the form they’ve shown. And with decent form around Augusta National I think we well could be in for a Master’s champion that might be coming from what we regard to have been the (indiscernible) over the last number of years.

And then obviously the Tiger story coming in on the back of it. Six weeks ago he did a really good job, like Tiger is very good of doing, of playing down the expectations of underpromising and maybe overdelivering in terms of his playing schedule. And here we are now pretty much all expected when only a matter of days to go before the Masters starts that Tiger will go ahead and tee it up. So we’re all looking forward to that should it happen and everything that he brings to the tournament and the storyline around the start of the Masters will be very much dominated by Tiger should he go on to start this event.

So lots to look forward to and I’ll just finish it with that word, “anticipation.” Great opening. I know we have a lot of tournaments on the PGA TOUR and European Tour and DP World Tour over the last few months, but for me this is the real opening of the golfing season great anticipation and imagery that Augusta National brings.

  1. I’m wondering, what is unique from the “Live From” perspective about sort of getting things together at Augusta National where you guys are sort of covering around the event as opposed to NBC actually covering the event? Just what’s unique, what are some of the unique challenges covering the Masters as opposed to covering the players championship or the open or another big event in golf?

RICH LERNER: I don’t know that it’s appreciably different. I think we all understand what this means to back up Paul’s point, what this means to the world, to the golfing public, to fans. This is one where people engage on every device they have from Monday morning until up to midnight on Sunday evening. If you’ve had a dramatic finish, they’ll be with us.

And, again, if you’re a golf fan, you love the Open. You love the U.S. You love it all. But I don’t think anything touches the Masters for full immersion from start to finish.

And we’re immersed in any week because we love the game and that’s our job, but I think we have a heightened sense of how different this is for golf lovers and golf fans, people who are watching it, in terms of when we’re on the ground, it’s different in that our newsroom, which is typically in a mobile trailer in the greater television compound of TPC Sawgrass, whatever the venue is for the U.S. Open, our compound is at Augusta Country Club, which is about ten minutes away, or if you get stuck in traffic, in my case, however many years ago that was, possibly an hour and a half, you might need a police escort. You might need to hop into the back of a police car in order to be shuttled to the set.

So we’re off the premises. And we enjoy Augusta Country Club, that’s been a great home for us. And we have this beautiful set sort of on the far end of the range at Augusta National, once we’re over there. And other than that, we put our heads down, with eyes open in the same way we would just about any other week. But we feel it I think the same way players do. They said it — it’s an occasion as much as it is a tournament.

You get outfitted for it. And so we feel that sense of, I think Brandel and Paul talked about it, in anticipation and excitement. And nobody arrives at Augusta without a fresh haircut. That I’ve noticed through the years.

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: I would just add that we spend a lot of time in the run-up and during, say The Players and even the other major championships, familiarizing our audience with the nuances of the golf courses. There really isn’t any need to do that at Augusta National because the audience is almost as familiar with this golf course as they are with their home golf course. We don’t need to demonstrate (indiscernible) on the second; from here it rolls here, or the tenth, or the front of the 14th green rolls here or the fifth, they know it. And that is the beautiful thing about this.

In a lot of ways, this tournament is easier to get your arms around from a commentator/broadcaster perspective because our audience knows it as well as we do. So we’re almost just sitting in the living room rehashing old family stories. And it’s a community in that way.

So I get asked often, I’m sure Paul and Rich get the same question, what is your favorite tournament to cover. And I’m always torn between The Open and the Masters, but generally speaking it’s the Masters because we come back here every year. Not only is our audience familiar with the course and its history, we too are. So we can all just relax and settle in, and there’s a comfort to that. It really is like coming home.

  1. Brandel and Paul, there’s been a lot of talk about if Tiger’s going to play next week, he’s only going to play if he thinks he can win. What do you guys make of that?

PAUL MCGINLEY: Look, I think what we’ve learned over the years you can never discount great champions, guys who have it in their gut and know how to win. And certainly there’s nobody better in this game at the moment and has been certainly since Jack who is better at knowing where the finishing line is and knowing what the number will be and getting themselves to there.

I think that was illustrated very much in 2000 — what was it — I forgot the year, apologies; the year has rolled into one, COVID has made a mess of all the years. But he knew where the finishing line was there on the back nine even though it was a congested leaderboard, there was a poise about how he went about playing that back nine. And even how he played the last hole with a 5 to get over the line. He knew where the finishing line was. You can never dismiss great champions.

I remember having a debate with Ivan Lendl, a great friend of mine, going into that Masters. I was somewhat dismissive of Tiger chances going into that Masters. And he made a great point. He said great, great champions never forget where the finishing line is or how to get there. I think Tiger proved that. He proved a lot of people wrong. You can never discount him.

Having said that, it’s going to be a huge ask. He’s not starting from the same position as he did when he won a few years ago. He doesn’t have miles on the clock the way he did a few years ago. He doesn’t have a win in the back pocket like he did in the FedExCup, a matter of five months before winning. He doesn’t have some tournaments on the clock.

