Tiger, Rory and More Sound Off as FedEx Battle Resumes
It's Round 3 of the battle for the FedExCup. Fresh off scorching the TPC Boston layout this past weekend, the best players in the world converge on Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Ind., for the BMW Championship. Here are the top 5 in FedExCup points through the Deutsche Bank Championship:
Player Points Behind
1. Rory McIlroy --
2. Nick Watney 1,331
3. Tiger Woods 1,382
4. Brandt Snedeker 1,605
5. Louis Oosthuizen 1,890
What They're Saying on the eve of the BMW:
Rory McIlroy
On being paired with Tiger Woods at the Deutsche Bank: "I think it definitely creates some more interest for the fans and for golf in general. I don't see any challenge in it. I mean, I think it's just good fun. It's good fun to be out there and have such an atmosphere and such a buzz around a grouping like that, and it's just nice to be a part of."
On being in "the zone": "I think the most important thing when that does happen, you have to realize it's happening and just get out of your own way and just completely just play one shot at a time. Obviously you're hitting the ball well, you're just trying to hit it in the fairway, hit it on the green, hole the putt, go to the next hole, do it all over again. That's what you're trying to do.
"There's some weeks where golf does seem as simple as that, and when you're on like that, it's obviously a great feeling. It's very difficult to play like that all the time, and that's why it's the great players, they learn to win when they're not playing their best. That's something, I've said this before, that I still feel like I'm learning to do. I think I sort of did that for a little bit of last week. I struggled to close out the tournament, but a couple of crucial up‑and‑downs on the way in, which helped, and that's what the great players do; they find a way."
Tiger Woods
On facing personal and professional challenges: "I think it's put a different perspective on things. Losing a parent and having the birth of two kids put things in better perspective for me. The wins are fantastic, but the losses aren't what they used to be, because I get to talk to my kids at night. It makes things‑‑ it puts things in a proper perspective, for sure."
On being golf's first $100 million man: "Well, it just means that I've come along at the right time. We've had purse increases. We've had a lot of things go our way. I've won some tournaments, yes, but as I said last week, Sam Snead won more tournaments than I did, and obviously he didn't make the money that I did, just because it was a different era. I happened to come along at the right time when TV was booming and our commissioner did some fantastic deals with TV, and our purses just leapt by a lot. I think that all that said, I'm not opposed to it; put it that way."
On the state of his game: "I'm certainly hitting it further and straighter. I don't curve the ball as much as I used to. Granted, it's a function of the golf ball just not moving as much, but also I think where I'm coming from, I just don't arc it, I don't come as far from the inside like I used to. With that being said, my shot pattern is much tighter now.
"And the only thing I really struggle with is my aim, is aiming closer to the middle of the fairway or closer to flags because I'm used to shaping it so much either way. That's something that's taken me a little while to get accustomed to because I've done it for so long. It's just an adjustment that I've had to make gradually over time."
Phil Mickelson
On the state of his game: "I think the last three or four months where my game has just been a little south, I was just kind of searching for something different. I've been trying to piece my game back together. Finally my irons came back first. I started hitting a lot of good iron shots. My driver has now come around where I'm hitting it really well off the tee. And the last thing was putting, and I feel really good with it. I feel like the touch is there and it's a very stress‑free way to putt because the ball is starting on line."
On whether Tiger Woods will win more majors: "Oh, yeah, unfortunately. His game looks tremendous."
Defending Champion Justin Rose
"I think low scores for sure. Any time you give us soft greens, which they are obviously due to the weather, I think when you have soft greens certainly the first couple rounds, and the way things go in a tournament, how long, how difficult a golf course, if it's soft, guys tend to go low."
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While you were watching football and checking your fantasy scores (and your bets), Brandt Snedeker was winning $11.44 million. So how did you do today?
