FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, July 11th, 2022

PAUL AZINGER, DAN HICKS, NOTAH BEGAY III, JOHN WOOD & TOMMY ROY PREVIEW 150TH OPEN CHAMPIONSHIP ON NBC, USA NETWORK AND PEACOCK

“This really is a bucket list kind of broadcast call for me and a lot of our people at NBC…To check this one off is a dream…This place stands alone. No other place compares.” – Dan Hicks on the significance of the 150th Open Championship at the Old Course at St. Andrews

“I do think he realizes that the end is imminent and a lot closer than he would like to admit…(but) this is by far the best venue for him.” – Notah Begay III on Tiger Woods

“Historically this is where the greats have taken their final walk…I’m not sure how sentimental it’s going to feel to watch Tiger play this go-round. I think personally that he has more in him…I don’t want to say this is a swan song just yet.” – Paul Azinger on Woods

“St. Andrews is one of the most challenging courses to caddie on, especially from a tee shot standpointI did probably more homework at St. Andrews than any other tournament during my career.” – John Wood

First Tee Shot Through Last Putt – Nearly 50 Hours of Live Open Championship Coverage Thursday-Sunday; 100-Plus Hours Including Featured Groups

STAMFORD, Conn. – July 11, 2022 – NBC Sports golf commentators Paul Azinger, Dan Hicks, Notah Begay III, John Wood, and producer Tommy Roy previewed this week’s 150th Open Championship at The Old Course at St. Andrews in Scotland on a media conference call last week.

NBC Sports will present nearly 50 hours of live championship coverage this Thursday-Sunday – and well over 100 hours of live coverage from St. Andrews including featured groups and featured holes. First and second-round coverage begins before each day’s first tee shot on Peacock and will conclude after the final putt drops, giving fans unparalleled coverage of this year’s championship.

Beginning this morning and continuing throughout the week, GOLF Channel surrounds tournament coverage with nearly 75 hours of live pre- and post-event coverage on GOLF Central Live From The Open. Over the course of the week, more than 30 on-air commentators will provide live coverage, including featured groups, studio and news coverage across NBC, USA Network, GOLF Channel, and Peacock. Click here for more details.

Following are excerpts from the call. Click here for a full transcript.

Dan Hicks on the significance of the 150th Open Championship being held at the Old Course at St. Andrews: “This really is a bucket list kind of broadcast call for me and a lot of our people at NBC…To check this one off is a dream…This place stands alone. No other place compares.”

Paul Azinger: “It gives me chill bumps to think about seeing the town and the whole setup and how the golf course lays into the landscape the way it does…I’ve been there as a player. I’ve been there as a broadcaster. There’s nothing like it in the world.”

John Wood: “An Open at St. Andrews is unlike any Open. There may be better courses in the rota, but nothing compares to the history and the stories that are told at St. Andrews…I get goosebumps just thinking about it.”

Notah Begay III on Tiger Woods: “I do think he realizes that the end is imminent and a lot closer than he would like to admit, just reflecting on his performance over the last couple of majors…I do think this is by far the best venue for him just in terms of the major challenges he has are physical, number one; number two, there’s rust around his short game… But just to be able to get the reps and get the body moving, get some touches under pressure I think is going to really help him because that’s really what’s been the challenge in the last two events. He has been unable to salvage some key saves here and there that is going to be critical this week.”

Azinger on Tiger Woods: “It would be easy to start looking at Tiger misty-eyed and wondering if you are ever going to get to see this again. Historically this is where the greats have taken their final walk…I’m not sure how sentimental it’s going to feel to watch Tiger play this go-round. I think personally that he has more in him…I don’t want to say this is a swan song just yet.”

Wood on caddying at the Old Course at St. Andrews: “I would say St. Andrews is one of the most challenging courses to caddie on, especially from a tee shot standpoint…You’ve got to be ready to play every hole in every conceivable wind direction and be ready for your player at that point…I did probably more homework at St. Andrews than any other tournament during my career.”

Begay III on links golf: “It’s not as predictable as American golf. There are just a lot of little subtleties that create the difference between what the PGA TOUR players do week-in and week-out and what they’re going to experience this week…I certainly would rather be someone that’s playing well coming in here and then acclimate to the links style.”

Tommy Roy on production innovations around The Open Championship: “We’re excited that for the first time a couple of new things to look for: a 350-yard wire cam that will be used out at the Loop to give the viewers a new perspective of holes 7, 8, 9, 10, and 11…Additionally, there will be a hightop tracer at the 17th tee mounted on a 30-foot pole, and an incoming tracer out beyond the 17th fairway to show the drives flying over the shed of the Old Course Hotel (and) up at the Road Hole green for the first time there will be a rail cam mounted just above the wall next to the road itself.”

Azinger on Will Zalatoris: “He doesn’t have any real choke in him either… Both those last two majors where he had his chances, he really played great…He is like a junkyard dog, and he is on your ankle the whole time, but he just has to bite the ankle off and hoist that trophy.”

–NBC SPORTS–