So it’s well over a year since he’s competed at this level. I think it’s a massive ask to go even at Augusta National and even for Tiger Woods to go in and have a realistic chance of winning. Can he get a top 10? Yeah, you never will dismiss Tiger. Could he win again? I’d never say never but it’s a huge, huge ask because he’s coming from a long way further back, as I say, than a few years ago where he had miles on the clock and some good performances under his belt before he went on to win at Augusta National.

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: I would just add to that, you’re right, Paul, the greats don’t forget how to win, but inevitably at some point their body no longer is capable of doing the things that they need to do that their mind gives them clarity to do. I said in 2019 and the run-up to Tiger competing in the Masters that I would be looking for just a couple of different things to think he would have a chance to win. It was the drives at 1 and 2 because you need to hit sort of a fade off of 1 and you need to hit a swinging draw at 2. And early in 2019 Tiger, he could certainly comfortably hit the fade but I’m not sure about the swinging draw.

He got up, if you remember, you can go back and find this, how he starts Thursday, hit a beautiful cut off of 1 and a swinging draw off of 2. So check, check. And need to see him hit some decent lags and make some 4- and 5-footers, which he did because he hadn’t been putting particularly well.

If he does indeed come back here, the same things hold. I’d need to see a couple of decent drives off of 1 and 2 because those very first two drives you pretty much have encompassed everything you need off the tee here. I need to see where his touch is.

But then I also need to see how he’s ambling up the 18th hole, how his back’s holding up, because if you remember back at the Father-Son he was also talking about how his doctors were as worried about how his back was going to handle the accident as how he was going to recover from the broken bones in his leg.

So all of that together, we’re three years down the road from when he won here at 43. So he is at that age when time starts kicking you in the teeth.

I know he’s superhuman, but at some point you’ve got to think time is going to say enough. I hope he’s able to still compete at a very high level going forward. But, look, if he’s here and he has any semblance of game, he manages to contend, compete, finish in the top 10, it will all be — because every time he played now, I’m well aware that this is, we all are — this is the sunset of his career. But I’d argue that we’ve all been privileged to watch, not just the best golf, but the most exciting golf that’s ever been played with — okay, maybe a couple other exceptions — but you have to go eons back, young Tom Millers or Bobby Jones. Young Tom retired at 24 and Bobby 28. And Tiger just kept reinventing himself.

Fifty years from now if any of us are still alive, we’ll still be sitting around talking about how we got to cover the man who had the greatest capacity for miracles that ever played this game.

RICH LERNER: If I could jump in real quick, I think one of the principle reasons Tiger’s considering playing here is he wants to, but I think he believes this is likely his best chance to win another major, to pass Sam Sneed. To inch closer — I don’t think it will happen — but an inch closer to Jack Nicklaus. He rolls out of bed, and the question obviously is can he walk? We know he can hit shots. We saw that at the Father-Son. He can hit shots. Can he walk 72 holes?

But I think he believes this is his best chance to win a major. It’s a short field. You take out all the past, the older past champions, the amateurs, the first-timers because only — first-timers typically don’t win, save for Fuzzy Zoeller a long time ago. And then what’s left from there you cut that in half. Guys just can’t handle the heat.

He understands this golf course probably better than anyone. It suits his game. He’s a great iron player. He’s a phenomenal putter and short game. So if there’s a way, we know there’s the will.

You can just imagine Tiger, I thought about this. He almost needs to be nothing to be everything. Like he needs this challenge of putting all the pieces back together. And in this most recent case, the pieces of his body back together that sort of Navy Seal fascination that he’s always had, needing the extreme challenge. That sort of fires and motivates him. And you could imagine him in the last two months in his backyard in South Florida, just hitting 5-yard cuts and 5-yard draws, and chipping matches with Charlie and Tiger’s into Charlie for $7. And watching Duke against Arkansas with the treadmill on six and a half on an incline pouring sweat, like he’s playing in the game itself.

I mean, that’s what gets him going is this climb up Kilimanjaro. And this is it for him. I think he views this from those two sort of perspectives, the great challenge and yet another comeback. And it’s like “Godfather” — it’s “Godfather” with four sequels as good as one and two for Tiger. I know he views this as a great chance for him to win. If he’s going to play, I have no doubt — I don’t disagree with Paul that it is a big ask, but I think Tiger is not teeing it up unless he thinks he can do it and win.

  1. Paul, you spent so much time with Rory over his career. Have you seen anything to encourage you that this could be the year? And could you share maybe some insight into the frustration that he’s probably experienced over this major drought that he’s in the midst of?

PAUL MCGINLEY: I think there’s two things that really make me boiled about Rory McIlroy at this point in time. One is the improvement in his putting that we’ve seen since he started working with Brad Faxon. I believe he’s a better putter. He’s putting more instinctively. He’s holing more putts. And he looks more comfortable. I like what he’s doing with that. I felt he became a bit too structured and a bit too mechanical in his approach before that, and that was holding him back. And Rory as we all know instinctive player certainly from tee to green.

That’s make me boiled that he’s matching his putting to the personality the style of player he is. That’s good.

I think the second thing is the fact that he’s got Bob Rotella in his corner. I think he’s a great addition to his team. I’m a huge fan of Bob Rotella, and with the challenges that Rory has, particularly in trying to become only the sixth player in the history of the game to get over the line and win all four major championships, you can’t do it on your own. You need some help. Some guidance. And I think Rotella is a great addition to that team.

