Quotage From TNT’s Coverage of PGA Championship, 1st Round

Gotta hand it to the people at Turner Sports. The quick turnaround of the quotage from what was a very long broadcast is rather impressive. So if you missed anything from today’s coverage, you have this to refer to.

Notes from TNT’s Coverage of the PGA Championship from Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wis. – Round One – Thursday, August 12, 2010

TNT’s Round Two coverage of the PGA Championship continues Fri., August 13 from 1 p.m. – 8 p.m. ET.

Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Ian Baker-Finch, Bill Kratzert and Jim Huber joined by Bill Macatee, Peter Kostis, Verne Lundquist, David Feherty, Peter Oosterhuis and Gary McCord

Baker-Finch on the changing of the guard between the established golfers and the young, up and coming golfers: “One of the big themes this week and one of the themes throughout the season this year has been the twenty-somethings.  The guys in their early twenties, like the Australian Michael Sim, they are challenging this guy here (Tiger Woods). We’re really seeing a changing of the guard, we’re seeing Phil (Mickelson) not playing well, not in good health, Lee Westwood is in poor health, had to withdraw last week and again this week, and then these twenty-somethings with this aggressive style of play.”

Baker-Finch on Whistling Straits: “Yes, this is the PGA Championship, not the Open Championship. You see these beautiful vistas across Lake Michigan. It really is a wonderful, wonderful venue. I think the best.”

Baker-Finch on who to watch for to win the 2010 PGA Championship: “It’s hard to pick (the potential winner). There are a few different storylines. Everyone has written off Phil Mickelson, he’s not been feeling well, didn’t play well last week, but he’s No. 2 in the world. Tiger, who is No. 1 in the world, has been playing poorly, people wondered if he’d even make the cut, though he’s turned that around with a birdie, birdie start. To me, the theme this week is the young guys. There are so many guys out there in their early twenties like Rory McIlroy from Northern Ireland who loves links golf and grew up on a course similar to this, a very intimidating course. The other young guys, like Ryo Ishikawa from Japan, Hunter Mahan who won last week, so many under the age of 25.  Then also you’ve got those guys like a Bo Van Pelt, guys who are looking to make their way on the Ryder Cup team. Nick Whatney, guys who are playing extremely well and are trying to get on Captain Corey Pavin’s Ryder Cup team in a few weeks. There’s a lot of different things we’re going to see in the next four days, a lot of different guys with an opportunity to win.”

Baker-Finch on whether he would pick Tiger Woods for the U.S. Ryder Cup team: “If I were the Captain I would certainly pick Tiger as well. It’s pretty hard to leave him off the team, but it has to be respectful to the rest of the players who have a chance.”

Macatee on what will happen if Tiger Woods is left off of the U.S. Ryder Cup team: “If you’re (U.S. Ryder Cup captain) Corey Pavin, and you don’t pick the number one player in the world, and you don’t win the Ryder Cup, you’re opening yourself to an awful lot of criticism regardless of how he’s playing.”

Kostis: “Forget about that though, he doesn’t have to pick until September 7. That’s the whole point. If (Pavin) had to pick last Sunday night after (Woods’) performance at Firestone, he doesn’t get picked, that was an awful performance by Tiger. After what he does this week, he may even qualify for the team and it will be a moot point. You don’t have to answer those hypothetical questions right now, just wait until September 7 and it will all work itself out.”

Kostis on Tiger Woods’ strong early first round performance: “Perhaps we’re seeing the beginning of all of the chaos of golf being eliminated; an order being restored if Tiger can keep up his form.”

Kostis on playing too aggressively at Whistling Straits: “Well that’s the cardinal sin on this golf course. You have to take your medicine, you try to get too aggressive with some of these and you just pay a deeper price.”

Lundquist on France’s Gregory Bourdy: “This is too obvious, but it’s (Gregory) Bourdy from Bordeaux.”

Feherty: “Well, he would know his way around the wine cellar.”

Baker-Finch on course designer Pete Dye creating difficult sightlines on the course: “That’s Pete Dye, that’s what he tries to be, visually intimidating. He doesn’t want the players to see all the fare way, he wants to mess with their minds. This is Pete Dye’s best, that’s for sure.”

Feherty on Marc Leishman’s second shot on hole #13: “Would you like French fries or a baked potato with that? Did you see the size of that divot? Nice shot, but a huge clump of Wisconsin came out with that.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Bubba Watson (-4) following his first round

Watson on if Whistling Straits is an overpowering golf course: “No, I putted really well today and my focus was there.  I stayed with every shot and took my medicine when I had to.  I missed a couple of tee shots but the golf course is not easy.  I just made some putts.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Tiger Woods (-1) following his first round

Woods on his play in the first round: “I got off to a good start today which was nice and I’m just trying to grind my way along.  I dropped a few shots, but overall I posted under par.”

Woods on if his work leading up to the PGA Championship paid off after the first round: “I thought I hit the ball pretty good.  It felt like I had control of the ball most of the day, especially with my trajectory which was nice.  I haven’t had that in a while so it felt good to have that.”

Woods on what he needs to improve with his game: “I just need to continue to improve every day.  I need to be a little bit more solidified and today I felt like I had good speed on the greens.  If anything, I was leaving putts a little bit short.  They were a little bit slower than what I was seeing.  I just have to make that adjustment.”

McCord on Seung-yul Noh: “This guy can really hit.  He has a beautiful golf swing and he hits it a mile, way up in the air.  He looks really good to me.”

Feherty on Tiger Woods: “When you think of last week (at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational) when (Woods) played like a 12-handicap, he manages to raise his game for the major championships.”

TNT’s Jim Huber interviewed Charles Howell III (-4) following his first round

Howell on playing Whistling Straits: “I played here in 2004 and I like (the course).  It has a links (type course) look to it but it definitely played like an American course today.”

Feherty on players stepping up their games while Tiger Woods has struggled recently: “One thing with Tiger (Woods) not having played well by his own standards for the last year, (it) has given us an idea of just how good the rest of the field is.  Players who have been overshadowed for so long (were able to come to the forefront).  You have to take into consideration just how good Woods is in his ability to have beaten these players for so long.”

Feherty on Nick Watney: “What a great attitude Nick Watney has.  He’s going to be a very good player for a very long time.”

Feherty on his observations of the first round: “It’s been an interesting day with the three hour delay.  They started and then stopped (play).  It was ideal to start, the wind was starting up and the course was starting to dry out.  So the scoring really hasn’t been that good.  A four under par (-4) leads and no one has been able to get to five under (-5).  We’ve got Ernie Els out there in fine form.  We’ve got (Phil) Mickelson just hanging on who’s really made some tremendous ups-and-downs and a bunch of young players who have played very well.”

I’m always impressed at how quickly I receive the quotage from Turner.