Chez Reavie: The golf course is great. You can shape it both ways off the tee; hit every club in your bag from longer irons to short irons. It’s just a test of all your shots. That’s something I like. I’m a shot maker. I like to work it both ways. I’ve always loved the layout since the first time I came here. Just the way the holes are shaped you can shape shots and think around the greens. It’s a great challenge and something I really enjoy.
Bubba Watson: Around here there are a lot of driver holes where I can hit some drivers and shape it. Jordan came last year when he won, and he said, “Bubba, anywhere you play good that’s where I want to play, because I think I can play where you can play.” I don’t know if that was a dig or what, but he backed it up with a win. Yeah, it’s one of those things where it just fits our eye. You can see the fairway. You can see the shape of the holes and the greens are always in great shape, so it’s fun. First hole is going to be a wedge; second hole, wedge; third hole, wedge. These are the approach shots. And then next hole8, 9 or wedge; next hole is a 6 iron to a 5 iron; next hole is a 3 iron, going for it in two; next hole is a wedge; next hole is an 8 iron; next hole is a wedge; next hole is a wedge; next hole is a wedge; next hole is a wedge; next hole is going for it in two; next hole is a wedge; next hole is a wedge, or if you drive the green you can putt; next hole is a 9 or an 8; 17 is a 9 or a wedge; and 18 is a wedge. So when you look at that, why would I not want to play here if I’m hitting that many wedges? It doesn’t matter if I’m in the rough or not, those are the clubs I’m hitting. It comes down to me putting. If I can putt halfway decent, I have a chance to top 10 here or scare a victory.
Jordan Spieth: Yeah, I had no idea until we kind of got on the grounds and I saw Michael (Greller) on Tuesday before we played any holes, and he said, “This course is tailor-made for you,” is what he said. I love the back nine. I think it’s a very exciting nine-holes of golf, one of the coolest stretches that we play where anything can happen. So that’s good and bad when you’re leading. You kind of maneuver the ball both ways. You’ve kind of got to watch out for some clearings where the wind affects it more than other times where you’re kind of in the valleys. But overall, poa annua greens, historically, aren’t my best, and so today was a big confidence boost. The rest of the golf course I really love. You’ve got to work both ball flights. You’ve got to kind of be fearless in playing different shots. You can’t get out there and just step and hit just draws the whole day. It forces you to hit different shots. You’ve got to stay patient. You can’t force it here. You get so many opportunities, you feel like you’re losing to the field if you don’t birdie with a wedge in your hand. But they put these pins in such difficult locations it’s hard to feed it next to it, once you do, it’s difficult to get the right line on the green. So recognizing that the course is 6800 yards for a reason. It’s tricked out elsewhere. We’re going to have a lot of chances, greens in regulations is going to be an important stat.
Russell Knox: I always think this course, if you tee off in the morning, the conditions, you can always shoot a mega low score. That’s what Jim Furyk did last year on Sunday. But as the day goes on, teeing off in the afternoon, especially on a weekend, shooting under par is a great score if you tee off at 1, or 2 o’clock. So the course changes significantly as the day goes on, just the firmness of the greens. You don’t have to overpower this course. I remember watching the year before. I think Bubba Watson and Corey Pavin were in a playoff with Scott Verplank. And I remember thinking what an amazing course this must be that the shortest hitter and longest hitter in the field are in the playoff. So this course, I think, allows everyone in the field to win, and I think that shows what a great course this is.
Paul Casey: This is a golf course where the green is relatively small, but they’re tucking the pins away and putting them on some funky little slopes. If you short side yourself, especially if you get over these greens, you’re going to be in a world of hurt. I’m a guy that hits a lot of greens in regulation. I’m pretty aggressive when going with the irons into the greens. I try to give myself a lot of birdie looks. I love playing these kinds of events where you can go low. I think it’s good for the psyche. If all you ever do is play events where level par is winning score, you feel like you get beaten up, and you’ve got to have these, because every now and then you’ve got to go really low. If you get to the wrong side of it, you can make bogeys very easily out there.
Marc Leishman: If you’re playing well, you can make a lot of birdies. If you’re not playing well, you can make bogeys. But I think this is a fun golf course because there are birdies out there. If you’re willing to take it on, you can have a low score. But at the same time, if you do take it on, you’re bringing in that big number into it as well. I think that’s a good indication of a good golf course. I think this is one of them. You can be six back like I was eight, nine years ago. And it’s just a hard place to lead at because it’s that sort of golf course where there is trouble everywhere.
Rory McIlroy: It’s a par-70, quite short, you feel like you have a wedge in your hand every hole. But if you don’t hit it in the fairways and don’t put yourself in position, it can be a little tricky. You need to be accurate here and not feel like you can be super aggressive but just sort of reigning that back a bit but knowing that there’s plenty of opportunities and just to stay patient.
Chris Stroud: This course is great for me. I’m not a bomber, so it’s nice to be able to have a lot of short irons into the greens. I even have a note in my yardage book, as long as I’m sharp from 100 yards to 165 this week, I can make a lot of birdies, and I’ve done that so far this week.
Patrick Reed: If you get a little too aggressive you can miss some greens in the wrong spots, it makes it very hard to get the ball up-and-down. And also, with all just kind of the subtleties of the slopes and the tree-lined fairways and water areas and trees, it just seems like the wind will swirl a little bit here, and you just have to make sure you know exactly what you’re trying to do with the winds.
Wesley Bryan: You have to work the ball both ways. It doesn’t demand a lot of length. You have to be really precise going into the greens, especially where they were tucking some of those flags.
Stewart Cink: It’s a course that has a lot of variety. You don’t have to be super long, but length definitely helps on some holes. You don’t have to be super accurate because the fairways are pretty generous. Then again, there is also water and some pretty thick rough. So it helps to be long, to be straight, and to be smart. If you play good, quality golf here, any style of play can be successful. Reminds me a lot of Harbour Town actually.
Dustin Johnson: I just want to hit it off the fairway, especially around here, because the rough is pretty thick. It’s hard to control the golf ball. The greens are fast and kind of firm.
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