So I think he’s in a good place. The biggest challenge for him going forward is always the burden, expectation — internal expectation, particularly — of trying to do something as we say that only five players in the history of the game have won. And trying to do it at Augusta National when there’s so much media attention coming your way one way or the other anyway.

So that’s obviously a big challenge. Also the fact that I don’t think he’s playing particularly well. I’ve seen him play better than he has been playing this year. He’s been playing okay, nothing great.

But we all know that Rory is an inspirational player and it can kick into gear very quickly. His iron play in particular has nothing terrific. That category has not been great statistically. And Rory is — we all know the importance of that category, winning around here at Augusta National. Three of the last seven players who have won the Masters have led that category of strokes gained, approach. And five of the last seven have been in the top 5 of strokes gained, approach.

It brings me back to 10 years ago, before they did statistics at Augusta National, and I’m having dinner with Bernhard Langer once on the European Tour, and we were talking about the Masters. And Langer made the point that everybody thinks winning the Masters is about putting, and all you hear is about putting. He said it’s not. The most important part of your game to win at Augusta National is iron play because if you hit it below the hole and in the right quarters of the green and the great sections of the green and particularly below the hole, then you can be aggressive with putts. If you’re constantly putting on the back foot and constantly afraid of the one back, you’re not going to win at Augusta National.

Now, since we have had statistics now come, since 2015, I believe, is when they started officially doing these really minutized statistics, we’ve seen a clear correlation, like I say, five of the last seven have been top five in strokes gained, approach, which absolutely plays to the point that Bernard Langer instinctively new, what 10, 15 years ago, when we had a chat.

So that would worry me a little bit, in terms of his iron play, his distance control with iron play in particular. With the style of play that he has, he comes very much from the inside, which is great in terms of flash speed at the bottom and getting massive distance off the tee. But we all know one of the great strengths of Tiger’s game is the quietness through the ball that he’s able to give and how he’s able to play three-quarter shots and how he’s able to control distance.

And that is a part of the game that I still feel that Rory hasn’t mastered. So that’s going to be the big critical key for me. Can his iron play improve a bit? Secondly, where is he going to be mentally with this huge feat that he’s on the verge of doing?

  1. Rich, we’ll have to keep the “how you ended up in some police escort to make the show” for another time. But there is one aspect of what you said that I did find interesting, which is you think this is Tiger’s best chance and not the Open at St. Andrews, which a lot of people have pegged — most people have pegged because of how flat it is. Is that still your belief that even though that is flat, just the sheer number of players in that field make it not the best choice for him?

RICH LERNER: Look, I know Tiger has won at the Old Course twice. It’s flat. It would presumably be an easier walk. I think just because this is a shorter field and because — this is on a relative scale — the pressure, I think that other players feel in the moment. We saw it in 2019 at the 12th hole. I think that pressure is different at Augusta, at the Masters, than it is anywhere else. And that includes what would be a special Open, the 150th at the Old Course.

And to back up Paul’s point — and I’ll cede the floor here to Brandel and Paul because they’re the golf experts, but Tiger is a pretty good iron player, last I checked.

So, again, it comes down to if he can walk. And I don’t think he’ll do this if he determines that he can’t comfortably make 72 holes. So if he does enter, then I’m assuming his leg’s good to go. Might feel some pain, discomfort, but I’ll assume he’s good to go. If that’s the case, I’ll stand by what I said that I do believe this is his best chance to win a major. And I’d be really curious to see what Brandel and Paul have to say on that.

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: I’m inclined to agree with you, Rich. And there are a lot of things about Augusta National that I, over the years, said the golf course has been kind to the elderly. There are more repeat winners at Augusta National, the easiest tournament to predict who is going to win, really, in the world of golf for obvious and not-so-obvious reasons. The obvious ones you’ve stated, which are it’s short field. And once the golf course has sort of weeded out the players who have the necessary skills to compete around there, it just keeps on rewarding. And in Tiger’s case, yes, it’s his great iron play but it’s even more than that.

You’ve got to be able to hit it high cuts off of lies. You’ve got to be able to swing with the slopes and not into the slopes. Once you’ve been able to do that, once you can do that, you keep getting rewarded. And you get rewarded with, again, to Paul’s point, better-looking putts.

But there’s more than that. As you age — and your visual acuity begins to decay at about the age of 29. So suffice to say, by your late 30s and your 40s, your eyesight is nowhere where it used to be.

In particular, your contrast sensitivity declines. And that’s the ability to differentiate between fine gradiations of light and dark. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that affects your ability to read putts. But I also don’t think it’s a stretch to say that familiarity with the greens at Augusta National will mitigate that difference.

So that is, yet again, another reason why, as you age, whatever physical decay there is, the normal physical decay that certainly comes to bear at major championships, it’s mitigated at Augusta National.

