Reaction after day four

Mark Calcavecchia (65): “To shoot 66-65 on the weekend out here was really some great golf. I played well. I finally got something going with my putter, which was the problem the first two days. Once I make two or three, I feel like I can make them all. I had a lot of fun this weekend.”

Steve Flesch (66): “I played well, hit a lot fairways and a lot of greens and capitalised on the shots I hit in there close. At least the course gave us a chance to hit drivers this week. We’ve played so many majors, especially this year, where driver is taken out of your hands. This major is always different because we play in such hot weather, but the greens are always softer.”

Kirk Triplett (66): “I’m thrilled. I’ve been playing pretty good all week and just had not gotten a lot of good scoring out of it. Today, I avoided all the mistakes. I really played a great round of golf. I would love to play a few more like it. I wish I didn’t do it when I was in 30th place, I wish I did it when I was third.”

Billy Andrade (66): “After I chipped in, I’ve got four holes to go and I’m 9-under. If I can make a couple more birdies and post a score, who the hell knows what was going to happen coming in. I was at the US Open in 1992, I got done, sat in my hotel room and went from 28th to fifth in a matter of two hours, so you never know what can happen out there.”

Scott Hoch (67): (After hole-in-one on 17) “One lucky shot and you guys want an interview. I hit a four-iron – a fat flyer, I guess. No, I hit it pretty good. I finally got it where I was turning it over. I didn’t even see it go in. I hit it, it landed, looked good, kind of went in the shadows and I just relied on the gallery to know that it was in.”

Scott Verplank (67): “I played good today but this week I just didn’t hit it quite as solid as I was hoping to. Obviously, I hit a lot of good shots and I putted pretty nice, did a lot of good things but just made a couple of mistakes to keep me from playing that much better.”

Phil Mickelson (68): "I felt as though I played well enough to win the tournament, but I did not ultimately beat all the players in the field, and David played extremely well. He played very solid, kept the ball in play and shot under par, which is not the easiest thing to do when you are leading. The thing that's really disappointing was that I really believed that, had I won this week, I was going to win Player of the Year. I think not winning pretty much kills my chances."

Jesper Parnevik (68): “You never know if you will make the (Ryder Cup) team or not. But I’m hitting the ball better than I have in a few years. I was very confident that I would be up there today with a chance to win. But I struggled a little bit putting the first few days but today I putted a lot better. He (Sam Torrance) has a tough choice. It’s hard to see a Ryder Cup without (Jose Maria) Olazabal.”

Steve Lowery (68): “It was very exciting, there were a lot of roars. I played well. It was just great. We had a good time out there and the atmosphere was just unforgettable. It was a challenge the last couple of days playing with David (Duval) yesterday, then today (with Shingo Katayama). Four rounds in the 60s again in the PGA, so it was the second time I have done that (first was 1995). I feel really good about doing that.”

Justin Leonard (69): “I was playing good coming in and had a bit of confidence, which was something new for me this year. I played solid this week and I think that if I had a hot putter I might still be out on the golf course but that’s not the case.”

Jim Furyk (69): “I like worrying about this tournament. It’s the last major championship of the year and we won’t get another taste of that until next April. I enjoy coming to these events, we’re kind of put under the ultimate gun under all of the pressure.”

Shingo Katayama (70): “I am very happy that I am Shingo Katayama. I think I have taught lessons to other Japanese golfers. I’m short, I’m not a long hitter, but I ended up fourth today. I would like to come back and play, not just once, but come back and keep on trying in major tournaments. I would also like to play better and make more fans. I had a culture shock. People in Japan won’t call out my name ‘Shingo! Shingo! They are quiet. I was amazed by all the people calling my name.”

Greg Norman (70): “I was very happy with my play. Today, I was more frustrated than anything else because I never got anything in the hole again. I was probably No.1 in greens hit in regulation and last in putting this week. The golf course was fantastic. It played great over the last four days. I love the layout. It moved a lot and shaped a lot and challenged you in every aspect. I think the back nine is a fabulous back nine of golf.”

Rick Schuller (71): (The only PGA club professional to make the cut) “The whole week was a dream come true. I don’t compare with the other players but I proved to myself that I could be somewhat competitive. I finally got to shake Tiger’s hand. He said, ‘Great playing, keep it up,” and some other well wishes. It’s something that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. I just had a great time. I wish I could keep playing.”

Ernie Els (72): “I just couldn’t quite play good enough today. I had to get off to a hot start to try and win it. I didn’t do that. It was just a bit of a battle to mentally still try and knowing you haven’t got a chance to win. It was great playing with Retief. We didn’t have a good day, the both of us. We’ve played better than that before.”

Stewart Cink (72): “I didn’t figure a couple over was going to hurt me any more than shooting a low score would help me. I took some chances that I wouldn’t take normally and when you do that you’re kind of striking the match to a gas leak. The Ryder Cup wasn’t on my mind, really. I was so far back from the top 10 that (scoring Ryder Cup) points was almost out of the question.”

Brad Faxon (73): “I thought that the course was where you could have made some low scores early. The wind was down and the greens were a little soft. I’m disappointed in my play this week. I played very well the first two days, but I didn’t have a good weekend.”

David Duval (74): “It was a combination of bad shots and bad putts. I started out bad and it just seemed to get worse. It just was not a good day. I really felt good about my chances today and how I have been playing. Today I continued to miss putts but I missed the greens as well and that just adds up to a high score. A couple of bad bounces here and there might have helped. It’s just golf and it just was not my day.”

Paul Azinger (74): “I wanted to shoot a good score today to finish high up in the tournament. I made four bogeys from the middle of the fairway and I made a double bogey with my ball sitting on a tee, so I played pretty bad. If the Ryder Cup is based on what you shot the last round of the PGA, that’s pretty short sighted. I’ll get picked, hopefully, on the way I played most of the year.”