NOTES AND QUOTES – NBC SPORTS' COVERAGE OF THE 153rd OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP AT ROYAL PORTRUSH (FIRST ROUND)

NBC Sports

3 days ago

Friday's Second Round Coverage Begins at 1:30 a.m. ET on Peacock, Shifts to USA Network at 4 a.m. ET
'This is a little bit of a different Rory McIlroy after completing the career Grand Slam…This time around, he's trying to embrace it.' – Brad Faxon on Rory McIlroy (-1, T-20th) now compared to the 2019 Open at Royal Portrush
'He is picking up strokes on the field week-in and week-out…Very quickly he took that big question mark and turned it into an exclamation point.' – Brandel Chamblee on Scottie Scheffler's (-3, T-6th) putting
'Calamity Corner is Serendipity Corner for Matt Fitzpatrick!' – Rich Lerner on Matt Fitzpatrick (-4, Co-Leader) dunking a birdie on the par 3 16th hole
STAMFORD, Conn. – July 17, 2025 – NBC Sports presented exclusive first-round coverage of the 153rd Open Championship from Royal Portrush Golf Club in Portrush, Northern Ireland, across USA Network and Peacock, capped by Golf Central Live From the Open studio coverage on GOLF Channel and Peacock.
Exclusive second-round coverage begins tomorrow at 1:30 a.m. ET on Peacock and continues at 4 a.m. ET on USA Network.
153rd Open Championship – First Round Leaderboard
Friday-Sunday Coverage Schedule
*coverage will begin shortly before the first scheduled tee time at 1:30 a.m. ET
ON ROYAL PORTRUSH
Rich Lerner: 'They like to say the weather on a day like this, they call it changeable, variable. Another way to put it: at times pretty good, not very good, almost good. We had sun and rain and wind and a challenging golf course, and in the end it's a stacked leaderboard.'
Brandel Chamblee on the first round: 'It was long and it was a great day. I didn't think the weather was particularly difficult…There are 31 players under par, only two of those players are in the top 15 in the world. The top 15 in the world really did struggle today with the exception of Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy…It was a hard-fought day at the top of that leaderboard.'
Brad Faxon on Royal Portrush: 'The players unanimously like Portrush and I think it's because of the variety of shots that they have to hit. You have uphill, downhill, dogleg left, dogleg right, blind shots, and even cross winds. These players have to have everything in their bag to come out on top here.'
ON RORY MCILROY (-1, T-20th)
Terry Gannon on McIlroy: 'This is the championship that he said he had circled at the beginning of the season, even more so than The Masters where he completed the career grand slam. He's back here just about an hour from where he grew up.'
Faxon on McIlroy: 'This is a little bit of a different Rory McIlroy after completing the career grand slam. He said, back in 2019 at Portrush, that he tried to prevent the locals and his time growing up here from getting in the way. This time around, he's trying to embrace it.'
Paul McGinley on McIlroy's return to Northern Ireland: 'Rory is a national hero, there's no doubt about that. To see him walking around in Northern Ireland with his green jacket on, that warmed everybody's hearts. To come back as a grand slam champion, it was massively celebrated over here on this little island.'
Faxon on McIlroy's birdie on 17: 'I don't think anybody else could have hit that second shot in the field. As strong as he is to do that from a lie you could barely see the ball…What a way this is going to change his emotions after making those three bogeys in four holes.'
McIlroy to Cara Banks on his emotions on the first tee today compared to 2019: 'At least I knew what to expect today so it wasn't the shock that it was in 2019. I was thankfully able to get the tee shot away even though it was in the left rough, not quite as far left as 2019…Considering that I didn't drive the ball well, I feel like it's a solid start and if I can hit a few more fairways over the next few days, I'm right in there with a great chance.'
ON SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (-3, T-6th)
Chamblee on Scottie Scheffler's opening round: 'We got another great look at why he's been so dominant over the last four-to-five years. He's just got so many arrows in the quiver…You're looking at the best driver of the golf ball in the world, but it was by far not his best driving day.'
Chamblee on Scheffler's putting: 'Over the last three years, putting you wouldn't say was a strength of his, not by a long shot. It has turned into, not the strongest aspect of his game like off the tee or into the greens, but still, it is a strength. He is picking up strokes on the field week-in and week-out…Very quickly he took that big question mark and turned it into an exclamation point.'
Chamblee on Scheffler's iron play: 'What we saw today, again, another excellent day from the best iron play that we have seen not named Tiger Woods in the strokes gained era.'
Lerner: 'We call him 'Right Shot Scott' because, more consistently than anyone else out here, he hits the right shot.'
ON MATT FITZPATRICK (-4, Co-Leader)
Chamblee: 'His game has really turned around since The Masters. If we were going by world ranking points alone, he'd be 11th in the world. But it's worth going back and reminding people just how well he played at the PGA Championship.'
Lerner on Fitzpatrick's slam dunk birdie on the par-3 16th hole: 'Calamity Corner is Serendipity Corner for Matt Fitzpatrick.'
Chamblee: 'Apparently Fitzpatrick was not watching Wags last night, he saw no difficulty in the shot. He went Michael Jordan on this, or Steph Curry to bring it more up to speed.'
Co-Leader Matt Fitzpatrick on Royal Portrush: 'I really like the golf course, I think it's a great test. I think it's very fair as well, you can hit a lot of good shots and get rewarded and vice versa, you can hit it offline and get in trouble.'
ON HARRIS ENGLISH (-4, Co-Leader)
Dan Hicks: 'Just in control today. Outside of three birdies, just a lot of birdies and a lot of controlled play.'
Kevin Kisner on English's calm mentality: 'He never breaks stride no matter what's going, just chews on that gum. (laughs)'
ON TOMMY FLEETWOOD (+2, T-72nd)
Jim 'Bones' Mackay on Fleetwood hitting out of an unraked bunker on No. 5: 'I'm not sure I have ever seen this before at a professional golf event. Whoever played from this bunker previously forgot to rake it, the caddie did. Tommy now in an awful lie, lucky to avoid the footprints that were made by the previous player…Just an awful break, one of the worst I've seen in the entire year.'
McGinley on caddies being responsible for raking bunkers: 'That's a change in policy from the R&A. They've always had walking guys going around, local greenkeepers who help set up the golf course in the morning then go and walk the golf course with each group and rake the bunkers. In order to speed up play, we had very slow play today as well and that could be a reason for it too.'
ON JUSTIN ROSE (-2, T-10th)
Hicks: 'As meticulous a player as you will see. Justin Rose has a plan for every shot, a plan for every practice session, and he delivers in the big ones.'
--NBC SPORTS--