I can remember Jack Nicklaus talking about the putt he had at 17 in 1986 when his son read it one way, I believe, and he was unsure how it was going to break. No, no, Ray’s Creek is over there; it’s going to have this left little tick right in the middle of this putt, it’s going to move left. That kind of familiarity, does Jack win the Masters in 1986 if he didn’t know that? I don’t know. Maybe not. Maybe he doesn’t make that putt. And maybe Greg Norman doesn’t feel all that pressure and miss it out to the right. You never know.

So there are all kinds of reasons why what Rich said I agree with. This is his best shot, if he can handle the walk. And only Tiger knows that. And I guess we’ll know better as next week progresses if Tiger shows up. But that’s a big if.

While his golf looked sharp at the Father-Son, in particular the shots we saw him hit into the third hole, the par-5, those were long irons, and they were stellar. They were all over the flag at Father-Son on that par-5. They were 3- or 4-irons that landed right by the hole and stopped 5 or 10 feet away. That’s the Tiger we know. But he looked hobbled there.

We’re four months down the road here. What sort of improvement has he made? I guess we’ll begin to find out and it will be coming into clearer focus next week. But if he can walk around — his club head speed or ball speed was right around 174, 175 at the Father-Son. That’s a tick about tour average.

Presumably he’d have a little bit more ball speed than then, you’d like to think. But that’s plenty fast enough.

His iron play, his knowledge and the fact that there are just so few people that you have to beat at Augusta National makes this, at least in my view, the most obvious choice of his best chance to win a major.

  1. Paul, I’d like to ask about Shane Lowry. Is there anything you’ve noticed in Shane the last year, year or two that he could possibly be a factor this year? I think he’s 14th for strokes gained, approach, which you mentioned in relation to Rory. He’s played well in the last two Masters, two top-25s, putting a few decent rounds together. He’s played well in recent majors, too, obviously winning the Open. Do you see anything in Shane that would suggest that he might have a chance? Or what do you think are the biggest challenges for him?

PAUL MCGINLEY: Shane certainly improved a lot in terms of his statistics, underlying statistics. I think he’s pretty established now in America. It took him a while to really get his footing there. I feel that he’s done that now. He was very close to winning the Honda, only, what, three, four weeks ago, where he did nothing wrong down the stretch but didn’t happen to be his week to win. He’s really close to winning again.

He’s playing as well as he has done throughout any stage of his career. Going on to win the Masters, can he do it? Of course he can. Absolutely. He’s proved he’s a guy for a big occasion. He can handle that kind of pressure. The main thing is getting in contention. If there’s a weakness in Shane’s game it’s his putting. But like I said, if you can distance control it around there and give yourself good looks at these putts, and when you’re putting from the right side of the hole, you can get at this golf course.

So will I dismiss him? Absolutely not. Could I see him winning? Of course I could. But there’s so many yin and yang that I can give. I can name 15 players here. I’ve just done Rory. I can give the you the yin and yang. Every player has upsides and every player has question marks around them. And it’s very hard to get a really clear view at this stage in the process as to what way it’s going to go.

I think we have a much better reading, I do after two rounds, when you can watch the body language. You can watch the play, you can look at the underlying statistics. You can see the weather. You can see how the players are going about it. And you can get a much better reading after two rounds. Who were the guys who were focused for the week? Who are the guys tuned in. Whose body language looks different, looks like they mean business and are up for the fight?

It’s so hard to make a pretty definitive call this far away from the week and certainly with so many players not showing exemplary form, certainly of the big names. It’s hard to get a real good reading. But I would certainly absolutely think that Shane Lowry is going to win again very soon.

Would it be beyond a reasonable possibility to win this week? No. He’s done it before. He’s come out for a big occasion. He could certainly do it.

RICH LERNER: If I could jump in. I had Shane at the Match Play last week, was on the call there. And his sportsmanship really stood out in a couple of matches.

And to me, Shane embodies the joy and spirit of the game as palpably as any pro. I think all those sort of, the things that you hear, associated with Shane, you just sort of throw them out, are true, that you’d love to have a pint with Shane Lowry. You’d love to play Portrush in a cold, 30-mile-an-hour wind with Shane Lowry and you’d have the time of your life.

He has that — I don’t know if you’re familiar with the old entertainer Jackie Gleason — but Shane has the Jackie Gleason big man rhythm. That’s a compliment. He’s light on his feet.

What he did in winning The Open in ’19 — you would know this better — but I’ve unquestionably cemented him as an Irish golfing legend, with O’Connor and Bradshaw and Harrington and McGinley, and I’m sure the list goes a little bit deeper than that.

And we all remember here in America because we played it on the Golf Channel when he took the jug into the local pub and sang deep into the night.

Imagine if he showed up back in Ireland in green in that jacket, what that would be like. So we all love Shane over here. We really like covering him and watching him. He just has a really big spirit and a golf swing.

I know, Brandel, that we love. It’s that Longshoreman’s frame, and it’s very elegant and rhythmic. Love Shane.

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: I was going to say the only thing I’d add to that, when I’m doing prep for major championships, I’ll do the top 50 players in the world in great detail. And then I go through and I write an X or a question mark or a check by their name, depending upon a million different things that I’ve looked at.

And all I can tell you is I had a check by Shane Lowry’s name. Absolutely think he can win this week. He’s amongst — in the top 50 players in the world. Putting him amongst the top 10 favorites going into this week.

