A look at some of the quotes from the top players after the final round of the Honda Classic at PGA National, where Justin Thomas edged Luke List in a playoff to win his eighth career PGA Tour title.
Players highlighted include Thomas, List, Tiger Woods, and Sam Burns.
JUSTIN THOMAS
You move ahead of Jordan in the World Rankings for the first time in your career. Did that mean anything to you as someone who is constantly being compared to him?
THOMAS: Not really because there’s still two more spots that I want to climb.
Is that obviously the next goal, to get to No. 1?
THOMAS: There’s a lot of things that I want to achieve that are going to result in that, but I mean, I think it’s pretty well known that any top golfer, any golfer wants to be No. 1 in the world.
I think that would be kind of ludicrous to not be a goal, Top-10, Top-20 in the world player. But I just need to keep my head down and keep the gas pedal down and continue to work hard and continue to do the things that I’m doing in my off-weeks to give myself chances to win.
1 (-8, 67-72-65-68)
LUKE LIST
Can you talk us through the drive on 18, the playoff, and what were your options?
LIST: Not great. Honestly the lie wasn’t great. To me, that tee shot, it’s kind of a right-to-left wind, a little bit in, so to me the tendency would be to overswing and draw it towards those bunkers.
I just held on to that one a little bit. I had not made too many bad swings with the driver all week really.
No big deal, but I got a little — I was trying to fade the one away from the water a little bit and that was my only option to kind of blast it over there in the crowd really.
Fortunately I had an angle. I know that took a little bit, but hit a great wedge shot and just miss-read the putt a little bit.
2 (-8, 71-66-66-69)
SAM BURNS
What was your first thought when you saw you were going to be paired with him?
BURNS: Yeah, it’s almost like I’m speechless. You see the guy on TV, you see him all over the place and you’re standing there next to him on the tee box and you’re like, that’s Tiger Woods.
I was telling the guys earlier, I don’t hardly remember hitting the first tee shot. I kind of blacked out. The way he handled the crowds, it’s really cool to see.
We had a blast. He was super nice. Very encouraging. I think we’re all happy to see him back playing golf.
T8 (-2, 70-71-69-68)
TIGER WOODS
Other than getting back in the gym, is it important to play one more before Augusta?
WOODS: I need to keep playing tournament golf, but I need to keep building on it, keep building my body, keep building towards April. That was the goal when I first came back.
I told you guys at Torrey, try and get everything situated for April and I feel like I’m right on track for that.
As I said, I didn’t really know what to expect for the year. I had not gone through this before. This is all new. I had to make some pretty big changes in my swing and my feels.
My feels are different through the golf ball. And that’s something that it’s a reality. My new reality, my back’s fused and I can’t create the same shots I used to be able to create.
I can hit the same shots but I just have to do it in a different way.
12 (E, 70-71-69-70)
Credits: ASAP Sports, Getty Images
