“It’s starts and stops with Scottie Scheffler...he’s still the gold standard.” – Dan Hicks
“That’s just a situation that sometimes gets the best of the best players in the world. I think these things will help Rory to be stronger when he gets in that situation the next time.” – Brad Faxon on Rory McIlroy and his U.S. Open finish
“He’s moving the needle more and more. I can’t help but remember that he was the biggest show in golf before going to LIV...he’s very close to kind of establishing himself as the guy again.” – Hicks on U.S. Open champ Bryson DeChambeau
STAMFORD, Conn. – July 15, 2024 – NBC Sports golf commentators Dan Hicks, Luke Donald, Brad Faxon and Jim “Bones” Mackay previewed the upcoming 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon Golf Club in Troon, Scotland, which begins this Thursday, July 18, on a media conference call last week.
In total, NBC Sports will present nearly 50 hours of live championship coverage this Thursday-Sunday – and more than 200 hours of live coverage from Royal Troon including featured groups, featured hole and Golf Central Live from The Open studio coverage. Click here for more details on NBC Sports’ Open Championship programming and commentary teams.
Following are excerpts from last week’s media conference call. Click here for a full transcript.
Hicks: “It starts and stops with Scottie Scheffler. Even though his U.S. Open wasn’t as Scheffler-esque as we’ve become accustomed to, he’s still the gold standard... he remains the headliner going into the last major of the year, and one of the other storylines obviously is Bryson DeChambeau. He has solidified himself as somebody that a lot more people are rooting for and have a lot more interest in. He’s moving the needle more and more. I can’t help but remember that he was the biggest show in golf before going to LIV and kind of getting out of the mainstream for a while...he’s very close to kind of establishing himself as the guy again.”
Donald: “Regardless of whether it’s The Open Championship or any tournament, the best players I’ve seen understand what they need to do, and they hammer at those things time and time again, whether that’s physically or mentally. That’s the best in the world, and they’re very consistent with it. Scottie Scheffler, he checks his grip on nearly every shot I see him hit. It’s just like over and over again doing the same things repeatedly. You obviously get to an Open Championship, and with tougher conditions, I think, over four days, if you’re doing that consistently, you’re going to come out on top. That’s what the greats do.”
Mackay on impact of weather and Thursday/Friday tee times: “Having caddied for some really good players in the Open, I remember in 2010 and 2014, we got on the bad end of the draw and you had virtually no chance to compete in the tournament, and then caddying for Phil (Mickelson) in 2016 at Royal Troon we got on the great end and those guys were able to really separate themselves from the field, speaking of he and Stenson. I just think that with what the forecast is showing us, the weather is the big story for me.”
Faxon: “The unpredictability of what you’re going to get over there adds to the charisma of the course, to the championship. You may not think that while you’re out there playing, but I think Troon has certainly shown that, depending on the weather, you might see Stenson-like scores, but you could also see scores that are just barely under par, depending on the weather conditions.”
Mackay on caddying in Mickelson-Stenson final round duel in 2016 at Royal Troon: “The quality of the golf was pretty much mindblowing for me...the electric atmosphere was maybe something I never saw again. Maybe at a couple of Ryder Cups. I think on the 13th tee on Sunday, I was the last guy off the tee, and an R&A official came up to me and tapped me on the shoulder and said, ‘Would you mind telling both the players that we’re concerned about their position on the golf course and they need to hurry up a little bit?’ I said, ‘Sir, this is so amazing what’s going on out here right now, I’m not saying a word to anybody about anything. I just want to watch this play out.’”
Faxon on Rory McIlroy and his finish at Pinehurst: “When you’re a coach to a top player in putting, so much of it is what happens in a situation rather than the details of the stroke and the face and the path. I think that’s why we love and hate this game so much is what it can do to the human mind. There was certainly nothing wrong with Rory’s stroke at all. He had made 469 of those putts of three feet and under in a row. That’s just a situation that sometimes gets the best of the best players in the world. I think these things will help Rory to be stronger when he gets in that situation the next time. I think it will be better for him.”
Donald on Jon Rahm: “I’ve talked to Jon a little bit. Obviously he’s very disappointed with his major championship performance. The first two were certainly not up to his standard. Then obviously the unfortunate timing of the injury. His results on LIV have been fine. I think he’s had mostly top 10s. He hasn’t broken through and won. But I just think it’s an adjustment. It’s a different format. There’s one less round. You have to get going a lot quicker playing courses you haven’t played before. I think he’s just someone that is going to take a little bit of time to get used to it. I think it’s a big week for him. I’m sure it has been a massive focus for him to try and get his game to a level where he’s going to be back in contention at a major. Yeah, I think there’s a little bit of pressure on that, and we’ll see how he deals with it.”
-NBC SPORTS-