  1. Apart from the top 10 or so, and the usual superstars who are perhaps a little off form right now, who are some of the players that you have your eyes on?

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: Outside of the top 20 — look, in the top 20, it’s not a lot. It’s Scheffler, Morikawa, Smith, Thomas, Matsuyama, where I don’t have any question marks. But outside of that, I’d say Daniel Berger, Matthew Fitzpatrick, Will Zalatoris, Shane Lowry. There’s just not that many where you don’t have some question marks.

To Paul’s point earlier, there’s advantages and disadvantages to pretty much every player or obvious assets and question marks to every player, but there’s a few — there’s a handful, maybe more than a handful, about 50 at least — where I don’t have any question marks.

I look at pretty much every facet of their game, and their form is right where it needs to be.

PAUL MCGINLEY: I would just come in on the back end of that, too. If I’m going outside of the obvious guys, whether they be well-established names or whether they be guys particularly in form this year, like the Scheffler, Burns and Smith that I mentioned earlier, I’m looking at a guy who played really well that Brandel just mentioned there, Zalatoris, really highly rated last year statistically, not just in strokes gained approach which is, as I say, a strong indicating category, but also in putting last year. I know he fell away a little bit on the Sunday, but certainly over the first three days, his putting was fantastic. And even going back to last week, in Texas, in the Match Play, his putting was fantastic.

I know there’s a lot of question marks around it. But he’s able to get these periods and these runs of two or three rounds where he gets really hot with the putter.

Now, whether he can do it under pressure obviously on particularly a Masters Sunday is another question. But certainly he’ll be a guy I wouldn’t dismiss.

I think he’s destined for much, much bigger things in the game than what we’ve really seen from him. And then the other guy, again, who I just love his golf swing, Brandel being more of a connoisseur on the golf swing than me, but the elegance in how he plays and a guy who has been really strong in terms of his form all year long in terms of consistency, is another guy, Max Homa.

We’ve seen the Danny Willetts and those kind of players coming through to win in the Masters. So you’ve got to look at guys outside of the real mob of the top guys when you’re looking at this Masters, particularly with so many of the real well-established names, not really showing the kind of form we expected early season. And we could be in for somewhat of a surprise winner.

That’s why I’ve spent a little bit of time looking outside the top 20 and who could be the Danny Willett, who is the guy that could — time has run like a racehorse in the last furlong and come running through the field to win. And those two names stand out for me.

  1. It’s only the third month of the year — well, I guess technically tomorrow starts the fourth month of the year. Tiger has dominated the conversation for a good majority of it. He’s dominated the conversation pretty much all of today, too. If he tees off on Thursday in Augusta, is there any way that he does not win the Player Impact again?

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE: They should give him the Player Impact in perpetuity.

PAUL MCGINLEY: Tiger, listen, he’s the biggest name. He moves the needle. We all know that. We’ve seen all the clichés about what he does, and it’s obviously quite clearly true, if he does decide to play this year, which I really hope he does.

And then of course, he’s going to dominate the first two or three days and the build-up to it. That’s where all the attention is going to go.

You know what, that could work in favor of the other players. Certainly in terms, we mentioned Rory earlier, if Rory is — if Tiger is going to play, I kind of like that, where it positions Rory nice and quietly underneath the radar. Not a lot of people will be putting him on the pedestal that he normally is coming into this.

And if you heard my point that we made at the TPC, I love the competitiveness of golf. I love the clashes. I love the mental clashes. And why I’m really wanting and hoping that Tiger is going to play is that, what’s very clear over Tiger’s career, certainly in the last 10 or 15 years, and even when he won the Masters a few years ago, his ability to influence the play of people around him is quite clear.

And I would love nothing than to see Tiger, A, playing, B, getting into contention, and seeing how the players around him react to Tiger being in contention again at the Masters. I mean, that will be a terrific narrative for me.

That doesn’t mean that Tiger has to win that time. I just want to see the reaction of the other players with a Tiger Woods in contention again, particularly around Augusta National.

And if we had him anywhere near the lead, within two or three of the lead with nine holes to go, that would be just a fantastic scenario to observe and watch. So that’s what my wish is for this Masters.

-NBC SPORTS-

Filed Under: Golf Central, Golf Central Live, Golf Channel, masters, NBC, Uncategorized

BRANDEL CHAMBLEE, PAUL MCGINLEY AND RICH LERNER PREVIEW 2022 MASTERS ON MEDIA CONFERENCE CALL TOMORROW, THURS., MARCH 31 AT 9 A.M. ET

March 30, 2022 By admin

Dial 313-209-5140 to Participate

Golf Central Live From The Masters Studio Team to Discuss & Preview 2022 Masters

Live From The Masters Surrounds 2022 Masters With More Than 50 Hours of Coverage from Augusta National Featuring Nearly 20 Hosts, Analysts and Reporters

STAMFORD, Conn. – March 30, 2022 – GOLF Channel’s Live From The Masters primetime broadcast team featuring analysts Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley and host Rich Lerner will preview the upcoming 2022 Masters on a media conference call tomorrow, Thursday, March 31, at 9 a.m. ET. Media interested in participating should call: 313-209-5140; Passcode: 1077869.

