FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Saturday, June 18th, 2022
NOTES AND QUOTES – NBC SPORTS’ COVERAGE OF THE 122nd U.S. OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP (THIRD ROUND)
“The past few days, the players were firing red numbers. Today they came off the course seeing red.” – Brandel Chamblee on Live From the U.S. Open
“I don’t know if he’s playing well enough to win. That’s my question. I don’t think he’s playing well enough tee to green…his putter is bailing him out.” – Paul McGinley on Jon Rahm on Live From
“Leave it to a little hole that was put in play for the first time since the 1913 U.S. Open here to derail a guy on a torrid streak at The Country Club.” – Dan Hicks on Scottie Scheffler’s double bogey on No. 11
Final Round Coverage – 9 a.m. ET on Peacock, 10 a.m. ET on USA Network and Noon ET on NBC/Peacock
STAMFORD, Conn. – June 18, 2022 – NBC Sports presented third round coverage of the 122nd U.S. Open Championship from The Country Club in Brookline, Mass., across NBC and Peacock, capped by Live From the U.S. Open on GOLF Channel.
Exclusive final round coverage begins tomorrow at 9 a.m. ET on Peacock, continues at 10 a.m. ET on USA Network, and shifts to NBC/Peacock at noon ET.
U.S. Open – Third Round Leaderboard
| Player | Total |
| Will Zalatoris | -4 |
| Matt Fitzpatrick | -4 |
| Jon Rahm | -3 |
| Scottie Scheffler | -2 |
| Keegan Bradley | -2 |
| Adam Hadwin | -2 |
Final Round Coverage Schedule
| Day | Peacock | USA Network | NBC/Peacock |
| Sunday | 9-10 a.m. | 10 a.m.-Noon | Noon-7 p.m. |
ON THE COUNTRY CLUB/COURSE CONDITIONS
Brandel Chamblee on Live From the U.S. Open on GOLF Channel: “The past few days, the players were firing red numbers. Today they came off the course seeing red.”
John Wood at the second green: “I’m 220 yards from this green and I could hear that ball bounce like I was standing next to it. These [greens] are firming up.”
Paul Azinger on Xander Schauffele’s struggles on No. 8, requiring three shots up the hill to the green: “During the practice rounds we were all looking at this and saw the potential for a disaster here…If you’re not dialed in, you can get yourself in a lot of trouble.”
Gary Koch on Travis Vick’s shot going down the hill on No. 8 after a chip from behind the green: “It is not unfair. It’s difficult, but it’s not unfair.”
Dan Hicks: “Survival at the U.S. Open.”
Rich Lerner on Live From: “Par should mean something at a U.S. Open. You don’t settle for it – you fight for it.”
ON WILL ZALATORIS (-4, T-1st)
Justin Leonard: “Everybody else seems to be making mistakes – bogeys on par 5s in the case of Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler making double bogey on a 140-yard par 3 – but Will Zalatoris has avoided making those mistakes…he’s kept the ball under the hole even if he doesn’t hit the green, he gives himself a chance to chip up and make par.”
Azinger: “I wasn’t sure anybody was going to be able to shoot 67 today with the conditions the way they are. He hit a hosel rocket on the 10th hole, was able to regroup and play that kind of golf coming in…it takes a good, strong brain.”
McGinley on Live From: “How well he plays on tough golf courses. He’s a brilliant guy who can step up – the crème de la crème of golf courses played in the professional game. He also seems to relish the big occasion…people say he has the yips, but there’s one really important stat in terms of his putting. In the whole season on the PGA TOUR, he has missed zero putts from three feet.”
Arron Oberholser: “He’s played a very patient, mature round of golf today.”
ON SCOTTIE SCHEFFLER (-2, T-4th)
Hicks on Scheffler’s double-bogey on No. 11: “Leave it to a little hole that was put in play for the first time since the 1913 U.S. Open here to derail a guy on a torrid streak at The Country Club.
Azinger on No. 11: “The whole complexion of this event has changed.”
Azinger: “He lost his concentration at some point. Something happened here and now he’s shell-shocked.”
ON RORY MCILROY (-1, T-7th)
Azinger after McIlroy’s missed birdie putt on No. 8: “I didn’t like hearing him talking about his putting yesterday at all. The putter is the ghost – it’s the one that will haunt you if you start talking about it.”
ON JON RAHM (-3, 3rd)
Azinger: “It’s hard for a shut-faced player to get the ball up quickly. This wasn’t even close. He had to have thinned it a hair. He’s lucky it didn’t roll back into his footprint…that’s kind of a crystal ball into the future for tomorrow, what these guys are going to face.”
Chamblee on Live From: “He gets a little quick with the lead…while you may rue the fact that he made double bogey and fell down the leaderboard…psychologically, he’s in a pretty darn good spot.”
McGinley on Live From: “I don’t know if he’s playing well enough to win. That’s my question. I don’t think he’s playing well enough tee to green…his putter is bailing him out. We saw how poor it was earlier in the year…he didn’t play particularly well today. It was a day of attrition.”
ON KEEGAN BRADLEY (-2, T-4th)
Azinger: “He’s positioned nicely. He did what he needed to do today. It’s going to be a slugfest for all of these players…I watched him on Wednesday and he was hitting it so solidly.”
Paul McGinley on Live From: “I haven’t seen Keegan Bradley smiling this much on a golf course in a long time.”
ON STATE OF PROFESSIONAL GOLF
Mike Tirico: “The reality is this – the face of professional golf in America is changing. How seismic will that change be? I don’t think we’ll know that for some time. But a couple of things have become clear here – the players are faced with some conversations and some differences. One of them is money or legacy. Do you go with the money from the Saudi-backed LIV Golf series? Or continue – while being well-compensated – to chase the legacy of centuries-old competitions like this championship? We don’t know who’s going to win…but we know who doesn’t win if this break continues, and that’s you, the fans. Quite simply, the gatherings of the greatest players in the world, whether accomplished or accomplished in the past, [are] not going to take place as often if they are spread out in two different series. Weeks like this that we cherish as golf fans will not be as prevalent as they are now, and that hurts the sport for now and perhaps in the long run.”
–NBC SPORTS–
