Davis Riley: It’s always really cool when you can play at a place that you’re pretty familiar with and this is right up the road from where you grew up. I played it a bunch in high school, probably played it 10, 15 times. So I’m very familiar with it and had some success, I won a few high school tournaments out here. The ability to hit fairways is so big. I mean, you just watch guys all day not be able to access the pins, and it’s really hard to make birdies if you’re not in the right spot in the rough. So I feel like the first seven or eight holes really sets up for the fade that I hit with a driver. Really I think the whole course besides maybe one or two set up great for a fade off the tee. So I really like it. I’ve got a lot more length this year than I did three years ago. I wasn’t able to get to any par-5s in two shots three years ago. So having that ability, having a 5-wood in the bag from anywhere from 250 to 260, it really makes a difference. Making it easy on myself getting to 2-putt for birdie is huge for me. The par-5s are really my strength.
f684b2f3d4218ee06dad551b3bb2074bDenny McCarthy: Living down in Florida the last five or six years I’ve gotten really comfortable with Bermuda greens. To me, these are some of the best greens on Tour, if not the best. So I’m just really comfortable on Bermuda. These greens are so pure. I see a line on them really well and I’m just used to Bermuda greens now and I think I have a good game plan and understanding of how to play this golf course. So combine that with good greens and it’s right up my alley.
Sergio Garcia: You’re still going to miss a couple of greens here and there because it’s a little tricky with the way the greens are, as fast as they are. You’re hitting to small spots because you know that if you miss your spot it’s going to run and you’re going to have a longish putt that is not easy to two-putt.
Chad Ramey: I do know the course, I’m not having to learn anything new. I did notice they put a couple of new bunkers in here or there, but for the most part the course is the same. So I can kind of focus a little more on just getting used to the speed of the greens and the way the ball’s reacting chipping and put a little more of my focus on that, since I kind of already know how to play the course.
Cameron Champ: Obviously driver is the key out here, I think. If I hit driver well out here, like I said, it’s a very scoreable course. So I just kept hitting it as much as I could. Even if the fairways were tighter, I felt like if I was further up, even in the rough versus hitting a 3-wood being 40 yards back, I would rather be up there. I guess that’s the game plan.
Peter Malnati: It is obvious this is like a comfort zone for me in terms of the type of grass. I grew up in east Tennessee and we have similar Bermuda fairways, Bermuda rough. The greens here are actually the best greens in the whole world, they’re just impeccable. They are flawless and they roll, they’re really fast and I think that’s something that has always benefited me. I’m a really good putter, I feel like, and if I get some putts going in early on these greens I just feel really confident and it’s just a really comfortable feeling to be on these greens. The course suits my strengths really well. Several of the par-4s I’m able to hit a short iron into.
Ryan Armour: My strength is driving it in the fairway, hitting it on the green, and trying to make putts. I don’t overpower a golf course. I don’t go for very many par-5s. I had a chance to go for No. 11 and I laid up. It’s just one of those making percentage choices for me.
Sam Burns: This is one of my favorites all year. I think these are probably some of the best greens we play all year. I like the golf course, I like the Bermuda grass, similar to kind of what I grew up on home, kind of tree-lined fairways and so yeah I’m really excited.
Cody Gribble: Being in the South, growing up on Bermuda fairways, Bermuda greens, it’s something difficult, I think. There were some places in there where there’s some grain running into you. It’s not a comfortable feeling when you’re having to hit a chip that all that grain is tight going into you.
Hayden Buckley: The greens are perfect. They’re challenging, but they’re fair. I think if you don’t catch good lies in the rough it can be really tough. It’s hard to roll the ball up around the greens, there’s a lot of grain, so it’s one of those, it’s almost the opposite of Silverado two weeks ago in Napa, everything was firm, rolling out a lot. Here you got to hit the ball well and you got to hit it in the right places to have success.
Brandt Snedeker: I’ve done a lot of research on it and realize it’s a great golf course for me. It sets up really well. It’s kind of an old-school, more of a putting contest where the greens are perfect. There’s certain golf courses that me not being a long hitter I’ve got to kind of pick and choose where I play so I’m not going up against the 8-ball playing against guys that have a four-shot advantage over me before I even tee it off, and this is one of those golf courses that kind of fits right up that alley.
Adam Hadwin: Got to keep the ball in the fairways. You just never know what you’re going to get in this rough, it can sink down and you can only advance it 40, 50 yards or you can get some good lies and be able to get on the green. And then the greens themselves are pretty tough complexes as well and some of the fastest greens we’ll putt on all year.
Doug Ghim: Golf course is pretty straightforward; however, you need to be in the fairway to be able to attack. Certain greens are really shallow and firm and really hard to get the ball in the right spot if you’re not coming out of the fairway.
Henrik Norlander: I like the fastness of the greens, the greens are fast and really, really good and you see a few go in early it sort of is easy to make putts because there’s not that much break. They’re pretty flat, so you can make some putts for sure.
Keegan Bradley: I like courses where when you look out and you see what’s going on, there’s not a lot of blind shots, there’s not a lot of funky hazards or out-of-bounds or stuff like that. It’s just kind of right there in front of you. I like that.
Emiliano Grillo: You’re going to have perfect greens. These are probably the best greens of all year. It’s a golf course that I like, it fits my eye and it’s Bermuda. You know, I lived in Florida for eight years, so I know what I’m going to find and I know what I have to do and all I have to do is just execute the shots.
Norman Xiong: The fairways are narrow, but you have a wide margin to miss it to where you can still hit it out of the rough onto the green or middle of the green.
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