    • WHO: Rich Lerner, Brandel Chamblee and Paul McGinley
    • WHEN: Thursday, March 31 at 9 a.m. ET
    • DOMESTIC NUMBER: 313-209-5140
    • INTERNATIONAL NUMBER: +44 (0)330 165 4012
    • PASSCODE: 1077869

 

GOLF Channel’s Live From the Masters will surround the 2022 Masters with more than 50 hours of coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., utilizing a comprehensive team of nearly 20 hosts, analysts and reporters, with coverage beginning next Monday, April 4 at 2 p.m. ET.

— NBC Sports —

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Channel, masters, NBC, Uncategorized

GOLF CHANNEL’S LIVE FROM THE MASTERS COVERAGE WAS MOST-WATCHED DAILY PREVIEW SHOW ON ANY NETWORK DURING MASTERS WEEK

April 13, 2021 By admin

Live From… Viewership for Full Masters Week UP 46% from 2020 and On Par with 2019, Which Featured Tiger Woods’ Historic Victory

Live From… Shows Ahead of Thursday’s Opening Round and Sunday’s Final Round Rank as GOLF Channel’s Most Watched on Respective Days Since 2018

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 13, 2021 – NBC Sports’ Live From the Masters coverage on GOLF Channel was the most-watched daily Masters preview programming on any network from Monday, April 5 through Sunday, April 11, according to official national data provided by Nielsen.

Live From the Masters daily preview coverage averaged 437,000 viewers for the full Masters week from Monday through Sunday*. For Thursday through Sunday coverage before each Masters round, Live From averaged 633,000 viewers, outperforming the closest competition by 67%.

Live From’s full-week average of 437,000 viewers topped by 46% the show’s average during November’s 2020 Masters (299,000) and was on par with the 2019 Masters (442,000), when Tiger Woods won his fifth green jacket and first major in more than a decade.

Additional viewership highlights from GOLF Channel’s Masters week coverage:

    • GOLF Channel’s average viewership for Masters week programming from Monday-Sunday (6 a.m.-3 a.m. ET) was up 50% vs. November 2020.
    • Extended Live From the Masters coverage on Thursday from 8 a.m.-3 p.m. ET averaged 463,000 viewers – marking the largest audience for the show ahead of a Masters opening round since 2018.
    • Live From the Masters on Sunday from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ET delivered an average of 697,000 viewers – ranking as the best figure ahead of a Masters final round since 2018.

In total, NBC Sports presented more than 55 hours of Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club last week as Hideki Matsuyama finished 10-under to secure his first Masters championship, marking his first major title and becoming the first Japanese man to win a major championship.

*Based upon regularly scheduled Live From… windows (Monday, 2-5 p.m. ET, Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-3 p.m. ET, Saturday 9 a.m.-3 p.m. ET, Sunday 9 a.m.-2 p.m. ET)

-NBC SPORTS-

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Channel, masters, NBC, PGA Tour, Uncategorized

NOTES AND QUOTES – LIVE FROM THE MASTERS ON GOLF CHANNEL (FINAL ROUND)

April 11, 2021 By admin

“It’s been an incredible eight days, not just for golf in general, but more specifically golf in Japan.” – Brandel Chamblee

“He’s going to be a popular commodity come August when we’re there for the Olympics.” – Justin Leonard on Hideki Matsuyama

“They’ve come tantalizingly close to having major championship wins…Now finally, we’ve seen someone climb the highest mountain in golf.” – Chamblee on a Japanese Men’s Golfer Winning the Masters

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 11, 2021 – NBC Sports presented final round Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., today and in primetime tonight on GOLF Channel. Hideki Matsuyama won his first Masters championship, marking his first major title, and becoming the first Japanese man to win a major championship.

The Masters – Final Leaderboard

Player Total
Hideki Matsuyama -10
Will Zalatoris -9
Jordan Spieth -7
Xander Schauffele -7


On Hideki Matsuyama (10-under, 2021 Masters champion)

Justin Leonard: “He earned it. He earned it with his play yesterday afternoon, he earned it with superior ball-striking, an incredible short game…Can’t imagine, as golf crazy as the nation of Japan is, they’ve had a pretty good eight days…To have Hideki Matsuyama win the Masters, of all the majors, he’s going to be a popular commodity come August when we’re there for the Olympics.”

Brandel Chamblee: “It’s been an incredible eight days, not just for golf in general, but more specifically golf in Japan — to see Tsubasa Kajitani win the Augusta National Women’s Amateur as a 17-year-old, and to see Hideki Matsuyama become the first player from Japan to win a major championship and win the Masters.”

Leonard on Matsuyama’s iron play: “It’s elite and has been consistently elite for a number of years…The level of consistency is hard to fathom he’s been that good for that long.”

Chamblee: “In general, the scrambling of Hideki Matsuyama was top-notch…Sort of quietly, he’s been one of the best scramblers on the PGA TOUR over the last three years, but this particular week, only one player in the field managed to get it up and down more often than he did.”

