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NOTES AND QUOTES – NBC SPORTS’ COVERAGE OF THE 123rd U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (FIRST ROUND)

“It’s astonishing, really. It’s not what you expect at a U.S. Open…I think the fans expect a real difficult test. It’s supposed to be the toughest test in golf.” – Paul Azinger on Record Scoring

“Success is not a straight line…a welcome return for Rickie Fowler, one of the most charismatic players in the game.” – Paul McGinley on Rickie Fowler

“I’m used to the U.S. Open being as mean as a pitbull with a bad tooth. This was more like a basket of kittens.” – Brandel Chamblee on Live From

STAMFORD, Conn. – June 15, 2023 – NBC Sports presented first round coverage of the 123rd U.S. Open Championship from The Los Angeles Country Club in Los Angeles, Calif., across NBC, Peacock and USA Network, capped by Live From the U.S. Open on GOLF Channel.

Rickie Fowler and Xander Schauffele broke the U.S. Open single-round scoring record with a pair of 8-under rounds of 62.

Tonight’s primetime coverage on NBC and Peacock included a live interview with Sahith Theegala as he played the driveable par-4 6th hole.

Exclusive second round coverage begins tomorrow at 9:40 a.m. ET on Peacock and continues at 1 p.m. ET on USA Network.

U.S. Open – First Round Leaderboard


Player

Total
Rickie Fowler-8
Xander Schauffele-8
Dustin Johnson-6
Wyndham Clark-6
Rory McIlroy-5
Brian Harman

-5

Friday-Sunday Coverage Schedule

DayPeacockUSA NetworkNBC/Peacock
Friday*9:40 a.m. – 1 p.m.1-8 p.m.8-11 p.m.
Saturday 1-11 p.m.
Sunday12-1 p.m. 1-10 p.m.

*coverage will begin shortly before the first scheduled tee time at 9:40 a.m. ET

ON RECORD SCORING AT THE LOS ANGELES COUNTRY CLUB

John Bodenhamer, Chief Championships Officer, USGA: “We woke up to misty, soft conditions. We had a cloudy, overcast marine layer…the sun never really broke through…I tip my cap to Xander and Rickie…it’s softer than we had planned….tomorrow, as planned, we will play the golf course longer…what we won’t do is we’re not going to force anything. We could do things that could make it stupid hard. We’re not going to do that...it’s Thursday. We’ve got a lot of golf left.”

Paul Azinger: “It’s astonishing really, especially after having walked this golf course…it’s not what you expect at a U.S. Open…I don’t know that any of us really saw 8-under par 62 coming…never been done before, but they also beat the rest of the morning wave by five strokes. Is that a fluke that they played that well, or was the course just vulnerable today to them?...I think the fans expect a real difficult test. It’s supposed to be the toughest test in all of golf.”

Azinger: “The field has hit 66 percent of the fairways today…that’s significantly better than even the PGA TOUR average.”

Dan Hicks: “It was an historic kind of day Los Angeles Country Club.”

Rich Lerner on Live From The U.S. Open: “We don’t say this often – it was a birdie-fest at the U.S. Open.”

Brandel Chamblee on Live From: “We said Monday night this wasn’t going to look like a normal U.S. Open…I’m used to the U.S. Open being mean as a pitbull with a bad tooth…this was like a basket of kittens.”

ON RICKIE FOWLER (-8, Co-Leader)

Paul McGinley: “Success is not a straight line. There’s not a player in the game who has not gone through a period of problems. A welcome return for Rickie Fowler, one of the most charismatic players in the game.”

Arron Oberholser on his putting: “It’s been really impressive…absolutely clinical.”

ON XANDER SCHAUFFELE (-8, Co-Leader)

Hicks: “Schauffele’s been knocking on the majors door for years. One of the best not to win the big one.”

McGinley on Schauffele: “Everything in his bag was good today, from the driver to the putter.”

Lerner on Schauffele: “There was some buzz going around about Xander Schauffele earlier in the week about just how well he had been hitting it in practice rounds. It transferred.”

ON RORY MCILROY (-5, T-5th)

Azinger: “He swings the club like a kid without a care in the world.”

Azinger on McIlroy swinging under the ball in the deep rough on 18: “Oh my goodness. We knew someone was going to do it, but we didn’t expect it was going to happen to Rory.”

Notah Begay III on McIlroy’s bogey putt on the 18th hole: “This was a momentum putt for him. He just played so flawlessly today. He drove it great. He was great with the putter…huge for him.”

ON DUSTIN JOHNSON (-6, T-3rd)

John Wood: “Of all of the guys involved in the uproar for the last couple of years, I think this guy has been affected the least. He is hard to fluster.”

Azinger: “I think he’s probably the most dangerous player on the board.”

ON PHIL MICKELSON (-1, T-25th)

Hicks: “We’ve gotten reports from some of our cameramen that he has been heckled a bit, which is a departure…on this (18th) green he’s been hearing some things. Of course, Phil has always long been one of the most popular players in the world, but a lot has changed in the last couple of years.”

Azinger: “That’s not the case anymore for Phil. His whole reputation has changed…still a heck of a player.

ON SAHITH THEEGALA (+4, T-123rd)

Theegala to Azinger on his approach to the 6th hole during live interview: “My thought process was, ‘If I hit 100 balls to the left and 100 balls going for the green…a big part of going for it is this one hybrid club I have. It’s pretty perfect and it’s never going long. I think if you’re in between going right and you go long, you can’t do that…I just figured 100 balls laying up and 100 balls going for it, sure, I might make a couple of big numbers…laying up to the left when it gets crusty is not a gimme by any means…I love this hole and I had a good feeling about it, but it didn’t pay off this time.’”

--NBC SPORTS--