“There’s a big question mark around a lot of Woods’ game.” – Notah Begay III on Tiger Woods (+4, T-86th)
“Completely out of sorts.” – Brandel Chamblee on Scottie Scheffler (+1, T-34th)
“This was not Scottie Scheffler. I didn’t recognize this guy.” – Paul McGinley
“He’s a big wave surfer. When things are going his way, he can take the bit between his teeth, take off and run and hide.” – Brandel Chamblee on Co-Leader Rory McIlroy’s bogey-free 65
Friday’s Second Round Coverage Begins at 6:30 a.m. ET on Peaco*ck, Shifts to NBC at 1 p.m. ET
Mini Episodes of the GOLF Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav Post Nightly
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 13, 2024 – NBC Sports presented first round coverage of the 124th U.S. Open from Pinehurst Resort & C.C. (Course No. 2) USA Network and Peaco*ck, including on-site pre- and post-round coverage on Golf Central Live From the U.S. Open on GOLF Channel and Peaco*ck. Golf Central Live From included Johnson Wagner re-enacting shots from the 11th green.
Friday’s broadcast coverage begins at 6:30 a.m. ET on Peaco*ck, continues at 1 p.m. ET on NBC, and wraps up on Peaco*ck at 7 p.m. ET. All NBC coverage also streams on Peaco*ck.
U.S. Open – First Round Leaderboard
| Player | Total |
| Patrick Cantlay | -5 |
| Rory McIlroy | -5 |
| Ludvig Aberg | -4 |
| Matthieu Pavon | -3 |
| Bryson DeChambeau | -3 |
ON PINEHURST
Gary Koch: “That is what this golf course can do to you. It can make the best players in the world look silly.”
Paul McGinley on Live From: “I think there’s a lot more left in the tank from the USGA in terms of set up. They weren’t going to take a chance on day one with the players talking about how difficult it is. Maybe they scared the players a bit – maybe they intimidated the players, but those combined are what make me think why they went soft.”
ON RORY MCILROY (-5, Co-Leader)
Brandel Chamblee: “He’s working the ball every direction. High, low – he kind of looks like a different Rory.”
Chamblee on McIlroy’s major championship drought: “He’s been plagued by some bad starts and when he’s gotten off to good starts, he been plagued by not following it up with a good round. It’s a big mental hurdle for him trying to win that fifth major championship.”
Chamblee on McIlroy’s opening round 65: “He’s a big wave surfer – when things are going his way and he’s on a high, he can take the bit between his teeth, take off and run and hide like he did at the Wells Fargo.”
McIlroy to reporter Damon Hack on today’s conditions: “The one thing we got a little lucky with today was the cloud cover. The golf course didn’t get as fiery as I expected it to get this afternoon...as the week goes on it will get faster, but right now there are opportunities out there and thankfully I was able to take advantage of them.”
McGinley on Live From: “He’s at his best when he is in a creative mindset, and today we saw a focus, an intent – and I love that Rory, that is when he is at his best.”
Paige Mackenzie on Live From: “It looked like he had freedom off the tee…and the underrated story of the year for Rory McIlroy is putting under 10 feet. He was 15-for-15 under 10 feet today.”
ON SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (+1, T-34th)
Chamblee: “Completely out of sorts. I don’t think we’ve seen this many double-crosses all year...we just take for granted that it’s going to be a bullet down the middle.”
Chamblee: “Today, the putter has let him down, the driver has let him down. There are two things you have to do around here. You have to find fairways and you have to be able to scramble. He hasn’t done either of those very well today.”
Dan Hicks: “We’ve seen more awkward and weird drives in this round than we’ve seen from him in the last 16 months.”
Brad Faxon: “He’s always been the most organized golfer in the world to me. You don’t typically see him scrambling like this.”
McGinley: “This was not Scottie Scheffler. I didn’t recognize this guy. This is as bad as it gets with him and yet somehow, he remained, relative to the leaderboard.”
ON TIGER WOODS (+4, T-86th)
Notah Begay III on Woods’ putting: “The putter looked so good early in the round. The tempo was good, the face was rotating through the impact zone nicely – now he just seems to be a little bit out of sync...there’s a big question mark around a lot of Woods’ game.”
Koch on Tiger Woods shooting 74 and finishing four over par on his first day: “A lot of it is just lack of competitive golf. You can play at home with your buddies but it’s just not the same as being out here and playing against the best players in the world under these conditions.”
ON XANDER SCHAUFFELE (E, T-16th)
Jim “Bones” Mackay: “This guy has been a scrambling machine, doing everything he can to keep it around par.”
GOLF CHANNEL PODCAST WITH REX & LAV
As part of NBC Sports’ comprehensive U.S. Open coverage, new daily episodes of the GOLF Channel Podcast with Rex & Lav, hosted by GOLFChannel.com senior writers Rex Hoggard and Ryan Lavner, will post nightly. The podcast sees the two longtime scribes discuss and debate the latest news and hottest topics in the sport, and this week’s daily mini-pods will recap each round of the U.S. Open, discuss the major storylines from the championship, and look ahead to the following day’s play.
Click here to listen to the latest episode on YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
--NBC SPORTS--