Rich Lerner: “It’s been said that through the years, the Masters doesn’t start until the second nine on Sunday. I think he won the Masters with what he did on the second nine on Saturday…That bought him margin for error and he needed every bit of it coming down the stretch today.”

Lerner: “What this Masters may have lacked in raw, white-knuckle, birdie-eagle excitement, it made up for in significance — Hideki Matsuyama becoming the first male player from Japan to win a major championship.”

On the importance of a Japanese golfer winning the Masters

Chamblee: “They’ve come tantalizingly close to having major championship wins…Golf in Japan is a frenzied activity…They love their sport…Men on a big stage winning one of the biggest events, they’ve been teased and now finally, we’ve seen someone climb the highest mountain in golf.”

Rex Kuramoto: “Men’s golf has been behind ladies golf because (Hinako) Shibuno won the (Women’s) British Open two years ago, and since that time, golf in Japan, the ladies have come first…But Matsuyama winning this Masters changes everything — Matsuyama will be the guy.”

On Will Zalatoris (9-under, 2nd)

Leonard on what’s most impressive about Zalatoris: “He’s got an impressive golf game, obviously. Great ball-striker. The distance that he hits the ball for not being a big guy with long arms or anything, it’s quite remarkable, but also kind of his mental outlook. He wasn’t shocked or surprised or overwhelmed to be here. He looked very comfortable out there yesterday, he looked comfortable again today.”

Chamblee: “It’s not often you see a rookie come along with a talent this luminous from a ball-striking standpoint, but that alone is not unique, right? It happens…In general, I’d say it’s his ability to treat every round as if it’s the same, and be the same every single round…His strategy, his ability to think properly under pressure at such a young age, those two are extraordinary.”

On Xander Schauffele (7-under, T-3rd)

Leonard: “The lessons he’s learning because he’s in the thick of the battle and in contention, they’re hard ones…He seems to hit a poor shot or (make a) bad decision at the wrong time…I think he’s becoming tougher through this process and that will serve him well down the road.”

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Channel, masters, NBC, Uncategorized

NOTES AND QUOTES – LIVE FROM THE MASTERS ON GOLF CHANNEL (THIRD ROUND)

April 10, 2021 By admin

“If Hideki Matsuyama goes on to win, this will be one of the more famous 30s ever shot here…Tomorrow has a chance to be the biggest day in the history of Japanese golf.” – Brandel Chamblee

“With the Olympics coming up in Tokyo this summer, he’s already a rock star, but this would put him in a stratosphere I don’t think anyone can imagine or put into words.” – Justin Leonard on Matsuyama’s importance to Japan if he wins the Masters

“I would say that this felt like a Sunday to me with all the sublime ball-striking.” – Chamblee on the third round

Live From the Masters Final Round Coverage Begins Tomorrow Morning at 9 a.m. ET and Continues in Primetime at 7 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 10, 2021 – NBC Sports presented third round Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., today and in primetime tonight on GOLF Channel, as Hideki Matsuyama holds a four-shot lead after third round play.

Live From the Masters continues with final round coverage tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. ET and in primetime at 7 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel.

Throughout the week, GOLF Channel’s daily live coverage features more than 55 hours and includes pre-and post-tournament coverage through the final round on Sunday, April 11.

The Masters – Third Round Leaderboard

Player Total
Hideki Matsuyama -11
Xander Schauffele -7
Justin Rose -7
Marc Leishman -7
Will Zalatoris -7

 

On Hideki Matsuyama

Rich Lerner on Matsuyama’s play after the weather delay: “Really the only player who sort of adjusted his strategy. He went pin hunting…Matsuyama with a day to remember.”

Brandel Chamblee on Matsuyama’s back nine: “If Hideki Matsuyama goes on to win, this will be one of the more famous 30s ever shot here and it will certainly go down into Japanese lore as one of the greatest weeks in the history of that game…Tomorrow has a chance to be the biggest day in the history of Japanese golf.”

Justin Leonard on Matsuyama’s round: “It was something else…It’s hard to understand or put into words the amount of pressure that a professional golfer from Japan faces from the media in Japan…They’re just put on a pedestal that we can’t comprehend in the United States. Every time they tee it up, it’s like The Rolling Stones playing at Madison Square Garden…With the Olympics coming up in Tokyo this summer, he’s already a rock star, but this would put him in a stratosphere I don’t think anyone can imagine or put into words.”

On Justin Rose

Leonard: “I think he’s got to feel pretty good about his position…It’s time he can play a little more aggressively, and he’ll need to from the get-go tomorrow. He got off to a great start, so nerves aren’t an issue.”

Chamblee: “I’ve probably been more surprised watching Justin Rose play this week than I have pretty much anybody else because he came in here without any form…It’s almost like he’s turned himself inside out…From five to ten feet, where he’s had a career now of misses, he’s just looked beautiful…I think he’s going to have to draw on psychological reserves tomorrow.”

Leonard: “He still feels like he got it, like he could come away from here with a green jacket, and with the amount of pressure that’s on Hideki Matsuyama, he just may very well do that.”

Lerner: “He’s had a solid career, there’s no doubt…With a win tomorrow, it likely puts him in the Hall of Fame, and it goes from a really good career to a great career.”

On Will Zalatoris

Chamblee: “This guy has never played in the Masters and experience is supposed to get the better of you…and yet he hits a shot like that at the last (hole). You think about all the players that are here, these are the best in the world with enormous amount of experience here, and yet nobody in the entire field managed to hit more greens today than that man.”

Leonard on Zalatoris’ potential: “His poise, the way he’s handled the situations…To watch his game, to see how quickly he’s matured and this meteoric rise he’s made over the past two years, but I feel like he’s not getting ahead of himself.”

On Xander Schauffele

Leonard on Schauffele’s experience contending in past majors: “You get more comfortable, and that’s the hardest thing to do. I wouldn’t say you get completely comfortable, but you edge toward that line. I think for Xander Schauffele, he understands that being uncomfortable is a good spot, because it means it means something…I think there are a lot of players who can kind of take it or leave it, but Xander seems to kind of thrive off of it.”

On the Third Round

Chamblee: “I would say that this felt like a Sunday to me with all the sublime ball-striking…Just from the quality of play and the fact that it was the contrast of the forecast.”

Leonard: “It looked like it was going to be a test of survival today. Then, all of a sudden, with a little bit of break, a little bit of moisture, the wind dies down. All of a sudden, guys went flag hunting.”

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Channel, masters, NBC, PGA Tour, Uncategorized

NOTES AND QUOTES – LIVE FROM THE MASTERS ON GOLF CHANNEL (SECOND ROUND)

April 9, 2021 By admin

“Yesterday’s round was a confidence builder. Today’s round was a character builder… today’s round was more important to him and his outlook for the rest of the weekend than yesterday was.” – Justin Leonard on Justin Rose

“Looking at the leaderboard, you almost have to consider Jordan Spieth the favorite.” – Leonard

“There’s just no shot out here that he cannot create.” – Brandel Chamblee on Justin Thomas

Live From the Masters Third Round Coverage Begins Tomorrow Morning at 9 a.m. ET and Continues in Primetime at 7 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel

STAMFORD, Conn. – April 9, 2021 – NBC Sports presented second round Live From the Masters coverage from Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., today and in primetime tonight on GOLF Channel, as Justin Rose holds a one-shot lead after second round play.

Live From the Masters continues with third round coverage tomorrow morning at 9 a.m. ET and in primetime at 7 p.m. ET on GOLF Channel.

Throughout the week, GOLF Channel’s daily live coverage features more than 55 hours and includes pre-and post-tournament coverage through the final round on Sunday, April 11.

The Masters – Second Round Leaderboard

Player Total
Justin Rose -7
Will Zalatoris -6
Brian Harman -6
Jordan Spieth -5
Marc Leishman -5

On Justin Rose

Justin Leonard: “Yesterday’s round was a confidence builder. Today’s round was a character builder…to be able to get off to the start he did and right the ship…today’s round was more important to him and his outlook for the rest of the weekend than yesterday was.”

Brandel Chamblee: “When I talk about making mistakes at the Masters, it’s not just the technical mistakes, it’s keeping your wits about you when you get into trouble…that’s what he did early that allowed him to play well late and kept him on top of the leaderboard.”

On Jordan Spieth

Leonard: “There’s no guide to what he’s doing, especially off the tee, he’s free-swinging, shaping the ball both directions…the putting and chipping is marvelous. We thought we saw some signs, but this has been a rapid comeback — where looking at the leaderboard — you almost have to consider Jordan Spieth the favorite.”

Rich Lerner: “Three months ago, we had a hard time remembering when Jordan was great. He was in that deep of a hole. Now, I’m having a hard time remembering he was in a slump at all.”

Chamblee: “He has a scramblers sensibility with a tactician’s talent, he’s like part (Ben) Hogan, part Sevy (Seve Ballesteros).”

On Will Zalatoris

Leonard on Zalatoris’ rapid rise from the Korn Ferry Tour to the PGA TOUR: “Phenomenal talent…a year ago, Will Zalatoris was thinking about his next Korn Ferry start and tomorrow he’s playing in the last group in the Masters. What a meteoric rise.”

Chamblee: “It’s belief that gets you to the reality…when you put it all together and start to look at what he’s done in this short span of playing these (PGA) TOUR events, the ball striking adds up.”

On Justin Thomas

Chamblee: “There’s just no shot out here that he cannot create.”

On Rory McIlroy

Leonard: “I’m surprised at the lack of form…I know he’s been putting a lot of work in, obviously some work there still left to do and it needs to happen quickly.”

On the Second Round

Chamblee: “Friday’s give us time to talk about not just the good, there was plenty of good, but the bad and unprecedented…start with the good, Justin Rose, like Dustin Johnson, going for a very deserving second major championship…Jordan Spieth doing what Phil Mickelson did in 2006, win back-to-back weeks on the PGA TOUR, making one of them a major, and the Masters…the bad is pretty simple too, watching Dustin Johnson struggle, watching Rory McIlroy hit it worse than I’ve probably ever seen him hit it…and then there’s the unprecedented, with Hideki Matsuyama (looking) to be the first player from Japan to win a Masters.”

–NBC SPORTS–

Filed Under: Golf, Golf Channel, masters, NBC, Uncategorized

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